I enthusiastically and without any reservations whatsoever recommend the Prout house, Quinta Prout, as a place to stay in Caracas for an individual, small group or family, or a delegation. The staff and Prout, more generally, are committed to economic and social justice not just for the larger society, but they also demonstrate this in ways big and small every day by the way they treat all who visit and stay there. I enthusiastically and without any reservations whatsoever recommend the Prout house, Quinta Prout, as a place to stay in Caracas for an individual, small group or family, or a delegation. The staff and Prout, more generally, are committed to economic and social justice not just for the larger society, but they also demonstrate this in ways big and small every day by the way they treat all who visit and stay there.
For about eight days, 37 visitors from Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, USA, stayed in the Prout Research Institute of Venezuela. Professors Anne Fischel and Peter Bohmer brought 30 students enrolled in the study abroad course, “Venezuela: Building Economic and Social Justice.” During this week, the group visited a poor barrio, a rural community in the mountains, the Bolivarian University, Centro Madre, a chocolate cooperative, a national park, the new national police academy, and met several social leaders. We provided each person a bunkbed, three meals a day, and optional yoga classes. On January 29 the group left for the cities of Mérida and Barquisimeto, where they will stay individually in the homes of Venezuelan families for seven weeks and do study and film projects with cooperatives and community organizations. They will return to the institute in March for their last five days before returning home. Here are some of their comments:Spencer Bailey ("Samkalpa") and Darlin Pino ("Dharmamitra") prepared ten large banners with clear text, images and colorful designs that illustrated the following subjects: Introduction to Prout, Prout's Economic Democracy, Prout Cooperatives, Prout and Ecology, Neohumanism, Spiritual Practices of Prout, Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar, Prout Research Institute, Centro Madre, and the Neohumanist Kindergarten. See the original Spanish banners here. - Download printable versions in English, Spanish, Portuguese or French here. (Please contact us if you are interested in the original Photoshop files).
“Potentials and Risks of Cooperatives for a Socialist Construction” by Camila Piñeiro Harnecker, (Cuba) researcher and professor at the Center of Studies on the Cuban Economy, University of Havana. Listen to the audio file in Spanish. Read the original Spanish presentation.
A conversation with Noam Chomsky about: The Occupy Movement, economic democracy and cooperatives, limiting the accumulation of wealth, consciousness raising, and Latin America. Watch the conversation here.Dada Maheshvarananda:
The viral growth of the Occupy Movement, and the public support of it, is testament to the tremendous dissatisfaction with the inequities and abuses of corporate capitalism. The slogan "We are the 99%" has resonated with many people. What is your view of the potential strength of this type of mass protest and its possibility to effect social change?Noam Chomsky: Well the Occupy Movement already has had a number of significant successes. One of them, as you say, is to kind of change the national discourse. These concerns and fears and so on were, of course, prevalent for a long time for perfectly objective reasons, having to do with changes in the socio-economic system in the last 30 or 40 years. But they weren't crystallized very clearly until the Occupy Movement put them forward. And now they are kind of common coin. So the 99 percent and one percent, the radical inequality, the farcical character of purchased elections, the corporate shenanigans that led to the current crisis and have been crushing people for a long time, the overseas wars, and so on. That's one major contribution.
The other one is not discussed so much, but I think it' s pretty important. This is an extremely atomized society. People are alone. It's a very business-run society. The very explicit goal of the business world is to create a social order in which the basic social unit is you and your television set, in which you're watching ads and going out to purchase commodities. There are tremendous efforts made, that have been going on for a century and a half, to try to induce this kind of consciousness and social order.
"The Prout Fish"In the days prior to the First Global Prout Conference in Venezuela, the Institute was looking for a solution to the front wall of the house which was damaged. Then, motivated by the preparation work of the conference, I decided to intervene and the result was "The Prout Fish." Carving with a grinding machine and cutting the shapes directly in the concrete of the wall, I made a pattern resembling fish scales. It seemed a metaphor to see the Institute as a fish that travels the seas linking people, countries, continents. This fish has the mission of spreading the Prout theory to the world, creating links between all those who believe in a better world.
"The Eternal Light of Baba""The Eternal Light of Baba" came after a request by Dada Maheshvarananda to make an original painting for the Institute. I immediately accepted his proposal, because I always had the same desire. After months of searching for the subject of this painting, I came to the Institute with some idea of what I wanted, because in my spontaneous style of painting that arises within me, I'm never sure how to finish a work. In the atmosphere of the meditation room, Baba threw light on me, and so while painting I realized that we are here thanks to Baba who is our inspiration and who guides our steps along the way. His light is our food, our hope, our purpose and our destiny. Holding his hand we walk, turning into warriors or children, but always aware of life and love. The creator of Prout has inspired us with his philosophy that now underpins the work of this institucion. Thank you, Baba, and fill our path with light.
Letter from the Director:
Centro Madre's agriculture project has developed wonderfully during the last six months. With the help of a loan from the Ministry of Agriculture (FONDAS) of Bs.F. 75,000 (about US$9,000), we built a large, new house for the chickens that is 72 square meters, plus we fenced in an additional 450 square meters where they can freely roam. We have 100 young chickens which will start laying eggs in three months.
