No. 044: RēAwaken
Retreat Sign Ups / Puerto Rico Site Visit / Circular Time / Human and Wildlife Conflicts / Prison Reform / Climate Anxiety + more
Good morning Regenerative School community!
Our director Ashlei Laing spent last week in Puerto Rico prepping our August Educational Tour with our incredible ISER Caribe partners. She shares some of her impressions below!
Keep scrolling for retreat sign ups and our recommended reading list to kick off March.
What a beautiful week! We traveled to Puerto Rico by way of Re's board officer, Viviana Jimenez Durbin, and family’s gracious hospitality. Old San Juan is going to be a colorful place for our students to circle up and settle in on their first day before traveling out to ISER Caribe. As we walked around there are so many tangible reminders of both the historical Spanish colonization and more recent US invasion. San Juan is full of history, art, food, and stocked for any last minute needs.
As we traveled along the coast and across the mountains to the other side of the island, we enjoyed so many vibrant island flavors, fruits and foods! Rē cannot wait to showcase the island’s amazing, historical, proud but humble food culture. From the brightly spiced and fresh Mofongo to the fun and refreshing Piragua, from the Island’s staples like octopus salad and Tostones to the simple, humbled goodness of rice and beans, the food offered and shared was delicious. Root vegetables, tropical fruits and fresh fish, every plate was a story in and of itself!
We also enjoyed a taste of the slower paced “island time” which felt a reminiscent of our founding days in the South.
After an incredible homestay with extended family (filled with grilled nopales (cactus), fresh papaya, and history), we made our way to ISER Caribe’s new campus. ISER Caribe is in the midst of renovating a 1900's building in the heart of their town. We are excited to explore local history and host some light workshops (some ideas include traditional basket weaving, mushroom foraging, agroforestry, afro-caribbean culture, and sustainable energy). We were glad that we got to roll up our sleeves help our friends paint their new center while we visited!
We stayed in comfortable accommodations with spectacular views of a bioluminescent bay where ISER has works on marine citizen science projects. Our students will be centrally hosted near some very special natural environments including white sand beaches, lagoons, caves, and ancient ruins.
We are so excited to build this trip of service, cross-cultural sharing, relearning of history and grounding in the unique and beautiful environments of Puerto Rico. We hope that you will join us in August to reflect on empowerment, colonization, and sustainable futures!
In deep gratitude,
Ashlei and the Rē Team
Join us for a day in nature filled with yoga, meditation, hiking, art, reflection and more! This retreat will be a fresh experience for all those interested in soulful nourishment, self-care, and seasonal resets.
We will spend the day surrounded by Alnoba’s ancient forests and wildlife habitats, enjoy hearty Ayurvedic meals (thanks to the thoughtful guidance from our certified Ayurvedic Wellness Counselor Nourish Me Wellness), and close with a fire circle.
Date : May 20th, 2023
Time : 11:00 am – 7:00 pm ET
Where : Alnoba, Kensington, NH 03833
Registration fee : Full Day for $150 USD or Half Day $80 USD
Click here to sign up: https://regenerativeschool.org/dayretreat/
Visit our Facebook group here: https://fb.me/e/S2BtagfV
Scholarship Options Available!
Email us at admin@regenerativeschool.org for more info.
Save the date: August 2-12, 2023! Traverse the island of Puerto Rico and its diverse landscape on this immersive service learning trip. We will work with ISER Caribe, an incredible organization whose vision is to "promote healthy and sustainable livelihoods by endorsing a model that is economically viable and oriented towards the preservation of the environment and the empowerment of the local people'' (ISER). We will follow ISER’s lead as we engage with the environment and community service learning, as they have incredible connections throughout the island community. Education coupled with relaxation will facilitate deeper learning and reflection. We will visit important sites like the Tibes Indigenous Ceremonial Center, engage with critical communities such as the Cabo Rojo homesteaders, and admire the island's natural beauty from rainforests to bioluminescent bays.
“There’s a Lot More That Needs to Be Done,” an interview with Barbara Smith for The Drift. Smith is a radical black activist who coined the term “identity politics” in 1977. Smith’s influence on Black and queer feminist politics is immeasurable. She spoke to The Drift about the limitations of the mainstream queer rights movement, the enduring potential of community organizing, and today’s confusion and bad-faith debates over ideas that she helped introduce. Check it out here.
Food Tank’s “Latin America’s Food Paradox” explores how and why Latin America, home to agricultural super powers and important centers of origin and biodiversity, struggles to tap into its agricultural wealth to adequately feed its population. Click here to read more.
Photo Courtesy of Ranjith Kumar, 2016 NPR reports on new research in “Climate change is fueling more conflict between humans and wildlife.” “Human-wildlife conflict is defined as any time humans and wildlife have a negative interaction: a car hitting a deer; a carnivore killing livestock; a starving polar beargoing into a remote Alaskan village looking for food,” Nathan Rott Writes. Climate change is pitting both against each other more often amplifying conflicts over habitat and resources. To continue reading, click here.
In “As livelihoods clash with development, Vietnam’s Cần Giờ mangroves are at risk,” Mongabay’s Lam Nguyen and Danielle Keeton-Olsen explore how government and developers hope to market the area as an ecotourism city based on its natural beauty and post-war success story, but major projects could disrupt Cần Giờ’s precarious balance between ecosystems and livelihoods. Click here to read.
“There’s a lot of history that’s being washed away,” says Eben Hopson, Iñupiaq filmmaker and photographer . In “How Alaska’s coastal communities are racing against erosion,” Grist’s Saima Sidik investigates how culture, infrastructure, and livelihoods are impacted by increasing coastal erosion. Read here.
There are four million indigenous peoples in Peru, who are comprised by some fifty-five groups speaking forty seven languages. In “The rebellion of the Andean peoples of Peru” for International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA), Jaime Borda reports on how indigenous groups in Peru are resisting institutional violence and fighting against a new wave of repression and racism. Click here to read this important update.
In “How Prisons and Jails Can Go Green,” Ryan Moser, a formerly incarcerated writer argues for Atmos that, as long as prisons exist, they should reduce their environmental impact. “Prisons and their construction pose significant environmental hazards, which harm both the planet and the people confined to them.” Read here.
“Climate anxiety, reflecting concerns about the negative impacts of climate change, is growing. Planning and action on individual specific climate risks could be a way to reduce personal climate anxiety,” writes Jeremy Fyke & Andrew Weaver in a new comment for Nature Climate Change. Click here to read “Reducing personal climate risk to reduce personal climate anxiety,” thanks to our co-founder Dr. Felix Bivens for forwarding this great read!
The EarthDance Farm pay-what-you-can farm stand. Photo courtesy of EarthDance Farm via Civil Eats In Civil Eats’ “Pay-What-You-Can Farm Stands Feed Communities Against Tough Odds,” Gabriel Pietrorazio investigates how farms offering produce based on what people can pay have played an increasingly important role in keeping communities around the country healthy. Read about some awesome actors here.
Sara Jolena Walcott’s Circular Time workshop! Our admin team had the most incredible strategy and team building workshop with Sara last month. We tracked our growth and rest over the last twelve months and mapped our cycle for this next chapter in the Northeast. When we stop thinking of time as linear, we open up space for local, unique and relational cycles. Sara’s wisdom and perspective is deeply inspiring and a great tool for all curious minds and regenerative practitioners! We highly recommend her work and course offerings! Learn more here.
What have you been reading? What have you been listening to? Write to us at admin@regenerativeschool.org and let us know.
Thank you and see you soon!