Education Myanmar Project #24825

Myanmar Youth Sustainability Training Centre

by Whispering Seed

Project Report | Oct 11, 2018
3rd Report Myanmar Youth Sustainability Training

By Jim Connor | Project Coordinator

Water buffalo are the main neighbors at our farm

Dear Friends and Family,

We are happy to share our latest news with you from the new Whispering Earth Centre! We have almost made it through the first rainy season out on the land. However, we still need to finish paying off the land as soon as we can.

Road Repairs and Surki Water Tanks
With a very limited budget we have been able to start the Surki water tanks as tests for the upcoming dry season. The access road that was completed into the farm has held up for us through the muddy rains, but we desperately need some minor repairs on the road to make it more safe for us to travel in and out of the farm onto the main dirt track going to and from the village. With almost a month still left of heavy rains we need to the minor repairs as soon as possible.

Continued Intensive Permaculture Design & Planting
We have continued working on the Permaculture design and planning for the entire property. We have already planted several hundred trees on the land including the following exciting varieties; macadamia, avocado, mango, several species of banana, two variety of grapes, ornamental and decorative trees, edible wild flowers, mulberry, lemon, orange, plums, pears, blackberries and several kinds of hard woods for long term sustainability and much, much more!!!

Preparations for First Adobe Buildings
We have continued to work on the basic design for the first buildings which we hope to start sometime after the rains stop in November. As we have already mentioned, we have completed the first bamboo house which has given us a space to seek shelter from the driving rains the past few months.

Once the rains stop we will start on the adobe brick making workshops to begin teaching the local villagers the new techniques and which will be used on the first building. Our priorities for the next few months are to start to make bricks and begin the building of the main lodge or welcome centre and to start on the kitchen and dining hall.

Volunteers
We are also ready to start taking volunteers to come and stay with us at the new farm! Please let us know if you are interested in coming out to Myanmar and joining is this incredible new project!

As always we thank you for your ongoing support and are excited to share the next news with you!

Warmly,

Whispering Earth Team

Some of the views into local forests from land

We have already started planting natural fencing

The road coming into farm from main village area

Open fields already planted with fruit trees

One of the special bodhi tree nooks on the land

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Jul 3, 2018
2nd Report for Myanmar Youth Sustainability Centre

By Jim Connor | Project Leader

Our farm situation in valley with 14 ethnic villag

2^ndReport for Myanmar Youth Sustainability Training Centre (Whispering Earth Sustainability Training Centre)

Dear Friends and Family,

We are happy to share some very exciting news with you once again about our new Whispering Earth Sustainability Training Centre! We have been able to put a small deposit down on the land for the new training centre located just 12 km outside of Kalaw which has allowed us to begin designing and planting the property. We need to raise the rest of the funds as soon as possible to pay off all of the farm. In the meantime, we have already started the development of the property!

Access Road into farm complete
Already an access road has been built going into the farm and we have started digging our first water source to help us through the dry season. The monsoon season has started and its time for planting! So we are back and forth to the farm every day bringing trees and getting beds ready for sowing.

Surkhi Rain Water Catchment Tank
Albert has started our first rainwater catchment system using a new earthen building technique from India called Surkhi. So far we are very pleased with the outcome, which will allow us to teach the local villagers how to build their own rainwater harvesting tanks using mud, straw and rice husk, with a lime and brick dust water proof plaster. This technique will also be able to be used on the buildings in the near future! The outcome of the tank so far has been spectacular!

Our first bamboo house
With the help of the local Danu villagers, we have built our first small bamboo shelter which allows us a place to take shelter from the driving rains which have already begun and a place to sleep at night when we have long working and planting days.

Sustainable Design and Planting trees and crops
Permaculture design of the entire property has already started and we have marked out the spaces for the first buildings which will be started after the rains in November, including the training hall, kitchen and welcome lodge.

Over the next weeks we will continue planting and doing intensive design work on the land. So far we have planted several species of mulberry, avocadoes, Asian pears, plums, lots jasmine, gardenias and frangipani, cover crops of beans, corn, lentils, some pumpkins, squash, beets and a variety of forest trees. We are now getting ready to plant 6 different species of bananas, more fruit trees and continuing the natural edible fencing around the land to stop the water buffalo from eating all of our hard work!

We look forward to sharing more news over the next months!!!!

Warmly,

Whispering Earth Team!

Our first load of mulberry trees ready to plant

The first surkhi water catchment tank

Location of farm in Danu village 1,500 meters

First bamboo house planted with beans,corn,lentil

View into valley from Sha Bin mountain in village

Links:

Home page for Whispering Earth Centre

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Apr 3, 2018
1st Myanmar Youth Sustainability Training Centre

By Jim Connor | Project Leader

The valley with 14 ethnic villages networking with

1^st Myanmar Youth Sustainability Training Centre Report

Dear Friends and Family

We are so excited to share the latest news about our newest project, Whispering Earth Sustainability Training Centre (Myanmar Youth Sustainability Training Centre).

For the last few months we have been actively exploring the surrounding villages around Kalaw in search of the perfect piece of land to start the new training centre. The aim of the training centre is to have a hands on living and learning centre where people can come and experience in a hands on way about natural building, Permaculture and appropriate technology. The new centre will act also as a demonstration farm and will be a space used to host a variety of trainings.

We have found the most scenic and pristine valley starting just 10km outside of Kalaw. The valley has roughly 14 different villages and diverse range of ethnic groups including Danu, Pa-O, Palaung, Thaunyo, Shan and more. It is the perfect location to start the new training centre!

After much efforts, we have also now located a 7 acre plot just outside of the highest village in the region, Sha Bin. We have explained our plans and aims for the land and the villagers are happy to sell this piece of land to us to start the training centre.

Our goal is now to raise the necessary funds to pay for the farm, and all the necessary documents and permits to legally build on the land. As part of the deal, the former owner will build a basic road for easier access for us.

Once the land is paid for, we will be able to start designing, planning, as well as planting the land and getting the first adobe bricks ready before the monsoon season comes.

We have very limited time before the rains come and need to secure the land immediately. Once the land is secured we can begin the next phases of the project.

We thank you for all your support and look forward to your kind contribute to help in these early stages of development of this new training centre!!!

Warmly,

Albert, Aye Aung, Jim and the rest of the team!

The view from new road headed into land

Home for the water buffalo on the land

Water source

Some big trees for sitting under

Another amazing tree hidden gem

Links:

Whispering Earth home page

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