I have a B.Sc. in Botany and Soil, Water and Analytical Geography. I did my PDC with Bill Mollison and Ewald Viljoen, who is a member of this network.

I have laid out swales and soil building poly-cultures for numerous customers and have trained numerous people to do the same.

I have consulted for the office of the town planner in Pietermaritzburg-Umsinduzi and presented to an international sustainable architects conference, organised by the CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research), on the eco-hydrological aspects of site design.

My submission to the International Conference on Public Open Space Management at Tecknikon Pretoria on productive storm water management was published.

I trained and managed the trainers on the 180 gardens project in Isimangaliso Wetland Park, Saint Lucia.

I am currently compiling a species composition database for creating and maintaining optimal soil, moisture and climatic conditions in the desert and famine belt of the planet.

I was deeply moved by the words of Isaiah: "The kind of fast that I choose is not to put on sackcloth and ashes but that you spend that with which you sustain your own life on behalf of the hungry - then when you cry the Lord will say here I am - he will continually guide you".

When I read Bruce Wilkinson's "The Dream Giver" I remembered Bill saying to me "If you and I were the Emperor's of Africa we would plant a food forest along the East Coast of Africa and march it across the continent - you could become known as Saint James of the Sahara".

The essence of "The Dream Giver" is that everyone has an impossible dream. You know that dream is your calling because it is impossible without divine help. As Fukuoka put it: "The purpose of farming is not the growing of crops. The purpose of farming is the development and perfection of human beings - Natural farming is the zenith of enlightenment."

Following your impossible dream is how you become a soul that won't turn heaven into hell when you get there. You have to step out of the safe boat and walk on the water.