Internship in
Permaculture International Aid in India
With Living Ecology and Aranya Agricultural Alternatives
Aranya Agricultural Alternatives is an amazing
non profit in rural India that is transforming communities and the Earth. It has reforested thousands of acres using
permaculture earthwork techniques. Aranya works with poor villages and builds homes and plants food forests for both people and livestock. Aranya works with villagers to create food self sufficiency, including oil crops, grains, legumes and vegetables. Aranya completely empowers family economics and creates great improvement in the lives of many villages. Aranya will be the host for the 2017 International
Permaculture Conference, expecting to have 8-10 000 participants. Aranya will also host the 2016 Indian National Permaculture Conference.
The Living Ecology internship was created to meet Aranya's need for volunteers to further their work. Aranya was looking for a structure so foreigners could really offer help in the way that it is needed. Living Ecology was looking to create a program that furthered the education of permaculture students and practioners, through mentorship with a successful permaculture elder; and creating opportunity for those interested in doing short term permaculture aid.
Details of the internship:
Interns come to India and are responsible for the design and implementation of a permaculture
project. Interns will visit many successful projects and see the results of various permaculture practices. Following Aranya Agricultural Alternatives successful development method, interns will live with villagers, learning from them about their traditional ways and needs, developing relationships and community trust. Interns will then be mentored in creating their own permaculture project, implementing it, and following up on long-term results.
1) Social Study of the Village: of people’s lives, teachings and social customs. Interns listen and learn from locals, gaining their trust and respect.
2) Environmental Study: plant database, methods of animal husbandry, climate and weather, and
land use by people. Interns learn how to do a detailed report of the present environmental situation and make an evaluation of what is possible and what is probable.
3) Design Project: map land and project area, reasons for project and its projected impact. Interns facilitate the implementation of the project with the villagers help, creating
sustainable caretaking of the project for long-term continuance.
4) Final report: follow-up report with actual impact of permaculture project.
Interns require previous permaculture education to be admitted to the program.
Interns completing their project receive Aranya Agricultural Alternative’s Permaculture Practitioner in International Aid Certification. They will have the skills necessary to implement a successful international aid project in other places in the world.
Timeline:
Year 1:
January 15 - April 15 :
Social and Environmental Study
Permaculture Site Design
Nursery Development
Earthworks Implementation
June 15- July 15 :
Implementation of planting part of the
permaculture design.
This is the schedule due to
local weather conditions appropriate for each part of the program.
Mid April to mid June is the season in which it is extremely hot.
Mid June it starts to rain and is the time for planting
trees.
Year 2:
Complete a report on the projects results, successes and issues.
This can be done by returning personally or having an intern from the next year send you information and photos via the internet.
The report will be evaluated by Norsonna Koppula and Raya Cole.
For more information please see www.livingecology.org
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