Sepp Holzer an Austrian permaculturist specialising in waterlandscapes returned to Tamera to give a permaculture seminar in the beginning of June.
Interest in Holzer`s permaculture and aquaculture is growing. People from 13 countries participated in the seminar, including Palestine, Israel, Ecuador, Brazil, Kenya, Mexico, Latvia, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and USA. This variety represents the diversity of our planet and reflects the urgent need for solutions to increasing global problems, such as desertification, drought, poverty and starvation.
The seminar was focused on topics such as aquaculture, seed production and urban permaculture, relevant knowledge for people who face poverty and lack of land.
In order to deepen the knowledge, Sepp Holzer led the participants in practical work, together they built a raised bed and a vertical planting tower, Sepp Holzer calls it “a sausage” - with a smile in his eyes. The materials used in the construction of the beds are accessible for everyone: dead branches, old clothes, cardboard boxes and straw combined with soil and manure will provide nutrients and a fertile ground for future plantings. Using these techninques it is possible to plant a garden in a garbage dump or a crowded slum.
“The education with Sepp is not only a permaculture training, but a training for life,” said Claudio Miranda (Poesia Samba Soul) a participant from Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Sepp Holzer and the model of the water landscape in Tamera, gave hope to Philip Munyasia from Africa. Philip, an inspiring self motivated leader, is the coordinator and founder of OTEPIC, a multifaceted project dealing with issues of land, water, nuitrition and poverty. In the past years Philip has been teaching organic farming to Kenyan people, and he will now incorporate new information received from Sepp Holzer and Tamera.
“I used to be very concerned about how to build ponds and lakes in Africa. But after coming to Tamera, where despite big droughts, I see so many lakes built with the cooperation with Sepp Holzer, I realized, if they can do it here, I can do it also in Kenya.”
Poesia Samba Soul: www.poesiasambasoul.org
