 |
| Nina(left) on Elenas family homestead |
When I arrived at the station in
Maloyaroslavets I was picked up by an Internet contact named Dmitriy
Vatolin and his neighbor Nina. They both live in "Kovcheg",
a vegetarian eco-village in the Kula region. It was founded in 2002 and
received official village status in 2009. The trip there took about
an hour, although the village is located only 30 km from
Maloyaroslavets. The reason for the long drive was that the last 14
kilometers of the route was a dirt road with large potholes. The road
was in bad condition and Dmitriy had to drive slowly, and drive
around the holes as much as possible. In spite of his efforts, it was
a very bumpy ride that I would not want to do regularly. Nina told me
once that in Russia there is a joke asking the question: "How do
you recognize a road in Russia? Quite simple: as long as you can
walk on it, it can be driven on!" They told me that during the
Russian Campaign Nazi Germany had underestimated the bad roads in
Russia, to the benefit of the Russian population. When I arrived in
Kovcheg we drove at a walking pace through the village. On each side
of the hedges family domains were to be seen, sometimes already large
in size, sometimes quite small. We drove past the community center,
school, the fire station, store and through the village.
 |
| Street in Kovcheg, to both sides well grown hedges. |
We let Nina
out of the car and then drove about 150 meters further until we
reached Dmitriy's homestead. Just as Andrey had in Slavnoje, Dmitriy
also lives on the edge of the settlement, near the woods.
Dmitriy lives together with his partner
Valia, and her 2 children from a previous marriage, on their
1-hectare homestead. Throughout the year he has his own honey from
natural beekeeping and is largely a raw foodist.
 |
| Dmitriys self-made Solarbox for melting bee wax |
During the week
that I lived at his house, he ate only fresh vegetables from his
garden for lunch and dinner. This was mostly a mixture of red and
yellow tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, salad greens and berries. Valia
and the children ate cooked food alongside the raw food. We spoke in
English, so the children and Valia had a chance to practice the
recognized world-language.
 |
| Dmitriy with neighbour goat |
The special thing about Kovcheg is that
the land was given to the community free of charge by the regional
government, however, only for a 50 year lease. The land previously
consisted of barren fields and meadows with very poor soils. But
within a few years it has been transformed into a beautiful
settlement, with living fences (hedges), an abundance of trees and
houses for families in which children are born. During a walk through
the village Dmitriy showed me the most varied and innovative houses.
Additionally he also mentioned that they now have a fire station in
Kovcheg because some houses had already burnt down. I was very
surprised by this, but it showed the laxity of the Russians in this
regard. Fortunately nothing happened to anyone, but they learnt
their lesson, and they now conform to the safety distances for stove
and chimney construction in wooden houses.
 |
| Community house facing south |
The first building in Kovcheg was the
Community House which was built right in the center. This house has a
kitchen and several rooms, which are used as classrooms for school
lessons or as dance, art and seminar rooms.
 |
| A classroom |
Community members also
gather here for meetings whereby decisions are made with a 75 percent
majority vote. I was impressed by the fact that in this eco-village
consisting of 79 families, many classes such as dance, Aikido and
yoga, are held several times a week. As the Community House is in the
center of the village it can be reached by a short walk or bike from
all homesteads. The advantages of everyone living on 1 hectare of
land could be seen in this settlement. It is more compact and
people can reach their neighbors, the community center, store or
community sauna easier and not be tempted to use a car as I
experienced in Slavnoje, where some people owned 3, 4 or even 5
hectares of land. Personally, I find a size between 1 and 1.4
hectare per homestead is optimal. Depending on their wishes and needs
a family should be allowed to occupy a correspondingly large
homestead.
 |
| Community house facing west |
 |
| Map of Kovcheg with family photos |
What I liked in the community center was the large map of
Kovcheg.
This was made from images of individual families on their
domains. So you could see exactly where each family's place in the
village was. I thought that was a great idea! In addition to the
community center there is a building for the theater. There I was
able to watch the children of Kovcheg rehearse “Alice in
Wonderland". Incidentally the school lessons in Kovcheg are
taught, organized and planned by the parents themselves. It is
therefore a style of homeschooling where skilled parents band
together to educate the children, each according to their abilities.
Once a year the children need to take an exam at a state recognized
school in the nearest town.
One day I was invited by Ludomila the
English teacher to facilitate an English lesson for the Kovcheg
students. I told the students a little bit about myself and my work,
then I showed them my film "A New We", a film aboutEuropean Eco-Villages. At the end, I gave
Ludomila and the school my film and they were very appreciative. One
day I was invited to their family domain for tea. She lives in a
beautiful wooden house together with her husband and four children.
