RAIN Village-Organized Healthcare The Homeless Garden Project Center for Appropriate Transport Ecotopia, Bulgaria Volume XIV, No.3 $5.00
About this issue... Contents The projects you’ll find here are successful because the people involved have pushed the powerful out of the way, so they could provide what was really needed: villages in Mexico training their own health workers in preventative medicine, despite the interference of a corrupt government; independent relief workers besting huge organizations, in the middle of a war urged on by opportunistic nationalists; neighborhood farms run by children, on poor land remaining from a conflict between uncaring superpowers; a community in Santa Cruz with an important role for the homeless, who’ve been left behind by a destructive capitalist economy. For their opponents, who wield power, problems that should overwhelm any single individual seem to demand solutions. The result is always a poor solution, which is why individuals shouldn’t wield such power. In Somalia, a superpower leader has decided to avoid responsible, sensitive approaches to a problem by sending in a clumsy occupation force, while a UN leader calls for even more authoritarian solutions, such as disarming an entire people. Whatever their motivations, these rulers avoid any solution that takes away their power, even if it’s clear that divestment of power is the only solution. We hope that this issue is full of evidence of the effectiveness of grassroots solutions, even when stunted by blind, greedy corporations and governments that steal people’s right to self-determination. A Peasant’s House in Bosnia, Bernard Rice. Wood engraving, 1924. Front Cover: A worker at Ecotopia’s campus, Bulgaria. See story page 44. Photo by Joke van Vliet. 2 Cabbages and Compassion In Santa Cruz, homeless people tend a bountiful garden, providing for the surrounding community. 10 Grassroots Relief in the Balkans A committed volunteer argues that small, community-level relief efforts really work in war-tom ex-Yugoslavia. 14 Piaxtla: Village-Organized Healthcare Few people in the Third World have access to healthcare. The poor Mexican village of Ajoya has vastly improved community health by adopting a self-care approach, relying on the training of local health workers. 20 The Oregon Marketplace How a small non-profit organization helped revive a local economy through self-reliance, connecting local producers instead of relying on import and export. 24 Reflllables Reuse should come before recycling, but this is hardly the emphasis in our throw-away economy. Chris Figenshau reviews the current state of one of the few systems of re-use: the refillable container. RAIN Volume XIV, Number 3 Spring 1993
30 36 40 44 48 From the Wall to the Neighborhood Berlin’s new parks, festivals, children's farms, bicycle paths, a bicycle repair workshop, cafes, art exhibits and communities of squatters are bringing this city together in the very space where it was once divided. The Feast of Change This unique festival, despite the crowds, the traffic, and the struggle to maintain focus among counterculturalists, is so successful that it has moved beyond it’s entertainment function to become a major source of funding for community action. Rube Our illustrator, Oregon cartoonist Paul Ollswang, wonders about the habits of small-town creatures of the night, through his miniature alter-ego, the militant puppy Rube Bupkes. We’ll be seeing Rube’s adventures, as he leaves h Doofer, in upcoming issues. Ecotopia, Bulgaria Working to change the world, hundreds of young European activists come to a makeshift campus in a dark comer of Europe to test their vision of the future. They cooperate, argue, get things done, help nearby communities, and push the limits of both personal freedom and community responsibility. The Bike Column Bicycling cities, elevated purple bike paths, advocacy victories, conferences, and reviews of a video and the current literature. 53 Workbike Workbook #1 The Wheelchair Trike Eirst in a series of short, semi-technical papers on human-powered vehicles that do needed work. If this interests you, check out the compressed-air dental drill on page 18. 54 The Center For Appropriate Transport (The CAT) This Center is dedicated to creating space for alternatives to automobiles. Housed within its walls are the bicycle advocacy group Auto-relief, Oregon Cycling newspaper, an innovative workbike builder's workshop, a bicycle repair collective, and unusual bikes available to rent or buy. 58 Greens Detroit Summer A young participant in the first workcamp sponsored by the US Greens describes the trials of relief efforts in Detroit, Michigan. Local elections Both official Green and green-leaning candidates do well in local elections this year. Northwest news The state of Green electoral and other organizing in the US pacific northwest. More left/green/anarchist publications Some spontaneous reviews of some favorite ’zines. 60 Resources This issue’s grab-bag: alternative business, appropriate technology, bioregionalism, cultural survival, environmental action, feminism, intentional communities, international grassroots work, permaculture, politics, recycling, mral affairs, social justice, social ecology, sustainable agriculture and urban renewal. 64 List of available Back issues of Rain. 65 Credits, thanks, writer’s guidelines and raindrops: some news from the Rain-makers. Back Cover: At Santa Cmz’s Homeless Garden Project, shareholders in the community come to collect their share of the harvest twice a week. These are the vegetables, organically grown and ready for the members to pick up. See the story on page 2, and resources on page 8. RAIN Spring 1993 Volume XIV, Number 3 Page 1
