E.A.R.T.H.'s New Programs and Arizona Chapter

Good day to all and to all a good day! Blessed are we to find ourselves in such a healthy intentional community in times that, to say the very least, are challenging. As the days flow from past to present and on into future and as the tides come and go, we embrace our shadows and rejoice in moments of great clarity. In these moments, we see ourselves standing strong in compassion, love and light, and find unification in our authentic selves and truths. 

Environmental Action Reaching Throughout Humanity (otherwise known as E.A.R.T.H.) is a collective organization and newly founded 501(c)3 that is in great service to our precious home; beautiful Mother Earth. We believe we can safely, mindfully and consciously come together in great respect to the needs of every living thing upon this planet. We stand healthy and strong and if you are moved to join us either from the comfort and safety of your home or here with us, that you will be received with open hearts and open arms ready to manifest a world that is healthy and harmonious, together. Visit our website to connect with us and learn more.

E.A.R.T.H. has been working hard and diligently, building a strong, safe and healthy foundation whose mission is to find the most sustainable solutions for the healing of all walks of life, starting with the precious waters that flow from springs and into the oceans of this great and gentle, blue giant. We began this mission two years ago and have had many rewarding challenges along the way, but are now ready to invite you to step into the building under-current with strong belief that we can come together in the most graceful of ways and turn this world into a healthy, thriving and safe home for all life. In action we rise like a Phoenix from the fire to bring you a few Nomadic Peace Caravan/E.A.R.T.H. updates...

For starters, we are excited to introduce our recent collaboration with Water-United!, and all of our new programs:

Water Based Solutions

Pick-Up-Earth

The Food Sovereignty Network

Earth Theatre

Nature’s Rights

E.A.R.T.H. is happy to now be an active nonprofit within the state of Arizona! This means we can expand our efforts to regenerate the lands and clean the water within this magical, ecologically dynamic state.

You can find many of us care-avaning together along the Colorado river in our Pick-Up Earth program. We do this in fun, in laughter and in love, while respectfully practicing social distancing and other practices that keep us all safe. If you feel called to join us now, please contact us, and we will send locations, but if travel is not in the cards, we invite you to begin picking up unsightly debris from your own local rivers or waterways, and send us videos/photos that we can share on our website and social media. We invite you to be as creative as you are called with this process - here are some photos of our Colorado River effort.

From the road…

Right now, we are fixing Beluga the bus, (who needs a new leaf spring bracket) outside of the gates of the lovely El Dorado hot springs, just outside of Phoenix. A good long soak in hot waters is just what we’ve needed after over a month of our dusty desert home-base along the Colorado river just west of Quartzite. We are on our way to combat desertification by planting a fruit tree orchard on private land near Alamo Lake, to initiate the process of our Food Sovereignty Network. We are so excited to share this process with you, and will keep you updated with photos and videos along the way. Please stay tuned and thank you for your support!

We are sending you and all of your relations so much love and light from the road, and hope to collaborate with you!

-Friends of E.A.R.T.H.

“Divine Mama Energy” by Sergio Lopez

While George Floyd screamed for his mama as his physical vessel was being brutally taken during his darkest hour and in his final moments, his mama would have brought his salvation. In our darkest hour as a human race, as our world crumbles around us, we watch this unfold and we too should be calling out for Mama the Divine, for Mother Earth. Can we lean into her solutions that have been here since we first set foot on her? Can we break away from those pages that have been written and rewritten throughout the ages? If we can reprogram our inner-selves’ vibration to that divine Mama energy, then we are healed. -Sergio Lopez

Nomadic Peace Caravan Delayed Due To COVID 19

The Nomadic Peace Caravan is committed to fulfilling our original mission to protect and restore nature through education and action.

The Nomadic Peace Caravan will still be doing the walk. We wish that you stay healthy and safe as we prepare to walk out.

Due to authorities and laws that may prohibit travel at this time and the Coronavirus outbreak, we will be changing the beginning date, re-mapping the northern portion of the route and re-scheduling.

We may need to modify the route and there may be delays up to six months before we can start. We will keep you updated as things change.

Out of respect for our elderly communities and people that may be at risk due to the virus we ask that you please stay home if you have any Covid 19 symptoms to prevent the spread of the virus at this time.

