Page 20 RAIN March/April 1984 •./' Burden of Dreams: Building Commi by Meg Roland “The specific goals are what brought us together. However, there are many other hopes each of us brings to the project.. . . People with diverse political and social philosophies working together in a face to face community setting, learning a new respect for each other's skills .. . the forming of new social relationships, new ways of seeing and behaving. Dreams? Perhaps, but that is where we begin." —from a 1979 report by R.U.N.T. Throughout the construction phase of the project, numerous discussions occurred over the often conflicting goals offinishing the house and being involved in community development. Before: Eliot Energy House with roof removed, 1978 RAIN and RUNT have been closely involved for several J years: Rainmakers have served on RUNT's Board of Directors, ^ participated in its workshops, and wielded hammers and nails ) at deadlines. RUNT volunteers have worked at the Rainhouse and written book reviews for us. The folks involved in RUNT are a source of expertise we call on when we need specialized information. When the RUNT House was finally completed in summer 1983, we felt it was time to tell its story in RAIN. Meg Roland came to RUNT as a VISTA volunteer four years ago, and she has been involved with RUNT ever since. —TK Fitzcarraldo, a Werner Herzog film, was popular with Eliot Energy House volunteers. Burden of Dreams, a Les Blank documentary about the filming of Fitzcarraldo, was equally popular. We could relate to both Herzog and Fitzcarraldo—a real-life zealot and his equally zealous , fictional character. Both were absorbed in the arduous task of dragging a large steamship up and over an Amazon mountain (yes, on land) in pursuit of their dreams: Herzog's to achieve cinematic realism, Fitzcarraldo's to reach lucrative rubber resources. Building an energy demonstration house by renovat- ; ing a condemned building with volunteer labor, borrowed tools, and scrounged materials was in no way any smaller, or less passionate, a dream. We often laughed at the comparison, but at times we wondered if a dragging a boat over a mountain might almost have | been easier.... i For the past five years, the Eliot Energy House has .. been the major effort of a group called Responsible Urban Neighborhood Technology (RUNT). A forum
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