KarunaNews Story

Since Erle Rahaman-Noronha decided to try his hand at farming in 1997, his land in Freeport has become a forest, dotted with structures built of repurposed materials. Not only is he using waste products, he is building in resilience against the island's changing climate, as part of Wa Samaki Ecosystems, a permaculture non-profit he founded to educate residents on sustainability while rehabilitating the spaces around them. It's a far cry from the increasingly common standard of building in Trinidad, where It's common to level the ground and start the build with a blank slate. For Wa Samaki, a changing planet is not a cause to lose hope, but to consider all the knowledge and resources available to help restore balance to the place in which you live.