Nomadic Peace Caravan

Nomadic Peace Caravan Updates

We are preparing for our 9+ month journey from Nelson, BC, CAN to Baja California, MEX. We currently have two Buses & one support Vehicle, Non-Profit status, Mechanical tools, cooking equipment with over 20+ walkers signed up, and with over a few dozen preparing and envisioning the possibilities to change the world! This is the 2 month out update & where we are at for further questions please E-Mail: Info@nomadicpeacecaravan.com

Current Operations

1. Beluga Bus is getting painted this week, we are also installing Water and solar panels.

2. We will be posting the video showing the progress of the bus painting and upgrades.

3. We are planning on bringing the buses north to the Denver, Bolder area before the end of march and are looking for a place to park any suggestions please contact us here

4. We recently received an RV Table~Bed, & Couch~Bed Combo, and it will be installed in the front portion of the Orca Bus.

5. We are looking for tents & Tipi’s to help shelter the walkers.

6. We will be transporting needed equipment for the walkers in two buses and one support vehicle. This trip will be around 2,000 miles, and will cost $3,000 minimum for gas & Bio-Fuels. We are looking for Sponsors, grants, & have currently a F.B Fundraising campaign as well as a Pledge drive online.

Current Public Relations

1. We will be having a Live Q&A Session on March 4th 2020.

2. Public Relations is currently looking for graphic designers, Video editors, Street Team, Journalist & Social Media promoters.

3. We are working on having press packets released by end of march to inform local and national media of our endeavors.

4. We have a long list of like minded organizations that may be interested in supporting our cause, & we plan on writing to them and creating partnerships with in the coming months.

5. We will be creating a constant update email & blog to all individuals that have shown interest in the NPC. If you know of other interested communities and would like to share emails so we can further our out-reach and contact/update them, then please share an CSV file or E-Mails to Info@nomadicpeacecaravan.com

Abeyta plan detrimental to Taos Valley natural water system

January 29th 2020

By Sage Kohen

Beginning in 2018, a group of concerned community members issued a series of public statements regarding the Abeyta Settlement Implementation Plan. The purpose was to foster public awareness and raise legitimate concerns about potential negative cultural and environmental impacts of the implementation plan.

Simply put, the Abeyta Settlement implementation promotes an unprecedented increase in deep aquifer water extraction based on a 1950s mechanistic worldview of endless growth for profit. Up to 133 percent of water withdrawn from supply wells must be returned (offset) to the Río Grande under settlement plans, representing a drastic increase in deep aquifer extraction. The settlement implementation seeks to artificially engineer an intact Taos Valley watershed to produce more water to stimulate more development, and plans to send a huge portion of deep aquifer water downstream via five mitigation wells connected to tributary streams and acequias through a series of pipelines and potential water treatment stations. Imagine human-engineered, push-button "springs" controlled by a water master from Santa Fe tapping the deep aquifer, treating such hard water with chemicals, and then releasing it through pipelines to send downstream with soft surface water.

Is this the future we agreed to for a watershed that has been sustained by deep-rooted tradition and vibrant, time-tested natural systems?

Some of us decided to take a number of risks to raise awareness regarding Abeyta Settlement Implementation Plans. Media censorship and a giant slap suit ensued against Guardians of Taos Water (and 50 John Does), most of whom are small farmers and caring stewards of the valley struggling to make ends meet like most locals.

It's challenging standing up to forces that seem so insulated, all-powerful and set in their ways - forces determined to extract every bit of life essence from this earth without regard for the long-term viability of natural systems and those that will inherit them in an uncertain future of climate disruption.

Our world is being decimated by faulty value systems that seek to control, commodify and divide every aspect of life (from the atom to the human mind), thus undermining the basic structural integrity of life, even turning life against itself with nuclear fission.

Challenging such forces often leads to exhaustion, heartache and trauma, especially when such forces simply censor and bulldoze over those dedicated to ensuring a healthier future for those most at risk, including the natural systems that sustain us.

I do not claim to know the answers to the challenges we face; but, frankly, in confronting some of the greatest challenges of our times, I became seriously traumatized.

