Open Source Ecology OSE Apprenticeship, 25 May 2021

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From YouTube: Christian Ward - Peru + OSE Apprenticeship

Description

Christian Ward is from Peru, and will be joining the OSE Apprenticeship that is happening from July 1, 2021 to December 22, 2021. https://www.opensourceecology.org/ose-apprenticeship/

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A

Christian hello, hi.

B

A

Very good, hey man, you, your video, was pretty good. That was that was good.

B

Thank you, man. Thank you. It's it's been. um He has such an adventure to to be here where I am now and, like things are not happening so quickly. Everything is kind of a mess now, but yeah, I'm like really strong and I'm really committed on going to the osce apprenticeship program.

B

So yeah, I'm very happy about it. I'm yeah, I'm super excited.

A

That's awesome: do you mind if we record this, can we publish.

B

Yeah well yeah sure sure, let's see how it goes.

A

C

A

Tell me a little bit more about that. So, are you finishing your school right now or is this.

B

Yes, well yeah, basically I'm in my well. I finish all my courses now and now I'm doing my thesis, I'm doing it on sustainable, open source, hardware, development and uh well, it's come kind of slow now, but um um I'm really excited of doing it. With uh with the team like once I finish the program like get all the information and kind of get something more consistent, so yeah, that's basically my plan, but uh well. I should have published it on september, but uh well I don't think I'm gonna do it now.

B

So I'm gonna wait for next year.

A

Tell me more about how your life has been a whirlwind: how has it been crazy these days.

B

Well, yeah like uh well, basically, a year ago I found out that my uh now wife was pregnant and well, I was still studying and she was in peru, so I basically went for a visit and then, when I came back, I she called me with the news and um so then the pandemic hit, and I couldn't go back and I was on my last semester and I uh so yes, we were having a really hard time and well.

B

She went well we're from lima and she went to cusco because she uh have midwife her there, and uh so she wanted to do a natural birth and really uh do it right how it should be so.

B

On august I finished my my courses and I flew to to peru to to see her eight months already and like stay with her for for the last month, so um yeah it was very exciting. uh It was very scary as well.

B

We everything was perfect and um well now we're living here um in germany with with my seven-year-old seven month old son and uh well- and we came here and we thought we had a place to stay, but apparently it wasn't available yet so we are now staying in my friend's place and uh it's kind of small, but uh we are looking to to move anytime soon, so um yeah and like uh now that the apprenticeship is in july- and I just came on on april- it's uh it's it's something that, like it's really hard to handle.

A

Yeah uh tell me about your wife: does she want to come along or is she uh stay in germany or what's the situation.

B

Well, she wanted to go to switzerland because she's got a friend there, a very good friend and well she's, doing permaculture there and well. Basically, valeria wants to go there and learn from her and yeah visit her community because she's living in a small farm with friends and family. So it's uh pretty nice but yeah. I thought it wasn't even possible for her. My my.

C

B

To to go to factory farm, I don't know if it's, if it's possible.

A

Possible on our side we can we can. We could accommodate that, if that we.

B

Can talk more about that.

A

But tell me more, um how did you formulate just.

C

Just background, how did you formulate.

A

Your vision for what what the world is about.

C

You you mentioned about seeing the inequalities in peru.

A

How did you get radicalized or socialized to to the issues in the world.

B

Yeah well, I studied anthropology when I was 18., but uh basically in peru and I'm in pretty much latin america and basically all the third world countries. You don't have to uh go far to see inequality. You know what I mean and uh you just have to like. Basically look out your window and uh like that really shocked me and uh impact me in a lot of ways, and uh I really think what um always he's got now.

B

The whole project and the the vision and all the foundations you've been building is something that is is really tangible and I think it can leapfrog yes to a much better society where people can uh be democratized and autonomous and not depend on centralized enterprises, and I think that's my my core in a sense and that's what I'm following.

A

What do parents do back in.

B

Well, um my mom's, a coach like leadership, yeah kind of a business business school and uh my dad is an entrepreneur.

B

uh Well, my grandfather at the um natural gas distributor and um well my dad kind of went through that line and um yeah, like I kind of uh didn't, want that for myself, but I I really uh acknowledged and uh uh the entrepreneurial side. But now uh I want to go into the social entrepreneur segment and uh well here. Wow.

