GSR's May 2013 Newsletter Issue No.23. It covers the latest major events and themes that shape the organization's activities and policies. Also featuring Christopher Danch's (GSR's CLO) article.

1. GSR's Newsletter is a collection of news, reflections, innovations and ideas that our team has
found important enough to write down and share with you. We hope you'll be as excited as we
are with all the latest developments around the world and what it means for us all.
GSR Newsletter
Issue No.3
May 2013
Working Towards a Global Transition: A
Personal Journey
Guest Author, Christopher Danch
At the Starting Line
I am the Chief Legal Officer for Green Self Reliance, Inc. I came to this position
not as an attorney, but as Director of Development of a company, Eco Ranchos,
Inc., which was formed to promote the large-scale development of complex
agricultural systems, which we refer to as agroforestry. We wanted to change
agriculture from the prevailing destructive, unsustainable industrial mode to one
that is resilient and restorative. It has taken me many years to come to this
point.
Almost twenty years ago, I had a full-
time practice, which while very varied,
focused for much of the time on civil
litigation and business law. For a
period of time, about five years, the
bulk of my work was representing real
estate developers, particularly of that
blight upon the landscape known the
suburban subdivision. As an aside,
during that time I used to muse that all
the large subdivision projects were
named for the very thing they destroyed. Deer Ridge Estates made damn sure
that no deer remained in the area and Oak Mountain Estates effectively
eradicated the healthy oak-montane ecosystem that had stood and weathered
many a millennia.
During the first fifteen or so years
of my practice, I made good money,
dutifully put my children through
private school, had, metaphorically
speaking, the white picket fence
home, and did “charitable” work in
my spare time in the discharge of
my civic duties. I was, in the eyes of
Western society, successful and
comfortably conforming,
masquerading as the American
Dream. However, as I will further
describe in future articles, uneasiness began to creep in and my life began to
change. I always had a serious lay interest in science, which in my early adult
years naturally migrated to the emerging field of environmental science. What
began in those early years as a simply progression of my intellectual curiosity
became an all-consuming journey toward a greater understanding of the whole.
And while that understanding will never be complete, I believe I have arrived at a
place where I can put what understanding I have into action. The model created

2. by Green Self Reliance, which I joined in 2009, is the best vehicle I have seen to
manifest this intention.
On the dark side, I have sacrificed any notion of financial security, strained my
family tremendously, financially, emotionally and philosophically, particularly my
wonderful wife, and have had, as the philosopher says, many dark nights of the
soul. I am both excited by the possibilities, and thoroughly daunted and
humbled by the challenges we collectively face. My chaotic work life these past
eighteen years, have been, to say the least, a magical mystery tour. As I sit here
typing this, I can’t get the Talking Heads’ song, “Once in a Lifetime” out of my
head, and David Brynes’ disturbing refrain, “How did I get here?”
So, I hope you will join me in future articles in this series as I recount the many
blurred and sometime plodding, sometimes freefalling, steps along this journey.
Maybe some of you will see parallels to your own experience and
transformation. Maybe some of you will be inspired to start the journey.
Fundamentally, it is no small matter to know that you are not alone. The
dominant cultural story, and its authors, agents, promoters, passive participants
and prognosticators, are very good at marginalizing and isolating those with a
different, even if compelling, story.
This attempt is very new to me. Until now, I would never have presumed that
what I have experienced and learned along this path would be of any interest or
help to anyone. Maybe I was correct in this view. But, it is, I suppose, just the next
necessary step of this journey.
What is Good Health Care?
There has been a lot of
chatter recently amongst
several media outlets about
how several Sub-Saharan
countries are going to fail
the 2015 UN Millennium
Development benchmark
goal for expanded health
care in rural areas. This
problem entails not only
getting vaccines and medical
supplies out there in the
countryside, but also
education about preventative measures such as sanitation and balanced
nourishment.
GSR believes that if the UNDP adopted three key GSR methods, they would
succeed on achieving more impact. These methods are:
1. Develop close local partnerships and get an understanding of local
conditions (both about the people and resources)
2. Establish health care programs in the context of an overall development
program (what is the use of expensive medical care delivery systems if the
village people must ingest contaminated food and water, or if they are all
malnourished?)
3. Focus on sanitation and nutrition before allocating millions of dollars to
expensive medical treatment facilities and programs (simple sawdust
toilets and biodigesters cost next to nothing)
Establishing a close local partnership is essential for gaining the cooperation of
local communities. GSR has demonstrated that local leaders actively enforced
strict sanitation standards once they discussed problems they were facing with
GSR team members. By dumping all human waste into bio-digesters, the highly
dangerous pathogens are broken down in the high heat inside the biodigester,
methane gas for cooking is generated, and after 21 days in the biodigester, the
remaining organic matter can be safely used as fertilizer. Getting local people to
build sawdust toilets, biodigesters and refrain from defecating in the fields or
near water sources cost next to nothing but reduce as much as 90% of the
diseases. Add to this proper nutrition and almost 95% of disease is eradicated.

