Three Week International Natural Building Camp in South of India-Hosted by BUDDHA SMILES

Build an Interfaith Meditation Hall for the Buddha Smiles School and the local community 14th November 2004 to 4th December 2004 Kurumbupalayam Village, Vellore District, Tamil Nadu (3 hours distance from Chennai)

Hosted by BUDDHA SMILES

The International Camp:

BUDDHA SMILES will be hosting the second successive natural building workshop for three weeks beginning on 14th November 2004 until 4th December 2004. This three week international camp will be hosted at the Kurumbupalayam Village near Vellore in Tamil Nadu, Southern India.

This natural building camp will be attended by natural builders, architects, peace and social activists, teachers, university students, and the local community members. During this period we will work local with the builders from India committed to alternatives, natural builders from Thailand, volunteers and instructors from the West. We have learnt from our experience that there is a tremendous potential for natural building in India given the socio-cultual and climatic reasons. In a way the experience of being engaged in natural building itself is a revival of this great tradition of building in this part of the world.

BUDDHA SMILES School for the rural poor also provides an appropriate environment for sharing the spirit of togetherness. The building theme is also of great interest and challenge to reflect the true diversity and respect for our beliefs, cultures and traditions. BUDDHA SMILES wants to honour and pay its tribute to the diversity of human traditions, cultures and religions. It is also a reflection of the true spirit of INDIA that represents the multitude of cultures and religions.

Hands-on Techniques:

Learn, share experience and celebrate the joy of working through hands-on
building practice, demonstrations and classes in the following:

Adobe, Cob, natural finishes(earthen and manual plasters), sculptural relief, bamboo work, thatch roof, straw roof, foundation work, arch, window and door frame installation, mixing techniques, model making, appropriate tropical design etc.,

Other Activities:

Every week there will be cultural activities consisting of dance, music and drama reflecting the local traditions;

Weekly walking tours

Buddha Smiles will be happy to organise day tours to important historical, religious, spiritual and tourist places near Vellore

Weekly activities for the participants to share and learn from each other through skill sharing with solutions oriented activities
Learn Indian Cooking

Indigenously built swimming spot( cool tube well beneath the shadow of a huge banyan tree) is available near (only two miles away) the school site

Fee: We request you to contribute on a siding scale of $ 800 to $ 600 for the three week programme. Participants from India are requested pay only Rs. 5000/- Your contribution will help provide food, tents, materials, travel and honorarium for the instructors and scholarships for the Indian and other participants from Southeast Asia. The participants from Asia are mostly peace and social activists.

To Register: e-mail: ramu_manivannan@hotmail.com, spiritinlifemovement@yahoo.com & smilesbuddha@yahoo.co.in We encourage you to register early. In order to book your space, please send a $ 200 Non-Refundable deposit to:

Ramu Manivannan
4A, First West Main Road, Anna Nagar
Vellore-632 001
Tamil Nadu, INDIA

Permaculture Design Certificate Course 5-16 December 2004 Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India hosted by Buddha smiles

This is a full Permaculture Design Certificate course. It will be held over 12 days and be taught on the site of Buddha Smiles’ school 15 kilometres south of Vellore in Tamil Nadu. The course will be taught by Max Lindegger, one of the world’s leading permaculture teachers. He will be assisted by David Reid.

Buddha Smiles’ school is located on five and half acres of farming land and is about one kilometer from the nearest village. Traditional cropping and cattle grazing is still carried on around the school. The school has a natural building that was constructed in a workshop at the beginning of 2004. There will be another natural building workshop going on before the permaculture course begins and people are welcome to join both programmes if they wish.

Participants will learn many aspects of permaculture design and at the end of the course will be awarded a Permaculture Design Certificate. This qualifies successful graduates to work as permaculture Designers around the world.

All meals will be provided by the kitchen on site. Food will be vegetarian and include both North Indian and South Indian dishes. Please advise if you have any special dietary requirements. Accommodation will be in tents. You can bring your own tent or borrow one from Buddha Smiles. Temperatures will be warm to hot during the day and cool to mild at night. It is advisable to bring a lightweight sleeping bag and warm sweater.