Cabbages and Compassion Community Supported Homeless Farming Story and photos by Jered Lawson Additional photos by Kate Stafford A year and a half ago, Bill Tracey stood on the comer of Chesnut and Mission clutching a piece of cardboard that read “Homeless and Hungry: will work for food.” Now Bill works with a group of homeless people who take these words literally, growing food not only for themselves, but for the surrounding community as well. In just two years, over forty homeless people, a committed staff, and countless volunteers have turned a 2.5 acre vacant urban lot in Santa Cmz, California into a thriving organic garden. After the gardeners take their portion of the harvest, much of the food goes to community members, or “shareholders”, who support the garden financially. A percentage of the produce is sold to local stores, restaurants, and folks at the farmers’ market. The rest is donated to homeless shelters and free-meal programs. Bill, now project supervisor, says “other homeless projects can give you files, reports and statistics, but we can give you a flat of strawberries.” The Homeless Garden Project offers homeless people an opportunity to move from the margins of society to the center of community activity. For shareholders the project offers a chance to direct their dollars into socially and ecologically responsible farming. As if this weren’t enough, school kids and University students get to learn about the roots of homelessness and the roots of the food they eat. Finally, for many Santa Cruzans, the garden provides solace amidst the sweet smelling herbs, nutritious vegetables, and colorful flowers. The garden offers diverse flora with a mixed crew of gardeners. There’s Peter, a homeless trainee; Darrie, a mother of two; Paddy, a volunteer handyman and gift-giver to the garden; and Phyllis, a vivacious 82 year-old who asserts “I don’t have to die to get to heaven ... this place is heaven on Earth.” Both Mac, a humorous and stately homeless man, and Mike, a “practical idealist” university intern, work with groups of children in the Garden. According to Lynne Basehore, the Project Director, “the garden has been useful to those who simply need to witness life’s abundance. Most of all, it has been a renewal for long-term Neighborhood CSA shareholders plant basil seedlings during the Garden’s Anniversary Party Gathering. Page 2 RAIN Spring 1993 Volume XIV, Number 3
Bill Tracey delivers the freshly harvested produce with a bike cart built by local trailer-maker John Welch. jobless and homeless citizens of the community.” With over 2,000 homeless people in Santa Cruz County it’s no wonder there’s a waiting list for the fifteen paid positions available at the Garden. When a position does open, prospective employees volunteer a short while to see if they are truly interested in the work. If so, they begin at a minimum of twelve hours a week and attend the weekly meeting. Workers are familiarized with procedures of the garden, and then choose an area for in-depth training. For Skooter it was compost, for Octaciano, the greenhouse. Jane Freedman, the Garden Director, trains the gardeners in bed preparation, composting, cultivating, planting, harvesting, and selling produce at the farmers’ markets. The weekly meetings provide group members with an opportunity to air concerns, make collective decisions, and work through any pressing problems. A rules committee — made up of five of the homeless workers and two of the staff — compiles and presents a list of rules that are then agreed upon by the larger group. Developing and enforcing their own rules gives the workers a voice in decision-making that they are generally denied elsewhere. Some of the rules: “When scheduled for work do not come high, drunk, or hung-over: If you do, you will be sent away immediately and the consequence is suspended paid work until nine hours of volunteer work are completed.” “No sleeping at the Garden. Anyone caught camping is kicked off the project.” Some workers find housing through work at the Garden, though most sleep in local shelters during the winter and camp out in the summer. A city-wide ban on camping keeps homeless citizens in fear of police waking them at night with $160 fines. Homelessness, a crime against humanity, is now a criminal act in Santa Cruz. The Garden’s pay, $5-$6 an hour for 12 hours a week, may not be a living wage. But Darrie Ganzhom, a garden employee, feels the money is only “one piece of the puzzle. It’s part of the network needed to get one’s life together.” As another gardener says “the work has grounded me. It’s stabilized me to where I can actually go out and enroll in school. Otherwise I’d be too scattered. You know, hustling to get this or that. Since I’ve worked here. I’ve moved to a safe place to sleep at night.” Purposeful work at the Garden enables many of the homeless to make changes in their lives. Octaciano says “Las plantas crecen si les das carino” — the plants will grow if you care for them. The caring the homeless give to the Garden is reflected in the renewed care they give themselves. This can mean getting a new set of teeth, quitting the bottle, or finding shelter. At a County hearing where the Garden requested funds, Lynne, the Garden’s director, made an analogy between composting and providing jobs for the homeless. Just as discarded organic waste is brought to the garden and recycled into life-giving compost, the homeless. RAIN Spring 1993 Volume XIV, Number 3 Page 3
Top. Bill, one of the Garden’s compost experts, checks the temperature and decomposition in the compost bins. Bottom. Careful thinning ofchard seedlings by Mac and Mark creates a strong, bountiful crop. marginalized and discarded by society, come to the Garden and regain a sense of worth and purpose. History Paul Lee, an internationally renowned herbalist, former UCSC Professor of Philosophy, and longtime advocate for the homeless, inspired Lynne Basehore and Adam Silverstein in May of 1990 “to transform the vacant lot into a healing, productive garden.” Paul, after receiving a donation of herb plants from a store in Carpenteria, California, knew that “if we had a couple thousand plants on hand we would have to get them in the ground; hence, the Homeless Garden Project!” Lynne began recruiting homeless workers from the shelter to come and work for a few hours here and there, getting the herbs in the ground. Since the herbs needed watering, and since Adam had experience in irrigation systems, he too became a part of the crew. As with most projects, funding quickly became an issue. Paul’s exbrother-in-law and accomplished actor Harrison Ford was “appealed to and kindly sent a check.” After nine months of volunteering, Lynne, Adam, and the homeless crew finally had regular paid hours. Lynne took on the administrative functions as Project Director and Adam became the Garden Director. More homeless people were hired to grow a variety of vegetables and flowers, as well as the herbs. Jane Freedman became director in November 1991, after Adam decided to do similar work in Colorado. Jane apprenticed at the University of California at Santa Cruz Agroecology Farm and Garden for six months, after which she stayed on to impart what she learned to new students. Her sustainable agriculture skills, teaching ability, commitment, and sense of humor have been central to the success of the Garden Project. In reference to the “horticultural therapy” aspect of the garden Jane once joked, “We may not have any couches, but we certainly have a lot of beds.” Sustainable agriculture The Garden uses Alan Chadwick’s French-intensive/ bio-dynamic, raised-bed method of gardening. The Page 4 RAIN Spring 1993 Volume XIV, Number 3
