Here are a few scenes from the rally on Sunday.

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

Outside in the darkness, up in the hills not far from here, a chorus of coyotes is greeting the coming of the dawn. How appropriate, I think with a smile. Here in Huehuecoyotl, place of the old, old coyote, I’ve just bid farewell to the greatest coyote of all, Subcoyote Alberto Ruz Buenfil, who is letting me use his home as a base for a few days. Now it’s his time to head into Mexico City, where he is taking the lessons of the Rainbow Caravan for Peace into the barrios of that other place of coyotes, Coyoacán.

I’ve come to Huehuecoyotl to meet his family and some of the people who form this core group of world-changers. I’ve come to break bread, share stories, and glean advice for the journey ahead. Alberto has been in a whirlwind of activity since I arrived – he’s playing a lead role in a film about Fellini’s spiritual journey through Mexico, and the ghost-spirit of the great Italian filmmaker was just here to supervise from another dimension the shooting of some scenes; longtime friend Jose Arguelles, author and visionary, just spent some time here. During my two days here he’s just finished another book and sent it out to the reviewers, underwent a root canal and many hours of community meetings and obligations, and bid farewell to his daughter who is on her way back to Spain; now he’s preparing for a thousand-drum salute and fundraiser for the people of Haiti and a visit from Bolivian President Evo Morales, but still he took time to show me around, orient me to the solar shower and the composting toilet, share photos and reminisce about the incredible 13-year nomadic ecovillage whose trail I now follow, from Mexico to Patagonia.

***

An old legend tells of a time when the Earth is in crisis, and life itself is in danger. In these times, the legend goes, a new type of warrior will arise: a tribe of all races, creeds and nationalities who will be known by the universal symbol of the rainbow, and driven by love, their mission will be to save the planet from extinction.

So writes Alberto in his book, “Los Guerreros del Arcoiris.” (Rainbow Nation Without Borders-Bear & Company publishers)-Alberto has dedicated his life to nurturing this tribe, leading the Rainbow Caravan of Peace on an epic journey through Mexico, Central and South America. This nomadic ecovillage traveled from country to country, led by Alberto’s old schoolbus, La Mazorca, colorfully painted to resemble the iconic ear of corn. The ever-changing tribe sought to connect groups active in resistance to the destructive corporate model. They set up camp in jungles and mountains, in indigenous villages and urban ghettos, sharing music, theater and seeds of practical eco-wisdom: green building techniques, simple alternative technologies, natural healing techniques and more. At the same time, they gathered up bits of local lore and wisdom and connected the disparate groups into a hemispheric network. In August of 2009, the tribe finally disbanded, each dispersing to different parts of the continent to continue the consuming work of social change.

Alberto returned to Huehuecoyotl, the picturesque ecovillage established in 1982 in the mountains near Tepoztlan by Alberto and his community of rainbow warriors. He is letting me use his home as a base for a few days as I organize myself for the next phase of my journey. The beautiful adobe-brick home is filled with light from the arching windows that look out upon the grassy valley below; out the front door, past a tall green row of fragrant hoja santa plants, limestone cliffs tower protectively beyond the beautiful home of his son Odin, a musician and one of Mexico’s leading permaculture practitioners.

I will see Alberto once again before I go, when he hosts Bolivian President Evo Morales for a brief visit to the city on Sunday. Meanwhile, here is a short interview I did with him recently, at his office in the Casa de Cultura Reyes Heroles in Coyoacán. His warning comes as a coyote howl in the fading moonlight.

“Like the Mayan Zapatistas said, we have had a long time to dream. Now is the time to wake up. Because any dream we don’t manifest becomes a nightmare, made by somebody else.”

Alberto Ruz Buenfil, otherwise known as Subcoyote Alberto, would be the first to say he didn’t do it alone – there were hundreds, perhaps thousands of collaborators along the way, and I hope to meet many of them in my coming travels. But there is no doubt that in a lifetime dedicated to social change, and in the 13 years he dedicated to the Rainbow Caravan for Peace, he inspired a generation of writers, artists, gardeners and activists dedicated to a more sustainable future – including yours truly.

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Alberto grew up surrounded by the Mayan mysteries of Palenque, where his father, the internationally known archaeologist Alberto Ruz Lhuillier, discovered the most important ceremonial structure in the ancient city, the subterreanean tomb of Pakal the Great. The younger Alberto went on to study everything from chemical engineering to economics, political science and finally theater, first at the Autonomous University of Mexico and then in Cuba.

