As most of our local PDC students come from the suburban and urban setting of PJ (Petaling Jaya) and KL (Kuala Lumpur) where land is scarce and limited, we’ve decided to move to where they are and explore what’s possible in the city. We’ll be working with people to establish community gardens and run educational programmes on sustainable living and permaculture. Check out our website launching soon on Sat, 28th Jan! In fact, come and join us for  the launch, and meet the extraordinaire Michel & Jude Fanton of www.seedsavers.net   who will be screening their documentary, Our Seeds, followed by a discussion.

After 2 years of setting up and running an evolving permaculture system on our 1.5 acre rented property, Juergen and I have decided that it’s time to move on… in search for a more permanent place / arrangement where we can sink our roots in, pour our love into, and build community. Where exactly this place will be is still very much up in the air, but we’ve given ourselves a whole year, from September 2011 onwards, to travel and learn about new ways, and old ways of sustaining and enriching life in a regenerative and ecological way. A large chunk of our travels will be within Australia, the Mecca of Permaculture and home to the founders of Permaculture, Bill Mollison and David Holmgren. Follow us on our journey at our travelogue: http://wanderingseeds.wordpress.com/

Saying good bye to a special place, built from the goodness of many  people…

When I started the Embun Pagi project as a personal experimentation ground for permaculture in practice in early 2008, I had no idea that I would end up running 3 full fledged Permaculture Design Courses, which helped certify 60 students, both local and international in Permaculture Design. This has been a joyful and enriching responsibility to take on, and I am so grateful for the opportunity, and the capacity to do so.

In our small 200 sq. metre kampung house (village house), we’ve managed to accommodate up to 20 people at a time, for a consecutive 2 whole weeks when we ran our PDC’s (Permaculture Design Courses). This would not have been possible without a few gifts, which I feel indebted to mention here, and express my gratitude for the universal blessings that brought together the amazing people, time and circumstances that created little pocket of opportunities for actualising these gifts. Thank you , thank you, to all involved!

The first gift  is being able to do a PDC at a time when there were none being offered in Malaysia. Thank you to the US Embassy in Malaysia for offering the IVLP to me, which paid for my flight tickets to the US, where I did my PDC

The second gift  is the 2000 USD tuition fees for the PDC, which was sponsored by lovely people who believed in my cause. Thank you beautiful people.

The third gift  is the privilege of having supportive parents, without whom none of this would be possible. Thanks mom and pa.

The fourth gift  is the offer made by my PDC co-teacher from the USA, Doug Crouch to come and teach a PDC in Malaysia. Within three months of set-up, we went full on into hosting the first PDC in Malaysia! Thanks Doug Crouch, Kaila Binney and Gautier Gras.

The fifth gift is the cutlery, tables and chairs donated by my restaurateur relatives, Andrew, Petrina and their family. Thank you all.

The sixth gift is the 14 solid hard wood double decker beds and accompanying mattress, pillows, sheets, blankets that was given to us by the IJ sisters when they closed their retreat centre in Ampang. Thank you especially to my mom for making the connections, and to Sr. Stella for making it possible. I used to go for youth camps at the IJ retreat centre, and had slept on those very same beds… dreaming of living a life, connected the the earth. Dreams do come true… as with these beds which I was so earnestly wishing for but could not afford to buy. Thank you Sister Stella, and the IJ Sisters!

The seventh gift is Juergen’s arrival, whom like I’ve told many … he dropped down from the sky, when I was at the brink of giving it all up after falling ill. I had contracted some sort of virus that left me bed-bound for several months. The garden was being overtaken by weeds, and beginning to look like a jungle. When Juergen popped by for a couple of weeks to volunteer, and decided to stay on and help me; he gave the place a new vigour, and we started to work seriously on developing the permaculture elements on the site. And, since then, we’ve had many, many more blessings…

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank all our volunteers and woofers, who have left us with the labour of their work, imparted their knowledge and kills, created a sense of community, and lots of good memories.

They are:

Our teachers: Doug Crouch, Kaila Binney, Gautier Gras, John Champangne & his wife Sharon, Christian Shearer, Greg Knibbs, Chakra Widia

Tei (Myanmar), Majid (Myanmar), Wanto (Indonesia), the PLC gang,  Fatima (Portugal), Sumei Toh (Malaysia), Felicity (Malaysia), Javier (from Columbia), Patrick (Switzerland), Natalie (S.Korea), Steve (US), Conrad (US), Darren (Ireland), Jana (Dublin), Valerie (Germany), Igor (Poland), Thilaga & Yu Han and the rest of the FNB group, Franny (Australia), Hota (Spain), Adam (US), Sarah (Belgium), Scott (us), Jade (Australia), Stony (US), Rocky (us), Brian (us), Thilly (Malaysia), Xana (Portugal), Steven (us), Gerda & Joachim ( Germany), Yvonne ( Australia), Seco (Sweeden) , Sophia & Yannis (Austria & Italy), Jeff & Shao (Malaysia), Terry (Malaysia), Dolly (Myanmar),Amie (US) Asha (Malaysia), Taiga (US), Roni (Finland), Zacharias (Malaysia), Ika (Malaysia), Wan (Malaysia), Saiful (Malaysia), Magdalene (Malaysia), and our charming David Nadeson who passed away a few months ago.