At Occupy Wall Street, we stood in the faces of towering economic giants looting the collective inheritance and pleaded for a more just economic and social system. The state-sponsored violence inflicted on us broke my heart. Walking through Navajo Nation with Diné youth, and witnessing the booming fracking and coal industry contaminating everything, broke my heart. Visiting the place where the uranium for Hiroshima and Nagasaki was mined, and listening to the locals speak of the last remaining clean water source, broke my heart. Being disregarded and fired on with weaponry and water cannons at Standing Rock broke my heart. Being repeatedly attacked in Taos for defending the inherent rights of nature broke my heart - even more deeply because this was the only place I felt safe and whole in the world.

Our lives depend on the health of our enveloping ecosystems, so why have we not done more to protect and invigorate our life-support systems?

If corporations are guaranteed certain protections under the law (including protections that allow for near wholesale destruction of ecosystems), why are protective rights not extended to natural systems, such as a watershed that millions rely on?

Why are we trying to artificially engineer a provably successful hydrological system that's been perfected over eons, mixing surface water with deep aquifer water via mitigation wells?

How sustainable is this new mitigation well "offset" model being proposed through the Abeyta Settlement, which is dependent on computer-generated models yet to be tested?

What are the long-term consequences of 14 to 18 deep aquifer wells coming online?

I think all can agree that healthy streams, rivers and acequias (even aquifers and watersheds) are the lifeblood of community.

Sage Kohen lives in Taos.

Editor's note: The Abeyta Settlement Implementation Plan is part of the Taos Pueblo Indian Water Rights Settlement Act of 2010. It was a settlement in the decades-old water rights case that sought to finalize Taos Pueblo and acequia water rights in the Taos Valley. Find earlier stories, including about GOT Water, at https://www.taosnews.com/abeyta-settlement/.

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A Dream -The Sacrifice

November 20, 2019

by Sabina K. Jones

The Nomadic Peace Caravan productions crew is scouting the northern territories. We are on a mission to pick up our dear friend Leaf and some tools that were donated to us, including around 100 walking sticks. We are also scouting the trails that we will be walking come April. The Chool Bus (aka Beluga and our trusty office) moves along with a bit of a racket, due to the new rack installed on its roof. We move up US 491 on the way to Moab where we will spend the night. The sprawling desert scenery unfolds through the windows and I think of the beauty of this earth, how expansive it is, how worthy it is of our protection. I type on a wooden desk that folds down from the wall. I bring to you a dream that I find significant in the protection of earth and those who cannot speak for themselves.

Before I joined this crew of dedicated folks, I dreamed of a truck bed in the desert. In this truck bed was a litter of baby seals that a man had taken from their mother and taken from their home. I looked at their sweet little bodies, their eyes glittering with innocence. I saw the life that was being stolen from them. They did not belong in the dry heat. I said to the man standing on the truck bed, “Please don’t do this. Just look into their eyes.” He moved in closer and with resistance looked into their eyes. He knew what he was doing was wrong but he felt it was his duty, his job, to take and kill these creatures for profit.

It is difficult to describe a dream in which I change from being first person to third person perspective, in which the eyes I look through change and then suddenly I have no eyes but am an all-seeing and all-perceiving presence. I watched a boy jump on to the truck bed and suddenly we were on the deck of a boat floating in the ocean. He (I) threw the seals back into the water and then leapt in behind them, succumbing to the ocean. Suddenly this character was floating in the vastness, he himself was the sacrifice needed to be made for the seals. There was no longer a boat or a desert to stand on. It was just him and the ocean. Suddenly a fish swam by that had the length of a shark and the body of a stingray. The boy was afraid that the fish was coming to hurt him but really the fish wanted to swim beside him. They swam side by side and the boy felt the comfort of its presence. He felt less alone. The fish swam ahead and as it did the boy grabbed hold of its fin, believing it would take him somewhere safe. As he held on, the speed of the water and the sting of the fish split the boy’s skin down the middle. He let go in agony and all of his flesh beneath the skin was suddenly exposed.