The Vietnam War shifted his life into a different focus when he joined the anti-war movement and traveled to the United States, spending time with Chicano leaders and the Black Panthers, Ernest Callenbach’s Ecotopians and all manner of social change currents erupting at the time. He settled into the life of a nomad, traveling in Africa, India and the Far East, studying intentional communities from Sweden’s Bauhaus to Israel’s kibbutzim to the ashrams of India. It was in India that he launched his first nomadic theater tribe, the Hathi Babas, and later The Illuminated Elephants, which traveled throughout the U.S., Mexico and Guatemala performing, entertaining and spreading seeds of a different way of life, one based on peace, sustainability and mutual respect.

In 1982 he finally decided to take a break from the nomadic life and plant his roots, returning to Mexico with members of his tribe to form Huehuecoyotl. The community was built on sustainable design principles, making it the country’s first Ecovillage. It was here that he took the name Coyote, based on the name of his new community. Huehuecoyotl means “old, old coyote,” and he began a series of communiques with the name “Viejo Coyote.”

The call of the road never left him, however, and in 1996, he formed the Rainbow Peace Caravan, taking the lessons of the ecovillage with him. One of the group’s first stops was in Chiapas, where they participated in a council with the Zapatistas.

“I had always identified with the Mayans,” Alberto explained. From his conversations with Zapatista leader Subcommandante Marcos, his new moniker evolved: Subcoyote Alberto Ruz. “I was leaving the community and it was time for someone else to take charge,” he pointed out. “So I became Sub-Coyote.”

The title is a fitting one for a person whose lifelong commitment is expressed with a touch of whimsey; the seriousness of the lessons taught by the nomadic tribe was always leavened and livened with theater and the arts, storytelling and dance, and a sense of good fun.

(Galeria Tarso Sarraf/Flickr)

Hundreds of people from all walks of life joined the caravan at different points along the way, particularly at the international gathering in Cuzco, Peru, “The Call of the Condor” in 2003. That was when I became aware of this traveling phenomenon, because my sister Tami joined them for awhile. Her story of the experience left an indelible impression that was to tug at me for seven years until I finally succumbed. Now, in a strange way, I’m following the Coyote’s trail, and my sister will join me along the way.

The caravan continued all the way to Tierra del Fuego, and at this point the Subcoyote had planned to end it – “unless there was a miracle,” as he recalls it.

Indeed, there was a miracle. Brazil’s then-Minister of Culture, the famed musician Gilberto Gil, invited the caravan to come and travel through the country giving workshops on sustainable living. The caravan rolled northward and through the deepest Amazon, spending four years in some of the poorest regions of the country.

Finally, in August of 2009, Alberto has returned home to Huehuecoyotl. But not to rest on his laurels. At the age of 65, when most people might assume they’ve earned a peaceful retirement, he’s begun a new project, at the behest of Mexican bestselling author Laura Esquivel (Like Water for Chocolate): he’s joined the staff at the Casa de Cultura Jesús Reyes Heroles in Coyoacán, Mexico City’s beautiful historic neighborhood, to look for ways to share the lessons of the Rainbow Peace Caravan with the at-risk youth of the district.

I caught up with the Subcoyote just as he was beginning to settle into his new job, and we shared coffee and stories. There’s much more to share than I have room to tell in a blog entry, but watch this spot for selected cuts from the two hours of video I shot with him.

Next month, we’ll pick up the conversation where we left off when I visit him at his weekend home in Huehuecoyotl and meet his extended family.

On the agenda: an alternative forum for the upcoming COP16 talks, to be held in December right here in Mexico City; Pepenafest, a festival to celebrate creative uses of garbage, scheduled for the spring; regrouping for a referendum among the residents at Lomas de Platero, the Ecobarrio project the group is helping to organize;a reforestation project; a ban on plastic bags; a new edition of their seminal book, EcoHabitat; green roofs and recycling, animal rights, the list goes on and on.

