In 1974 I was residing with my family in Mexico city, living a normal life of a 14 year old, when I herd about a group of Indians called Zapotecs living in the sierra Madres of Oaxaca.I was told that these were People of the Earth living a way of life in harmony with nature. That they also had special medicinal (plants) that are quite magical in there way to help one see into the mystery of life.

I was called to visit these people, having the great fortune to come in a time before roads,electricity,telephones,modern schools and chainsaws. I observed and experienced a community living close to the earth outside of a cash economy, in those days I called it the Earth Ways. Being able to wittiness and live a way of life so different then what I was used to changed me profoundly. I didn't realize it then but I was seeing and experiencing a vanishing way of life, a people living and sustaining themselves naturally on this earth that was all about to disappear in less then two generations. Ecovillananda (EVA) is a place within the village to help be an example to both villagers and people of the world to remember what we have forgotten in our haste.

Marcos Café

Donaciano

Donaciano es el ecoaldeanos màs viejo de Ecovillananda. Con màs de 92 años, enriquece nuestra vida con anecdotas y experiencias de su vida como campesino y hombre de la Tierra. Su lucidez es llamativa y en su compañía siempre hay risas y grandes lecciones de vida. Es el papá de Elodia, quien es la mamà de Rosendo padre de Eliseo que tiene a su hijo Giovanni. Cinco generaciones encabezadas por este gran ser humano. Gracias por ser ecoaldeano Donaciano.

Marriages

Guadalupe and Elodia

Guadalupe and Elodia

Guadalupe has a vast experience working on the land, harvesting food and building. From the last fifteen years he has been a Shaman and he does cleanses to visitors from all over the world. His wife, Elodia, is a fundamental part in feeding and basic aspects of everyday life in the ecovillage. She also knits high quality blankets and clothes made of wool that are sold at economical prices.

Rosendo and Marcela:

Rosendo is as well a man of the Earth. Besides knowing how to build and harvest, we has a great deal of experience in the recollection of mushrooms that he uses to find the most exotic edible species that he dehydrates. His wife, Marcela, as well as being an excellent cook, is the ecovillage´s Shaman, with an experience of five years healing and guiding. Both of them along their daughter Maria, are in charge of making the wool strings that we sell in haberdasheries.

Eliseo and Felipa

Eliseoand Felipa

Eliseo is our incense producer, with experience of three years working in the land were the sweet grass is grown, which is then combined with copal to obtain our unique handcrafted incense. Also the building knowledge is part of his expertise. His wife, Felipa, works the wool to create handcrafts and clothes amongst other things.

Niños y Jovenes Ecoaldeanos

Hilda, Anahí, Giovanni, Ángel y Adela

Son ecoaldeanos del futuro. Actualmente su función es clave para el desarrollo de nuestra comunidad. No solo nos llenan de alegría sino que también colabran a su medida en las diferentes actividades que tenemos. Cuidan el granero y disfrutan haciendo figuras de animalitos con hilo de lana.

Tenemos el sueño de tener una ecoescuela donde podamos respetar su desarrollo individual y regalarles la educación que actualmente reciben en escuelas gubernamentales. Nuestra ecoescueala buscará superar paradigmas como separar a los niños en cursos escolares, despersonalizarlos con uniformes, etiquetarlos con calificaciones y presionarlos con pruebas académicas... todo esto pensando en que la naturaleza sabe la mejor manera de desarrollarse en cada individuo y que procurando nada más que un ambiente sano y suficiente información, el niño encontrará su mejor camino para ser quien es. Es por eso que pueden encontrar un lugar en nuestra comunidad todas aquellas personas que amen la educación conciente y que hayan tenido algún tipo de preparación docente a través de metodos alternativos como Montessori y Waldorf.

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