Enrique Benitez wants to make a better world.
Enrique Benitez from Tamaulipas in Mexico wrote to me about what he was doing to heal himself, his society and the planet.
Each day he spends around two hours planting and caring for trees in order to make a forest in a public area. It is an area of 57 acres where people can walk, jog or mountain bike. But more than the forest itself he is trying to gather together some like minded people and bring about a change in the culture around him.. Each Saturday from 8-9am he meets with others to talk and exchange ideas of how to make a better world. The meeting is informal and with no agenda.
His car has a large sign in the rear window “Trees for Free” along with his phone number. The trees are provided for by the local government and Enrique will deliver them to a person’s home and at the same time make a new friend.
Enrique also plans to produce his own food using the John Jeavons biointensive approach and get other people involved in his community.
He has started a DVD library with films such as Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” and Patch Adams, Gandhi, Erin Brockovich, Patton, Braveheart, Farenheit 9/11. People can borrow this for free and he feels that by watching these films people can begin to educate themselves.
People drop off used batteries at his house and he takes them to a center that disposes of toxic waste. This also has the side effect of bringing him in contact with like minded people.
He would like to become involved in a community that operates like the ashrams of Gandhi, one that is non-dogmatic and has respect for life and universal values.
Finally he asks us all for suggestions as to how to make his life more useful and fulfilling.