Garden’s “bio-intensive” practices include composting, crop rotation, companion planting, drip irrigation, and high species diversity. The raised beds were “double dug” with fork and shovel. A rototiller is sometimes used to turn the soil, but hand tools are preferred for cultivating, shaping beds, planting, and weeding. No pesticides, herbicides, or other petrochemicals are used on the crops, so the food is particularly safe to eat. As Chadwick liked to say, “Give to nature, and she will repay you in glorious abundance.” Local restaurants, cafes, horse stables, landscapers, and neighbors give to an innovative composting system at the Garden. They deposit organic materials into windrows (long piles of decomposing matter that generate compost in 3 to 6 months) and bins (where compost mix is moved daily from bin to bin, finishing in 16-20 days). The system provides jobs in transporting and turning of “waste” into nutrient-rich matter. Adding compost to the soil helps build a fertile, water-retaining structure, providing the base for stronger pest-resistant plants and higher yields. Funding and Resources Money for salaries and wages comes from a variety of sources. One third of the budget is covered via Community Supported Agriculture (selling shares of the harvest to the community), as well as through the sales of produce and flowers at local farmers’ markets, restaurants, and natural food stores. Funds are also raised through special events, grant and letter writing, awards, and direct campaigning. The Project was selected by Visa Card holders of the local Santa Cruz Community Credit Union to receive 5% of the money generated from the use of their cards. The New Leaf Community Market began a unique system of fundraising, by issuing 50 “enviro-tokens” earned by shoppers upon returning paper bags. The tokens are given to the non-profit organization of their choice. So far the Garden has been the community’s favorite, generating more than 5,000 tokens in 3 months. And finally, the Garden receives subsidies from the local Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA), the American Association of Retired People (AARP), and the VeterPhotos, top. Jane Freedman, the Garden director, and Lynne Basehore, Project Director take a break. Bottom. The first day ofthe CSA harvest. Shareholders pick-up their delicious, organic vegetables at the Garden. Check-in lists, pamphlets and the blackboard help pick-up days run smoothly. RAIN Spring 1993 Volume XIV, Number 3 Page 5
ans Affairs Job Training Program. The community provides a variety of benefits to the gardeners. One vegetarian restaurant gives the project free- meal tickets in exchange for produce. A local laundromat, “Ultramat”, provides the gardeners with a monthly allotment of “Ultrabucks” to use for washing their clothes. Some of the gardeners have coupled up with volunteers who assist with basic needs; from a bed roll for the night, to a job or housing opportunity. One gardener received assistance with his resume, which he then used to get a job with the University’s food service. Most recently, from the organizing efforts of volunteer Nancy Wicks and City Councilwoman Katherine Beiers, the garden has started a dental program. With funding from Medi-Cruz, Medi-Cal, and private donors, as well as inexpensive cleanings and x-rays from a local college and reduced rates offered by local dentists, three of the employees at the garden have received extensive dental work. “One thing most homeless people have in common is dental problems. If s hard to get a job with no teeth. With a little help from my friends, I got a new set,” said Bill Tracey. Beiers was motivated to help Bill when he was landscaping her house. “I told him, ‘Help yourself to the apples,’ and he looked at me and said, ‘There are two things you can’t do without teeth: kiss a girl and eat an apple’.” The Garden is also a magnet for contributions: clothes, a computer, and even a couple of trucks. With the latter, the gardeners could hire themselves out for landscaping, home gardening, mechanical work, carpentry, painting, etc., to supplement their income. Lynne says the extra work is not only monetarily rewarding, but also helps bridge the gap between the “haves” and the “have-nots.” One of the workers developed enough trust with a neighbor that she asked him to live in her house for a month while she was away. Community Supported Agriculture In the Fall of 1991 the goal of self-sufficiency was raised. Many felt that in striving to cover expenses through the sale of produce, too many of the social service aspects of the Project would be sacrificed. Then this idea surfaced: garner support by asking the community to directly invest in the garden. A working model of this kind of relationship already exists, known as Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). [See Rain, Vol. XIV, No. 2] In basic terms, CSA is an economic and social model for agriculture in which a farm or garden’s budget is secured in advance by the consumers. Neighbors form a direct relationship with the Project through purchasing “shares.” The costs and risks of producing the food are shared among those who will eat the dividend. The CSA model allowed the Garden to become partially self-sufficient, since shareholders commit to covering the agricultural costs, including the garden director’s salary, seed, water, etc. With this guaranteed support, the pressures and instabilities of competing in a capitalist market are lifted. This frees the Project to concentrate on its more central work: growing food and healing people. The CSA also provides a structure to connect shareholders to the food they eat, to the land where it’s grown, and with the people who grow it, while simultaneously addressing the problem of homelessness as a community. Shareholder Steven Beedle says “the CSA has meant guaranteed access to the freshest organic produce at a great price, supporting the much needed assistance to homeless people, and having a say in all issues that are confronting the Garden. There’s a sense of involvement, with