Harmonia - Natural Education Center

What is Harmonia?  Located on 260 acres (inluding lakeside)  in Cardenas, Nicaragua, with views of jungle, islands, and volcanoes, Harmonia is an education and natural medicine center, nature reserve and eventual eco-village with spiritual, physical fitness, and healing components integrated into the programs.  Harmonia is dedicated to abundant, self-sustainable living in balance with the earth.  It is based upon the principles of spiritual ecology, the joining of ecology, environmentalism and the spiritual awareness and practices of ancient indigenous cultures. 


The education center is centered around classes for homesteading, with course offerings such as permaculture, building with natural materials, rain water harvesting, water retention and storage systems, natural medicine and healing modalities, gardening, green house operations, compost toilets, mushroom and herb cultivation, poultry production, eco-village design, root cellars, fermentation, astronomy and navigating by stars, emergency medicine, firestarting and firefighting in the wilderness, survival skills, horse care, astronomy, solar installation and repair, wind turbines, pottery, plant identification and foraging, geology, yogurt and cheesemaking, beer and wine production, candles, soaps, woodworking, traditional crafts, beekeeping, worming/vermiculture, building clay kilns and ovens, tropical fruit propagation and horticulture, seed saving, natural brickmaking, woodworking, health and nutrition, rocket stoves, bartering and alternative currencies...and a whole lot more.

Classes will be set up university style in 2-4 hour blocks, with six hours of classroom time five days a week, available for one, two and four week sessions.  Unlike universities, though, there will be no testing, no grades.  Guests take what they want from the experience.   Participants choose their curriculum based upon the course and workshop offerings and teacher availability.  During the high season, we would like a minimum six teachers to be available at any given week.  


 The land will serve as the ultimate botanical garden, with trees and plants labeled throughout the property.  Permaculture concepts will be explained at various points, with explanations not only of the systems, but why we specifically placed swales, berms, and water reservoirs in particular spots and how the road and trail system was designed.  The gardens will be unique and planted as living works of art.  

Harmonia is the synastry of art and nature.  It will constantly evolve in color, form, texture and design.  The buildings, gardens, and walkways will be living works of art.  Aside from homesteading classes, we will have classes on natural pigments and painting techniques, clay, landscape art and botanical drawings.  During the rainy season, it could serve as excellent writers’ or artists’ retreat.


Preserving ancient wisdom is another core components of Harmonia.   Harmonia will share the wisdom of the ancient elders through storytelling circles, dance, sweat lodges, and ceremonies.  An elaborate trail system intersecting the properties will serve as an outdoor educational platform, with each trail covering a different group or theme.  One of the main trails is The Trail of Wisdom, with trails dedicated to the the indigenous tribes of the worlds such as the Lakota, Dogon, Quechuan, Miskito, Navajo, Hopi, and Shepibo.   Every 20 to 200 feet there will be a sign in Spanish and English (and native language) explaining how they ate, prayed, planted, and celebrated.    It is not a comprehensive education (only a paragraph or two per sign), but enough to whet the intellectual appetite.  Preserving indigenous cultures is vital as many languages continue to die off.  It is a way to preserve the ancient stories.  The trails will include subjects on science, physics, geology, biology, botany, poetry, meteorology, bird and animal identification, astronomy, physiology, world religions, sacred geometry, art, shamanism, and local flora and fauna.  The central trail will focus on Nicaraguan history, tracing the earliest cultures to William Squire’s expeditions, following with the history of William Walker, Sandino, Somoza and the Revolution.  It’s a living library.





All the senses will be open when hiking through the trails and thus the information will be retained at a sensory level that a classroom, television, computer screen or book does not permit.  All of the signage will be in English and Spanish, making it an excellent language program, too.  (And a lot more interesting than the dialogue of most language text books.) Harmonia is a bi-lingual community.  Language classes will be offered to supplement the education.  The goal is to make all classes available in Spanish and English (bi-lingual or separate, depending on the languages spoken by the teachers and participants, and availability of translators), although for the first year of operation, that may not be an option.  

The trail system will be designed for mountain biking, horseback riding and hiking.  Not all trails are suitable for each aspect, so they will be clearly marked (with degree of difficulty) on the property maps that will be located throughout the land.  The knowledge trails will be placed along the hiking and horseback routes, with fewer along the mountain bike trails.  (Dirt bikes and quads are not permitted on the trails.)  



