The Chi'Bagoda Project: Bambitat for Humanity

Roof of the Eco Village Training Center at The Farm: photo by January Fieldz

The Chi'Bagoda Project: Bambitat for Humanity has recently been granted financial backing from The Farm, a world renowned high tech hippie commune in Summertown, TN. Both Chi'Bagoda and The Farm are fanatical and emphatical about the value and wide range uses of bamboo. Joshua Doolittle, the mastermind behind The Chi'Bagoda Project has been making headlines for this wild green-eyed enthusiasm for building innovate bamboo structures, touting their strength and sustainability, for green building. Bamboo has the tensile strength of steel and vastly improves the ground it grows in. Read more about Doolittle's bamboo genius because starting now, his innovative ideas are quickly going to be showing up in the communities, communes, and the private building projects across the globe.

Albert Bates, the widely known permaculturalist and head honcho at The Farm's cutting edge Eco-village Training Center (EVT) is to be applauded for the many ways in which he continues to contribute to the thinking minds of the United States and progresses the paradigm shift of our age. Thousands of evolved individuals pass through the hallows of The Farm's Eco-Village Training Center every year, partly due to the infamous beatnik lore of The Farm and its founder, Stephen Gaskin- but, mostly because Albert Bates and the other members of the EVT co-op are taking consistent, wide-sweeping steps to educate and include America within the grassy green arms of the earth loving and sustainability concepts taught there.

Solar workshops, midwifery training, permaculture certification, biodynamics, Natural Building Apprenticeships, organic gardening and the site of international events like the BioRegional Congress, Gaia University, and Post Petroleum Survival guidance are pouring out of The Farm's ears. The 300 or so residents of The Farm support themselves through various cottage industries including Booya Cacao, a fair-trade artisan chocolate business, publishing, natural building, soy products, tie-dye, web design, foreign language translation, and a great number of other home based businesses. They are intelligent, delightful people and their home is incredibly beautiful, wide open fields brimming with tall grass, wildflowers and horses, blueberry patches, orchards, ponds, and over 1,000 acres of conserved land. It is truly a life altering experience to spend time at The Farm while taking a class or serving in an apprenticeship.

The Chi'Bagoda Project is joining a long list of pre-existing charities sponsored by The Farm and its residents. The financial bucks and physical backs of the residents at The Farm all go into serving the local community, the country and the yes, the entire world. Many of their projects are international. They give speeches at the U.N., they help children in Africa and they help entire towns in Tennessee. Having Doolittle and his bamboo structures onboard, will be a huge compliment to natural building on The Farm and abroad, bolstering their efforts and ability to create easy to construct, durable, green housing for folks.

Do yourself a favor and check out both The Farm and The Chi'Bagoda Project. Consider going to Summertown, TN and taking a few classes. From personal experience, I can tell you it is not something you will ever regret and you are sure to leave with amazing memories to treasure for the rest of your life, as well as increase your value not only as a human being and your ability to operate with ease- you are also likely to increase your value as an employee or business owner. Take a look around and you will begin to realize, if you haven't already, that folks with urban planning, sustainable business, permaculture or like certifications are in high demand. You will find your self worth and net work exponentially increased by completing one of the many offered programs at The Farm.

Once there, you will likely meet the charismatic Joshua Doolittle who will no doubt tell you how to build a house out of bamboo.... among many other interesting things. :) Don't think twice! You owe yourself this experience! Go check it out!

Joshua Doolittle, founder of The Chi Bagoda Project: photo by January Fieldz