News of March 2020

"Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad."

Seneca

Dear Friends

given that only a few of the people reading this would have been surprised by recent happenings, we trust that most of you are well and safe. Let us do our best to keep fit spiritually, emotionally, mentally as well as physically. May we thus prepare ourselves to be of assistance when the time comes to rebuild communities. Meanwhile we do what we can as is required.

With crisis, often there comes opportunity!

One good thing that has happened is, people now have the chance to think deeply about important things in life. (Visit the “link of the month” below.)

In the face of an internationally recognised challenge, this may quite possibly be the first time ever, that every responsible person on the planet has the opportunity to concentrate their thinking on:

What is happening?    What is important?    How do I/we respond?

As things continue to unfold, it is my hope that this same line of thinking might be applied to greater challenges that have been obvious for well over fifty years. The difference being that such challenges remained “hidden” by ignorance and wilful blindness; conveniently, while socially legitimate distractions abounded, most of the costs of ‘not facing and addressing the challenges’ could be passed on to future generations. Universal recognition of what confronts us therefore remained absent. This was the subject of a presentation prepared for a conference to be held in Albury, NSW.

In relation to the ‘C-Virus’: from our perspective, it appears that the “domino effect” is far from over.

As I write, the Kimberley is preparing for the unknown.

We had just been through three trying seasons, and then came 2019/2020, the ramifications of which remain unclear… late start, mid-season drought, dry heat has returned, but we hope for at least some rain before the really dry months arrive.

Before then, we must prepare for the arrival of this “new” biological force that has, in some places, taken on the shape of a tidal wave.

For over fifty years, social welfare and “sit-down money” have been flowing into local communities.

Many intentions may have been noble, some even laudable, but unintended consequences have unique ways of compounding.

To me it looks like corrupting effects have set us up to be at the receiving end of what might well turn out to be a biological tsunami, with far-reaching social consequences.  

Bluntly put: We have far too many very unhealthy people (of all ages) living in largely voluntary squalor.

(In the years that I have been here [since 1985], the amount of money has never been a limiting factor; rather ‘too much readily available cash’ appears to have been the single most obvious contributing factor!)

Sadly, when C-virus does arrive on our doorsteps, it may sweep through local aboriginal communities like wildfire and overwhelm regional medical services. Responses are being prepared…

From this perspective: The longer we can keep things in check and slow the spread down, the better our chances are to reach some form of ‘herd-immunity’ as described in a recent ABC article. 

We would be naive to expect things not to get messy in the interim.

Therefore, please also keep vulnerable people in the Kimberley in your prayers.

Well over forty years of living in bush-camps that are exposed to the elements, allowed me (Chris), to pick up on some of nature’s patterns.

Two heartening observations I get to make with each new season are:

• Given the chance to express herself, nature’s self-healing capacity defies our imaginations
• If we work with her, nature is very forgiving. (Work against her, and she will tell you.)   

As the journey continues, we wish you and your loved ones the blessings that come with the message of Easter Sunday.

Enjoy our sample of photos for March. Pictures are taken from the gyro-copter as Rebecca flies to Kununurra.

Let us hope that April 2020 will be remembered for the positive things we were able to achieve in the face of adversity.

In your isolation, we send you warm greetings from Kachana!

This little reminder was kindly put together some years ago by Kester and Franz:

Given the length and content of the message above, instead of expanding on current ideas, we invite you to re-visit thoughts shared when we were all 18 years younger and stronger.

Here again a link to the presentation that Chris had prepared for the conference in Albury NSW:

Natural Capitalism and an Economy Driven by Sunshine

New conference-dates have not yet been set, meanwhile we recommend you browse through the selection of speakers and their topics and then “google” any topics of particular interest to you. (Most of the speakers already have information on the web.) 

Corona-virus; an opportunity?

Bishop Barron on the Coronavirus Quarantine