| Global Ecovillage Network Oceania & Asia Inc. |
|
|
by Max Lindegger
Tlholego is around 2 hours drive north west of Johannesburg. Here, Paul and Stephne Cohen, and a strong group of supporters, are showing that alternatives are possible. Over a number of years they have been working hard to improve the settlement of Tlholego. Their achievements are impressive.
The centre was started in 1993 and comprises 3 separate parts:
- An educational institute for training, administration and project development;
- the Tlholego residential village of 25 workers and their families who work to upgrade housing, water supply, food security and energy supply, including the development and testing of a model of a sustainable rural homestead (Tswana Lelapa);
- and the Tshedimosong Farm School which caters for the education of 300 students. Plans are being developed in conjunction with the regional education authority for this school to become a model of permaculture design for farm school development.
Amazing progress has been made in the short number of years the project has been running, particularly in the areas of low-cost housing with the inclusion of appropriate technologies such as permaculture design, rainwater collection, compost toilets and solar water heating.
 |
|
The pond and cook house
|
The houses have been designed by well known Australian architect Dr. Brian Woodward, who lived with his family on Tlholego for 6 months. The experience gained from building these two homes has proved that it is possible to construct healthy, sound dwellings using local materials within the government subsidy.
Traditional skills
The GEN is keen to encourage the preservation of skills and it was very pleasing for all of us to be present for the opening of a large round meeting house (the ‘Swama Hut’) which is exhibiting traditional skills in a very appropriate and attractive way.
Hamish Stewart from the GEN office in Denmark, Prof. Declan Kennedy from Lebensgarten, Albert Bates from The Farm and Val Oliver and myself from this office in Crystal Waters felt privileged to be part of the 300 person crowd who were at the opening and were shown the plans and vision for the Tlholego project.
The newly completed 'Swama Hut' will be a central meeting place in Tlholego.
Its design is based on traditional Swama building styles.
The vents at the top improve air circulation.
Reforestation
The Tlholego property, as with much of the surrounding area, has suffered from the loss of tree cover and topsoil. Overgrazing has had devastating consequences and has resulted in serious erosion. Steadily reforestation practices are being implemented; more trees are being propagated and planted. Grazing is now strictly controlled and grass fuel managed to reduce the danger from bush and grass fires. This is marginal land with low fertility. Progress on open land depends on long term observations and patience.
Sustainable Agriculture Programme
The vegetable gardens and fruit orchards of Tlholego are quite remarkable and provide a high level of self sufficiency for the community.
The sustainable agriculture programme is based on intensive food production to provide the staples of the region such as corn, sorghum, squash, pumpkin and beans. Kitchen gardens provide leafy vegetables and experiment with the indigenous as well as introduced plants. A couple of ponds have been stocked with tilapia and catfish. However the water surface area is not large, which will limit yields and the fish will only be able to make a relatively minor protein contribution.
Other Training Programmes
Maybe more than anything else, Tlholego is about empowerment and training. The aim is to develop a population of trained architect-builders to facilitate community building. Such a teacher training and apprenticeship programme is in progress and is supported by permaculture teachers from Australia, New Zealand and the USA. A training programme in building technology is being developed to be run in modules, one to two weeks long, with apprenticeships of up to two years. These teachers in training learn basic community design processes as well as specific knowledge regarding construction and village development. The GEN via the Crystal Waters office is looking into the possibility of including trainees in any design work which is human settlement related in South Africa. Tlholego also teaches techniques in water harvesting and food production for households.
The design of the site, productivity of the gardens and use of local architecture and materials are an example of the potential for creating affordable high quality village communities.