Personal Goal: Getting out of the EGO-system by getting into the ECO-system

The incredible people and communities permaculture has led me to has taught be to surrender. Surrender to the discontent that comes with growing up in a consumption based culture that commodifies everything. I am quite a restless person if I do not have a sense of purpose and opportunity to learn and contribute to something beyond myself. I am humbled by observing nature and strive to evolve my patterns of thought in reverence of the mutually beneficial relationships in the natural world. To prevent being in a constant existential crisis, I have committed myself to trying to understand why basic problems challenging society (lack of sanitation, food insecurity, wealth stratification, environmental degradation, gender inequity, political instability and stasis, and hopelessness) exist, with the motivation to understand how the problem can be the solution.

Over the past 6 years, I have volunteered with human rights, sustainable development, and environmental education centers, foundations, and NGOs in the United States, Canada, Ecuador, South Africa, Senegal, Kenya, Morocco, Ethiopia, Australia, India, and Thailand. My experiences elucidated to me the significance of observing and listening to people's needs and values, the nuances of indigenous knowledge, and the power of storytelling.

Permaculture is a relevant framework in the sphere of international development because it encourages me to approach all challanges as interrelated and to think cyclically. When socio-environmental concerns are dismissed as "special interest" issues and distinguished from one another, international development work is less effective and efficient. This reductionist and classification-driven approach to critical issues dehumanizes and disempowers us. By understanding everything as interconnected, the concept of the "other" dissipates, we stop thinking in binaries, and we develop a paradigm to critique our actions, the consequences of our actions, and our worldviews.

After receiving my BA from a liberal arts college (double majoring in Environmental Science and Human Rights, and minoring in choreography), I followed a path of a grass-roots, active learning to understand the core actions imperative to our collective survival and well-being. I have come to believe that any hope for the emergence of sustainable cultures is rooted in people’s relationship to the land. In any ecosystem, human communities can only thrive through mutually beneficial relationships. Thus, permaculture is a form of peace-building because it favors cooperation over competition; humans must work with nature, its processes, and one another. As a self-proclaimed "permaculture for peace worker", I am guided by the following principles:

- see “problems” as interrelated opportunities
- make the least change for the greatest possible effect
- work with nature and think cyclically
- start small and then expand
- relinquish power (in order to return function and responsibility to the environment and people)

I am always seeking an opportunity to gain experience in the field and to work with others who are dedicated to contributing to a more compassionate and creative world community.