What if you could live in a society where money does not buy anything, does not even have any meaning, everyone’s basic needs (like food, energy, housing) would be provided and you would have a lot of free time to develop your interests and acquire more knowledge. It might sound utopian, and to start this kind of society certainly has many challenges, but this is just part of what Kadagaya project is trying to achieve.
In the middle of the forest in Pichanaki, Peru lies one of the most interesting projects we have visited so far, with many thought provoking ideas of living not only an alternative way, but a better way. The project was started in 2013 by a couple of researchers (physician and civil engineer) who, despite having a comfortable life and good jobs, felt that this wasn’t enough to solve social, economic and environmental problems. Kadagaya is mainly inspired by The Venus Project (TVP) and the ideas of Jacques Fresco who has defined a Resource Based Economy as a solution to all of these problems, based on the idea that they are all caused by the current monetary system (don’t miss out on our next post about The Venus Project).
Kadagaya is certainly one of the first projects to try to put TVP ideas in practice in the real world and because of that, everything is experimental and they plan to share their findings and experiences for free to anyone interested. So far they have been working hard, together with local handy men and volunteers from different parts of the world, to provide the infrastructure to make this idea possible. And they’ve come a long way so far, already producing sustainable energy that would be enough for about 40 people to live in their premises using cutting edge vortex hydropower technology. This technology has insignificant environmental damage since all the water channelled to the vortex goes back to the river, and so does the fish, leaves and debris. It also has a great advantage to allow several identical vortexes to be built alongside the river which could possibly generate energy for all the people in the region. A water pump has also been installed to pump water from the river to be used by Kadagaya community.
Their current project is a communal laundry that the villagers will have free access to. Kadagaya wants to empower women by giving them more time to invest in more rewarding activities. The project aims to build an outreach center to provide resources such as books and computers to support them. They expect to be able to disceminate ideas about recycling, permaculture and organic farming. We had the chance to be involved in the building of a water tank that will hold the water for the communal laundry.
Whilst building the infrastructure for the community, they are also looking for people with the similar ideals to be part of their community. So if you want you can also be part of this exciting project!
Exploring Green Paths 
Nice article!
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