I am a high school science teacher in an
impoverished, gang-infested section of L.A. County,
and as such have become impatient and disillusioned
with what our schools, courts, and economy at large
are doing for, and to, disadvantaged kids. In an
effort to create a healthier alternative to the
“ghetto” lifestyle (i.e., violence, jail,
poverty, despair), I and a small group of others in
the community have been researching strategies for
creating small, more or less self-sufficient
communities in the high desert just north of Los
Angeles. Our eventual goal is to create a
program by which young folks, especially single teen
mothers, can build and independently maintain their
own small communities, using only their own labor,
and financed ultimately with their own money –
even if they are at a welfare/minimum wage income
level. Our group would only provide initial
training, organizing, and financing of land and
materials at no interest. Those completing the
program (we estimate one year) would be granted
ownership, and take over any payments, which should
be minimal. For example, using proposed “appropriate
technologies”, such as solar furnaces,
composting toilets, cisterns, sane home design,
greenhouses, etc., we estimate for a two-bedroom home
a payment of less than $500 per month for only five
years. This, for a house requiring virtually no
heating or air-conditioning, where food, energy, and
water bills could be next to nothing, and with
neighbors that were chosen in advance.
Four the past
three years we have been testing novel, inexpensive,
self-built home designs in the desert near
Victorville, but have lacked the time to carry out
all the research and testing needed to begin
organizing communities in earnest. Since most
of us have full-time jobs, progress has been
frustratingly slow, most work being relegated to
labor-intensive weekend trips to the desert every
other week or so. This situation has prompted
the recent creation of a formal non-profit
organization, The Institute for Liberation Ecology,
in the hopes that enough grant money can be raised to
allow at least one of us to work in the desert
full-time.
An unexpected
and encouraging phenomenon has been the enthusiastic
response of most of the youngsters we have presented
the idea to – even hard-core gang members that
otherwise give the impression that their ‘hood
is the be-all, end-all of existence. It seems
they are just making the best of a bad situation;
given better options, interesting things may
happen. We are hoping to create such
options. If you are interested in receiving
updates on our progress, or know of organizations
that may be willing to offer support, please e-mail
at: rlopez3503@aol.com.
