Dadamac

A busy week at Fantsuam Read now

News of an assortment of comings and goings kicked off this week’s online meeting between the UK and Nigeria teams. We were told of the imminent departures of three of the VSO team members who have provided such invaluable service at Fantsuam. At the same time, we were informed of some new arrivals and the welcome new appointment of a  Programs Manager.

In addition to this during our busy hour online, we also covered topics ranging from Sickle Cell. screening,  bandwidth issues,and beekeeping!

Cicely, Lauri and Dori

Attachab Eco-Village: A new appointment ! Read now

Attachab
Originally uploaded by Dadamac Community

One of the benefits of using a Skype typed conversation for the weekly UK-Nigeria meetings was demonstrated this week. For despite not being present (and because I was invited in my absence) I have been able to look at the archive, catch up with the news from Fantsuam Foundation, and consequently write this blog!

Firstly, the Dadamac team welcomed Jim, the new VSO volunteer. Jim will be helping John Dada develop the site at Attachab over the next 6 months.

Good news really does come in threes! Read now

There was a lively and informative skype (typed) chat this week at the Wednesday's weekly online meeting between the Nigerian and the UK Team.

There was indeed triple good news this week

First Thursday - sustainable villages, the workshop, etc Read now

Thursday February 4th is the First Thursday of the month.  So here's my invitation to join me in the worknets chat room, and my usual thanks to Andrius Kulikauskas, director of Minciu Sodas for making it possible. All being well I will be around for an hour starting - 13.00 Nigerian time, 15,00 Kenyan time, 12.00 GMT.

Learning about Permaculture Read now

A continued focus of our weekly online UK/Nigeria meetings has been the subject of permaculture.

This was not a word or principle I had come across often in my day-to-day life in South London.

However over the past two years I have been lucky enough to begin to learn more about it -  and to appreciate the importance of designing the proposed ecovillage at Attachab along the principles it dictates.

Even as a relative newcomer to the discipline, I recognise it is the most practical and commonsense way to proceed. Not only does it make ecological and financial sense ... it should also help provide sustainable communities. In short, I am very much a convert!

First Wednesday Meeting of 2010 Read now

Wow, what a start to the New Year!

Although it had been a few weeks since our last UK-Nigeria online meeting (due to connectivity issues and holidays) I was quickly reminded again how thrilled I am to be involved with this dynamic group of people.

Although these meetings with Fantsuam are arranged for the same time and day each week, they are never routine, dull or a chore.

As this was our first for a while, there was a lot to catch up on. Despite (yet another) loss of connectivity and time lags, we enjoyed another productive session - and, miraculously, still managed to cover the whole agenda! A real triumph over adversity for the team.

Issues ref Developing-Country Livestock Read now

Hi Vijay

Given your interest in food security and wider issues surrounding it you may like to see this video about Climate Food and Developing-Country Livestock Farmers ILRI film:

In my mind it connects with John's vision for a model farm development at Attachab Eco-village and why it is important to develop models of good practice and effective ways to share them.

Marcus Update and Sharing Resources Read now

A quick update before too much of the week shoots past. I did meet Marcus Simmons at Tuttle on Friday, and later we went to City University to meet Ron Dennis. It was a continuation of the converstation Ron, Femi Longe and I had last week, regarding Nigeria, recyling plastics and other shared interests.

Marcus and I also spent a lot of time transferring his photos and videos to my hard drive, finding the most relevant ones to share, making breif notes, and trying not to be drawn into detail until all that was done. We discovered that we both planned to be in Central London today, so we agreed to meet again to continue our catch-up. There is a lot to cover - so, for starters, Marcus agreed that I could publish the email he sent during his trip.

Stoves and Juicers: protecting the environment and livelihoods Read now

Most meals in rural Nigeria are cooked over open wood fires. This is simple and familiar. Traditionally fuel has been cheap and fairly easy to find.

However demand for firewood has increased in line with population growth. As trees are cut down the environment suffers from deforestation, soil loss and eventual desertification. There is also increasing awareness of the damage to health caused by wood smoke, especially when cooking takes place indoors.

Efficient wood fuel stoves cook food more quickly and use less fuel. So if the stoves can be provided cheaply to local families everyone wins, right? Not quite!

Open Source Hardware Community Read now

Dadamac network is wider than our website shows. I wrote this email to the  globalvillages and learnhowtolearn yahoo groups to introduce some of my contacts there to Dadamac. Copying it here can, in turn, help to point Dadamac people to those yahoo groups: