BUILDING OUR EARTHSHIP: A Young Couple's Journey Towards Sustainability
by A. Billi Free & Saankhu Maa El Bey
Billi
My love for the southwest began in 2008 when I escorted university students from Chicago to Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Mexico on a study abroad community service trip. The week-long observation took us to several organizations assisting migrant workers on their trek from South America and Mexico up into the U.S, El Norte. It also landed us in the middle of the Sonoran desert to follow a bit of the trail that many migrants take on the border of the Tohono O’dham nation lands, where compassionate native members leave jugs of water for their brethren under the small shade of the mesquite trees, against the will of their own tribal government. Through the myriad stories of pain, struggle and compassion I also felt the excitement at seeing my first jackrabbit run unbound through the land, the beauty of brightly painted adobe houses, the awe of a sky full of stars at night, the peace of the desert’s quiet. I felt the land’s calling.
So in Fall of 2009, with this calling in my heart, after spiritual trips to the pyramids at Teotihuacan, Mexico and Cairo, Egypt and after the birth of our daughter, myself and my partner decided to move to Sedona, Arizona. After living in a conventional apartment we noticed folks out this way throwing around words and concepts like “sustainable” and “eco-friendly” and not in a break-the-bank way (i.e. paying triple the price for organically farmed coffee beans in my espresso) but more in the do-it-yourself manner of passive solar water heating, composting, greywater plumbing and building homes that sustain the thermal mass of the earth thus reducing and/or eliminating heating and cooling expenses. Neither of us grew up in environments that fostered sustainability and alternative ways of living on this scale and so hearing and learning about these things not only excited us and set our hearts afire but they made all the sense in the world. This is what we wanted to do! We looked around Sedona for offers to buy land but it was very expensive. How interesting that land costs as much as it does and one really cannot “own” land, in the literal sense. Finally, a deal for a cheap plot in southwest New Mexico surfaced, albeit with no well or septic system installed. From there, we signed the paperwork and began to dream of our future.
We also began to research.
In spring of 2010, prior to moving out to our little plot of land, this research took us on a month long tour of the west coast, meeting with sustainable housing communities and businesses in the sustainability field (eg Colorado Yurt Company, the Taos Earthship Global Community) to learn more about the varying types of low-cost and self-sufficient structures that were being built around the country. Some individuals and organizations preferred the more futuristic route of geodesic domes, strawbale houses and rammed-earth tire homes. Others we met with paid homage to the native ancestors by building complexes of tipis and modern-style yurts (aka the Mongolian ger). Once we settled on our land, after our trip, we decided that the structure we would build with our own hands would be a nod to both the past and the future; we would build a rammed-earth tire structure in the style of the Navajo hogan. This dream expressed itself in reality as a 20-foot in diameter, one room, hogan-style structure with a central fire pit, an overhead skylight and seating space for many.
Our hogan is constructed of about 300 tires that we solicited from our local tire shop (tires which would have cost the shop thousands of dollars to be removed by the city), thousands of bottles and cans that were collected from co-workers and local businesses that respect what we are doing and salvaged wood that we found a few miles down our road at a demolished and abandoned shack site. Not only was this mode of construction a cost saver but we, two moreno city slickers from up north, were able to build fast alliances and contribute to our new community through the ancient technique of trade and barter. For the most part it was our four hands working tirelessly to build this little structure but I think that most of the county is set in kaliche mud and concrete in that one building, and we are still not done!