A

B

A

Back in peru, are you guys like upper middle class or you're like elites or where would you put yourself.

B

Well, I don't think he elites the world but uh yeah. I think we're in uh high class but uh yeah. Well, um I think uh it. It comes from my grandfather and basically it's it's. It's all been uh cascading down.

A

Do you get your ethical viewpoints from your parents, or did you develop that much yourself.

B

Well, I think uh I I developed it on my own in a sense, but my mom's got a lot to do with it. She's a very loving person and I think, like I owe her a lot and well my dad gave me this more rigid, disciplinary structured being, but at the same time he meditates he's kind of into the buddhism kind of philosophy, and I really uh learned learn a lot from her from him as well, so yeah yeah. I do.

B

I do like uh not not like um how do you say like uh everyday structure, but I kind of uh try to understand condition. Conditionment, maybe uh attachment attachment and um yeah, and I think, like that's the only way you can understand your human nature in a sense like if you, um if you're always thinking I want to be free, I want to be free but want to be free, but at the same time you are conditioned by habits and by.

B

You will never be free and uh it's um you just gotta kind of learn that from from yourself and learn your attachments, so you can go beyond it in a sense. I I don't know if I can make myself understand.

A

Absolutely clear and do you know if I meditate.

B

Well, I do know, I do know you you'd say it a lot.

A

But I I've been following yeah no.

C

A

It's transformative, it's um yeah, yeah.

C

So I hear you're completely. I.

A

C

A

C

Able to go into go to.

A

Germany, how did you choose germany.

B

Well, I've got a passport. My grandfather came from germany, uh but from the other side, with uh from my mother's side, yeah so yeah, we got.

A

C

A

That's that was, if you didn't have a father from grandfather from germany that wouldn't be possible or.

B

Yeah that wouldn't be possible like at least not the way, we're doing it now like as a family and well. I would have to get a visa student visa or something and.

A

Like fight for.

B

It a little more.

A

So we've got a mixture of the deutsche and some southern hospitality yeah.

B

A

um Yeah, do you have questions about the program? Well,.

B

Let me tell you first like we're: we're like a spaceship.

C

A

Took off to the moon and our site is messy, is.

C

A

B

Yeah environment, like.

A

B

Yeah yeah gotta. I know it's gonna be hard, then no, it's gonna be a long process. It's going to be hard. It's going to be uh exciting as well, but yeah, I'm I'm ready for it. I'm really ready for it. I'm ready for the yeah. I've been thinking about about a lot. You know- and I always uh since about two years. Maybe I heard about the program yeah and I was uh always aiming for the um extr summer. Extreme building, luxury design, building yeah.

A

Some of our stream design build yeah.

B

Yeah yeah, that's it and uh well. I was basically going. uh I wanted to apply there and I contacted you and uh you told me that the mentorship was there was a possibility and I was like oh no yeah. I want to go to the mentorship. I want to do this.

B

I think that it's some like uh even stronger experience, and then uh you told me hey now the apprenticeship is is, uh is available and I said: okay, let's do it here, wow, but but yeah but like, as I told you know like at first, I had to talk to my family and really get things sorted, and we basically decided that it was the best decision for us.

A

uh When you say your family, also, your parents, too,.

B

No, no well, no.

A

B

Yeah, my wife and my kid yeah.

A

Have you told your parents about this yet and what do they think.

B

Yeah yeah for sure they're helping me even like uh they're doing basically uh it's my decision. You know, but uh yeah they're really supportive about this, and they they trust me. You know in a lot of.

A

Things wow: this is great man. Yeah, do you have any questions.

B

Yeah well yeah more than questions.

B

Yeah yeah, like um this leadership truck I'm kind of uh I wouldn't I want to know what is it about? What what do you think about it? What are your uh basically plans or motivations right.

A

Yeah um we'd like to create train movement entrepreneurs. Do you consider yourself a movement entrepreneur? Do you know what that is.

B

A movement an entrepreneur- um well, not not so much.

A

Social entrepreneur, the word that you used on steroids, so this is about.

C

So it's about people.

A

Who one see that there's real issues that need to be solved in the world and they have the courage to work on it with open collaboration? Okay,.

