Recruiting volunteers, mentoring, thriving on interconnections (OFIW)

I really needed a long walk in the park today. When you have so many things going on you have to learn to just stop regularly, breathe and know that you won’t be able to solve everything, or even mentally mind map the different categories of things you have to do, let alone the different tasks for each one. Included in this list are “needs of child 1” and “needs of child 2” as well as work, personal life and more. For some weird reason, based on my mother hearing an interview on Radio 4, I have in my possession, and have read, Sophie Ellis Bextor’s autobiography. I am in no way recommending this book, but I loved the paragraph when she’s talking about her many children, and how each one is like an entire planet with it’s own system of functioning, and fluctuating needs for nourishment and care.

The point is that you have to just stop for a while. Today part of my stopping was next to a pond full of croaking, mating frogs. It was fascinating and I learnt so much. The males blow their cheeks out into bubbles and stay still shouting and shouting, they are green. The skin stretches out thinner than a balloon to make the bubbles. Then the females approach them and sometimes they chase each other a bit. I didn’t see any actual mating. The females also croak, are browner in colour, and don’t do bubble blowing.

Recruiting

My actual list of homework (preparing a report to move the activity permissions forward, finishing the lesson plans for the Doughnut Economics workshops) has not been completed this week. Again.

But it has been a good week for planning the restructuring of the Boodaville Caseres team. We’ve offered places to two people who’ll start in June (when it is confirmed we’ll present them!) and the question of how we manage the site for the rest of the year has been approached and discussed.

All this was several hours spent on communication, and my challenge as always is to keep everyone informed correctly, give them space for questions and opinions, speak clearly in the right tone of voice, and still pick up Joanna on time from nursery. I think I did ok! Let’s see how things come together. Keeping everything in balance between talking and coming to a clear plan is where a lot of my energy goes. The thinking in between the messaging and calls is fueled by my second breakfast everyday.

Interconnection

Things only make sense to me when they are connected. I think this is where ten years of permaculture design thinking takes you. I can look at what is happening right now with Boodaville, and everywhere I see integration of ideas, synergies and shared edges, it works. I am now actively focusing on promoting only activities that have a long edge with the permaculture designs in place (think “overlap” but more like two bubbles joining together)

Most importantly, as once put beautifully by my long-term Boodaville associate Carlos “The objectives that the volunteers and participants have, must be aligned with the objectives of the project”. This is brilliantly demonstrated by Sara who has put together a year plan for her education at Boodaville Caseres which is entirely based on the “Objectives 2023” document. The synergy is electrifying. And so is Sara’s dedication to the project: she touched the electric fence not once, but twice, to definitely check it was working.

Rovira regenerativa this week

My energy high this week was during a meeting with Ana Ventura from SoftFocus in Portugal abut the possible LIFE project (Valley Life? good title? I kind of like it) The notes are in this weeks image – a wonderful consolidation of ideas and plans, narrowing down to the key elements of what we’re looking for funding for, and a clear idea from Ana about what they can offer in a partnership.

The next steps are clear, but will they happen? We need to translate the meeting notes into a more coherent document about what we want to do, match that with the suggestions from Kathy Franco, and then get back to Kathy and push for another meeting with a potential coordinating partner. Who is we?

Another idea is to change the main blog page and list “current activities of Rovira Regenerativa” because we area already doing so much of this work that inspires us!

And my latest action, which is a real shot in the dark, is that I emailed James who found our blog and expressed interest, and gave him the task of writing a weekly update just on this project. Something to keep us all connected.. and connection is the key!

BOODAVILLE CASERES

We are still interested to receive applications from potential volunteers and get to know people who want to join us.

This week the team have been over to Cova Fullola to help finish the amazing kitchen – a straw bail build with artistic clay reboco.

boodaville barcelona

People are signing up for the Doughnut Economics workshop! and Emma and myself continue to make new eco-friends and harvest from the garden.

It rained so let’s see if the marigold seeds we spread guerilla gardening style in the neighbourhood will sprout.

YOUTH EXCHANGES AND FUNDING RESULTS

• Active Permaculture youth exchange at Mas Les Vinyes starts on Monday!!! I will be there next weekend.
• We are looking for participants in “Healthy Planet, Healthy People youth exchange with Aline from La Casa Integral. It has been approved so if you are under 30 and resident in Spain send your applications in.
• Sprout and Seed Youth Worker Training – coordinated by Irene and the Zaragoza team has been approved.
• Red Tent Solidarity project has also been approved! Coordinated by Vianna, this is being run by a group of young women in Barcelona. One of the participants is an ex-student from when I taught Business Studies at a secondary school here. Love that random connection. Not feeling old at all.