Day 1 - Let it begin...

Every journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Today twenty eager participants took their first step on a journey of exploration in permaculture practice and facilitiation. They join us from Cape Town and the Garden Route to as far as Polokwane in Limpopo province, Malawi, Mdumbe, Durban, Johannesburg, the UK, Holland, and the United States for this landmark event…the first accredited permaculture trainer course in South Africa! Successful participants will leave the course accredited with three SAQA unit standards. This qualification is designed to empower community development workers and facilitators, with all requirements certified by SEED director Leigh Brown and local organics guru Kirsten Zsilavecz.

We began the morning with registration, a welcome by Rocklands Primary principal (and permaculture champion) Kevin Pretorius, as well as introductions. What’s your name? Where are you from? Why are you here? What are you passionate about? We followed up with a discussion of our hopes for the course, and then viewed the seminal video ‘In Grave Danger of Falling Food’ by permaculture originator Bill Mollison.


We were served up a terrific local, organic and in season lunch display by Talfryn Harris and Galiema Begg, all cooked on solar parabola and wood saving stove. The afternoon focused on alternative economies as we navigated South Africa’s network of LETS (Local Exchange Trading Scheme), known in Cape Town as ‘talents’. For more info on LETS check out www.ces.org.za