people doing great work and benefitting in the process.” Another way to strengthen a supportive community is through harvest festivals and solstice celebrations. Recently over 300 community members attended a Midsummer’s Feast and Raffle at the Garden. People planted, harvested, danced and mingled to the blue-grass rhythms of the band “Harmony Grits.” Joseph Schultz, a well-known local chef at India Joze restaurant, cooked up the harvest from noon until dusk. Then, under the full moon, a bicycle and other donated items were raffled off, raising over $ 1,200 for homeless services. A fun and fruitful day indeed! Education Along with building community as a means to end homelessness, the folks at the Garden also understand the constant need for outreach and education. So in the winter of 1990, the Garden began a relationship with the local university. From the university’s Community Studies program came a group of ten interns that met once a week to work in the Garden and discuss with Paul Lee the workings of non-profit corporations and the historical context for the loss of “the Integrity of the organic.” They also helped Paul with research for his recent book The Quality of Mercy: Homelessness In Santa Cruz, 1985 - 1992. Last Spring, 28 students from a variety of disciplines — Environmental Studies, Sociology, Psychology, Community Studies, Literature, Philosophy, and Economics — aided in all areas of the Project. Mike Rotkin, a lecturer, shareholder and former Santa Cruz Mayor, said the Garden “involves UCSC students in helping homeless members of our community in a way that allows them to move beyond stereotypes about the homeless.” The Project also involves local elementary, middle and high school students. Groups come for tours and often pitch in with the work. Some groups spend time reflecting on their experiences in discussion or through journal writing. Chantalle, an 8th grader, wrote, “I have really loved meeting all the different people, gardening, and just being out in the fresh air. It’s a great way to learn. I think I used to be kind of afraid of homeless people, but now they have become real to me ... human beings.” Page 6 RAIN Spring 1993 Volume XIV, Number 3
A Homeless “Homeless Garden” The future of the Garden is precarious. There is an interest on the part of some of the current city council members, the city manager, and a very small handful of neighbors to subdivide the 2.5 acre parcel into 16 costly, single-family housing units. While the Garden staff originally signed a one-year lease agreeing that the occupancy of the parcel would be temporary only, the desire to continue at the current site is shared by a far greater majority than those who want development. The staff, workers, CSA members, and neighbors are meeting to discuss ways in which the Garden can gain security for long-term planning. While many understand the city’s budgetary crisis, they do not see the sale of this asset as sound or appropriate. The long-term benefits of preserving the land and maintaining the Homeless Garden Project outweigh the short-term monetary gains from sale of the land. It is probable that if the garden had to leave the highly accessible Pelton St. location, it wouldn’t disband, just relocate. However, since all of the other possible locations for the Garden exist on the city’s periphery, moving would make access harder and limit the kind of exchange between homeless workers and neighbors that has been so vital to its success. Most importantly, moving threatens an important project which serves as a model for an entire country in need. With 4,000 to 5,000 acres of prime agricultural land being lost each day to suburban development, and the number of homeless and jobless growing at a similarly alarming rate , there is a serious need for projects that preserve land for local food production, and that employ marginalized people. Within our densely populated urban areas the numerous vacant lots could be utilized to provide jobs, food, beauty, and a sense of community. The Garden demonstrates that ecologically sound, socially just, and economically viable projects are possible. What’s needed now is the motivation, determination and commitment of individuals who recognize the potential in people, and the land, to heal, take root and grow. Michael Walla of the Homeless Garden Project says “the Garden is showing we’re people with pride, people willing to struggle ... We don’t need someone who will carry us. We need someone who’s willing to help get us on our feet.” This article is dedicated to Manuel Gutierrez who recently passed away from the pain the world placed in his spirit. He sought solace in alcohol, which eventually took his life. And he gave the Garden so much. I love you and will miss you Manny. Jered Lawson wrote his thesis on Community Supported Agriculture and the Homeless Garden Project. He also compiled about all the articles available on the subjects into two valuable readers. The author and the Homeless Garden Project may be contacted at the addresses listed at the end of the resource list. RAIN Spring 1993 Volume XIV, Number 3 Page 7
^I^sourccs ^omefessness ^ooRs and Homelessness in America: A Forced March to Nowhere. Mary Ellen Hombs and Mitch Snyder. Washington, DC; Community for Creative Nonviolence, 1986. A good brief summary of the problems and roots of homelessness, together with proposals for eliminating it. Includes a state-by- state directory of organizations working with homeless people. The Right to Housing: A Blueprintfor Housing the Nation. The IPS Working Group on Housing with Dick Cluster. Washington, DC: Institute for Policy Studies, 1987. Outlines a radical housing alternative to end homelessness, based on the creation of a “social housing” sector that would operate on a non-profit basis. We the Homeless: Portraits of America’s Displaced People. Stephanie Hollyman. NY: Philosophical Library, 1988. A compelling collection of photographs by award-winning photojoumalist Stephanie Hollyman. O^0flw^ztttions: National Coalition for the Homeless 1439 Rhode Island Ave. Washington, DC 20002 (202) 659-3310 Involved in research, education, legislative advocacy and litigation. Works in close cooperation with dozens of homeless programs across the country, and can refer you to a local program. Publishes a monthly newsletter. Safety Network. National Housing Task Force (NHTF) 1625 I Street NW, Suite 1015 Washington, DC 20006 (202) 964-1230 The NHTF was founded by James Rouse, a