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Lifelong learning is the life-long, voluntary, and self-motivated pursuit of knowledge for personal or professional reasons. It is learning that is not confined to a classroom, but instead takes place throughout life and in a range of situations.  Please document your life-long learning. Provide links to artifacts (assignments, projects, tasks) that extend beyond the “classroom” and have real-life implications.  You may also provide images and narrative to explain your artifacts.

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

My Journey into Sustainability

By

Wayne Williams

 

 

             Hi my name is Wayne and I’m very pleased to be in this class. I've done this once but had a malfunction (me) in saving my material and had lost it.

 

        I started getting involved in sustainability about 8 years ago with meeting a contractor who after building Santa Fe style homes in Arizona decided to go to Silver City New Mexico and build with adobe.  When I heard what he was going to do I asked him how he knew how to build with adobe.  Mark was very nice to share his story and for some reason I became quite interested in what adobe building was all about. I got on the internet and searched for any information I could find about adobe construction.  A website came up and low and behold it was Quentin Wilson, my now Mentor, who represented Northern New Mexico Community College on site promoting a Certification program for those interested in taking a 2 year program in adobe construction.  At the time I found out the school had a web class that I decided to take and see if I was really interested or just curious.  A year and a half later after finishing the program I began to teach and understand more about sustainability especially in the earthen construction field.  While I was finishing the last semester of school I moved from a dorm in El Rito, New Mexico, where the school program was, to a place called Ghost Ranch north of Abiquiu, New Mexico some 60 miles north of Santa Fe.  There I became the night maintenance on call guy.  It was great as it gave me the days to go and finish school while working at night At the Ranch I was introduced to sustainability of a much broader realm as I lived on the farm area where a very nice garden had been planted.  Greens for breakfast, lunch and dinner, it was great.  In making a change from what the Ranch is today to sustainability is a slow work in progress. In years past the Ranch had a seed house that housed all the seeds used in past plantings but was lost through time. The seed house then was remodeled and turned into my establishment while at Ghost Ranch. We had volunteers who did a marvelous job at taking the land and turning it back to what it once was but on a smaller scale. The idea was to grow enough food to not only feed the staff but also the guests who came to the Ranch to learn about different activities.  Ghost Ranch is a education and conference center used by people from around the world. I in turn had started a program to teach people about adobe building and living and educating the sustainability of earthen homes that have been built and lived in for more than our modern day existence.  Of course teaching has to start with the youth of today and who ever else wants to learn about the advantages versus some of the housing built today.  Being a throw away Society presents a lot of problems in what the quality and life expectancy   is of anything anymore.  A home built today will be lucky to last 25 years without some kind of major work.  Housing where people used good old Mother Earth and natural products available have lasted for Centuries.  Fortunately there are those few that go against the norm and build quality for those that want the very best. At the Ranch some of the housing was built as a test to see the soundness of earthen construction in the late 70’s and tested by Los Alamos Labs in measuring the efficiency and insulated qualities of four adobe buildings, the first testing of it’s kind by any government agency. I was contacted by people on the Navajo Reservation about what it would take to go back to earthen building instead of the type of building that had gone on for the last 20 years.  Most housing they contracted out was based on bid, low bid in fact, versus quality and those homes are now falling to the wayside.  In Saudi Arabia they are now inquiring from the experts in earthen building on how to change their building techniques back to products made by Mother Nature instead of concrete. Sustainability has become a common word again at the Ranch and I can see a future in rejuvenating what once was.  I have moved from the Ranch after being there as a volunteer and staff member for almost 6 years.  The education that I have received from being there is worth everything.  I now live in Albuquerque and look forward to being successful at school as well as my future endeavors involving Sustainability in this  Natural and Human environment.  I look forward to working well with all of you for your guidance, knowledge and thoughts towards making Mother Earth last longer for all Species.  With the quality and knowledge of Instructors, Staff and Peers I see nothing but success. Thanks for accepting me in the program. My journey will be even more rewarding!

 

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.