Setting up for Set-Up (part 1)

Dear readers, it has been far too long since our last update. The sun has begun to sporadically shine and those grey muggy days have finally reached their longest: it must be British summer. By now a small team of Green & Away’s trustees have assembled on site and started to make the field a home once more. There with them are the happy new interns, eager to learn all there is to know about running a tented conference centre.

My interviewees this time are the friendly Yanna and Rob, each with their own impressive story, as beautiful as they are different. Nothing makes the world feel as big to me as people who have walked it in their own ways, their individual experiences trailing an infinity across the globe.

So, Yanna, please tell us who you are.

Hi every-one! I currently study Civil Engineering in Denmark. My parents are French and German, but I have a difficult time answering the ‘where do you come from’ question because I lived in Japan until I was sixteen years old, and then flew off to the United World College in India.

Another intimidating opening. The life you were given is just as exciting as the life you have chosen. As a former resident of Japan myself, I can’t wait to hear more about your upbringing and how it has affected the decisions you subsequently made. So please, tell us what interests you.

I like to travel…

Indeed.

…especially when I have the chance to stay in one place for some time, is that a slight paradox? I like to be able to get a better feel for the culture and maybe become part of something. And this is exactly what I’m looking forward to this summer at G&A! It’s the first time I’ll be in the UK for longer than a weekend, and I already get a feeling that G&A is quite a tight-knit, very friendly community.

It certainly is. We of course have returning volunteers and many of us hang out together during the rest of the year. But what you will find immediately is that your fellow interns will become just as close-knit, that the new volunteers will become your extended family and the field will become your home. There’s as much present and future as there is past, and with every new friendship we’re honouring the work and love of those who made it theirs over the decades that came before. So how did you hear about our community?

G&A actually caught my eye because I’m interested in sustainable building methods and water and sanitation solutions. A group of graduates at my university here are building an earth ship, which I find inspiring. I’ve also tried my hand at organic farming last year, and love being outdoors. I think G&A will be a good chance to complement my studies, while working on something practical.

In what way would you like that to happen?

The variety of people who seem to come together at G&A is one aspect I’m particularly excited about. I’m curious about all the skills and ideas which I’m sure will be brought to the table. I look forward to meeting you all – staff, interns, volunteers, and conference participants – hearing some good stories, sharing some new hobbies, and working together to make this a successful season.

We do attract some fantastic people each summer. The perfect blend of creativity and practicality is what we’re good at, and I think we’re always improving. With our initiatives such as the Green Woodworker- and Artist-in-Residence, we have managed to find some of this country’s most industrious and brilliant young minds. I’m getting a good feeling from our interns especially. You guys are going to make it the best summer yet.

Ladies and Gentlemen, be sure to check back with us in the next couple of days to read the incredible journey of Rob. Until then – I hope you’ll be joining me tonight in a howl to the SUPER MOON. *Hooooooooooooooooooooooooo*

Andy

G&A Far Away builds a dam in Sinai

On 24 April, 7 participants from two organisations (SKGR – Self Knowledge, Global Responsibility http://www.selfknowledgeglobalresponsibility.org/ and Green and Away http://www.greenandaway.org/page.cfm?pageid=ga-home ) arrived in Sinai at the start of a journey to build Gwoona Dam.  Rosa, Diana and Helen were the G&A contingent.

The second day we left for St Katherine’s and the mountains. We had a wonderful trek up to Salem’s garden, our home for the next 5 nights.  On the next day we joined the team of Bedouin builders and over the following three days we all worked hard and the final dam was 15.70 m long and 2.70 m high. It was 1.20 m wide at the base and 1m wide at the top.  It has a volume of  31sq m.  The Bedouin estimate that the dam will hold 1700 cubic

Gwoona Dam

meters of water.  The consequence of building this dam is that about 30 gardens downhill of the dam will benefit from the increased supply of water.  The dying trees can be revived and the garden owners can plant more trees, vegetables and beans to feed their families.  Some abandoned gardens will be restored and become productive again.  The Bedouin will have more food and more income for their families and their sustainable way of life can be preserved.

The money for the dam was raised by the participants through friends and supporters.  Such was the generosity of our sponsors that we exceeded the target of £2000 for the dam and raised enough funds for nearly ¾ of another dam.

The day after we finished the dam, we had a slow trek to Farsh Romana.  We were accompanied by Eid a wonderful guide who told us about the history of the Jebeliya tribe, the meanings of names of landscape features, the herbs they use and of his sadness and concern that this entire heritage would be lost.  None of his daughters have been up to the mountains gardens so they don’t know any of these stories and his sons only come up if they have work with tourists. It will only take a generation growing up in the towns for this history to fade, and with it the ability to live in the mountains and to keep the gardens going.  Eid, and the other Bedouin we met are all custodians of a way of life that is disappearing and along with it traditional wisdom and a connection with nature. What could change this would be a revival of the trekking holidays and more journeys which would bring more of the Jebeliya back up into the mountains as guides and camel providers.  The dams and deepened wells are helping to keep the older generation connected to their heritage through the gardens and make living in the mountains a possibility but the younger people need work in the mountains.  The Bedouin need responsible, sustainable tourism in order to survive as a people. They need the income for education and health care and if they can’t get this in the mountains they will move to towns for work and loose their culture and heritage and the ability to live sustainably in a harsh environment.

