Small Foundation plans to take on World

Kalpulli Turtle Island Multiversity:
A small land restoration foundation prepares to expand and take on its share of land and community restoration in the world.

Because of the persistence of Ray Tricomo and other board members of a growing organization called Kalpulli, vegetables are growing at a SPROUTS community garden in St. Paul and 100 new trees are being planted at Nature Conservancy sites along the Amazon River. Between SPROUTS, a Hamline University club, the Nature Conservancy, and the donations that made these projects possible, are the expanding webs of activist support and education spun by the little Kalpulli network. It intends to reach and support like-minded people across all the Americas, or Turtle Island, as natives have called this land mass for centuries, hence the organization's title.
For years, Green Party expatriate Ray Tricomo has been pulling together people and ideas to form a new learning center and support system called Kalpulli Turtle Island Multiversity. After a failed run for office and many efforts to reach out to the people of the Twin Cities by teaching free college-level classes, Tricomo is pouring his abundant energy into working as Kalpulli's founder, rather than as a politician or part-time professor.
Kalpulli, an Aztec word meaning community, should become a household word among everyone seeking real community support and not the distanced, passive-aggressive, Minnesota nice 'community' that we're used to in our loosely supportive but highly structured society. The Kalpulli Board of Directors doesn't pretend that the typical role of 501(c)3 non-profit is going to cut it, when people of the Americas are facing species depletion, droughts, warming oceans, hyper-security states, hyper-surveillance, 'free' market economic coercion, and possible currency collapses.
Rather, they're trying to build a foundation that can connect and economically support the work of volunteers working for real change in real sustainable ways, like teaching people to garden and feed themselves and their neighbors, or like learning college-level skills for free through the Twin Cities Experimental College. Eventually they'll find the money to support low-power radio and stream relevant news on Radio Kalpulli, open a Kalpulli alternative library, and address the United Nations to support fundamental changes. Everyone in this foundation can have a unique yet equal, governing role, so everyone has a stake in its success. There is always room for more Board members, or Kalpullistas.
One of Tricomo's mottos is, "If Mr. and Mrs. Indigenous aren't at the table, I'm not at the table." The importance of indigenous people's voices to Kalpulli, and to anything aiming for sustainability, is paramount. Everyone, indigenous or not, is welcome to come brainstorm at monthly meetings, the next one being in St. Paul on Wednesday December 16.
www.kalpulli.net