3. Small scale anti malarial businesses flourish because local entrepreneurs make a
living by producing anti-fly and anti
mosquito products such as cow dung
incense cones (burning these cones is a
natural mosquito and fly repellant).
This is drastically cheaper and highly
effective way to reallocate the UNDP
resources on more preventative
measures. They would see within a
short span of time dramatic
improvements in rural communities.
GSR feels that a vocational education
program on health is a vital part of training for rural smallholder farmers. This is
because good health does not only mean a long life, it means more opportunity
to work on the field and increase the overall quality of living. In GSR village
projects, health care will not only include the introduction of inexpensive sewage
systems other preventative measures, but an overall waste management system
that is environmentally conscious and works in tandem with conservation as
well. If we separate health from other concerns, such as economical and
education development, there is a risk that a mismatch of resources will occur as
seemingly differing goals will clash for the allocation of capital. GSR’s approach
to health care is therefore both preventative and holistic to our overall goals of
rural development.
Africa’s Rising Green Economy
South Africa is determined to become a
leader on the African continent via rapid
development of their economy. One
strategy that the government has taken
is a commitment of funds to the
development of their “Green Energy
Economy”. In addition to top
environmental ranking amongst the G-
20 members as of 2013, South Africa
hopes to attract a lot for business to the
country and provide its people with sustainable energy for future development.
This phenomenon has not been only limited to South Africa as other African
nations such as Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda (to name a few) are staking their
lot with the emerging green economy. GSR ponders why there has been such a
sudden spike of interest in green energy amongst developing nations, especially
since most green technologies are still quite expensive and have not yet gained
enough economic impact in most of the developed nations.
The answer isn’t clear about the why, but
the results are promising. First, this
development amounts to the birth of an
entirely new sector of the African
economy. This new green energy sector
is capable of generating new jobs in
many of the other existing sectors.
Second, the African nations can finally lay
claim to be on the cutting edge of
innovation and technology after trailing
behind developed nations for so many
decades. Third, there is more foreign interest and investment in the African
nations that actively promulgate the Green Energy Economy. Fourth, it simply
makes more economic and environmental sense to adapt a green economy at an
earlier stage of industrialization, thus avoiding unnecessary pollution and waste
of resources.
The major advantage that GSR sees in
developing a green economy in Africa is
that green energy sources are generally
the most easy to decentralize. This gives
rural communities an edge over major
urban centers. Previously, the only real
avenues of energy generation were
hydroelectric plants, coal burning plants,
and other fossil fuels that on top of their
negative environmental impact, were also
highly capital intensive, and required centralized systems. This meant that no
power was available for small scale industries in the remote villages. With the

4. development of green energy, it is possible to fuel steady growth in rural areas.
GSR hopes that the “Green Energy Economy” can make its way out from the
cities and into the countryside where most of the continent’s population still
reside in rural communities. Agriculture is still a very important sector of the
African economy and any green energy program that accounts this factor will be
best suited to boost the prosperity of the respective economies.
Mobile Phones and Rural Banking
A recent phenomenon in rural development has
introduced programs that take advantage of the
latest in mobile phone technology to make
banking services available to previously off-of-
the-grid rural communities. This is extremely
helpful to remote rural communities where cell
phone use is becoming commonplace. Farmers
can get paid for their crops by direct deposits
and access these funds through their cell phone.
Small rural businesses can ease their cash flow problems in the same manner.
Smallholder farmers gain more insights about weather and price trends for
various crops. Low cost farmer information services, which have sprung up all
over India, will soon be commonplace throughout Africa.
GSR has begun discussions about possible collaboration in
GSR projects in Africa with SmartMoney, an organization on
a mission to provide rural African poor with a new way to
handle money that so that it is not as easily stolen, lost, or
otherwise displaced from the hands of those who need it the
most. This frees rural farmers from constraints that
normally withheld them from getting the most value for
their production.
This new wave has proved to be so dynamic that many
African state governments around the globe are treating
mobiles as a form of rural development. The mobile
phenomenon doesn’t just stop with rural farmers. In order
to power these devices in remote areas, specialized new
green energy sources such as low capital intensive wind and
solar power plants are being constructed everyday to
support this mobile wave. GSR feels greatly inspired by this
innovative adaptation of old technology and we could see
unfold the rise of an entire green economic sector in Africa
based on the rural mobile revolution.
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