But right now, between meetings and phone calls, Arnold has been asked to give a few moments to a wandering journalist, and his attention focuses on the big picture. Ricalde, a founder of the Mexican Green Party, broke ranks with the party when it veered to the right, has served as a city counselor and an advisor to Mayor Marcelo Ebrard, an author and a teacher of sustainability principles, but above all a charismatic organizer, capable of inspiring and mobilizing the masses over the long haul. He flashes a megawatt smile worthy of a Brad Pitt and launches into an impassioned analysis, barely stopping to take a breath.

Mexico City’s growing emphasis on sustainable principles, promoted by Ebrard but carried out by environmental departments in every city agency and ratified by a cooperative legislative assembly, has been driven by necessity, Ricalde says – by the arrival of peak oil, by the dwindling water supplies, by an increase in prices. “It’s not that we woke up one day and it occurred to us to become environmentalists.”

“We had to do it, of necessity,” he said. “20 years ago, we were the most contaminated city on the planet, and we paid the price with our economy, with our health, with our citizenry, and now that we’re running out of oil in this country, we see that the costs of public transport are increasing, and we’re seeing the prices of consumer items increasing, too. We have to make the transition to sustainability; we have no other option.”

Organi-K works to push legislation, like a ban on plastic bags that went through last year, with companies given a year to comply. But more important, Ricalde says, is the change going on at the personal leve.

“After getting various environmental laws passed, trying to move the issue at the governmental level, we realize that this is important, but the most important is the change in each person, in his or her consumption habits; in how one transports oneself, in how they manage their waste, if they separate and recycle, if they make compost – everyone can make compost in their own home.

“Over the years, we’ve learned that ecological change begins within oneself, what we can do in our relationship with the environment. From how we transport ourselves – how I move throughout the day, how much trash I generate, am I consuming organic products or no, do I go by bicycle or by Metro, for example…”

There was much more, and I’ll come back to this with a translation of the interview, but now I have to prepare to meet with the grandfather of the Latin American environmental movement, “Subcoyote” Alberto Ruz, founder of the Rainbow Caravan for Peace.

First I want to mention briefly the others at the meeting, because I’ll be coming back to them, as well: Noelle Romero, a tireless organizer of the Green Circle project and many other initiatives, and Laura Kuri, founder of the bioregional movement in Mexico. I’ll be meeting Noelle on Friday to learn more about green roofs, and I’ll be visiting with Laura at her ecocenter in Cuernavaca later in the month.

Now, for a visit with the Subcoyote…. hasta mañana, amigos.

From left, Lupita (Arnold's assistant), Arnold Ricalde de Jager, Laura Kuri, Noelle Romero

Dulce is the friendly face of sustainability in her neighborhood. With more than 30,000 residents, Lomas de Plateros is one of Mexico City’s largest apartment complexes. When she first teamed up with Noelle Romero, a member of Organi-K and who works for the city’s Comission for the Integral Development of Solid Waste as coordinator of the Green Circle project, to establish a pilot for an Ecobarrio at the massive complex, people thought she’d lost her senses.

“First we ask them to do something very simple: to separate their organic waste from the inorganic waste,” she explains. “Most of them don’t want to work with the compost because they consider it dirty work, playing with the soil – but that’s ok.”

It took awhile, but soon the neighbors grew accustomed to seeing her, and a few of them even began to join her out in the garden. “Now they’re beginning to understand it to the point that at least it doesn’t disgust them to take their organic waste and put it in a bucket so we can pass by for it. “

And as they began to see the tasty fruits of her labors – tomatoes, beans, broccoli, lettuce and strawberries, for example – more of them started coming around.

“Now you can begin to see the contrast,” she said. “They come by and see the seeds have germinated and they’re amazed to see it’s a living thing because they’ve forgotten that food comes from nature.”

Ten families in her section of the complex are now participating, saving their garbage and their recyclables for pickup and even getting their hands dirty by working the compost and planting. Now a group of 15 families in another section of Lomas de Plateros and who collaborate with a subdivision of the city Ministry of Social Development known as “Participacion Ciudadana” (Citizen Participation) have expressed an interest in starting their own composting and gardening project, and Dulce will be the one to organize it.

A recycling dropoff center will be installed in the complex to collect paper, plastic, metal, glass and tetrapack – this latter being the boxes used to package milk and juice that are nearly impossible to recycle in the United States. At the same time, the groups will be experimenting with vertical crops and organoponics. Finally, the Comission for the Integral Development of Solid Waste and other local organizations is launching the Green Circle in a similar project in Section F, the largest of Lomas de Platero’s sections with more than 10,000 residents.

