Cob: Re: Cob Classes

[Fyrfalcyn at aol.com]

>> Perhaps you missed this on the Cob Cottage Company schedule of workshops:
 
   "To support deconsumerization, we offer partial trades and scholarships
    to people who can demonstrate serious movement towards simplification
    and away from the cash economy.  Ask us for more information." <<

Hello,
    My name is Lizzi, and my mother received an e-mail containing this quote. 
 I am elated.  We are moving to Montana for the hope to escape some of the 
heartache of the "cash economy".  
    I don't remember a time when our family has not struggled financially.  
Often, situations that have been beyond our control have tied us down to 
poverty.   Because of this I have been driven in my studies to explore and 
ponder different ways to run economy.  I have encountered resistance from a 
great many people.  People who do not want to change.  People who see 
problems and turn away, because they feel they are not strong enough to make 
the change.  Perhaps they turn away because sometimes the right thing is a 
painful thing.
    Hereto we have been depending almost entirely on my grandfather, and we 
asked him if he would pay a part for me to take the class, or rather any 
class, and we would reimburse him when we had the resources.  The spirit of 
the meeting we had with him was extremely uncomfortable, and he seemed 
unmovingly resistant to the idea.  He told us that we need to try to be 
independent, and live within our means.  While this is sound advice, it means 
little to us.  My mother didn't finish college and so encounters opposition 
finding jobs that pay well enough.  I had to start working to help our family 
before I could finish high school, and thus I have great difficulty getting 
jobs that pay much more than minimum wage.  Living within our means we live 
not at all.
    This is our hope; to move to a less congested area, to see something more 
than streets and buildings, to have a place of our own, in which place we can 
strive to live away from the hunger of the city for money.  To move to a 
place where our talents and abilities enhance our life.  A place where we can 
live from our own strengths, and not be required to kow-tow to the Lords of 
Capitalism and the Gods of Consumerism.
    There is a small amount more we can do on our own.  We need to known how 
to make cob houses.  We can little afford to buy another house in a town.  
There we would be falling victim to the same enemies with new faces.  What we 
want is to buy some land, build a house and buy some animals.  Live for 
ourselves and work for ourselves.  We hope that by seizing this type of 
independence that we may help others to do so.
    We are as children in this field and need assistance.  If you know of 
someone that will help and guide us we would be indebted to you.
    Thank you for your time.

                                                    ~Lizzi Padilla
                                                    4727 S. Urban Way
                                                    Morrison,CO 80465
                                                    303-973-4742