After leaving the Army in 1985, I decided to do something to help the earth but was lost until I discovered permaculture. I completed my PDC in 1990 with Robyn Francis and got stuck into designing and building backyard systems for a living. A few years later I landed a job in Wilcannia NSW working in Australias highest crime town. Most of the population were Aboriginal and I had my first taste of community development. After 2 years the crime fell 90% from the people solving their own problems using permaculture. That project set me on a course of permaculture aid work. In 1999 I ended up in East Timor after it was destroyed by Indonesian led militia. 5 years later I traveled back to Australia leaving a network of trainers and projects behind. In 2005 I set up the Greenhand Permaculture Field School in Aceh, the tsunami epicentre.I designed the project, trained the staff and managed the team in very difficult circumstances like war, daily earthquakes, religious fundamentalism and general weirdness!
I returned to Bali after a year and assisted Chakra Made to set up field permaculture training in Bali for 3 months. To cut a very long story short I spent an exciting and risky year training Karamajong warriors in northern Uganda to become Green Warriors (see Green Warrior blogs on pemaculture TV)

I have developed a system of permaculture aid for community development based on what works in the field. Im now training trainers and would-be aid workers in the Green Warrior field schooled in the Philippines
. Students are trained in the field and have the choice of working along side traditional farmers and in rural communities struggling with sustainability. Permaculture aid can combine humanitarianism, ecological repair, and the clever use of local resources to rebuild a communities self sufficient economy. It can solve health and nutrition problems starting from the home gardens outwards. Conventional aid systems
are costly and deliver little in comparison. We have a basic field course for 2 weeks, a 3 month field trainers course and a 2 year internship live in the field. Please come and visit us in the Philippines