The water carried the boy back to his friends, back to me. He floated down a waterfall and landed in a spring where we all awaited the hero’s return. He emerged from the crystal clear blue waters and we saw his muscles exposed, his skin dangling from his shoulders. The sight was quite disturbing but in his face was a feeling of contentment. It was only in the water now that he felt safe. His selfless actions had changed him, the ocean had changed him and given him, quite literally, a new skin.

I awoke from this dream completely inspired to give of myself. The journey is not easy because it is not meant to be. There will be moments where you feel lost and alone in the struggle. You must hold on and in your holding on you will be changed. To create change, you yourself must be changed. You become what you give yourself to. It is the law of the universe I believe. This new skin will feel vulnerable, but in it you will be held by the waters, closer than ever before to the source of life.

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Our Nonprofit

Environmental Action Reaching Throughout Humanity

The NPC is proud to announce that we have our own nonprofit! Check us out.... Environmental Action Reaching Throughout Humanity. We are excited and awaiting our 501c3 approval. We are also very pleased to announce that we have many new friends joining our crew! We would like to give a big warm proper welcoming to Sabina Jones, Aaron Griffin, Shannon McArthur, Autumn Rose Frontino, Kate O'Flaherty, Samara Nait, Miles Anderson, and Maisha. As we begin our scouting missions, we will be promoting, networking, and spreading the word about who we are. Dedicated humans are joining daily in helping to build a strong nomadic community. And still there are some who are joining from the comforts of their homes and helping with much needed office work. We welcome you all and humbly invite you to come be apart of The Nomadic Peace Caravan wherever you are! Bring yourselves, bring love in your hearts, and bring your strong desire to help protect and raise awareness for Mother Earth! BIG BIG hugs, love, and gratitude to you all!

Lake Erie Wins Protective Bill of Rights!

History is made and we are inspired deeper into our mission of creating the Peace Walk and spreading word about Rights for Nature. The movement is beginning and we are excited to be a part of it! Help us clean up our environment by giving rivers and bodies of water natural rights, it all starts with the water.

From the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund website, for full article visit:
https://celdf.org/2019/02/rights-of-lake-erie-recognized-in-historic-vote/

Rights of Lake Erie Recognized in Historic Vote

Feb 27, 2019

Toledo, Ohio, voters make history, adopting a charter amendment that recognizes the rights of Lake Erie! This is the first rights-based law in the United States that specifically acknowledges the rights of a distinct ecosystem, securing the Lake’s rights to exist, flourish, and naturally evolve.

Since 2016, CELDF has partnered with Toledoans for Safe Water to recognize the rights of the Lake. This includes defending their democratic right to vote as numerous industry representatives and their allies have tried to block the Lake Erie Bill of Rights initiative from the ballot.

Toledo residents overcame those challenges, culminating in this extraordinary win for Lake Erie and surrounding communities and ecosystems.

Nonprofit

Greetings Friends,

We are currently in the formation of our non-profit. We have a few groups willing to umbrella us until ours gets processed. Currently we are deciding which group best matches our vision. Once this is up we can begin to take donations.

We are also looking for groups interested in collaborating through events and festivals, as well as cross pollination of promoting, let us all be in solidarity as we move towards 2020, soon there will be a resources page point towards all the amazing groups taking action to create change in our country and world wide. There is no competition here, we don’t want to do it alone and know we need all the help we can get.

Community community community is the foundation of UNITY!

We open our hearts and send prayers out to the world, we are here to listen, we are here to act in love and peace and gratitude.

If you want to join us the time is now, we need you and your special gifts to be a part of the fire to warm our souls and nurture our hearts as we walk this land acting and calling for more action!

Open your mind and heart and see if there is a space to collaborate, what can we help you make come true as we walk through your home town?

love and peace,

Leaf LaRay

The Vision Begins!

Our first administrative meeting was this past Thursday in Denver. You can call in or find the Facebook Live video of the meeting under Matt Bovards page. Right now our core is small but steadily growing. We are getting the model set up so that as we gather volunteers and vocalizers across the country we will be ready to let people know where and how they can help. If you think this might be you in anyway reach out now, this is the foundational part of the design. We need organizers and people good at doing community outreach, especially if you are in an area that we are walking through!

All is in line and coming together beautifully.

see our facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/2020peacevision/

Love and Peace,

Leaf