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Last July 12 2010, 46 students of St Paul College in Quezon City visited Cabiokid to experience ecological activities in a permaculture setup. They toured the Cabiokid landscape and learned some of the principles that we got from observing nature and how did we use it inside Cabiokid. Some of their activities include; bamboo tying and nail-making, planting vegetables, and potting seeds and seedlings. Their culmination activity is a tree planting activity at Ekodee, an experimental area besides, but managed by Cabiokid. They were taught on a system that Cabiokid uses when planting trees in a specific area. The system helps build the soil and fixes the nitrogen and creates succession between trees of different species. The variety of trees planted will jumpstart a system characterized by diversity and stability. This activity is only a start of how our youth can reconnect with 'real' nature and help them veer away from the artificial landscapes surrounding them.
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In 2010, there will be two volunteer groups from Bouworde, a Belgian youth organization, which will assist Cabiokid in some of its projects located in different areas in the Philippines. The first group arrived in July 2010 and they joined in building a chicken house inside Cabiokid. The building is built with a mixture of some wood which were harvested from Cabiokid as well as bamboo, and other natural materials. Like other buildings built inside Cabiokid, it follows the same SOPs, to connect and use passive natural energies passing in the component such as water, soil, air, and light. After learning some basic bamboo engineering methods in Cabiokid, they visited the TUMANA Project in Tiwi, Albay and spearheaded the building of a Learning Resource Center for a 10-hectare community site.
Basic Bamboo Engineering Methods in Cabiokid
The members of the youth group came from different professions. Among them are designers who helped in conceptualizing the construction aspects of the chicken house in Cabiokid. During their stay, they were able to put up the foundations and the roof of the structure.
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Visit of Socio Economic Managers
Last December 4-5 2009, different socio-economic managers of Isabela visited Cabiokid to get a glimpse of a permaculture system at work in Cabiokid. The visit is part of the Sustainable Technologies and Entrepreneurial Permaculture Program (STEP Program) In the province of Isabela. It has been a chance to study how STEP initiatives will flourish in different areas in the province and with their corresponding ecosystems. After the short permaculture introduction, a planning activity was conducted to prepare for the necessary work to be done in the coming year. For more information regarding the STEP Project please visit: http://www.stepphilippines.com
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Four groups namely; Cabiokid, Tiwi Agro-Industrial School (TAIS), LGU of Tiwi, and Chevron are devoting their time in developing and spreading permaculture initiatives in the the municipality of Tiwi, province of Albay. The TUMANA project stands for Tiwi Upland Management and Nature-based Agriculture. Cabiokid and the LGU of Tiwi aim to develop a permaculture learning site for the people of TIWI and by doing this; they incorporated the site within the prime learning institute of TAIS so it will become an eye opener for all interested parties.
TUMANA Site
The site is a 10 ha land owned by TAIS and situated near the school's community. It is located at the foothills of Mt. Malinao and offers a pleasant view of the Pacific Ocean.
The project aims to provide an example of a permaculturally designed system that will provide sustainable livelihood, address the problem of food security, and impart an ecologically friendly mindset to the people while also protecting the local natural resources and ecosystem. The site will serve as a satellite center of future permaculture activities that will emerge within the region.
The TUMANA project aims to sustainably tap natural resources and turn them into products that showcase the different capacities of Tiwi residents in processing natural products.
Cabiokid has been visiting the site numerous times and recently assisted in the creation of a master plan for the TUMANA project. The organization will guide local stakeholders in various resource building activities, in bringing back the wealth of the natural ecosystem, and in resource processing.
Cabiokid provided simultaneous trainings on permaculture designing while assisting participants in applying their designs on site.
Permaculture in the Basic Curriculum
With the help of SALIS, a private school practicing key aspects of permaculture, teachers from TAIS have been trained on how to incorporate permaculture learnings with the competencies or skills that are already present. During the school year 2010-2011, two curriculums will be prepared to include permaculture as part of the subjects to be taught in the school.
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As part of the team building activity of the Cabiokid Management Committee as well as the initiative for exploring the ecotourism capabilities of Isabela within the STEP Program, Cabiokid trekked the Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park. The team started from Villa Imelda in Ilagan and was planning to reach Divilican on the eastern side of Isabela. The adventure became very real and offered interesting insights for all of us. The whole trek document has been attached in a separate PDF file. please click here.
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Architecture students from the National University of Singapore visited Cabiokid for a 4-day bamboo training. They will use these skills in order to help in Gawad Kalinga activities that will be providing dwellings to the homeless. They've built a triangle house designed by Cabiokid and made from mainly natural and local materials; bamboo, rattan, skylight roofing and some minimal cement for the foundations. The students got to know different techniques on bamboo construction, structural aspects, and finishing. They were grouped into various teams that worked within different sites in Cabiokid. Enthusiasm and curiosity flowed more during the practical sessions where they were able to skin, split, and attach different sections of bamboo; they also produced bamboo nails of different sizes. Another group worked at the construction site of the food processing facility and engaged in green architectural design applications.
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Mindanao is one of the biodiversity hotspot regions in the Philippines; it is home to many endangered species such as the Philippine Eagle. With the eagerness to look into solid sustainable development frameworks, permaculture initiatives have been launched in Mindanao and over the years there has been an increased awareness on environmental issues. Action has been taken towards the preservation and improvement of the region's biodiversity. Seeing permaculture as one of the practical solutions to climate change, sixteen people from Mindanao went to Cabiokid and learned basic permaculture designing.
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Gawad Kalinga (GK) is a Philippine organization known for alleviating poverty through green solutions and various community development initiatives that promote sustainability and volunteerism among marginalized Filipino communities. Last year, some of the GK members participated in a basic permaculture design certificate course conducted in Cabiokid to promote and use the design knowledge they've learned in their respective projects. The initial training was followed by short but numerous trainings that introduced permaculture as one of the probable sustainable development frameworks that can be applied in various human development activities. As a result of these trainings, GK embraced permaculture as a major concept to be used in their future community development approaches.
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Last February 12-14 2009, the First Philippine Permaculture Convergence was held at Elicon Café in Cebu City. It was a congregation of people throughout the Philippines who met for the first time since they've started implementing permaculture in their own places. It was a convergence to share news and updates regarding different on-going projects. Aside from that, there were permaculture enthusiasts, who hadn't attend formal training courses, but who came to hear confessions of how permaculture has affected the practitioners. It was interesting to experience how their lives changed after learning permaculture and also how they started participating with the people within the host communities of their project sites. The group also visited an existing permaculture adventure site in Carcar, which is owned and operated by the Lee family of Cebu. Several activities were conducted to entertain the participants.
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Last February 2010, Cabiokid in cooperation with SIBAT, an organization focusing on appropriate technologies, launched its first solar-wind turbine. The installation provides access to electricity by tapping into the available natural energy sources. The location of the facilities is besides the food processing complex, training center, garden, and pig pen. The wind turbine and its two solar panels will generate electricity needed within these key areas. A representation of the local schools, barangay, municipality and some key NGOs was present during the inauguration of the system.
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In May 2010, with the help of Cabiokid, women from our community organized themselves and were named as Women Environment Action Group of Guapito (WEAGG). Around 15 women are now part of the organization and aspire for common goals; to build a community plan for their area and improve their quality of life in Guapito Street by developing a livelihood and improving the environment surrounding them. The group meets every Saturday morning with Cabiokid to clean the street. Wastes are segregated (plastic and organic wastes) and recycled in different areas at Cabiokid. Our dream is simple: build a place where nature is back, where it is possible to breath and dream.
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