13 WMAZ Coverage of the National Day of Service 1/19/2009

Article from 13 WMAZ:
The World Help Training Center is a living training center and Micro-Community created to serve the training needs of individuals preparing for sustainability based development projects around the world.

Volunteers spent the day clearing brush and branches from a portion of the site, located on 30 acres of land in Twiggs County.

A handful of volunteers turned out with rakes and brooms ready to do whatever they could on this national day of service. LaRahna Hughes is part of a team of volunteers who plan to build the World Help Training Center, an eco-community where people can learn about alternative energy and growing their own food.
"Wonderful technology that is power, that is off grid, with solar and water and all kinds of things are available to us. It's about finding appropriate technology for this region, for this project, but we think that it can happen," Hughes said.
It's been in the works for years, but organizers didn't have a site until the land in Twiggs County went up for sale at the right price. Now it's a matter of clearing away brush and deciding where to build cabins, a kitchen, a bath house and a greenhouse. Bob Schumacher learned about the project on the Internet. "I got an email from the Obama campaign and then had a lot of different choices for community service on this day and I thought, instead of staying at home, I would come out and help in any way I could," Schumacher said. Volunteer Peter Givens said, "It's not sort of like a traditional holiday to me where you go out and have a picnic or whatever. I think we should do things to try and help each other." The project is a long way from completion, but Hughes says every helping hand brings them closer to their goal. "Whether it's two or three or whether it's 50 or 100, little things get done and if we do enough of those little things, we see change happen," Hughes said.