The Peace Research Center Tamera in southern Portugal is steadily growing into its vision, fulfilling its intended goal to become a model of a regionally self-sufficient, ecologically and socially sustainable peace village, a center for the further education of young peace workers from all over the world, a place of retreat and a central point of the global peace movement, and an active helper in areas of crisis – in short, a platform for research and development for ecological, social and technological peace knowledge offering solutions for the future.
In 1978, this vision brought together the founders of the project: Sabine Lichtenfels, Rainer Ehrenpreis, and Dieter Duhm. Thirty years later, in May 2008, they and the Tamera community met in Tamera with many of their former companions to celebrate this anniversary. It was a happy and opportune event, full of the joy of seeing each other again and moments for new and deeper cooperation.
For the past three years Tamera has been focused on the community educational experiment, “Monte Cerro – Creating Peace Knowledge.” From May to August 2008, first-, second- and third-year-students were together for the first time to study the subjects of community knowledge and conflict resolution, ecology and nature preservation, solar energy, clay construction, child rearing, political theater, networking, and peace journalism.
This culminated in the “Summer University,” which took place in July with a total of 400 participants from thirty countries. The event, under the motto “Be the Change,” was organized by the young people. It was very touching to see and experience monks from Tibet, students from Europe, farmers from Palestine, conscientious objectors from Israel, and campesinos from Colombia in mutual exchange. Reconciliation among discordant ethnic groups, mutual understanding, and working out real knowledge for the future filled the atmosphere. In study groups representatives of international peace groups were heard, scientific experiments of the Solar Power Village were demonstrated, and the edible landscape of the Holzer permaculture was actually “tasted.” The vision of a Movement for a Free Earth became tangible.
In the spring Alec Gagneux, a Swiss activist, supervised the building and installation of two Scheffler Mirrors. In Portuguese summer conditions, Tamera can now run its guest kitchen with these sun reflectors – an alternative to gas and electricity. At the same time, these large mirrors have become a landmark for “Solar Tamera.” The Solar Power Village, a design and development of Jürgen Kleinwachter, is continuously undergoing further development here in Tamera. A new generation of the “Sunpulse,” a solar water pump out of the Kleinwächter inventor workshop, has been installed to pump water from the large Tamera water retaining basin into the shore gardens.
The Tamera water landscape has grown too. With the help of permaculture specialist Sepp Holzer from Austria, the ecologists created two smaller basins which are now filling up with rainwater. The shores are designed as garden terraces, cultivated with a mixture of biological vegetables. The water landscape is part of a complex program for the healing of the land, for the regulation of the water supplies in the entire region, and for increased self-sufficiency in the production of healthy, ecologically-grown food. Birds, fish and small reptiles – many of which are becoming more and more rare in Portugal – are already settling here. Tamera is pleased about the growing interest shown by Portuguese nature preservation authorities and universities.
During the autumn a new village was started, called the Aldeia da Luz. Eight women – most of them over sixty, an age when most other people prepare for retirement – began building housing to be able to work in their professions. Using the clay and straw bale technique, two workshops – one for herb processing and another for textile processing – are going up next to the existing artisan house. Upon completion later this year, the village will offer a number of apprenticeship training positions for young people.
This year the Tamera Community has also been active beyond its boundaries. In August and September all children and adults from the “Place of the Children” went on a theater tour throughout Germany and Switzerland. They performed their play “The Black Shadow and the Riddle of the Princess.” The design and development of this political fairy tale – its story, music, script, stage sets and costumes, as well as translation into English – was part of the holistic teaching of the “Escola da Esperanca,” the “School of Hope.” Children of all ages performed on stage and inspired hundreds of spectators with their engagement, their view of the situation of the world, and their proposals for solutions for change. The next tour is planed for Portugal.
In October, Sabine Lichtenfels, cofounder of Tamera, led the pilgrimage “GRACE Colombia 2008” in cooperation with the inhabitants of the peace village of San José de Apartadò. These courageous people live under daily threats from FARC guerrillas and the Colombian Paramilitary. During a ten-day educational meeting, the subjects of solar and ecological techniques, herbalism, social competence, and nonviolent resistance were taught – knowledge needed by a peace village to become self-sustainable and act non-violently while living under life threatening conditions. “Grace” in this context is the term for inner peace work as a precondition for all reconciliation.
Part of the Colombia Pilgrimage was a peace march with 500 people, including numerous representatives of indigenous tribes. One of the leaders of the peace village said, “Until today, it was our wish to survive that held us together. Now we have an added perspective. I believe that, despite difficulties that can still be expected to occur, this village can not go under anymore.”
In order to finance the hope that has been raised through such activities, Sabine Lichtenfels established “The GRACE Foundation – for the Humanization of Money.”
Tamera has also been touched by the global financial crisis. In the summer, finance director Rainer Ehrenpreis launched an appeal: “Invest in Peace Projects!” At a time when the global economy is exposed to extreme turbulence, it seems to make all the more sense to invest in self-sustainable, social and ecological projects offering new solutions for the future.
The extensive seminar and guest program for 2009 offers many opportunities to get to know the work of Tamera for all those who are interested. For details, see
www.tamera.org or contact office@tamera.org.