former real estate developer who has devoted his retirement years to the construction of low- and moderate-income housing. The task force has published A Decent Place to Live, outlining a systemic approach to the housing crisis, building on the successes of the liberal approaches to the problem. National Volunteer Clearinghouse for the Homeless 1310 Emerson Street NW Washington, DC 20011 3ustama6Te /^icufture ^]^ooRs; Believe it or not, the United States Department of Agriculture sponsors an incredible compilation of resources pertaining to sustainable agriculture. Contact the USDA National Agricultural Library, Public Services Division, Room 111, Beltsville, Maryland, 20705. Titles include: Sustainable or Alternative Agriculture; Tracing the Evolution of Organic/Sustainable Agriculture; Periodicals Pertaining to Alternative Farming Systems; Educational and Training Opportunities in Sustainable Agriculture. Healthy Harvest: A Global Directory of Sustainable Agricultural and Horticultural Organizations. Healthy Harvest Society. Davis, CA: agAccess, 1992. With over 1,400 organizations listed from 65 countries, this is the most extensive directory on sustainable agriculture available. It includes a geographic index, subject index and contact people. Meeting the Expectations of the Land. Edited by W. Jackson, W. Berry, and B. Coleman. San Francisco: North Point Press, 1984. This valuable collection of 14 essays written by people well- known in sustainable agriculture, include topics such as energy and agriculture, sustainable gardening, an agroecological approach to sustainable agriculture, and much more. Sustainability in the Balance: Raising Fundamental Issues. University of California, Santa Cruz: Agroecology Program, 1990. This small but jam-packed booklet, highlights 12 issues concerning sustainable agriculture followed by a short analysis and a series of thought-provoking questions. Global Perspectives on Agroecology and Sustainable Agricultural Systems. University of California, Santa Cruz: Agroecology Program, 1988. This collection of essays comes from the proceedings of the Sixth International Scientific Conference of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements. These two volumes are thick with essays pertaining to the theories and practices of sustainable agriculture. O>*0««i2ations: International Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture (lASA) Newman Center at the University of Minnesota 1701 University Avenue, SE Minneapolis, MN 55414 (612) 331-1099 National center that matches volunteers with local providers who need assistance. lASA promotes sustainable agriculture through their newsletter, internships, public speaking, slide shows, and videos. They also have a well-stocked resource center. Terry Gips, Executive Director of lASA was the first person to give the most comprehensive and concise working definition of sustainable agriculture: Page 8 RAIN Spring 1993 Volume XIV, Number 3
an operation that is ecologically sound, economically viable, socially just, and humane. Friends of Urban Agriculture (FoUrAg) 114 Liberty Street Santa Cruz, CA 95060 (408) 459-0656 This Santa Cruz based organization is dedicated to sustain and encourage agriculture in urban areas through public education and advocacy. Bio-dynamic Farming and Gardening Association (BDA) P.O. Box 550 Kimberton, PA 19442 (215) 935-7797 The BDA is a nonprofit corporation whose task is to advance the principles and practices of bio-dynamic agriculture. To this end, the Association supports a quarterly magazine titled Biodynamics, publishes books, offers a biodynamic advisory service, supports training programs, sponsors conferences and lectures, funds research projects, and supplies biodynamic preparations. ^ommunit-^ Supported >\gricufture The Basic Formula to Create Community Supported Agriculture. Robyn Van En. Available from CSA of North America. This manual offers the basic steps for creating a CSA. Included are lists of other CSA farms and their budgets. Currently over 4,000 copies of this handbook have been distributed throughout the U.S. and in some 20 other countries. Robyn also sells a CSA video for $35: It’s Not Just About Vegetables, which Jan VanderTuin and Downtown Productions made in 1986. For a broadcast quality copy, contact Downtown Productions, 22 Railroad Street, Great Barrington, MA 01230, (413) 528-9395. Farms of Tommorrow: Community Supported Farms, Farm Supported Communities. Trauger Groh and Steven McFadden. Kimberton, PA: Bio-dynamic Association, 1990. This very useful book gives both a theoretical and practical base for community supported agriculture. Essays by Groh emphasize principles of biodynamic agriculture, while McFadden writes on seven CSA examples. Lists of resources and contacts are also included that assist readers who are interested in initiating CSAs in their own communities. CSA International P.O. Box 1399 Kingston, NY 12401 Melody Newcombe, (914) 339-0582 Is actively working on the production of a quarterly newsletter. replete with articles written entirely by CSA farm practitioners, and regional editors. Their aim is to facilitate networking among CSA’s. $ 10/year, sample for free. The Community Farms/CSA Project c/o Bio-Dynamic Association P.O. Box 550 Kimberton, PA 19442 (215) 935-7797 The Community Farms/CSA Project was initiated by the Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association to offer information about community farms, hold conferences, maintain a complete list of all CSA’s, publish a newsletter, act as a clearinghouse for CSA ideas, and provide assistance for those wishing to start a CSA. CSA of North America c/o Indian Line Farm RR 3 Box 85 Great Barrington, MA 01230 (413)528-4374 Robyn Van En started this organization in order to effectively network with other around CSA practitioners, to assist CSAs with ideas and information, and to compliment BDA’s work as a clearinghouse of CSA info for those interested in learning more. They will begin a quarterly newsletter by the end of November, 1992, $3, designed to give technical assistance to core groups, and inspiration to shareholders. To receive one, contact the above address. Consultation available by mail, phone and visit with regional reps. Robyn just returned from Russia where she met with agriculturalists. Homeless Garden Project P.O. Box 617 or 300 Pelton Ave (between Lighthouse & Laguna) Santa Cruz, CA 95061 (408) 426-3609 Jered Lawson has compiled several valuable resources that are also worth reading: 1992 Senior Thesis Community Supported Agriculture — (105 pages) $10 -H shipping. Homeless Garden project Reader pages) $12 -i- shipping. Community Supported Agriculture Reader (416 pages) $26 -t- shipping. (408) 425-7232 518 Meder St. Santa Cruz, CA 95060 RAIN Spring 1993 Volume XIV, Number 3 Page 9