There I also met a friend of theirs, a Krishna devotee who had
formerly lived in Kovcheg.
 |
| The house of the English teacher |
One morning I went to the natural pond
belonging to Dmitriy (this pond had no liner, no concrete or similar
substrate, the water was held in only by a compacted clay layer), I
did a few acrobatic exercises that I enjoy and relished the
subsequent swim. It was nice and warm and after I had climbed out of
the water, I let myself dry in the sun.
 |
| Music rehearsal in the common house |
What differentiates Kovcheg from many
other settlements I have seen, is that the land does not belong to the families
themselves, but a legal entity, a kind of cooperative, which they
describe as a non-profit company. Each family sort of rents the land
from this cooperative. Incidentally, this is the main point of
contention in Kovcheg and has caused the villagers to be divided into
3 camps. One group wants to keep it the way it is now, the second
group wants the families themselves to be able to "own" the
land, and the third group is neutral and either won't, or isn't able
to, clearly position themselves.
 |
| Path between two homesteads |
I was surprised to learn that in
Kovcheg, in contrast to the settlement of Slavnoje. every family has
exactly 1 hectare of land. Everything is precisely structured, the
homesteads run exactly parallel to each other and are separated by a
three meter wide path. The domains are not square but rectangular and
south-facing. In this way they each gain plenty of southern sun
without taking any from their neighbors. The paths and roads in
Kovcheg are unpaved and have a width of about 6 meters.
 |
| The shop in Kovcheg |
In Kovcheg there is a shop with food,
magazines and DVDs. It is open for 1 hour a day and offers
vegetarian food. The food is not certified organic, which is normal
in Russia, because organic certification is not yet as widespread as
elsewhere in Europe. This is relative to the fact that among other
things, the unsprayed share of food in Russia (produced by allotment
holders and wild crafting) is substantially larger than in Europe,
and therefore people in Russia have a correspondingly lower demand
for organic food. They also consider food mostly organic when its
from their own gardens anyway. A market also takes place in Kovcheg
now and again. This is usually organized in conjunction with another
public event. At this market the residents sell products from their
family domains and miscellaneous goods. What I also found interesting
was the Kovcheg text messaging service. 95% of residents subscribe to
this service. They regularly receive text messages with important
news. If one of the residents wants to share something important,
they can do this by directing the appropriate message to the
voluntary Text Message Service Manager. Then all the people of
Kovcheg get the message. An important message could be for example:
"New store opening times! From Wednesday from 10-11am", or:
“The market will take place this Saturday morning”, or “Valia
is building her roof, helping hands welcome" This messaging
service is paid for by the Community company.
There are two fees, which the residents
in Kovcheg pay. The first of these is an annual fee, which is used
for the maintenance of roads and streets, as well as the
infrastructure of the village. The second is a direct charge, which
is used for community buildings. If someone wants to leave the
village for good, they get back a good portion of the money for the
community buildings, but nothing from the annual fee.
In the woods around Kovcheg it was the
same as in Slavnoje, there was an abundance of mushrooms and I was
allowed to enjoy both their harvest and consumption. Once I took an
extensive walk with Dmitriy through the woods. We surveyed his
forest beehives, high up on the trees, in order to entice new swarms
of bees. He was happy because they were successful, and seven new
swarms had settled in the hives.
Additionally we wanted to go into
the depths of the woods, because he had mounted motion cameras there
to film wildlife. On the way we found an incredible number of
raspberries and I was pleased to see how Dmitriy was in heavenly
rapture eating the berries. Back at home, he showed me the pictures
from his cameras. I saw infrared shots of wild boar, deer and a fox
and found this very enjoyable. But I experienced an even greater joy
watching Dmitriy. He was as pleased with the recordings as a small
child and showed them to me enthusiastically. It was really lovely to
watch an adult who has something he can really be happy enjoying, as
much as a small child -who still can- does.
The toilet on Dmitriy's homestead was
simple, as with most other family homesteads. A small building with
a hole in the ground. You just squat down and do your business. At
the end of the toilet session you throw sawdust over the excreta and
the matter is settled. During my time in Kovcheg my friend Nina
introduced me to various different people and we visited their family
homesteads. I found three homesteads particularly noteworthy. On
one lived Mikhail, Valia's ex-husband. He runs a nursery on his land
and grows a variety of pine and conifer trees, including the Siberian
Stone Pine (colloquially known as the “Siberian Cedar”).
It was nice to see such a variety of
different conifers. He sells his trees through his online store and
he can live well from this.
 |
| At the entrance of Michails nursery-homestead |
The second homestead I want to mention
here is Elena's. She and her husband manage the theaters in Kovcheg.
On her homestead everything is very "German" and tidy.
