February 2008: Earthbuilding

For our first workshop, we built a composting toilet out of adobe bricks. We had over 50 youth come and participate. It was a great success and everyone was totally excited that they had the ability to build interesting and beautiful constructions by themselves, while paying nothing for it! The washroom now looks like this:

July 2008: Vegetative Propagation

We had two agricultural teachers come to our school for four days to teach about grafting, budding, and other vegetative propagation techniques, using low-input materials. These methods can allow youth to improve their family farms by producing fruit trees that bear fruit in short times.

One student from Houa Khoua village, practising budding.

Village-level Food Processing

Students bottling bamboo shoots for the dry season.

Fried bananas can provide a source of income.

Sustainable Upland Agriculture

In July we learnt about erosion control on flat and sloping areas.

Mushroom Production

We had a great workshop on growing oyster and straw mushrooms this November.

Composts and Soil Amendments

Herbal Pesticides

For 2008, we have 2 other workshops planned:

• Green/Community Business
• Rice Production

Keep checking out this page for updates and pics!