Hello,
My name is Chance Black. This holiday season marks a point of transition for me. I have met with my family recently and it has been decided that I will be the one to travel down south this upcoming winter to explore new potentials for meaningful work. Our intention is to find a land-based project to support by working on various aspects of community-building. This would include efforts toward developing perennial food systems and renewable energy systems, of course. Beyond that, we have the specific intention of creating a cross-cultural connection revolving around an early childhood curriculum, called the Winter Sun Way, which is thriving within the boundaries of its conception, but needs to be set free into a greater context in order to induce eventual change for people who need it most. The nature of our quest requires so much work, I am sure! But the hope of being able to help even one family outside the United States borders has us excited beyond anything we've felt before.
My background is a patchwork of school, work, family and travel, as is true for most of us from the fragmented land of modern America. I graduated a couple years ago from CU Boulder with degree in Environmental Studies. I have worked on five organic farms, in Arizona, Washington, Michigan and Colorado. I have spent several months making my way through central America, learning Spanish to an extent and discovering the wonders of tropical conservation biology and permaculture. I am the oldest of seven children, and intend to role model through my actions the importance of seeking work that will help people and the local ecological reality, wherever we happen to be. My mother has designed and implemented the Winter Sun Way curriculum at a school she started back in Michigan. Now, more than one hundred families are working together under her guidance to nurture greater awareness amongst the children in our community. She is in the process of creating a non-profit that will produce this curriculum for early childhood in whatever language is called for, and lay out a training program that will help integrate the simple, place based educational model into the local culture. Selling the curriculum through a for-profit branch in the States will provide the funding for distribution elsewhere in the world.
I will be traveling as a research project for the family. My goal is to make sure that food security and respect for local ecology are represented in our educational endeavors. Personally, I have been wanting to head down to south america for some time now, with special interest in Ecuador. Whether or not we find a home for the curriculum in your distinct area, we intend to make connections and friends in order to eventually establish a base camp for our efforts. Latin America is our foremost place of interest because of proximity to home and existing knowledge of language and culture. I can be helpful in natural building projects, food forestry, and aquaponics. If all goes well, who knows where the road may lead.
Please respond as you see fit. Let me know if there is a time in January that would be best for a visit. Actually, our family will be in the Los Angeles Region for Christmas. Perhaps we could meet in person.
Thanks,
chance
nochance48@yahoo.com
231 329 0128
Flagstaff, AZ
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