<div class="gmail_quote"><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Hey all, B's going to add the brief from the discussion w/Emi in the Activist space, and then if you could all forward any extra ideas/comments/suggestions to Ali, he can send the lot onto the Permaculture Designers Guild so we can have a permie redesign!</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Sorry about all the traffic for anyone who was just hoping for newsletters -please tell us by emailing the list if that's the case. As soon as this redesign thing's properly in motion we can potentially move to a more 'newsletter' style of communication.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Tim</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">p.s. see below<br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">_____________________________________________________<br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Hey permies!</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Two things in this email: introducing
myself + request for help with a permaculture design.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">My name is Ali Majokah. I joined the
guild a few months back but never got round to introducing myself. So
here it is:</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">I came across the permaculture concept
last year. Was absolutely fascinated by it. Did some reading and some
watching and took part in my first permablitz.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Then in January this year I did a
permaculture course with the 'Southern Cross Permaculture Institute'
down in Tasmania. Absolutely loved it!
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Since then I have been back at uni
doing assignments- making sure they are not too late- and trying to
catch up on all the reading that I am always behind on. However life
has never been the same again after the PDC, it has changed me in so
many ways that I would need to write many many essays to do the topic
any justice. I think here it is sufficient to say that permaculture
is one of the most empowering and one of the most practical concepts
that I have ever come across.
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Since the PDC I have been caught up in
way too much uni and other non-permaculture designing stuff and so
have not got around to actually doing any permaculture designs yet.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Being a student at Monash University
(Clayton Campus) over the past couple of years I have been involved
with the Monash Community Garden. The Monash Community Garden is a
permaculture garden that was set up by Monash students from the
Monash Environment Group (MEG) in 2004 and has been going strong
since.
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Acknowledging the valuable
contributions that the garden is making to university life, the
university has said to MEG that they want to make the garden a more
permanent part of the campus and would be happy to build some fencing
and provide a shed, etc., for the garden.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">With interest in the garden growing and
the number of student volunteers increasing, MEG would like to put a
proposal to the uni to further expand the garden. And this where we
need your help!</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">We would like to ask if one or two
permaculturalists from the guild would be able to help us design the
garden (including the new area we want to expand to), so that we can
put in an application to the university with a well laid-out plan on
what we would like to do.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Having done a PDC, I would be more than
happy to help out in doing the garden design however I do not feel
comfortable doing it by myself as it would be the first real design
that I would be doing and so am not experienced enough to do it
properly by myself. So it would be great if a couple of people from
the guild were able to help out!</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Out of the students who are currently
volunteering at the garden, we have attended more than five
permablitzes between us.
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">The community garden has many many
benefits and means a lot to us. The garden is for students and staff
at Monash as well as the local community (please see proposal +
long-term vision ideas for more info). See the 'what we'd like' doc
form more info on what we would want in the garden.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">See attached the original proposal that
got us the garden (we will only need your help in doing a garden
design, we (MEG) will take care of the rest).
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Look forward to hearing back from you,</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Please reply ASAP as we need to get the
proposal to the uni within a couple of weeks so that we can get
permission to do the blitz by the 16<sup>th</sup> of November (before
all the students leave).</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">ali
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">p.s. Please either contact me by email
or phone (0411 025 358) or contact Tim (Environment Officer at the
Monash Student Association) on …............. or via email at
…..........................
</p>
<br>-- <br>Ali Majokah<br>Freelance Journalist<br>Phone: 0411 025 358<br>Email: <a href="mailto:amajokah@gmail.com" target="_blank">amajokah@gmail.com</a><br><br>'Live simply, so that others may simply live'<br>
<br>'There is enough for everyone's need but not enough for everyone's greed' <br>
<br>'Be the change you want to see in the world'<br>
</div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Tim Scott<br>Environment & Social Justice Office<br>Monash Student Association<br><a href="mailto:tim.scott@adm.monash.edu.au">tim.scott@adm.monash.edu.au</a><br><a href="mailto:timscott97@gmail.com">timscott97@gmail.com</a><br>
0411 345 983<br>