Grassroots Relief in the Balkans Preventative measures should be taken even when it’s too late — often the easiest time to broach the subject. The territorial and nationalist wars in former Yugoslavia might have been prevented, had people taken the warning signs more seriously. But given the war, now is the time to begin repairs. In these impressions of small-scale relief efforts, energetic Dutch activist Warn Kat omits detail about the conflict, concentrating on dealing with it. By Warn Kat Zagreb, Croatia — A friend, who works here with the group Doctors Without Borders, tells me that the best way to deliver aid is to deal directly with border guards. Say “I am a doctor. Please let me help people,” and if that doesn’t work give them some money. It seems that honesty and cash are safer tools than guns for defending humanitarian aid. In fact, the only trucks these doctors ever lost were with a guarded UN convoy. If you want peace you have to pay for it. Some people talk about solving problems with armies, warships and jets. But that money could be better spent on more quiet solutions. Tireless grassroots work in Serbia, done on a shoestring budget, has helped turn many Serbians against the fighting. Perhaps given more support, these small community groups could bring about peace — they have already done well dealing with war. I know two brothers from Tulza in Bosnia who regularly take two trucks from the coast and drive like crazy with their lights off for three nights, hiding during the day, dropping off food and medicine and picking up refugees in Bosnia’s mountain towns. They take along whoever will help, like a German peace activist who spends his money on basic medicines, and goes along to distribute them. They make this trip twice a week. Cowboys like these are just a small part of the loosely connected grassroots relief efforts scattered all over the war zones. If they get caught, they have no guns, so they may lose their cargo, but at least they survive. They run their own show, making decisions as they go. It may seem wild, but it works. Such ad-hoc groups, like the French Equil Libre which drives supplies boldly in huge unarmed convoys with lots of press coverage, have no big organizations behind them. They get through because they are flexible, and because they are not part of the war. Grassroots action spreads when big organizations aren’t meeting pressing needs. I can see this all the time: the work I do at the Centar Za Mir (center for peace) and the Suncokret (or sunflower) Center in Zagreb, helps grassroots groups communicate, and connects those offering help with the people who need it. There are a thousand needs a day, and a thousand potential suppliers, but in tbe middle of war, grassroots organizers haven’t much energy left to make the right connections. Or when someone gets a good idea, they may J Page 10 RAIN Spring 1993 Volume XIV, Number 3
........... ........................................ not know where to start. Our goal was to help get things going. We listen to needs and send requests to organizations, individuals, and governments, by fax, phone, letter, computer networks and the media. When we tell people what’s needed right now, the response is immediate. I think no big centralized organization could do this. The other day we asked for some supplies for the Sarajevo hospital, and within 24 hours we got a call from Finland: “we started a campaign with the information you sent and we have three truckloads to send to you.’’ We also get many surprises, like the truck full of chocolate a German factory donated for children in refugee camps; or the Berliners who brought tools, parts and refurbished bikes to refugee kids so they could set up a bike rent/repair center. All through Europe people want to help. For example from my country, the Netherlands, we get calls all the time: construction groups offering to build shelters and schools, neighborhoods collecting money for medicine, cities wanting to adopt a building project in a sister city, people offering their homes to refugees. All this is wonderful, but it takes a great deal of time and energy to coordinate such things. So we have volunteers. Many, like me, are foreign and have a hard time adjusting to the guns, soldiers, refugees and horrible stories, though Zagreb is relatively peaceful. Volunteers must bring their own resources, because we have no budget. But there is a freedom for people who come to work here in ex- Yugoslavia, with loads of enthusiasm and ideas for all kinds of projects. When they come with great suggestions, we say -—n Li f terrific, do it! Despite everything this is really the land of a thousand possibilities. Without the local volunteers and organizers, nothing would get done. Not all Croats support the war. This is true too in Serbia, Slovenia, etc. and of course in Bosnia- Herzegovina. You can find projects, centers and volunteers everywhere. With their help we avoid most laws: we would have accomplished maybe 10% of what we’ve done if we always tried to be legal. The local people know all the backdoors and alleys of their communities. Sometimes our peace projects even get housing and materials from the military, through connections and tricks by the local activists. We help local groups put together publications, protests, meetings, raise funds, find supplies and organize workcamps. We work with many kinds of groups: women, students, workers, refugees, ex-soldiers, and on and on. We put together workcamps for helping refugee kids. We helped organize a tour of Bosnian rock musicians in refugee camps. From here a solidarity peace workgroup of 500 people went to Sarajevo without escort — the hardest part of the trip was getting over an unattended UN border barrier. The centers provide a mad, open experience. We deal with rivers of people, sometimes war tourists (who we try to turn into relief workers), reporters, and politicians. We get all kinds of volunteers: Greens, Quakers, Mennonites, Buddhists, psychologists, doctors, mediators, construction workers. One of our places can bed and feed maybe 40 guests, and we have several centers now so that we can get more work done and not just manage a hostel. People come RAIN Spring 1993 Volume XIV, Numbers Page 11
