#113 Transformations with Mayan Culture & Permaculture

With María Inés Cuj & Rony Lec

El Instituto Mesoamericano de Permacultura (IMAP) (the Mesoamerican Permaculture Institute) is a not-for-profit coop that started in 2000 in San Lucas Tolimán, on the shores of the spectacular Lake Atitlán in the Mayan highlands of Guatemala. It was created by a group of Maya Kakchiquel with the desire to use native seeds, permaculture, traditional Indigenous knowledge and education, to create social healing after 36 years of armed conflict that wiped out hundreds of communities and displaced millions from their land.

I remember being inspired by IMAP in its early years, when I was living in Guatemala. And late last year, I was contacted by the organisers of a major global award advising that IMAP was one of its winners.

“We know that from the beginning women have been the protectors of the seed, the guardians of the seed. We all come from a seed but women give us life. So it’s important to continue supporting women.”

— María Inés Cuj

I had arranged to speak with IMAP coordinator Inés Cuj, only to find twice the privilege when founding director Rony Lec joined us as a translator. Rony is one of the world’s leading experts in permaculture and Mayan ancestral knowledge. Rony’s father was killed by the army during the war, and he has recently moved to Canada to secure the safety of his family. And, he says, to get his hands back in the soil.

Inés succeeded Rony in the lead role, and Rony credits her with bringing so much of what IMAP needed to take its vital next steps. From empowering women and youth, to developing the viability of IMAP itself, along with that of the many farmers and communities with whom they work.

With thanks to Clare Carlile and team at the legendary Ethical Consumer magazine in the UK for setting up this conversation. Turns out they’d been inspired by the podcast and wondered if I’d be interested in becoming a media partner of a major global award they’d helped create with Lush Cosmetics a few years prior. It’s called the Lush Spring Prize, and it offers a £200,000 fund and other support for regenerative projects around the world. This time they had over 400 applications, a 60% jump on last time, from inspiring projects spanning 81 different countries on every continent except Antarctica.

In her initial email to me, Clare cited two award winners, just to give me a sense of it. And as fate would have it, IMAP was one of them.

This conversation was recorded online on 1 March 2022, Australian time, with Inés in Guatemala and Rony in Canada.

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