"Building a Solidarity Economy based on Ethics and Ecology", 7 - 9 July 2011, Centro Simón Bolívar de Parque Central, Caracas, Venezuela -- Free of charge
Economy, ecology, community health, indigenous rights, cooperatives, women's rights, and spiritual wisdom were presented by nationally and internationally recognized authorities at the "Building a Solidarity Economy based on Ethics and Ecology" conference in downtown Caracas. Approximately 400 people attended the three-day conference on July 7-9, 2011 organized by the Prout Research Institute of Venezuela. Twenty-nine speakers presented, representing 15 progressive non-government organizations, a government-owned bank, two large cooperatives, and four university professors.
MORNING PANEL PRESENTATIONS: Click on a title to see the translated transcript. Listen to the audio recordings of the English translations or original Spanish here
Panel 1: “Solidarity Economy in Latin America: Lessons and Possibilities from Venezuela, Brazil and Cuba”: Facilitator: Leopoldo Cook
1. Nora Castañeda, president of Banmujer,the Women’s Bank: “The Bank of Development of Women:A Grassroots Tool for the Construction of a Feminist Solidarity Economy.”
2. Claudio Nascimento, (Brazil) Historian, activist, popular educator, author of several essays on self-management and the Solidarity Economy. Cabinet member of President Lula da Silva, member of the National Secretariat for Solidarity Economy of President Dilma Rousseff: “The Solidarity Economy and Self-Management: Principle of Communal Power.”
3. Camila Piñeiro Harnecker: (Chile-Cuba) researcher and professor at the Center of Studies on the Cuban Economy, University of Havana: “Potentials and Risks of Cooperatives in Socialist Construction”.
4. Elvy Monzant, Dean of the School of Communication at the University Cecilio Acosta de Maracaibo, member of Gestión Participativa Cooperative: “Diagnosis and Perspectives of the Social and Solidarity Economy of Venezuela: Where are we and where are we going?”
5. Dada Maheshvarananda, monk, author, activist, director of the Prout Research Institute of Venezuela: "What is Prout?"
Panel 1 questions and answers.Panel 2: “Consciousness, leadership and will: preserving our environment”: Facilitator: Leopoldo Cook
1. Belkys Urbina, Ecologist, Masters in Tecnology Management and Risk Control, and Masters in Industrial Maintenance: “The Planet and Consciousness”.
2. Chelo Nogueira, architect, founder of the Turtle Foundation: “Objective Earth”.
3. Frank Bracho, former Ambassador of Venezuela in India, ecologist and author: “Environment, Health and Happiness.”
4. Jody Wright (Acharya Devanistha) (USA), Prout activist for 35 years, studied under P.R. Sarkar: “Sadvipras: Prout’s vision of enlightened leaders.”
Panel 3: “Cooperatives: Diagnosis and Solutions in Building Economic Democracy”: Facilitator: Gustavo Fonseca
1. Prof. Carlos Molina Camacho, former National Superintendent of Cooperatives and Savings Banks, professor of cooperative law at UCV: “Simón Bolívar and Cooperativism” and “Prout and the creation of a socioeconomic system that reconciles justice with freedom”
2. Lizeth Vargas and Dario Gonzalez, CECOSESOLA–Lara State Central Cooperative: “Building Here and Now the World that we Want.”
3. Prof. Benito Díaz, Editor of CAYAPA (Venezuelan Journal of Social Economy), Venezuela Board of CIRIEC, Professor at the Universidad de Los Andes – Trujillo: “Innovation in Organizations of the Social Economy.”
4. Dada Jinanananda, (Congo-Brasil) Yoga monk: “Spirituality and Social Change”
Panel 4: “Ethics for Personal and Social Transformation”: Facilitator: Nieves Pino, economist, social worker
1. Sandra Castillo Castro Delegada UCV to the Organization of American States, and member of the Economic Advisory Committee of AnimaNaturalis Internacional, and Luís Verdú Brito president of the Student Center of Economic Faculty of UCV: “Economic Trends Towards the Ethical Treatment of Animals”
2. Víctor "Vyasa" Landa, (Peru) founder of the School of Life, Shanti Yoga Center for Harmony in Bethesda, Maryland, USA: “Aparigraha: A New Economic Paradigm for a Culture of Peace.”
3. Juan Sarmiento, (Philippines-Venezuela) psychologist, lecturer, business consultant, founder of the Will of Excellence Foundation: "Human Excellence: Seven Keys to Success and Happiness."
Panel 5: “The Creative Force of Community: Women, Identity, Health and Consciousness.”: Facilitator: Lelia Delgado, anthropologist, author
1. Didi Ananda Sadhana, (Netherlands-Venezuela) Director, Centro Madre, Barlovento, Venezuela: “The Importance of Cultural Identity to Empower People: The Example of Barlovento.”
2. Dr. Alba Carosio, Director of Womens Studies Center of UCV, author: “Feminist Contributions to the Good Life.”
3. Maya Shita, General Coordinator of the Warao Tribe, leader of the El Moriche indigenous community: “Living Together in One World.”
4. Dr. Adalberto Barreto, (Brazil) psychiatrist, anthropologist, theologian: “Community Therapy: supportive social networks to promote Life”
5. Leopoldo Cook, former telecommunications chief of PDVSA, columnist, author, member of Board of Director of PRIV: “The Awakening of Consciousness: Prout and Socialism, Face-to-face.”
José Albarrán of the Prout Research Institute of Venezuela: "Closing Remarks".
Panel 5: “The Creative Force of Community: Women, Identity, Health and Consciousness.” Translation of questions and answers. Facilitator: Lelia Delgado, anthropologist, author. July 9, 2011. Listen to the audio file in Spanish. - Read the Spanish text.