Mountain Spirit Institute will be attending Burlington Vermont’s International Festival on December 4th-6th. MSI will have a booth explaining the mission and programs of the organization. In particular, the Peruvian/USA Music Exchange with the Cusco band Chimu Inka, that was so popular in 2008 will be featured at the booth. Also our Peru and New Zealand programs will be presented, where visitors will have a chance to find out more about going on an MSI program in those countries or here in the U.S. MSI will also have Peruvian Fair Trade products and Chimu Inka CD’s and instruments for sale to help raise funds for their return, and to fund other MSI programs as well.
The Festival has been running for over fifteen years, and according to Amanda Richards, the organizers of the event are excited to have Mountain Spirit attend the festival. We look forward to being there as well!
This second footage was taken right after the first, in Pisac, Peru on market day. Every Sunday local campasinos, Peruvians from the neighboring villages as well as tourists, students from all over the world pass the streets of Pisac to see items for sale. The paserbys were caught on tape during this impromptu filming while I was sitting in small cafe on one of the main streets leading to the market. A good study on a Sunday afternoon cross section on a street in Peru.
This footage was taken in Pisac, Peru on market day. Every Sunday local campasinos, Peruvians from the neighboring villages as well as tourists, students from all over the world pass the streets of Pisac to see items for sale. The paserbys were caught on tape during this impromptu filming while I was sitting in small cafe on one of the main streets leading to the market. A good study on a Sunday afternoon cross section on a street in Peru.
The 350 and 2030 Challenges
*By Harry Seidel, Owner Alae Design
Going Places: 350.org
Last Saturday, Oct. 24th was the International Day of Climate Action, the single most widespread day of political action about any issue, our planet has ever seen. To attract global attention to the “350 Challenge” over 4,000 events took place simultaneously in more than 175 nations. Rather than describe the multitude of events here I would encourage you to visit www.350.org and see for yourself how very big this event was. Most of the events were digitally recorded and collected electronically into a massive compilation. So, what’s the fuss all about? What is the 350 Challenge? And why should we care?
New Zealand’s eco brand, now available in USA,
Just might take U.S. by storm, one good product at a time. By Randall Richards
My wife has been living in Kiwi-land for a while now, and when we got married in NZ, I couldn’t help but run into eco products throughout the country. Now back in the USA for a while, I was about to have my sister-in-law ship some organic eco coconut soap stateside. Fortunately while on the phone with her I Google’d “eco usa” and found, lo and behold, their new USA website.
Here’s an excerpt on their voyage from Down under:
“Eco NZ was founded more than 15 years ago by Melanie and Malcolm Rands from their home in an eco village in New Zealand.
eco founder, Malcolm Rands
All of the families that lived in the farm based eco village shared a commitment to organic growing and healthy living, making this an ideal environment in which a young, environmentally conscious business could thrive. Each household in the village was responsible for their own waste water, which quickly highlighted the problems caused by using regular supermarket cleaning products that relied heavily on cheap, petroleum-based, synthetic ingredients.
Mountain Spirit Institute celebrates Blog’s 1st year with 700% increase in readership.
By Randall Richards
A blog that started with 2 views in Oct 2008 and 286 one month later has grown 700% in one year to 2000 views per month. The one year anniversary of Mountain Spirit’s Blog has seen posts as diverse as the organization’s mission statement. Seven months after the blog started the readership rose to 1,540 per month and has been growing steadily since its start.
MSI Blog growth: 1 year
Board members have occasionally contributed and are now adding more subject material as well as breadth and type of posts. Says MSI founder Richards of the blog, “It’s been a ball getting this blog going. It’s eclipsing our quarterly newsletter in activity and interest, so I think we’ll continue building it.
Special thanks go to MSI Board members for their contributions, and to executive director Martin Fox of Center for Global Leadership in Park City, Utah for his initial coaching on using WordPress.com as our blog.
How Hearsay and Anecdotal Evidence has Created a False Industry Standard
By Erik Schlimmer
Avalanche Lake in the Adirondacks. Image: Craig Cimmons
There are many things outdoor educators agree on. For example, a warm meal feels great at the end of the day. Cotton fabrics take forever to dry in the field and should thus be avoided. Most small groups generate less impact than large groups do. Mosquitoes and black flies come straight from hell. And, all backcountry water must be treated due to the presence of Giardia, a protozoan that has infested water sources throughout the United States, causing the debilitating gastrointestinal illness giardiasis.
Now, there is no denying hot meals are soothing, cotton kills, good things come in small packages, and camping during bug season is cruel and unusual punishment. But, has Giardia really infested our water sources? Ask this question to nearly any outdoor educator and you will receive a harried, “Oh, yes it has!” However, to the above question I calmly answer, “No, it has not.” I teach a curriculum that embraces drinking straight from the source.
Mountain Spirit Institute is co-sponsoring the screening of the movie Fresh in New London, NH on Saturday November 21, at 7PM at the Whipple Auditorium on Main Street.
Says MSI director Randall Richards, “We saw the oportunity to get involved and help with the screening of this movie. We’re providing some desktop layout skills, and equipment for the showing.
Marketing and Development director Amanda Richards, had heard about the movie Food.Inc, and having just arrived from New Zealand, had been concerned about what she was seeing in the U.S. food supply. When she heard that Linda Howes, CN, HHP, CBE was preparing to show the movie Fresh, she decided to get involved. Howes is the local chapter representative of the Weston A Price Foundation and owner of Nourishing Wellness, in New London, NH. (more…)
Online Release of Chimu Inka DVD
By Randall Richards
Chimu Inka's 3rd CD
This is short version of a video, taken a few years ago on the streets of Cusco. It’s a project to promote my good friends, and Mountain Spirit Institute Program Chimu Inka and their US educational tour. The band toured the northeast US in the fall of 2008 and we have plans to sponsor their return again in 2010. These guys are amazing.
If you would like to help support their tour by a donation or help with logistics, please let us know. Their first tour was hugely popular, and we expect their second visit to be so too.
The group performed and taught about the spirit of Peruvian Folklore music in their country. They also spoke of their instruments and lifestyle in Peru in a series of Q&A sessions after and during their performances. They visited schools, universities, kindergartens, town bandstands and coffeehouses.
Although I’ve had this video on disk for a year, I’m finally getting it online tonight. This is a shortened version of the original production. The higher definition and longer version is available for purchase through our Fair Trade page. I hope you enjoy watching this as much as I enjoyed taping and producing it. Enjoy!
Mountain Spirit's Blog 