Editorial GEN International Newsletter Winter 2013: Healing Colonialism

“Let´s work with the self-organising power of love.”

Dear friends of ecovillages worldwide,

We are putting together the last words for this newsletter during the GEN Africa Conference in Nairobi. For five days we have heard, seen and shared with upcoming African leaders: young people from slums who are empowering themselves to food sovereignty, energy autonomy, art and self created job opportunities; well educated academics returning to the villages they come from to share and improve the lives of their neighbours and families; women in areas of tension healing from the wounds of war by creating community; people who are trying to reverse the effects of climate change, soil erosion and deforestation on the ground, in their communities.
In short, people who ‘re-member’, as Daktari Karambu from Kenya puts it: “When we remember, who we really are, we re-member and we reclaim the wastelands of our country, and the wastelands of our hearts and minds.”
The wasteland has been created by colonialism, globalisation, and corporatization. It has stripped people and communities apart and away from their original knowledge, their togetherness, their connection to nature and to the places they inhabit.
“Healing colonialism” is the motto of this newsletter. Many contributions refer to it. Voices from all continents express their way to inner and outer freedom. Creating community, and facing the spiritual, ecological, social and cultural challenges in doing that, is a healing path. Or as Kosha Joubert said during the conference: “Let´s work with the self-organising power of love.”
Enjoy the hopeful reading!
Leila Dregger