The following day we trekked down the mountains to St Catherines to drive to the desert for the second part of our journey. We arrived to the magic of Mattamir just as the sun was going down.  The following day we went on a desert orientation walk and choose a place for our mini 24 hour retreat.

Just before we parted for the retreat there was the most unusual drama – thunder rolled

A desert sandcastle

over the mountains, the sky grew dark and then it rained! For 15 minutes or so there was heavy rain. We could hear the sound of gushing water and saw a waterfall spewing off the top of a cliff below Gebal Mattamir.  It was even possible to make a sandcastle. To our great disappointment we heard from Mahmoud that there hadn’t been any rain at all in the mountains and that the new dam was still dry.

For some the retreat was a welcome opportunity to have time in their busy lives to stop and do nothing for a day.  For others it was an opportunity to reflect on the path their lives were taking and to make decisions about the way forward.  We came together again on the last night for a delicious meal and to share our experiences over the previous 9 days.  Our last day was spent walking and camel riding to Gebel Maharoon and Aduda dune then down to the jeeps for the journey back to Sharm El Sheik.

The journey was very thought provoking and we learned a lot, some of it about the Bedouin cultural heritage and some things about ourselves. The contrast between our own lives back here in UK and Bedouin life helps put things in perspective and emphasise what is really important in life.  Our impact on the Bedouin is huge but this is a reciprocal experience with everyone concerned being enriched – the journeys fulfil the aims of the Makhad Trust to bring people of different cultures together for mutual benefit.

We would like to thank all our sponsors for their generosity.  The excess funds will be seed money for the next dam building trip scheduled for next spring.  Look out for more details to follow.

Green and Away – Far Away!

Green and Away has been getting increasingly international over the last 5 years or so.  It is not unusual for us to have volunteers from over 10 countries in a season and this has largely been due to using a wonderful organisation called HelpX.  This gives us plenty of great volunteers and lots of new friends too.

Treking in the high mountains of Sinai to build a dam

However we are about to spread our tendrils a bit further next week when three members of the team go to Sinai, Egypt to work on a water conservation project with the Bedouin.  Rosa, Diana and Helen will fly out to Sharm El Sheik (yes we know this isn’t very green or sustainable but please read on), join up with 5 members of the Beshara School and then travel up to the mountains near St Katherine’s where they will be hosted by and work alongside the Bedouin to build a small dam.

The Jebilya people have been maintaining gardens in the high mountains ever since the monastery of St Katherine’s was built around 600AD, the produce fed their families and the monks.  They grow almonds, peaches, pomegranates, grapes, apples, pears, apricots, beans, herbs and much more.  The Jebeliya have a justified reputation as master gardeners. Over the last 10 years the meagre rainfall in this desert area has all but stopped, the wells have been running dry and many of the gardens, which have been the bedouins’ cultural home, have been abandoned.  The situation has been exacerbated by the massive growth in tourism and the large water-guzzling hotels along the coast from Sharm El Sheik.  To service these hotels, ground water is pumped out and piped to hotels where it is used not just for essential things like drinking and cooking, but also to enable green lawns to grow, fountains to flow and huge swimming pools to sit evaporating in the hot dry air.  Most tourists visiting Sharm have no idea that they are visiting a desert area or what that means and are quite happy to continue they Northern European relationship with water, which is to take it for granted.  The contrast of this lifestyle with that of the Bedouin who make every last drop count is very disturbing.

It is thought that the use of all this ground water around Sharm is lowering the water table over all of South Sinai and the Bedouin are struggling as their wells run dry, their gardens die, and one of their means of survival disappears.

Ziri Dam completed by Concordia College USA

The Makhad Trust has been working with the Bedouin for the last 10 years to help restore their gardens and bring some water back by deepening wells and building small stone dams to hold back the brief intermittent rains allowing the water to permeate the water table locally.  The dams are making a huge difference with more Bedouin reclaiming their ancestral gardens and giving a much-needed income from the garden produce.

There are now 12 dams in the high mountains and Rosa, Diana and Helen will be helping to build Gwoona Dam.  As a result of this dam about 30 gardens below will benefit and the owners will be able to plant lots of fruit and nut trees.   The gardens are inaccessible by road and all supplies have to go by camel so the knock-on effects of this programme are  that it allows the Bedouin to go back to a more sustainable lifestyle.

We will be hosted by the Bedouin during the whole trip and the money we spend goes straight into the local economy.  This is not just sustainable tourism, but we will be leaving behind a legacy that could help 30 Bedouin families or 200 people, and our carbon footprint will be partially offset by trees that grow as a result.

However we are not just being altruistic, the Bedouin have a lot to teach us about living in

Bedouin camp

harmony with the world and the landscapes are stunningly beautiful.  This is truly the journey of a lifetime and to be recommended to everyone.

We will post a report on our return.