B

That's how we solve.

A

Problems, you know what I mean.

B

Yeah yeah sure sure.

A

Yeah, we're saying: hey, there's some issues in the world. uh We are creative and empowered. Well, we raise we learn because it takes learning to do that. We learn to solve problems and do them so to make a better world for everybody.

C

B

Highest level like we know.

C

That there's issues and very very.

A

Few people are working on them, like most people get slotted into positions.

C

Within a system that.

A

uh Continue this system you're.

B

Exactly continuing.

A

Yeah continuing the system, so we're saying no like, let's question everything and and let's find out, let's create new enterprise models that simply change the the old into the new towards the next economy. Next economy defined as we're no longer competing we're um it's not no longer a proprietary economy. It's a it's an open collaborative economy where our goal is to bring everybody up, because um I feel that um if you study the way the world works, I think there's definite ways that I mean oppression.

A

I don't like to use the word oppression, but but there's a systemic reduction of human potential that happens everywhere. It's.

B

A

Just systemic, we don't even see it, but.

C

A

Far from the the potential of humanity, um through our.

C

B

A

Just kind of go through the world in a certain way, but.

B

We can make a much better.

A

World based on a world beyond scarcity, the scarcity.

C

A

Today, which is based on fear, where I mean, if you.

C

A

About it psychologically, that means the reptilian brain, we're afraid we're like you know, ten thousand a hundred thousand years ago, our brains are that, whereas we have learned how to transcend the scarcities and threats real threats to existence, but the human brain hasn't really caught up to that, so we're kind of still living in this fear and our whole economic system and worldview.

A

Is that and one of the profound.

B

C

That I'm learning.

A

C

A

Is how little true collaboration exists and we're saying? No, let's people, let's collaborate, let's, let's take all the pressing world issues, collaborate and solve them. So that's what that's the job description for a movement entrepreneur.

B

That's great, it fits.

C

B

Yeah yeah well, and uh basically that goes uh in line with uh the community economic development right.

A

Yes, yes, it's about.

B

A

Power from like right now, power, the the last thing that current economic system has not solved is distribution. We.

B

C

A

B

We can overproduce.

A

Things since the turn, since the early 1900s production.

B

A

Very, very far outstripped our ability to consume. So that's not an.

C

Issue but we haven't.

A

Learned how to distribute wealth or knowledge equitably to everybody else, so it's a very uneven world and it's really playing out politically right now how uneven that is. uh So that's something to to address.

C

B

Yeah exactly exactly yeah! Well, I'm very interesting, I'm very interested in in being part of this program. Learning from from all of you and.

A

Yeah, you can teach us where you can. What can.

B

You contribute.

A

Outside of learning how to design? Because.

B

Because the thing is uh in.

A

The program we'll teach you how to design and build anything and also.

C

The mindset of.

A

But the first thing: it's really about a collaborative mindset that allows.

C

A

To work on problems collaboratively on a grand scale to solve larger issues- uh that's that's the number one, um but what do you think you would do with that?.

B

Yeah, well, um I I really wish to give back. I really wish to give back to my to my to my country and maybe start there. uh Well, um a few years ago, uh we acquired the.

A

Land in the north.

B

Part of peru, how.

A

B

Like uh 80 hectares, but it's basically desert it's a it's a dry forest. So that's.

A

The location uh would I google.

B

Well, you can put uh punta punta or yeah t-u-m.

B

No, it's like basically, a.

A

That's is that the land punta beach, peru.

B

Oh yeah yeah, so it's uh like one kilometer away from the beach.

B

A

Where's your place.

B

Well, it's uh like just next to the highway, the panamericana highway and um yeah, it's it's! It's it's just there and uh well it's it's well!.

A

There's no sonia bungalow's three-star hotel. Is it north of that or.

B

I'm not really sure. Oh.

A

Oh, let me see the satellite image so how far from the highway.

B

It's like a walk in three minutes, two minutes. So it's it's! It's pretty it's pretty close. uh We we have water availability, there's uh well! I already been talking about it with some friends and uh I think uh we're gonna start like uh as soon as possible as soon as uh kind of learn, the the the skills and and basically yes, start the operation.

A

There is it north.

C

Of there's the road called punta, the.

A

Road that goes into punta.

