My name is Karambu Ringera founder of International Peace Initiatives (www.ipeacei.org). I work with children orphaned by HIV/AIDS and women living with HIV/AIDS or made vulnerable by poverty and violence. I am a peace and communication for social change consultant who has taught at university level for many years.

When I started the Kithoka Amani Children's Home (KACH), my goal was to provide a safe place for orphans, a place of love, support and care. Then I started thinking of the kind of Home I wanted the children to have and live in. Ideas of creating sustainability came alive in me. And that is how I started being interested in organic food and permaculture and ways to reclaim our indigenous food production ways for healthy lifestyles. I want our children to grow up learning these things.

This is how I started Tiriji, a holistic peace & eco center (https://www.facebook.com/IPITiriji?ref=br_tf) where I hope to train in peace and permaculture, holistic lifestyles and empowerment programs for women, youth and men. I want to eventually evolve into a permaculture consultant - training people on how to create holistic eco-living spaces around the world.

We are creating an eco-community using the Ecovillages Design Education of Global Ecovillages Network. We endeavor to use locally available materials and resources for our eco cottages in order to build environmentally friendly living spaces. More importantly, we have chosen to utilize this space as an ‘edible garden’ (using permaculture principles) where we have edible plants growing around our eco-cottages to provide a ‘food forest’ of organic food for our children and guests. We wish to inspire a culture of permacultural farm practices for food sustainability in our communities.

Tiriji is a project of International Peace Initiatives (IPI:www.ipeacei.org), with the aim to create sustainability for the Kithoka Amani Children’s Community Home (KACH), a home that supports children affected/infected or made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS and/or poverty. We engage and partner with friends and community members to imagine a sustainable world where there is enough for everyone’s needs now and for generations to come.

We are still building the space. So, if you feel inspired to support us ‘birth’ this space for enabling sustainable development and peace in our lives, empowering children and the community, and providing a model of an ‘edible’ eco-cultural and peacebuilding space to enhance our environment, feel free to contact Dr. Karambu Ringera at [email protected] OR [email protected] or 254 713 937 227.