|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Morgan Jones and David Fojo Partner to Create Eco-Village and Healing SchoolEarth Day – April 22, 2004 Morgan Jones, a macrobiotic teacher from Austin, Texas visited Port of Spain, Trinidad on Earth Day to join local architect David Fojo in announcing their new partnership. Morgan outlined the endeavor as follows:
“As I have often described it, my personal mission is to lead the creation of a residential school set in an eco-village to marry the teaching of a macrobiotic approach to total healing (in the largest sense imaginable, including physical, emotional & spiritual aspects) with the teaching of sustainable and healthy building design and construction (bau-biologie—the biology of buildings), the importance of layout and placement of the many elements of a community and each individual structure (Vastu, Feng Shui, and related teachings), and sustainable agriculture (permaculture).”
“I believe that in order to achieve optimum health and happiness, the highest possible spiritual development, and a natural state of tranquility within, each of us must address the biology of our bodies, the biology of our houses, the biology of our communities, the biology of our agriculture, and the biology of our business endeavors. I think we must simultaneously minister to all aspects of both our internal environments and our external environments, because these two seemingly separate realms are inexorably connected—they are in fact two halves of one whole of human existence.”
“When I met David Fojo, an intentional architect and green builder based in Port of Spain, I knew I had found the perfect partner for turning this dream into reality. David’s 20+ years of study of the importance of building layout and design combined with his study of the positive health impact for the inhabitants of such buildings and for the larger environment provided by the careful selection of sustainable building materials and construction techniques seemed to me to complement my own focus on the role of diet and lifestyle in preventing and reversing illness. And David’s lifelong commitment to a spiritual path that teaches self-responsibility and mutual respect harmonizes with my own beliefs that we humans are capable of great good when we recognize the interdependent nature of our relationships with each other and the earth.”
“I believe David and I share the belief summed up by this wise old saying: ‘You cannot think your way to a new way of living. You must live your way to a new way of thinking.’ While there is real value in lecturing in classrooms, we believe the most powerful learning comes from doing. So we imagine that while we are building and running this "school", what we are really doing is involving our students in every aspect of the design, implementation, and operations so that they can absorb the essence of (and thus truly learn) this natural and harmonious way of living. Thus we see students attending classes when we are defining how the land will be used and where each structure or function should be located. We see more classes when we chop down the brush and grind it up into the material we then use to manufacture the natural bricks we need to construct the walls of our buildings. Tending to the land to prepare for planting the food we will grow ourselves will be a graduate course in sustainable agriculture. The work of building rainwater harvesting cisterns to supply all the water we use everyday and backyard wetlands to turn the sewage that goes down our drains into more drinking water—these will be classes in self-sufficiency and sustainable living that could never be taught as well in a lecture hall. And of course, everyone who helps prepare the balanced and healing meals we want to serve will be studying in the most powerful manner how food directly affects every aspect of human health, energy, and emotions.” |
Last modified: 02/21/05 |