Hope, lead by following.

Hello readers! I just finished chapter 3 of Bill McKibben's book Hope, Human and Wild: True Stories of Living Lightly on the Earth entitled "Kerala." Kerala is a small country on the tip of India, but Kerala does not fit in with the rest of India, not in the slightest. Kerala is a remarkable example of living lightly on the earth, and the power of a community. 

Starting in 1957 Kerala democratically elected a communist government and would periodically turn back to communism throughout its political lifespan. One main thing communism did for Kerala was to distribute the land amongst the people, giving the average family one acre of land to farm and live on. This land was formerly owned by the richer percentage of Kerala's population. Many families lived on this land and worked for the owners as near slaves; and gave the landowners 60 to 80 percent of their earnings. A small city in Kerala called Nadur was studied, and it was found that many families do not own beds. Most families had only cooking utensils, a bench and some stools as their only possessions. But despite their incredibly poor life style, Kerala has a 100% literacy rate. With a population twice that of India as a whole, Kerala still manages unbelievably cheap healthcare for adults and free healthcare for children. To put into perspective, the average life span of a North American male is 72 years, compared to India's 57 years. Kerala stands well above all of india with a life expectancy of 70 years. Needless to say Kerala is a unique example in this time of famine and over population. Sometimes the best way to lead is to follow, and there are many lessons to learn from Kerala.

Sources for this post come from the book Hope, Human and Wild: True Stories of Living Lightly on the Earth 

Community Gardening

Original Post 11/12/12Life's a garden, dig it? All of our lives are intertwined, whether we know it or not, but people who are part of a community garden willingly allows others to dig their garden. For this blog, our definition of a community garden will be; any piece of land gardened by a group of people. Being part of a community garden has many benefits. It is shown to improve the overall quality of life for participants as well as encouraging neighborhood/community growth and development. In today's day and age, community gardens are becoming ever more prominent. There are even different categories of garden including urban, suburban, and rural community gardens. As we progress further into what this activity really means, we will venture into these different types of gardens. Being naturally curious, I plan to go around town and find some community gardens and hopefully interview some of the owners, maybe I'll find some dirt on these folks.
Until then, life's a garden, dig it.


http://www.communitygarden.org/

http://newarkstcommunitygarden.org/