I have an opportunity to advise a business leader in Colombia on a
permaculture project on a large scale. He is in the process of building a railroad from Bogota to Santa Marta on the Caribbean coast. His problem is that there is a huge population (70,000 families) along the 700 km route that have been displaced as a result of the numerous conflicts that have plagued Colombia over the years.They are at this moment living in poorly constructed shacks in extreme unsanitary conditions. Now the solution they have been steering towards was typical; ask the government to relocate them into housing in some other poor community that won't or can't object. One problem solved and another one created. I currently live in Colombia with my wife and kids. We came here to build a
permaculture farm and build a
sustainable life style. So, in talking with this man about his problem, he said he was waiting for the government to take care of it. I started talking about a
permaculture solution. The Colombian government has thousands of acres of farm
land they confiscated form past illegal activities that is now sitting idle. So my idea was to empower these people by teaching them how to build a sustainable lifestyle and moving them to these farms where they can build a community free of government handouts. It's a huge undertaking. He asked me if I could collect some examples of where this has worked. I'm not suggesting he put all 70,000 families into one community, but build several along the route. Are there any projects that you know about that may be able to illustrate for him that shows that this is possible?
Thank you, any leads or suggestions would be very much appreciated.
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