and sleep in their cars, or crowd into the basement. Some people take a lot of energy to deal with, but most are aware of our limits and just help where they can. When people get here, they often end up doing something different than what they imagined. Take me, for instance: early in 1992 I thought the war was basically over and I would set up small environmental centers in the destroyed areas of Croatia. Instead I bike everywhere organizing things, fix computer problems in bombed-out buildings, and race around picking up supplies in our old Renault painted with sunflowers. Many people get here and then move on, tempted a little by danger. When people go off into the war zones, they’re in the back of your mind. I really hate it when they get back and forget to call you. But life can be pretty distracting in former Yugoslavia. People come to us for information. We put lots onto the networks, we give talks, write articles and do radio shows to raise money and get publicity for relief work. We get the news out, and get news back along strange routes — I read a Beograd opposition newspaper, Vreme, which gets sent by modem to the US and back to me here. Smaller kinds of media are also vital. Dealing with refugees takes most of our energies now, so we try to help them become self-organized. We get old stencil copiers, which are being thrown out all over Europe, and give them to people in the bigger camps for their own newsletters. This kind of local communication is of critical importance in the camps. We also try to network people in camps with lost relatives, and help them contact people in the rest of Europe. One of our biggest projects has been helping refugee children to cope with stress. Most of our workcamp volunteers do this work. It doesn’t take too much training — although we did hold a conference on the subject. Primarily the kids just need people to organize games, and play with them. If they don’t get this kind of attention right away the pain of losing their families and friends hardens them terribly. Even donated rolls of tape and colored paints can help children cope. We try to get any donations we can for the camps: supplies, clothes, medicines, toys... In Britain recently the government asked people to donate shoeboxes filled with what they thought refugees would need, and at camps they gave one out to each person. This attempt at “person-to-person” aid bothered me: these people have real needs that should be addressed. Who knows what they’ll get in a shoebox? Relief should be a right, not a gift. People throughout Europe didn’t pay attention to warnings from Yugoslav peace groups when this mess started in the 1980’s, and now many just want their governments to make the problem go away. Their corporations have made profits here but won’t help to buy peace when it’s needed. Everyday I hear about foreign investment in some new business for profit here. That money could be spent on people’s needs, but corporations only want to make a return. Many towns don’t have clean water, yet European companies are selling water tablets here on TV. They should be giving these away, helping to develop goodwill. The stores in Zagreb and Beograd are full, but that doesn’t mean people can afford anything. Everyone abuses in this capitalist marketplace, locals and foreigners alike. Europe isn’t even waking up to the reality of the refugees. Countries say they’ve taken in too many refugees from ex-Yugoslavia, but they are apparently using tricks to over count by including “guest-workers” who were already there. The immigration restrictions also make no sense. The British government just recently refused to let in 170 refugees, when an organization in Leeds had already arranged to take good care of them. Dealing with refugees is of course nothing new for Europe. After World War II, my father helped set up camp with a group of orphans: children of collaboration and resistance alike. The kids ran the settlement themselves, and discovered that for their survival they needed to get along. When I mentioned this successful project, some people began organizing an orphan house in Bosnia along these lines. We learn. One thing we learn is that community reconciliation is crucial, even if it’s tough giving classes on non-violent conflict resolution in a blown-out building to battle weary police and soldiers. The mediation classes may seem absurd, but these people will be going back to their old towns, needing to mend their communal ties. People don’t usually want war, especially soldiers. When you first talk to hospitalized vets, they say they want to go back to the front. But that’s not their whole story. When we were out getting gas the other day, we told the attendant that our check was from the Center for Peace (Centar Za Mir). Some soldiers came up and said “we’re from the center for war (Centar Za Rat). Let’s have a drink together!” After you get to know these guys, they turn out to be really scared like hell and not happy with the war. We try to facilitate communication. People who learn to kill are not fighters on the frontlines and angels at home. Murders are up 20- fold in Zagreb since the start of the war. In a macabre way, soldiers from opposite sides already know how to get along. A soldier told me that there is one battlefield with no winds where the two Page 12 RAIN Spring 1993 Volume XIV, Number 3
sides agree to stop fighting now and then to collect bodies, because the smell makes it impossible to fight. Many actions by countries outside are making cooperation difficult. The embargo makes people all over ex- Yugoslavia dig in. Threats to invade, by countries or groups, help the Serbian right-wing. Just the UN control of the relief situation leads to resentment from the armed sides, who fire upon them. On TV not long ago I saw a UN soldier say their convoy will return gunfire, no matter who shoots at them. So now UNPROFOR peace-keepers have declared war on everyone. Many people at the UN know that a giant organization can’t work well with people. They recently decided to give their medical supplies and some money to Doctors Without Borders, and help the work my group is doing for refugees. The UN wants to control small organizations, but we need to be a little out of control to get things done, getting aid from all over the world just when we need it. We’ve talked with some extraordinary people inside the UN, who see the folly of big aid, and who