Max Lindegger is a dynamic and much sought after teacher and consultant. Max has worked all over the world, and is experienced in many different cultures and climates. Born in a swisS farming village, Max emigrated to Australia in 1969. Invited to attend the first course in permaculture offered by Bill Mollison in 1979, he subsequently taught alongside him. Since 1981 he has been self-employed as a consultant and teacher in ecologically sustainable design. He has taught in a number of prestigious institutions (including Stellenbosch University and Schumacher College) in 24 countries and made presentations at conferences in many more places. He has designed, co-designed, and developed a number of ecological communities, including the world Habitat Award winning Crystal Waters. He was asked to create the Oceania / Asia Secretariat of the newly formed Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) in 1994. His achievements can be seen in the ecovillages he has created, the awards he has received (Diploma of permaculture Design (First Issue), the Permaculture Community service Award (First Issue), ABC Greening Australia Tree Care Award, Prime Minister’s Centenary Medal) and the accolades heaped upon him by clients and students, many of whom have been inspired to go on to create livelihoods in sustainable design. He has lived in Crystal Waters for more than 10 years, where he runs a small BFA certified ecological farm whilst still maintaining a full schedule of consultancy and teaching work.

David Reid completed a Permaculture Design Certificate in Sri Lanka in 2003. He has a Graduate Diploma in Environmental studies and a keen interest in issues related to ecological sustainability. He grew up on a farm in Victoria, Australia and in recent years has traveled and worked in several Asian countries. He participated in the natural building course that was held at the site in the beginning of 2004.

Fee: We request you to contribute on a sliding scale of $800 to $600 for the Permaculture Design Certificate Course. Indian participants are requested pay Rs.5000/- Your contribution will help provide food, shelter, scholarships for the deserving Indian and Asian participants. Also travel and honorarium costs for the instructors.

To Register: e-mail: ramu_manivannan@hotmail.com, spiritinlifemovement@yahoo.com & smilesbuddha@yahoo.co.in We encourage you to register early. In order to book your space, please send a $ 200 Non-Refundable deposit to:

Ramu Manivannan
4A, First West Main Road, Anna Nagar
Vellore-632 001
Tamil Nadu, INDIA

Special Offer: You are welcome to join both the natural building workshop and the Permaculture Design Certificate Course. You will receive the special concession offer of paying only $1000 for joining both the programmes. Participants from India interested in joining the both the programmes are requested pay only Rs.10,000/-

For more information:
ramu_manivannan@hotmail.com
smilesbuddha@yahoo.co.in

Investors demanding environmental responsibility, study shows

Canadian Press
Friday, June 18, 2004 - Globe and Mail - Page B10

Large investors are starting to put heat on companies that fail to take account of their impact on the environment, an investors' study released yesterday indicates.

"The financial risk of climate change and greenhouse gas emissions has swiftly become a matter of primary concern among members of the global investment community," stated the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), a London-based group representing 95 global institutional investors with assets totalling $10-trillion (U.S.), which commissioned the study.

Investors "are increasingly demanding an accounting of such risk exposure from companies in which they hold shares," it said. "In turn, more global companies are acknowledging their responsibility."

The group said growth in its membership points to the seriousness of the issue. Last year's report was completed on behalf of 35 institutions managing $4-trillion.

"The investment community is showing a profound new awareness of its fiduciary responsibility relating to climate change, and sending an unmistakable message to corporations that their investors will no longer tolerate a lack of accountability about their exposures and practices," said CDP chairman James Cameron.

The CDP report includes a list of the 50 companies whose responses best addressed climate-change issues. Two Canadian corporations made that list: Royal Bank of Canada and Suncor Energy Inc.

The report also cites companies that are "behind the curve," including Microsoft Corp., which was said to have failed to acknowledge the need for computer operating systems to reduce electricity consumption. A dozen other major companies did not bother to reply at all to the survey, including Honeywell Inc., Boeing Co., Morgan Stanley and Sears Roebuck.

"Companies ignoring their investors will invite -- and warrant -- particular scrutiny," Mr. Cameron said. ". . . investors of all sizes are making their wishes known on this key issue and are willing to reallocate their assets if necessary."

The project's members include the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board, Acuity Investment Management Inc. and CI Mutual Funds Inc. from Canada, and international investment banks Credit Suisse, Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc., UBS and State Street Global Advisors.

The report was released on the same day that the chairman of the British wing of the Anglo-Dutch Royal Dutch/Shell Group was quoted as saying he sees "very little hope for the world" unless carbon dioxide emissions are reduced.
Lord Ronald Oxburgh, a geologist, told Britain's Guardian newspaper that "no one can be comfortable at the prospect of continuing to pump out the amounts of carbon dioxide that we are at present."