B

Yeah well yeah, it's basically on yeah, it's uh on the other side of the highway. So it's not like.

A

On the other side of the highway, okay.

B

A

B

Yeah, like we wanted to start there, I think it's it's more convenient because it's already ours we're thinking of buying land in cusco in the sacred valley of the incas. I don't know if you've heard of it, it's a beautiful place and.

C

B

Already surrounded by communities all around and people that knows a lot of permaculture people that are advocated in uh community development. It's a it's an amazing place to be, and we well. I've always wanted to do something there. But well, I think, because we are already owning that land in punta. I think it would be better to start there. I don't know, what's your opinion.

A

Yeah, um how long? How long have you owned that land.

B

A

Years, maybe okay, uh I you can start from scratch anywhere. I think it depends what resources like. So what do you envision for the location to do.

B

Well, like it's, uh it's a beautiful place and there's a lot of um like projects, housing projects they they are starting to do uh beach houses. So I think, like the sea, they go home. It's a really nice uh place to start like do a revenue model and start like uh creating houses there and.

A

uh Do they build out of light frame construction there or just more brick, brick.

B

Yeah, well, they they they do. um One thing about peru is that they well basically in latin america, is that they use a lot of adobe bricks right so uh cb. I think it's a the most amazing thing. Ever I've worked with almost 50 people in a rural community and we managed to do like 400 a day with 50 people working all day and like when I've learned about the cv.

B

I've uh really, I was blown away. I thought like well what it's it's got so much potential you and it's something that it's going to be so useful to to to create housings in everywhere. Basically, yeah.

A

How would you envision um so.

C

You know we're yeah yeah as we develop this. How do.

A

You see um maybe like what what's, how do.

C

You look at it.

A

As far as the collaboration, because we want collaborative development like training for collaborative development, so we're always collaborating if you're working in peru. How does that play out.

B

Well, I was thinking of building a team and basically teaching them how to design how to develop hardware and basically start from there, like a small team, but uh always on on uh visioning global collaboration and.

C

B

Looking ways for for for us to work together and and create this uh digital community in a sense right.

A

Yeah yeah excellent, no, I think the location is, um I think you build it. Tell me tell me the other location, which you think is the beautiful inca valley place.

B

Yeah, it's called the sacred valley of the incas and uh well, you can put la mai, it's a that's the place we wanted to to buy a plate to buy a land.

C

B

It's a beautiful valley.

A

Yeah and then uh and it's not.

B

A

um Oh wow, so so peru. You also have the jungle on the east side.

B

Yeah, exactly exactly yeah like uh yeah. I think, like that's that that's my vision, you know get the coast, the andes, the mountain range and and the and the jungle, the amazon.

A

Jungle, holy cow that is so untouched over there.

B

Yeah exactly yeah, it's a beautiful place.

A

Like if you compare that to like, if you look at north american forests, you'll see that there's all these bites taken out of them in.

B

North america.

A

And canada, whereas if you zoom out to your area.

B

Yeah, it's it's very close.

A

It's untouched. It's like.

B

Yeah and well there's, uh I think.

A

That's unreal yeah. I didn't even know that kind of untouched land still exists anywhere. Man.

B

Yeah it's the amazon ring for it.

A

Because, like all you see on in the media, is where it's being cut down and stuff, so yeah.

B

A

Like that's all, there is but yeah.

C

And, of course, there's some desertified.

A

Areas around the apartment.

C

Yeah yeah for sure yeah.

A

um That's very cool, so uh tell me more so yeah.

A

C

Else what else, as far as questions.

A

Might you have.

B

um Yeah well not like not much about the program really. I think I get it but like, for example, um the cdec echo home yeah.

B

Is it from it's not from a dover right? It's not from an uh otherwise.

C

It's like yeah.

B

You did it through uh wood right so.

A

This year we're doing the version. That's light frame construction wood next year, we're releasing the product that will be compressed earth block.

C

A

uh Because of the difficulty of one versus the other, it's much easier to do the lumber version and then move into the brick. So because.

C

A

We're still at in the point of developing a very robust revenue model that can sustain operation.

C

A

Between 3d printers cdca homes, other workshops, immersion, training, tractors, brick presses those.

B

Are the things.

