Umphakatsi Peace Ecovillage, founded by Sarah Tobhi Motha along with friends and family in 2006 as a community based initiative of the local people of Vlakplass, Steynsdorp in the Province of magestic Mpumalanga, bordering both Swaziland and Mozambique, is honoured to invite you to participate on our first for women by women Ecovillage Design Education Training for Sustainability course which will take place from April 28, until May 25th 2013.

Please find attached a flyer of the EDE-Course, along with the schedule and short bios of the facilitators and trainers.  If you are interested in participating, please fill out the questionnaire that is also attached.

Please take note that there are some limited bursaries available. They are only meant for people who have no possibility of organising the money with the help of family and friends. You will need to arrange all travel expenses yourself.

Applications for bursaries must be sent in before February 28th, 2013 to be considered.

To request application forms and more information contact  Lua Bashala-Kekana by email on luakekana@yahoo.com or sarahmotha@gmail.com

Tel:  . + 243 81 754 6422/  + 2772 707 7075/ +27 79 766 5803

Websites: http://www.umphakatsi.co.za

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

?

• Certified by Gaia Education
• An official contribution to the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development 2005 -2014

Goals of the course include:

• Empowering and enabling woman activists
• Passing on design skills for effective projects
• Working in urban and rural environments
• Restoring naturalonsciousness for local action

You will gain:

• Rights based approach to holistic integrative design skills in four areas of sustainability: ecology, economy, the social and worldview
• Knowledge for building resilience and embracing complexity
• Basic tools for setting up EDE courses in your region
• Personal coaching and empowerment and a network of supportive relationships
• Climate change and mitigation strategies
• Participatory approaches in working with communities on gender, poverty and HIV

Costs and Funding Possibilities:

• Course Fee ?650
• Food and Accommodation ?650
• Limited bursaries available, contact us for more information

Click here to book

The main facilitators will be:

Kosha Anja Joubert: (MSc Organisational Development) has been part of the team of educators who developed the EDE-Curriculum. Together with Robin Alfred she edited the Social Key: Beyond You and Me ? Inspirations and Wisdom for Building Community, which you can download at www.gaiaeducation.net (publications) she has also written a book on collective wisdom. She is the President of the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) International and Executive Secretary of GEN-Europe, Africa and Middle East and actively supporting the emergence of GEN Africa. A South African by birth, Kosha has lived for 15 years in Sieben Linden Ecovillage in Germany and she currently lives in Findhorn Ecovillage in Scotland with her family.

Tobhi Sarah Motha: Sarah Tobhi Motha is the Co-ordinator and CoFounder at the Human Rights Education Centre and Umphakatsi Peace Ecovillage in South Africa. Her working experience ranges from being a school teacher at Imbuzini village in the border of Mozambique and South Africa, Community Educator to a Research Coordinator on Youth Cooperatives. She is a former HRE Coordinator for Amnesty International South Africa under a REAP funded project. Her recent assignments include being a National Director for the Harold Wolpe Memorial Trust and Refugee Research Coordinator for the Education Rights Project at Wits University for a project on education rights for migrants in the Johannesburg ? South Africa. Sarah Tobhi Motha holds a Master of Arts degree in Forced Migration Studies from Wits University. She completed her first EDE at Sieben Linden and has since co facilitated in EDE?s in Senegal and South Africa.

Lua Bashala-Kekana: is a Congolese woman currently living between Khula Dhamma ecovillage in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, and the Congo with her husband Lucky Kekana and their 2 children. Lua has a background in business and politics, having read law at Wits University. Spending over 10 years living in USA, Canada and Europe has broadened her worldview and understanding of social structures & possibilities. Lua is Vice President of the Global Ecovillage Network?Africa (www.gen-africa.org) and also member of Gaia Education (www.gaiaeducation.org). Lua and her family are currently working on developing Mama Na Bana Ecovillage and Permaculture Living and Learning Center in the Democratic Republic of Congo, this center facilitates Permaculture and EDE courses. This project received the GEN-Europe excellence award 2011.

Linda Kabeira: is a development worker with 11 years? experience working with people from various backgrounds at both implementation and middle managerial level in the agricultural management, environmental management sectors mainstreaming gender, HIV and AIDS and child protection issues. She is a graduated forester and environmentalist with a BSC (Hons) in Geography and Environmental Studies. Linda is currently the National Coordinator for the Zimbabwe Institute of Permaculture (ZIP) and the Schools and Colleges Permaculture Programme (SCOPE) and she is completing her Masters.

Norah Chisha: is a community worker from Zambia, she has worked with rural smale scale farmers under EU funded projects. She specialises on seedbanks, community gardens and bee farming. She holds an Honours degree in Agro Forestry and certificate on Training for Transformation focusing on Paolo Freire basic methods of working with communities. Norah currently works as a volunteer Coordinator for the Community Healing Network based in Cape Town and she is one of the cofounders for the Human Rights Education Centre.

Derrick Naidoo: is a community worker and popular education animator using Freiran approaches for the past 23 years. He specialises on cooperatives, alternative economic systems, structural analysis, popular mediums of learning and works with institutions such as the Community Healing Network, University of Western Cape and DVV International a German global adult literacy programme. He is married to Norah Chisha.

Lucky Kekana: Lucky was born in Alexandra township outside Johannesburg. He has been involved in the sport of basketball since the age of 17, first as a player, then working towards community upliftment through the sport in all provinces of South Africa, by educating youth, coaches and teachers and building community centres. He currently heads Logistics for the National Basketball Association?s Basketball Without Borders youth camps each year in Africa. Lucky speaks all 9 South African languages and continues to work with communities in South Africa and has now extended his work to the Congo. He is a Gen- Africa and a trained permaculturist who enjoys building natural houses. Lucky completed his EDE in India and has since organized logistics for EDE?s in South Africa and Congo.

* Notes: List of additional facilitators from nearest local community elders to share their indegenious knowledge and wisdom on range of topics as reflected below. We have used titles that they are known with in the community. Make Motsa, Malik Jafta, Gogo LaMatsebula, Gogo Mahlalentabeni, Gogo Masilela, Gogo Nkosi (Umka Mhlakazi), Make Wa Papa, Babe Mhambi, Babe Ngwenya, Indvuna Gama.

?