may let us stay unattached, flexible, participatory and decentralized. Big aid agencies just seem partisan: a commander recently kept Red Cross workers out of a damaged area, saying they were working for the wrong side. Big aid also loses more than little aid. We’re happy if 80% of the goods get where they were intended. Usually stuff that’s stolen helps somebody make ends meet anyway. With offensive foreign armed intervention people would suffer even more, and efficient relief efforts would be impossible. Besides, invading a country and killing lots of people doesn’t make up for existing aggression. Two wrongs don’t make a right. Is it fighting fascism to intervene here? Though many think Croatia, where I’m writing from, is fascist, its far- right vote was actually lower than France’s. And the police here are genuinely lax, so we get lots done. There are cities all over declaring themselves countries for their own protection, who want an end to war. The people who are fighting are not simply crazy. They have a point of view, which can include peace. Our antiwar friends in Beograd help refugees, fight conscription, do political work, and organize demonstrations, meetings, concerts, guerilla theatre and huge rallies. They are among the people who would be bombed in an invasion. The West would do better to give grants to these groups, and to work at peace rather than posturing strength. Financial aid, not invasion, helped keep the peace here after World War II. Perhaps everyone needs to rethink the so- called “necessity” of intervention, be reminded of its costs, and look at the existing alternatives. The Centar Za Mir is at Grebenscica 16, 41000 Zagreb, Croatia. Tel: +38-(0)41-439928. Fax: +38-(0)41-438713. Email: warn @Zamir-zg.comlink.de and wam@zamir-zg.comlink.apc.org. Financial support for Suncokret can be sent to their bank account in the Netherlands, Postbank Amsterdam, account number 5110, on the name of SUNCOKRET, AMSTERDAM. Or by sending post checks made out to the private name: Ulla Treadmark Jensen, Keizer Karel V straat 23, 6147 HD Sittard, Netherlands. In both cases the money will be sent to Suncokret in the form of materials for the refugee centres and camps. Warn writes a daily account of his work in ex-Yugoslavia, Zagreb Diary, and posts it onto international peace and ecology computer bulletin boards. If you have access to a computer, and live in the US, you can read this by subscribing to Peacenet or Econet and looking in yugo.antiwar. To subscribe contact the Institute for Global Communications, 18 De Boom Street, San Francisco, CA 94107, Telephone: (415) 442- 0220, fax: (415) 546-1794. The Center for Anti-war Action in Beograd, Serbia, can be reached through computer networks at:caa_beograd@zamir-bg.comlink.apc.org. Their address: Center for Antiwar Action, Kralja Petra 46, 11000 Beograd. Tel\fax (+34)11 635 813. Doctors without borders is a neutral organisation that on request of UNHCR is working on the distribution of medical supplies throughout BiH. Donations of money are welcome. Head office in Amsterdam: tel: +31.20.5208700. Some U.S. Groups Working To End the War: American Friends Service Committee/New York Metropolitan Office, Jack Patterson & Cheshire Frager, 15 Rutherford Place, New York, N.Y. 10003.Tel: 212-528-0963/ 598-0971. Fax: 212- 529-4603. American Friends Service Committee, East/West Program, attn: Mike Simmons, 1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102. Tel:215-241-7188. Fax: 215-241-7177. War Resisters League, attn: Dorie Wilsnack, 339 Lafayette Street, New York, N.Y. 10012. Tel: 212-228-0450. Fax: 212-228-6193. Grassroots Listening & Organizing, attn: Herb Walters, Rural Southern Voice for Peace, 1898 Hannah Branch Road, Burnsville, NC 28714. Tel:704-675-5933. Peace and Solidarity for Sarajevo, c/o Kathy Kelly, 1460 West Carmen Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60640. Tel/Fax:312-784-8065. Peace in the Balkans Project, attn: Joel Gazis-Sax, 2727 Midtown Court No. 37, Palo Alto, California 94303. Tel: 415-321-3449. In ex-Yugoslavia: International Peace Centre Dobrovoljacka 3, Sarajevo, Bosnia- Herzegovina. Tel: Ibrahim Spahic, 38-71-646-455; Fax: 38-71- 663-730.Centre for Anti-War Activities, U1 Hasana Kikica br 8, 71000 Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Tel/Fax: 38-71-650- 660.Anti-War Campaign Croatia (ARK), Tkalciceva 38, 41000 Zagreb, Tel: 38-41-422-495; Fax: 38-41-271-143. Center for Peace, Nonviolence & Human Rights, Boesenderferova 2, 5400 Osljek; Tel: 38-54-124154; Fax: 38-54-45934. Democratic Forum Rijeka, Tel: Sura Demanic, 38-51-713-291, Free Dalmatia, Split, Croatia, Fredja, Tel: 38-58-42-424, Fax: 38-58- 551-740. Democratic League of Kosova, Prishtine; Tel: 38-38- 24234, Tel/Fax: 38-38-27660. In Macedonia: Green Action Skopje, C/o Jan Nansijevski, Tel: 38-91-213966, Fax: 38-91- 20175; Women for Peace, Skopje, Tel: 38-91-210627, Fax: 38- 91-236856; Forum for Human Rights of Macedonia, c/o Meto Jovanovski, St. P., Zografski 51, 91000 Skopje, Tel: 38-91-219- 067. In Montenegro: Citizens Committee for Peace, Hercegovacka 15, 81000 Titograd;Tel/Fax: 38-81-41914. In Serbia: (see Center for Antiwar Action above); Belgrade Circle, Professor Miladin Zivotic, Dom Omladin, Makedonska 22, 11000 Belgrade; Borba, Roksana Nincic, Tel: 38-11-334-531; B92 (Radio), Veran Matic, Makedonska 22, 5th floor, 11000, Belgrade, Tel: 38-11-330-946; NTV Studio B, Milorad Roganovic, Vice Director, Palata Beograde, Ma Sarikova, 11000 Belgrade; Student Protest ’92, c/o Philosophy Faculty, Studentki trg V, Carapica, 11000 Belgrade, Tel: 38-11-636-158, 38-11-646- 070, Fax:38-11-657-454; Women in Black, c/o Stasa Zajovic, Dragoslava Popovica 9/10, 11, Belgrade, Tel: 38-11-624666. In Slovenia: Peace Institute, Mestni trg 13, 61000 Ljubljana, Tel: 38-61-224666; Mladina, Franci Zavrl, Reslijeva 16, 6100 Ljubljana, Tel: 38-61-321-954, Fax: 38-61-329-589. In Vojvodina: Anti-War Center of Ada, Vera Vebel, Sencanski Put 27, 24430 Ada; Anti War Center of Novi Sad, c/o Nenand Mirovic, Narodnog Fronta 43, 21000 Novi Sad, Tel: 38-21- 363302, Fax: 38-21-57797; European Civic Centre for Conflict Resolution, trg Cara Jovana Nenada 15, 24000 Subotica, Tel: 38- 24-37116; Peace Movement Vojvodina, c/o Slavenka Ljublic, Maksima Gorkog,10/III, 21000 Novi Sad, Tel: 38-21-619019; Women in Black, Viljana Regodic, Vojvodanska 53, 26000 Pancevo, Tel: 38-13-512641. RAIN Spring 1993 Volume XIV, Number 3 Page 13
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