Early this year, the Green Circle initiated an urban agriculture program, granted by the city Ministry for Rural Development and Equity for the Communities (SEDEREC). Lomas de Plateros Section I-4, where Dulce lives obtained the grant and soon the place will have intensive urban crops,

But this project is about more than gardening and recycling, Noelle explains. It is a seed project for an Ecobarrio.

Dulce and Noelle

“We need a new vision, a new paradigm,” said Noelle. “With the Green Circle we’re giving a great message: Minimize your solid residues, minimize your consumption, take advantage of your organics and make them into compost, which in turn will give you the fertilizer for urban organic agriculture.

“So this is how we’re going to close the cycle; and thousands of people who live here will be able to see that you can grow your own food and be sustainable food-wise. This is going to change the vision.”

Dulce, an avid gardener and recycler, had been thinking for some time about how to get her neighbors involved in greening up the city. So when Noelle approached her about starting a pilot program for urban organic agriculture, she jumped at the chance. The composting and gardening project, called the Circulo Verde or Green Circle, is designed to teach people to close the cycle in their organic waste production by bringing it full circle, converting it to soil and then to food for neighborhood consumption and eventually to supplement volunteers’ income.

Organi-K, an environmental group founded by former Green Party leader Arnold Ricalde, is the hub for a variety of initiatives ranging from reforestation to recycling. Organi-K implements the concepts of permaculture, an environmental design system invented in Australia in the 1980s and making its way around the world.

Early this year, Organi-K received a grant from the city’s Commission for the Integral Development of Solid Waste to initiate an urban agriculture program, and Noelle became the coordinator. She began scouting for places to launch the program, and Lomas de Plateros seemed a logical place to start because of its size and the green spaces available.

The Ecobarrios, project, as Noelle explains it, revolves around the establishment of a community that holds a new vision of sustainability. Participants will be given tools to help them track their progress in waste reduction and consumption of resources. The long-term plan has three phases:

1. The Green Circle composting and gardening project. “Once they change their food consumption habits and grow their own food, a new vision can be born regarding responsible consumption and food sustainability,” Noelle says.

2. Sustainable water consumption. “How can we harvest water in times of an approaching cut in water services? What water saving systems can be implemented in people’s homes, and what water consumption habits can be encouraged in these families, such as using biodegradable products or using less water while washing dishes, taking showers, doing laundry, washing cars, etc.”

3. Sustainable energy consumption. Here the community implementation of energy saving systems, installs energy-efficient light bulbs, installs solar water heaters and if possible, solar panels.

“By the end of the third phase of an Ecobarrio, we would expect to have a community that holds a new vision and that follows a new life paradigm of love and collaboration with the planet,” Noelle says.

Looking ahead, another Ecobarrios project set to begin soon is in the Pemex housing complex, home to 7,000 people. The Tlalpan municipality is funding the project here, and the group is just waiting for a change in administration in the housing complex to begin another Circulo Verde project.

Organi-K has applied for funding from the Instituto de la Vivienda (the housing department) for an even more ambitious project that would implement ecotechnologies on a new housing project in Iztapalapa, on the western outskirts of the city.

Keep an eye on this blog for future developments, and contact Noelle Romero at noelleromero@yahoo.com.mx or Arnold Ricalde at despertares222@yahoo.com.mx if you want to pay a visit to Organi-K and lend a hand with one of its projects.

See the slide show here.

Another good reason to visit Mexico: Mexico City, in an innovative move designed to combat fear of swine flu, is offering free health insurance to national and international travelers, the LA Times reported today.

Anyone staying in a Mexico City hotel will receive free hospitalization, prescription drugs, doctor’s care and even hotel accommodations during convalescence.

A total of 353 people have died of the virus worldwide since the so-called pandemic hit the news in April. Meanwhile, several hundred people die of regular flu each week, as CNN pointed out.

Mexico’s tourism industry, one of the country’s most important sources of income, has been battered by the wave of negative press coverage, first because of drug-related violence (virtually none of which has affected tourists) and then swine flu (ditto). Which is a shame, since Mexico is home to an enormous wealth of culture, history, cuisine and some of the friendliest people in the world – and it’s right next door.

As for me, I’ll be going to Mexico as soon and as often as possible. With or without free health insurance.