I am currently in the process of cocreating the Pua Mana community on the island
of Hawaii. We are together celebrating the
expression of art, music, poetry, dance, the study of the
Dreamspell calendar, Native American traditions, sacred ceremonies, and giving
voice to the joys of our hearts. Our community is a growing number of like-minded
souls and we are currently accepting new members who are attuned to our visions and
goals. We adhere to the principles of permaculture and ecovillage development,
working with the nature spirits and devas of the land, as well as enhanced
interaction of our collective embodiment as a consciously cocreating community.
We have recently purchased 89 acres of beautiful land in the heart of the Puna district
on the island of Hawaii. There are currently 10 owners who have contributed to pay off the
land which is now mortgage-free. We intend to have, in the very near future, a total of 17
owners giving us a population density of approximately 5 acres per owner/household. The land
is actually owned by the LLC we have recently formed and
registered in the state of Hawaii. In addition to the 89 acres we have purchased, there are
our neighbors who are also interested in community living. With the additional 4 adjacent lots,
we have about 450 acres altogether and we have been meeting to discuss the possibilities of
how we can cooperate to form a village. We're talking about ecologically developed living
dwellings and communal structures. We are in the planning stages of creating the communal
center before beginning the construction. This will be a building that will house a kitchen,
laundry area, composting toilets, hot tub, waterbasins, and showers. Our plans include a
walk-in refrigerator and freezer. In addition, there will be communal office space, a large
gathering area, rooms for meeting, doing yoga, workshops, etc. This will enable us to build
our living spaces free of the necessity and expense of water and sewage hookup. We also
intend to keep the personal dwellings "off the grid", that is, free of electric company
hook-up. One of the modest shelters we have been researching is something called a
"starplate" - a pentagonal framework of lumber, wrapped in shadecloth. A small solar powered
setup could suffice in providing all the power that is needed. Other alternatives include the
possibility of wind generation of power. We are currently studying these other power
generating sources and hope to implement them sometime in our future. Also in the plans are a
small waterfall and swimming pool, a large capacity catchment pond, and a lookout tower.
Situated about ten miles inland from the rugged lava coast there
is a magnificent view of Mauna Kea in the west in the quietude of this ohia tree,
uluhe fern and guava forest. We are cocreating a community of light and talking
about the possibility of having a free university, healing sanctuary, growing
tropical fruits and medicinal herbs, building a recording studio, pottery studio,
glass shop, farmer's market outlet, and many other creative ideas. We are a
growing family of friends living close to the land and soon to be in alternative
sheltering structures. We are also planning an outdoor kitchen which will be
part of a large open air dance floor/performance space. We all look forward to
the communal fire at night, shared meals, and gatherings and rituals with our
extended community. It has been a real blessing in my life to have accomplished
all that we have so far and I look forward to being at this loving community of
family this fall, after my mainland travels this summer.
From 1992 to 2001, I lived in Floyd County, in the Blue Ridge mountains of
southwest Virginia. Where I lived in Floyd is situated on mostly forested land
with a predominance of oak, tulip poplar, several pine varieties, locust, cherry,
and other hardwoods. The forest also has a natural abundance of rhododendron and
mountain laurel. The county is less than an hour's drive from Roanoke, Blacksburg,
and Radford, all having universities and a much larger population than our rural
Floyd county. Floyd county has only one traffic light and yet boasts a large number
of intentional communities. Some of them are Abundant Dawn, Heart of Gold, High
Flowing, Kyn Hearth, Left Bank, Light Morning (ALM), Riverflow, Tekiah, Travianna,
Turtle Rock, Woodsong, and Zephyr,... Floyd County is a growing center of
alternative living.
This is one of the buses that I lived in on community land. All together there are
5 buses in various stages of being lived in or used for storage at this local
community. 3 of them have woodstoves and can be used in the winter months. The one
pictured here is one I lived in for a year. It's a 1948 International and is featured
in a book called "Rolling Homes". It has 3 removable skylights, many windows and
beautiful woodwork throughout. The other living spaces include an art and music studio
built around an old schoolbus painted turquoise with a loft bedroom; a refurbished
cabin near the 2 acre pond, and 4 trailers set up with wrap-around porches. There is
also a 50 foot diameter underground earth lodge I helped to build a few years back.
It is based on the Mandan Indian design used before the turn of the last century in
the central plains. This space is used primarily for ceremony and special events. There
is another underground structure that is the sweat lodge. This is smaller and is also
used for ceremonial Native American style sweats. 
If you'd like to visit our community, you can contact us via email, or
telephone us at: 808-896-6117, or mail to:
Want to know more about Floyd County? There's a website called
Floyd County In View with lots of
current info and links to many of Floyd's wonders and charms. Come take a virtual
visit to the beautiful scenery of the Blue Ridge mountains.
There's a very informative book entitled
Creating A Life Together
that I'd recommend reading if you're at all interested in living in community
and would like to know what it entails to live this lifestyle.
