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December, 2006:

Dear friends,

It’s almost Solstice, the dark and cold close around us, and yet in just a few days, the sun will once again be reborn. In this time of hope and renewal, we sense a shift in the national mood—a slight opening, like a crack in a window allowing a small, cool breeze into and smoky, stinking room.

We’re in a moment of crisis, for the earth and for our human communities. If real people weren’t dying, in Iraq, in Palestine, in so many war-torn places on this earth, we could sit back and watch the modern-day Greek tragedy play itself out, noting the themes of hubris and arrogance. Unfortunately, it is not just a drama—it is the real, heartwrenching loss of daughters and sons and shattered lives. Meanwhile our civil liberties and social programs are continually eroded. And all the while, the Arctic is quietly melting, the climate heating up and destabilizing…
But you know all this. If you’re on this list or website, I trust you already know how bad it is. The question is, what can we do about it?

Over the last year, I’ve noticed that my own work has shifted. I’m spending less time on protest and organizing actions, and more on mending, repairing, trying out solutions and sharing skills. Protest is important—and more is needed, to keep pressure on the new Democratic Congress to make some of the important changes we want to see, to keep that slight crack open. But the primary purpose of protest and direct action is to shake up structures and delegitimize oppressive powers by showing that it does not rest on the support of the people.

When the structures are crumbling, we need alternatives and new visions, and practical ways to implement them. That’s why I spent time in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, doing relief work and bioremediation. And that’s why I’ve stepped up the teaching of permaculture and organizing in our Earth Activist Trainings, and why, with my filmmaking partner Donna Read, we’ve been working on a documentary on earth healing and on lots of supplementary educational material.

Our EAT students are doing remarkable work. Many of them joined us in New Orleans, volunteering with Common Ground Relief, in the bioremediation project, and with the clinic. Right now, one is home organizing sustainable neighborhood tours in the heartland town of Iowa City. Another is in Bolivia, doing rain water catchment in a poor, rural area. One group created a sustainable encampment for a climate change protest camp in England. Yet another is running the women’s program for a permaculture project in the Occupied Territories, that brings together Palestinians and Israelis to work on healing the land. And that’s just a small sampling of the amazing work so many of them are doing.

But we need your help. Many of the youth and activists that take our courses come on scholarships or work trade. This year we want to expand the number of courses and the areas in which we teach. We hope to add family-friendly courses that make it possible for parents to attend, with a program offered for children as well. And Donna and I need to set aside some big chunks of time in order to finish our permaculture documentary before the ice caps melt!
And there is still the need for organizing, mobilizing, and filling the streets, to create a huge, public clamor for peace.
All this takes resources. Alliance of Community Trainers is our umbrella nonprofit that funds training, education, the production of educational materials, and supports organizers and activists to do work like rebuilding and bioremediating New Orleans.

You can help by giving a tax-deductible donation to Alliance for Community Trainers. Every dollar you donate will generate big ripples of change, and help put a solid foundation beneath the vision, returning its value ten times over in health, empowerment and hope. We receive no government support nor big foundation grants—we depend on individuals like you to make our projects possible. Thank you for helping us to continue this vital work.
Donate online by using the PayPal link on the left. Or send a check (which you can earmark for a specific project—i.e. scholarships or documentary) to:

Alliance for Community Trainers
1405 Hillmont
Austin, Texas
78704

And if you are looking for holiday cards to send, or gifts, check out our CafePress stores that also support these vital projects:

http://www.cafepress.com/earthactivist/?pid=4130928

Thanks for your generous support—it feeds our hearts as well as funding the programs that can help guarantee a viable future. In this season of returning light, we wish you joy, love, and a fertile imagination for the coming year.

-- Starhawk for Allliance of Community Trainers

• E.A.T. (Earth Activist Training) is a two week long training that combines a permaculture design course with earth-based spirituality, political organizing and direct action training. Activists, youth, and people from poor communities who desperately need both the skills and the hope this training offers usually can't afford the costs. We'd love to have the funding to allow us to offer it on a pay-what-you-can basis. For currently scheduled EAT trainings, see the Schedule Page.
  For full information including donations visit the EAT web site:
  http://www.earthactivisttraining.org (NOTE: this page will open in a new browser window.)
  Again, Click the "Make a Donation" button on the left to donate using PayPal, or mail a check payable to ACT to the following address:
  ACT
  1405 Hillmount St.
  Austin, Texas
  
  
• Reclaiming Witch Camps always need money to provide scholarships for students who can't afford to come otherwise, and to sustain our minimal but important infrastructure.
  
  Tax deductible checks can be sent through Vermont Witch Camp. Make check out to VWC and earmark it "All-Camp Scholarship Fund." Send to:

  VWC,
  PO Box 206,
  Burlington, VT 05402
  

• R.A.N.T. (Root Activists Network of Trainers) provides training and organizational support for actions in the Global Justice and related movements. Donations help fund travel and occasional stipends for trainers, the development of written and online resources and a website, and trainings for trainers. Since we formed in January of 2001, RANT has offered support for campaigns in California, Brazil, Argentina, Quebec, Genoa, Washington DC, New York, Kananaskis, and elsewhere. To find out more about RANT, visit the website at rantcollective.net. Click the "Make a Donation" button on the left to donate using PayPal, or mail a check payable to ACT to the following address:
  ACT
  1405 Hillmount St.
  Austin, Texas
  78704 USA
  
  
• Reclaiming's El Salvador Friendship fund supports projects teaching sustainability and empowerment in poor communities in El Salvador. We encourage people to join a Circle of Love and pledge $100 a year for five years, but any amount is gratefully accepted. The last earthquake has created intense suffering and need.
  
  For the El Salvador Fund, tax deductible checks can be made to:

  Reclaiming
  (earmark them ESFF)
  P.O. Box 14404
  SF CA 94114

  Thanks for taking the time to be sure your checks are correctly made out, earmarked, and sent to the right address. I know this is a bit confusing, but we don't yet have a central funding agency for the diversity of projects represented here.

  The groups above are ones I'm personally involved with. There are other lovely possibilities: the Pagan group of your choice, groups working for abortion rights, Green Party candidates, your local schools, and I'm sure you'll think of others. Let's jumpstart our own economy, one that reflects our values and supports a true, shared abundance.

  -- Starhawk