C

A

Produce most readily right now and.

C

I think the integrated business model of all of that.

A

Makes it work, but the house, I think we can really scale the operation quite a bit, because everyone needs a house and we are offering it at a much lower cost than anyone else can build it and it's better much better.

C

A

It's expandable all the features that you might have.

C

A

Modularity part.

C

B

Just plain efficiency.

A

Plain open source, digital.

B

A

2.0, where it's completely digitized and therefore scalable.

C

A

I don't know if you know how I mean just just to give you an insight of how things work in construction. If you're an architect, you don't design.

B

How you build it.

A

You just give the.

B

Design general design and then people the builders figure out.

A

How to do it and that.

C

Process that this connection between.

A

The two causes.

C

A lot of inefficiency because you're not exactly designing for the most optimal build.

A

A lot of times you don't even know what an optimal build is because most architects don't build.

A

So it's pretty inefficient and there's all these kinds of inefficiencies throughout the process that we're just simply saying: okay, let's, let's get those out uh in addition to global collaboration, do a full digital designer like within either within sweet home, 3d or freecad or other.

B

A

Now anybody can basically turn any person into the designer of their dream home.

C

Yeah yeah that sounds like you can beat it.

A

It's a good value proposition so.

B

A

B

I think I've got one more. um What do you recommend me like? uh Well, we've got almost a month. What do you recommend me on starting, I think uh uh cat? Yes,.

A

I can get you started. uh Are you out of school now already you finished.

B

Yeah yeah, I'm done okay, great.

A

I'll I'll set you with the first thing is the free cad badge, understanding the basic workflow in freecad. If.

B

You're savvy about it.

A

Then you can learn very quickly, but help me on this by there's a very deliberate procedure. We follow on that. That procedure also allows us to learn how we can teach people more effectively because.

C

A

Is that we can take any person and within one hour, get them into this basic workflow? We have done.

C

A

There's people that I trained in person. In fact, one time in spain, we had like three out of eight people finish that exercise. After about one hour of me, teaching and going.

B

But did they have any background on.

A

Programming, some of them had background in cad. Others did not.

C

A

No yeah we're talking about. We got to teach novices.

B

Yeah, that's right. You have to understand.

A

B

So you've got a business plan of action, yeah.

A

And help me learn help us learn by providing feedback on what in that process was effective and not so that we.

C

Can keep improving this so.

A

Everything that we do here is about improving the process and constant learning, and we start like that like in that that first free cat exercise help us do that and.

C

I'm I'm gonna get more deliberate because I've asked people.

A

To do this and a lot of people don't do it don't follow it, so I'm gonna make it make sure. That's all included on the freecad badge page I'll, keep editing that to make.

B

Little things like make sure you.

A

Document it and then from the procedure that we teach like tell me like what is not clear.

C

B

Okay, yeah just simple feedback, so feedback.

A

Feedback loops, it's always about feedback, loops yeah and that's.

B

The first thing um like documenting every step of my learning process, right, yeah.

A

Yeah, if you, if you do that, I mean you're literally think about it as what you're doing is important and it makes a difference. That's that's how I operate. I'm saying um this is important. We gotta open source civilization.

C

And here's the process of how you go from step, a to step, step z in that process. But I feel that's super valuable.

A

C

Why I'm motivated to do it? So the first thing is you.

A

Have to understand why you're doing it it's important! What we're doing is important and if you, if you document.

C

You can help others who are in your position, except the same.

A

And with that comes the question: where do we find more people like you right? Do you know any more people that are uh motivated in a similar way to yourself.

B

Well, yes for sure, but um I think they're all back in peru and uh yeah it's it's! It's gonna be tough. You know to uh well in in a sense uh through cat, it's possible, but.

A

But otherwise, you're you're free, uh like you've school finished already for you right.

B

Yeah yeah totally free, I'm just gonna, do the thesis but uh yeah like uh it's. uh I I'm not like my objective is to really do osc more than any so like. If I'm here, it's like, I don't need to graduate to uh from high school. If I'm already in the university, you know.

B

So that's basically, that's how I see it. Okay,.

A

All right, okay,.

C

A

Stuff great stuff, so so yeah, I think we can call it and finish.

B

Up here, okay have a good day.

C

C