Natural disasters affect us all, but take their heaviest toll in the developing world. Response can be worldwide but assistance tends to focus on short-term solutions. Bodhi Garrett of C2C (Change 2 Climate) says the program will address the effects of extreme weather events due to climate change and the long-term adaptation strategies needed for sustainability; connecting the emerging model of decentralized international development/disaster relief to the previously untapped resources of the international business community and growing interest from civil society. Projects will assist culturally and naturally unique communities move from relief to self-reliance through grassroots projects supported by a global support network and media identity. The initial focus will be on South and Southeast Asia beginning in the Philippines.
On a beautiful weekend
in Carmel Valley, California, we came together to reflect on and discuss Change
to Climate (C2C). With the inspiration of invoking
the pause, the schedule of the weekend was a sound interplay of
reflections, meditations, coffee, project visioning, nature walks and
collective thinking.
The people involved
were Bodhi Garrett, Erik Rogers, Lena Bumiller, Lilia Villa and Meghan Thomas.
Together they formed a group of fellow visionaries with different backgrounds
and skills, ready to face the challenges of our time. » Read More
Earth, wind, and water -
falling sky, rising river, and shaky ground
Over the last few months, I unexpectedly found myself in the midst of a series of natural disasters - a flood, a windstorm, and the aftermath of an earthquake.
Two of these took place in my
current hometown - a small village in Southern Thailand where the annual
monsoon arrived with unheralded intensity; bringing a windstorm stronger than
any local could remember. The fiercest
gust of wind lasted only 30 seconds, but was powerful enough to devastate acres
of old-growth forest and destroy my next-door neighbor's house. Giant trees came crashing down everywhere,
vines and branches propelled outward like shrapnel, leaving giant craters in
the ground where the roots had been.
Amazingly, no one was hurt, and after a display of such intense power, the
skies cleared and the sun came out. » Read More