In case we’ve left out some names, a big thank you to all those who were not mentioned.

Sabina & Juergen

11 May – 15 May 2011

This 5 day course will get you started on Zone 1 – in Permaculture it is referred to the area closest to the home, and is most frequently worked on. We will learn how to build and increase soil fertility, and practice on how to design and make productive garden beds. Next, we will cover the basics of planting and nursery set up, including starting seeds, potting, plant propagation and nursery care. For something to take away from this 5 days at Embun Pagi, we offer the Kombucha & Enzyme making workshop. These are beneficial fermented tonics that have amazing health and multi-functional properties. Participants will take away a bottle of each tonic to start them off in their fermentation endeavors. The 5 day course is open to all.

Topics Covered

Course Fee

(Inclusive of  meals & dorm accommodation)

MYR 750 for non PDC participant

MYR 500 for PDC participants

To register download, April 2011 Permaculture Pratical Course Registration Form

The details of the PDC from 25 April – 8 May 2011 is up. Details about the course, teachers, and registration can be found in Courses & Events. Also spread the word around about the scholarship seats. We’d like to encourage more people to apply.

Cheers & a Happy New Year,

Sabina & Juergen

8 – 14 Dec 2010

A great way to end the year, with your feet in the ground, and hands in the mud. Join us for a fun  filled 1 week  Introduction to Natural Building workshop, where you will gain the basic an understanding of principles, methodologies and materials used in natural building. In this hands-on workshop, you’ll create a beautiful garden bench and sculpture at Embun Pagi, and also learn how to access and find local material & resources, utilize natural building to lower your carbon footprint, find meaningful and connections with your natural environment and learn how to build beautiful, practical and functional structures.

The workshop is offered in 5 different modules, so you can choose to join us for the entire seven days, or only for selected days. Accommodation is available in a dorm set up for those who are interested. Meals are not provided, except on the last day, where we will be baking some bread in the cob oven. Malay, Indian and Chinese food are easily available, and within walking distance from Embun Pagi.

Fees:

Whole package fee ( All modules)  - MYR 490

Individual modules: Between MYR 90 – MYR 200 per module

The module details are as follows:

(8 Dec) Module 1: Natural Building 101

Fee: MYR 90, Location: Embun Pagi

• Natural materials, what they are, where to find them, how to use them
• Tools and safety
• Prepare earthen pit and make some adobe bricks
• Eco-house talk – What is an Eco-house, how to build one, and why?

(9 Dec) Module 2: Site Analysis, Preparation & Design

Fee: MYR 90, Location: Embun Pagi

• Design and development – Model making, diagrams & drawings
• Building approval made easy
• Prepare bamboo frame for wattle and cob
• Build foundation for cob bench

(10 & 11 Dec) Module 3: Constructing a Cob Bench

Fee: MYR 180, Location: Embun Pagi

2 Days fully Hands on sessions

• Construct a bench with adobe bricks, wattle and cob
• Preparing natural plaster and redering
• Cob sculpting

(12 & 13 Dec) Module 4: Bamboo and its Uses

Fee: MYR 200, Location Kuala Khubu Baru

Take a trip to bamboo land, Kuala Kubu Baru and go for a dip in the refreshing Pertak River in between sessions! Those who are keen to stay the night can join us for a camping session.

• Bamboo identification, propagation, harvesting and preparation
• Bamboo crafting, techniques for splitting
• Dome design and construction

(14 Dec) Module 5: Finishing Touches to the Cob Oven

Fee: MYR 100, Location: Embun Pagi

Join us in rendering the finishing touches to our cob oven. The evening ends with a community bread making event, and fellowship around our fire-pit.

• An introduction to plasters, finishes and natural paints
• Rendering plaster and mosaics
• Party time!

About the teacher, Will Eastlake

Will has a Masters in Architecture from the University of Canberra. He has worked for two years with Indigenous Business Australia, designing houses and community centres for aboriginal communities around Australia. He has been involved in large scale natural material and bamboo sculpture projects at festivals and events since 2002.

For the past one year, he has been residing at Panya Projects, Thailand where he experimented with various natural building techniques using earth and bamboo. He has conducted and facilitated several natural building workshops in Panya Project and Tacome Pai and is looking forward to conducting yet another workshop in Malaysia.

To register, please download ,Natural Building Registration Form and send it back to us as soon as possible

Embun Pagi invites you to Part 1 of Celebrating the Four Elements.

