Global uncertainty in the last year has precipitated looking at how we can sustainably support the project in Africa. The team in Kantolomba is not relying on “the U.S. side” to solve this issue of funding. They have been looking for ways to contribute to sustainability.
Far from being a conversation of scarcity, the exploration has sparked enthusiasm and excitement. As the Guide wrote in her recent blog, the team in Kantolomba is looking for land to farm. Team members toured properties for rent last weekend and are LIT UP! They are hoping to find about 10 hectares (almost exactly the size of A Long View Farm) to plant enough maize to sustain the project for a year. And possibly in year two or three, they want to grow enough to sell and make a profit.
One farm the team visited has a grass-thatched bathroom and a fire brick toilet. “We had such fun riding on motor bikes down a long dirt road to get there,” said a co-op member. “We couldn't wait to get home and tell the whole team about it!”
It is exhilarating, when setting out on a new venture like a farm in Zambia, to have a process context. We don’t have to get into a conversation with conditioned mind: “What will happen? Will it work?” Because, of course, we don’t know. We don’t have to know, we don’t have to figure it out, we don’t have to decide what’s “right.” We can be Here, letting Life unfold as it is and enjoy the process.
It is delightfully relaxing that we don’t have to know, and even more than that, we don’t have to care! And it’s the best kind of “not caring.” The kind of “not caring” where you care so deeply, become so wholeheartedly devoted to the moment you are in, that it never occurs to you to stand outside the moment to decide whether or not it’s “working.”
How fun! How exciting!
We’ll keep you posted.
In gasshō
jen