They were constantly apologizing that it was not properly looked
after because they don't have the time to clean-up and maintain it,
but I thought everything looked nice and tidy...
 |
| Elena`s homestead |
 |
| Elena and Stefan with siberian pine tree(Pinus Sibirica) |
And the third family
homestead, which I found particularly interesting was that of
Tatjana's. She was one of the few people in Kovcheg who actually
implemented the ideas and practical tips from the Anastasía books.
Accordingly her family domain is beautiful and the energy was
noticeably higher compared to the energy of other homesteads. At her
place I had my first encounter with an old Russian healing method
called "Pravilo". In this technique the whole body is
stretched, both the hands and legs are pulled in four directions.
This was a treat for the body and the mind. I also found the grove
of trees at Tatjana's particularly special. She buried her mother on
their land and planted a tree there. It looked beautiful and I felt
very moved by it. She didn't want me to photograph this place and I
completely accepted this. It was a sacred and intimate place for
them. Otherwise, I was able to photograph everything I wanted.
 |
| Tatyana's house |
 |
| Doing Pravilo |
 |
| Tatyana's Earthcellar |
 |
| Tatyana's pond |
One evening Dmitriy and I rode bikes to
the community sauna. This operates daily throughout the year. I
think three times a week there are men's sauna, three women's sauna
and one time family sauna. The sauna is located next to a small
river with a beautiful swimming area. First you sweat properly in the
sauna and then dip into the cold river to bathe. It was a pleasant
experience that was repeated many times. In the foyer of the sauna we
took breaks to rest and drink good tea, sweetened with Dmitriy's
honey. A nice experience! The sauna serves as a great place for
health and relaxation, at the same time it is a place of natural
communication and organization and provides space to discuss various
matters. An example of this was that in the sauna we met a man who
fells, processes and sells wood in Kovcheg. Dmitriy told him that he
wanted to order more wood from him and he was ready to buy it. So the
communal sauna and other community facilities provide natural,
regular contact and communication can flow naturally, without the
need to use the phone for every little thing. There are plenty of
opportunities to meet each other in the flow of life.
 |
| The bridal pair |
One day we were invited to a wedding in
Kovcheg. People came, both from outside and from within the
settlement. The bridal pair took us through their land and told us
what they had already done and what they wanted to create in the
future. Following this was a colorful buffet. As a gift I gave the
wedding couple unhulled pinenuts from Siberia, which they rejoiced
over.
 |
| Bridal pair with guests |
Towards the end of my trip to Kovcheg,
Nina invited me and her neighbors to come to an "Eco-technology
Festival". I accepted this offer gladly. We drove about 3 hours
to the festival, which took place on the community grounds of a
settlement called "Everlasting Family".
I found the festival very enjoyable.
People came together from different settlements and had an ideal
opportunity to exchange. There were several tents, tipis, stages or
free places in nature where people offered workshops, shared their
practical knowledge and experiences. Topics included natural
parenting, organic technology vs. technocratic technology,
self-sufficiency, music, natural construction and cleaning, the
conscious procreation of children and many other topics were
facilitated. I took part in a beautiful healing and prayer ceremony
for the freedom and happiness of all beings. There was dancing in
the evening and a beautiful campfire where a bard offered his
beautiful songs. People slept in their own tents in the meadow or in
the woods. At the festival I got to know many, very dear people, and
whenever people realized that I wasn't from Russia, they were very
interested and beamed at me.
 |
| Svetlana, Stefan, Nina and Maria at the festival |
They were mostly curious and wanted to
know what lead me here to Russia. Once I had a long conversation with
two lovely women from Moscow, named Maria and Svetlana. I asked them,
amongst other things about their attitudes towards homosexuality. I
wanted to find out for myself, by empirical field survey, what the
general attitude towards homosexuality is in Russia . They told me
that homosexuality is regarded as a disease in Russia. However, it is
a curable disease. Svetlana said that she herself was a therapist
and told me that she had already healed several men of homosexuality.
One of them is now a good friend of hers. She practices a method by
Arny Mindell, called Process Work.
 |
| A workshop in nature |
 |
| Bread and salt is given during a peace ceremony |
A conversation with a Russian bard
particularly stands out in my memory. Unfortunately I do not remember
his name. He was an estimated 50 years young, lived for several years
in New Zealand and radiated a lot of positive energy. He told me he
was sure that we were living in a period of total upheaval and it
would take a few more years until massive changes would result for
the positive. He told me that in 1985 he had been able to predict
that the Soviet Union wouldn't be around much longer. He began to
tell people that the Soviet Union would be gone in a few years.
People thought he was crazy because the political-military power
structure seemed too overwhelmingly big and powerful. But he was
right, and it came faster than many could imagine. And we are at such
a tipping point now. His prediction for the coming years and decades
inspired me and gave me a good and confident feeling.
Yes, it will be good on earth, and we
are here!
Written by Stefan Veda
for life, love and truth!
