Getting work done

Here at the farm I am learning all about the working dynamics of the place and how things are done. Dr. Vandana Shiva came to visit a couple of days ago and she met with us, the volunteers, and basically made herself available for questions and to talk with us. She gave us a project to do with the schools in the area. We must visit 10 schools and explain to them the Declaration of Mother Earth that she, along with 3 others, will present to the UN to be adopted along side the Delcaration of Human Rights. She hopes that we can explain the declaration to the children, have them write, in their language what the earth means to them, and then have them endorse the Declaration so that she can present to the UN that a certain number "x" of people already endorse and support the Declaration. We have had some interesting discussions around this project.
At first we weren´t sure about the objective and aim of the project...we thought perhaps it was to make connections with the children and schools and get them thinking about the earth, more like an educational or awareness raising project, but have now agreed that the main aim of the project would just to endorse the Declaration. So there were some reservations about this since the children will have a very limited understanding of the Declaration so to say then that "x" number of people endorse it seems almost a bit coercive, but anyway, thats the idea.
This is to be done, the visits to schools, from the 9th of August until the 15th which is Independence Day. I will be working on this, maybe re-writing the Declaration and planning activities to make it accessible to children.
I am also attempting to bring some coordination and organization to the farm. There is a general lack of coordination and comunication amongst the volunteers and with the staff. I have been focusing on this mainly, and of course my paper for Hegoa. Hannah and I are also considering writing an article to be submitted for publication in the Alternatives magazine out of Waterloo, but that deadline is tomorrow, so not sure if we will get that done or not.
Hannah had an allergic reaction to the detergent we use to wash our clothes, and had hives break out all over her body. So i´m rinsing my clothes extra well. We made pizza as a group the other day too! and attempted to make an apple crumble, but it didnt bake well. We have sauce left over so might make gnocci in the next couple of days.
I´ve had the opportunity to speak with one of the farm labourers in depth about the conditions, wages, etc. with the help of Sarayu, a volunteer from the south of India, and that has led to some interesting questions about the administration, politics, etc of the organization. I have an increasing amount of questions about the gender equality aspect of Navdanya given that it is a self-proclaimed womens movement, and does preach eco-feminism, but there are some incongruencies that I have seen, and more that I hope to explore.