Weaning ourselves from modern forms of dependency that are not self-sufficient or sustainable, as adults from the city who have grown up in the "matrix," is an ongoing therapy session but when we look at the big picture, this project is for our children. Perhaps we want to, in a way, relive a more preferable childhood through them but it fills me with joy to see them run around for hours kicking up dust in the desert without having to stop for cars crossing, bullets being fired from a gun or for weird people that might hurt them; always on alert, never with abandon. I think it is important for children to experience this type of freedom often and see the type of work that we are doing be done so that they know they do not "have" to depend on anyone or any entity to provide their basic needs of food, water, clothing, shelter and decent human community regardless of what they decide to do with their lives later on. So that, if they want, they can spend their later years traveling, creating, inventing and enjoying themselves instead of having to worry about rent/mortgages, bills, all of these little "unnecessary" annoyances. They will have the tools and experience to gain sufficiency in their own way. What we don't get to finish in our lifetime I hope that, with the way we are raise our children, they and children with similar backgrounds can carry the torch forward and make this thing, this life we are all living on this planet better than we ever imagined.
Our philosophy around building this type of housing has the goal of self-sufficiency and stewardship of the planet at its heart. As part and parcel of a larger global community, we feel that it is important for us and for future generations to decrease our dependency on unstable and costly structures that will ultimately lead to destruction on many levels (i.e. GMO and Monsanto seed patents, high prices of fossil fuels in place of biodiesel fuel, utility bills, psyches disconnected from nature, etc). This experience and all of its ups and downs has been a profoundly educational journey.
Our goals are far-reaching. We would like to, at the end of 10-15 years or so (maybe sooner!), be as close to 100% self-sufficient as possible in the arenas of housing, transportation and food and water sourcing. Ultimately, we want to continue to cultivate a relationship of peace with nature; to travel and visit with our friends without having the price of gas be a deal breaker because we have begun to move over to biodiesel, to pick fresh fruits and vegetables just a few feet away from our living space and to watch the sun and moon rise each day quietly and without hindrance.
Saankhu
Saankhu Maa El-Bey is my name. Saankhu Maa means, “By living truth, I have victory” in the Nubian Egyptian language. The El-Bey derives from Old Latin and Moorish roots. I also have blood ties to the Apache cultures of the southwest. This is the background by which I define myself, not as the popularized “Black” or “African-American.” As far as color is concerned, I consider myself Brown and not Black with the understanding that black is a classification that most people of strong African descent choose to use as an identification and so the world at large does also, but I ask my three year old daughter, now learning the primary colors, what color our skin is and her response is Brown. I see the same color. So with this understanding I would like to explain how I overcame the stereotype that men of color do not live long, are most likely to end up in jail, are un- and undereducated and are absent when it comes to taking care of their families.
As a youth, I grew up in the North Chicago, Rogers Park and Evanston. I never experienced any direct racial discrimination. In fact, the only people that were ever unkind to me had the same colored skin! With this realization, I was able to grow up seeing that all humans have good and bad in them, regardless of color so never having a racial chip on my shoulder was a bonus and helped me be more accepting of differences and gain a more universal understanding of the world and humanity. However, the challenge of not falling into these stereotypical roles became my drive in early adulthood. I attended Baptist church up until the time I began college and it was during my last year with the church that I had begun to realize much hypocrisy. This did not deter me from continuing my understanding of the universal being called God, Allah, Jehovah, etc. I attended college at Southern Illinois University – Carbondale but in my sophomore year I was diagnosed with a heart condition. I decided to leave SIUC and came back to the city to attend Columbia College in case I needed medical attention. During my last year of college, pursuing a Fine Arts degree with a concentration in Graphic Design, the stress level had gotten out of hand and I ended up in the hospital for a few days.
After being released from the hospital I decided to take my health into my own hands; no doctors and no prescribed pills. I began a more holistic lifestyle of a vegetarian diet, yoga, meditation and relaxation. This change benefited me the most. Not only did I outlive the five years I was given to live with my condition, but I experienced success in my profession and traveled around the world (Mexico, Puerto Rico and Egypt), confirming much of what I had studied regarding the spiritual practices in other places after I journeyed from organized religion.
It is often said that the most difficult of situations has the potential to springboard a person into greater realizations. I know that the totality of my life experiences and the challenges faced to not be another stereotype, some recounted here, have led me to the lifestyle choice I have now made with my family. So, from an African-American boy to a Universal-Sustainable Being has been and continues to be my journey.