              Our cob oven                  Mini Fire Party on 16 Oct

Fire../CREATING, CONSUMING, TRANSFORMING

31 October 2010 (Sun, 9am – 9pm) at Embun Pagi, Batu Arang

Our first round of day long celebration in the Celebrating the Four Elements series starts off with a homage to FIRE.

The morning kicks off with an outdoor cob kitchen building project. Cob is creative sculpture with  a mixture of fibre, sand, and clay.  The cob kitchen will be an added extension to our existing cob oven, which will be churning freshly fired bread throughout the day. Bring along some food to share for a potluck lunch, after which is followed by a tour of Embun Pagi and finishing touches to the cob kitchen.

In the evening, we will prepare food as a community, and finally the highlight of day – the fire celebration around the new fire-pit. Anticipate a night fuelled with dancing flames, music and laughter as our friends Gerda, Joachim (http://www.feuerpoesie.de/) and Juergen put up an enchanting fire performance.

All ages are welcome. Please RSVP to Sabina, ibu.embun@gmail.com

PROGRAMS IN NOVEMBER, 2010

12-Day Permaculture Design Course (PDC)

23 November – 5 December 2010 at Embun Pagi

We have a full house for the November PDC. Our next course which is also being t aught by Greg Knibbs is in March 2011. Details will be updated on Courses & Events soon

1-Day Introduction to Permaculture Workshop

20 November 2010 (Sat, 10am – 6pm) at Laundry, The Curve

Join us for this 6 hour Introduction to Permaculture workshop by Greg Knibbs of Australia . There is no fixed participation fee, only donation of any amount. All proceeds will be channelled towards our Permaculture Education & Development Fund.  Lunch will be available at Laundry, The Curve  which has graciously allowed us to use their venue.

Teenagers onwards are welcome. Please RSVP to Sabina, ibu.embun@gmail.com

PROGRAMS IN DECEMBER, 2010

7-Day Natural Building Workshop with Bamboo & Mud Bricks

8 December – 15 December 2010 at Embun Pagi

Learn basic building methods with natural materials that are readily available and have low carbon footprint. We will introduce the basics of building with bamboo, adobe bricks,  wattle and cob; while setting up the foundation of a small hut.

The workshop will be facilitated by architect, permaculturist and natural building
enthusiast, Will Eastlake from Australia. Workshop Fee: MYR 500

For more details/ to sign up, e-mail ibu.embun@gmail.com  Also, check out for updates and workshop details on our blog soon.

Here’s some exciting news. Our friends, Billie and Peng Keat of Moonriver Lodge who have 2 children of their own, are building a Children’s Permaculture Garden – for the community, by the community. We are organising a series of Permablitz where people come together to celebrate as community, and lend a helping hand in making this wonderful vision a reality. Exciting thematic ‘Gotong Royong’s’ have been arranged for each month, centering around permaculture concepts and designs that we intend to impliment. It’s a great opportunity to learn from hands on experience … and there will be informative permaculture video screenings too. Being offered at selected weekends, the events is open to all children and adults, with accommodation and meals provided, for a nominal fee only applied to adults.

We will be joining them as much as we can. See you there.

For more information, check out their website at: http://moonriverlodge.wordpress.com/lodge-activities/building-a-childrens-permaculture-garden/

A two day Introduction to Permaculture Workshop is also being offered  – one session on 10 & 11 July, and another on 20 & 21 November 2010.

Permaculture Design Course Scholarships

This time around, we are giving out two full scholarships. They are as follows:

The Munzir Scholarship - This scholarship is for a young Malaysian (age 19-30 years) who aspires to practice and promote a permaculture way of life.
The scholarship is in honour of Malaysia’s youngest permaculturist, 24 year old Wan Mohd. Munzir,who attended our first PDC course in 2009. He had already started practising what he learnt on his family land in Kelantan; but passed away not too long after.

To apply, fill in the The Munzir Scholarship Application Form and e-mail to ibu.embun@gmail.com

CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATION: 10 OCTOBER 2010.For enquiries, contact ibu.embun@gmail.com

The Permaculture Activist Scholarship -  The scholarship is for current activists, who are keen to utilise permaculture knowledge to create the change that they want to see in their own lives, in their community, in their environment , or in their work/activism. The scholarship is open to any applicant from a Developing Country (including Malaysia).

Activists, teachers, whistle blowers, applicants from Community Organizations/NGO’s are encouraged to apply. The scholarship will cover food and accomodation and excludes traveling expenses.

To apply, fill in the Permaculture Activist Application Form and e-mail to ibu.embun@gmail.com (Sabina Arokiam)

CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATION: 10 OCTOBER 2010. For enquiries, contact ibu.embun@gmail.com

We just finished another great Permaculture Design Course in March 2010.

To read what two of our students Adam and Sarah  have to share about their experience, click here.