Aside from the marked trails, there will be a few surprises in store to enhance the adventure.  The trail guides will be marked like a treasure map with secret trails resulting in a “treasure” such as a rope swing, sundial, jungle gym in the jungle, outdoor chess, or a funky piece of art.  These “treasures” will increase as more people pass through the land and leave their artistic imprint.  

Physical fitness is a component of Harmonia.  Free yoga classes will be offered daily.  Aside from the mountain bike and hiking trails, we would like to offer classes in circus acrobats, capoeira, and silks.  There is plenty of space for trapeze and high-wire acts.  The warm water lake is perfect for kiteboarding, stand up paddle boarding, windsurfing, kayaking and swimming.  

The Natural Medicine Center is another core component of Harmonia.  We will offer homeopathic, naturopathic and chiropractic services, as well as other alternative therapies such as acupuncture, Rife, massage, Reiki and body cleanses.  We will have classes in alternative medicine, including aromatherapy, massage, herbal healing, preventative nutrition, making tinctures, emergency medicine, and even a program for doulas.  We will also have medicinal herb and mushroom operation.  Dried herbs and mushrooms will be packaged and exported abroad. 



Harmonia is centered around a wholistic lifestyle - and that requires balance in the mind as well.  We want to offer eco-therapy counseling and addiction services to integrate the soul with the natural environment.  Much of this component will utilize Osho meditative therapies, indigenous healing modalities, and nutritional education, with group workshops and individual therapy sessions.  This aspect is a recent addition in the purpose and structure of Harmonia, but is essential.  We can love ourselves if we love the earth; we must love ourselves before we can heal ourselves, and we can heal ourselves through healing the earth.  We need to find Love.

Harmonia offers an integrative wellness program with a variety of healing modalities available to participants.   Daily yoga and mediations are available to everyone.  The nature reserve allows visitors to connect with nature in silence, solitude and gratitude.  All meals prepared in the kitchen will be vegetarian and healthy.  Alcohol will not be sold at the cafe (although people may bring their own to the cafe on pizza night).  Guests in the healing workshops will attend the educational component as well, allowing the mind to take in new knowledge and develop skills while going through the get wellness process.  The beautiful, natural environment and extraordinary learning and fitness opportunities create an uplifting, whole body-whole mind experience as opposed to an accusatory, intervention-style forced recovery.  

The healing workshops and sessions are not limited to addictions.  They are available to anyone who wants to participate and use them as tools for personal growth.  Because Harmonia will also be an eco-community (I’ll get to that part in a minute), it is essential to have programs that allow us to be true to ourselves and live and thrive in community despite our idiosyncrasies.





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There is so much more that I cannot begin to encapsulate it.  It isn't like anything that exists in the world.  We need far than a million dollars that attached to this campaign.  We are looking at different fundraising campaigns and soliciting physical donations  of equipment, seeds, books and infrastructure materials as well.  We have the opportunity to purchase an additional 750 acres of old growth forest, rivers and streams and agricultural land adjacent to the property for approximately $1 million US, but the development of the project will begin with the first 260 acres.  Securing two adjacent parcels will make  a huge difference in how the roads can be developed throughout the property, as some areas are quite steep. 

It's hard to use the present tense for something that doesn't physically exist (outside of the land, which has been secured), but this project already exists at some other point in the space-time continuum.



My name is Kelly Ann Thomas . I am an American living in Nicaragua for 10 1/2 years.  I own and operate a socially conscious/environmentally friendly coffeehouse and bookstore - El Gato Negro - in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua.

The vision for Harmonia came to me three years ago and has expanded into this soon-to-be Creation.  I have committed $250K of my own funds to this project, but I need cash flow. I have started this campaign now because we need access to funds to start construction of the water retention systems, irrigations systems (using water from the lake) and orchards.  If we can raise  $5 million by June 1st, we can realistically be open for classes in January 2017.

There are many people who want to help but cannot afford to donate.  You can share this campaign with others,  You can send us prayers and blessings.  It all counts.

Everything you donate goes to promote permaculture-based projects and living in harmony with nature.  

With all of my heart, thank you for your support.

Blessings,

Kelly

"Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children."  - Ancient Indian Proverb