Full transcript
0:05[Music]
0:09when faced with a barren desert that
0:12requires enormous vision to see the
0:15garden that it once was
0:18in 1977 Ibrahim Abhilash
0:22and his wife gudren decided to move with
0:25their teenage children hell me and Mona
0:28from Austria to Egypt to go back to the
0:32garden leaving his successful career as
0:35research director for a European
0:37pharmaceutical company Ibrahim and his
0:40family chose to settle in the desert 60
0:44kilometers northeast of Cairo
0:47Ibrahim passionately believed that it
0:50was possible to make the Desert Bloom
0:52and he immediately began to plant trees
0:55as well as medicinal plants and food
0:58crops in the desert all the experts
1:02family friends everyone to whom my
1:05father addressed his idea his dream
1:08about a sustainable community in the
1:10desert recommended to him to forget
1:13about it before we came here
1:16it was absolutely desert so we don't had
1:19a street the hot water electricity or
1:23any transportation communication we had
1:28to build it by ourselves
1:30in the beginning the local people were
1:33extremely skeptical but perhaps this is
1:37normal when witnessing a miracle
1:43they must have thought I'm crazy
1:47Ibrahim is dream manifested as the
1:50second community its name the ancient
1:53Egyptian word for the vitality of the
1:55Sun the results are proving that a
1:58resilient compassionate group of people
2:01collaborating harmoniously can transform
2:04a desert into a thriving and sustainable
2:07community second has become a center for
2:11ecological regeneration as well as for
2:14unfolding human potential
2:16Ibrahim Abhilash called seconds
2:18ecological social entrepreneurial and
2:22Fairtrade approach an economy of love
2:27today you can witness here that organic
2:30and biodynamic farming is perfect for
2:33restoration of desert it's perfect for
2:36greening the desert
2:37it creates living soils it uses less
2:41water sequester's carbon and deals with
2:44this huge challenge of salinity for the
2:52children of the community in the
2:54surrounding villages ii has provided
2:56primary secondary vocational and special
3:00needs education in recent years ii has
3:03even founded a university dedicated to
3:07sustainable development
3:11[Music]
3:15second has also built its own medical
3:18clinic to serve the community the
3:23community has built businesses that
3:25provide livelihoods that were
3:27unthinkable in the desert environment
3:29just a few years ago clothing and toys
3:32made from organic cotton are sold
3:35throughout the world herbal remedies
3:39that are affordable and create income
3:42biodynamic food that nourishes the
3:45people and helps restore degraded land
3:49specializing in producing organic and
3:52biodynamic food ensures healthy diets
3:56and practicing compassionate ethical
3:59personal development and education has
4:02made the community strong growing
4:05numbers of people from all over the
4:07world have come to second seeking and
4:09finding knowledge inspiration and
4:12courage this growing network has helped
4:15second to become a thought leader and
4:17living example of what is possible from
4:21a harsh desert environment a diverse
4:24creative and peaceful community
4:26increasingly skilled at caring for the
4:29people and the land has miraculously
4:32emerged
4:35in 2017 after 40 years of second we were
4:40celebrating the 80s birthday of my
4:42father together with him and then soon
4:46after he passed away on the 15th of June
4:482017 and this resulted in a deep
4:52reflection moment for the whole shaking
4:54community
4:57[Music]
5:05[Music]
5:08two days after he passed away and very
5:12much including him in our thoughts we
5:14started a process to develop a vision
5:17for 2057 for the next 40 years we all
5:23ended up in deciding that shakem is not
5:26going to continue just adding new areas
5:29new factories new people to its
5:31community sacrum is going to go into a
5:33major social transformation to spread
5:36our ideas our vision our inspirations
5:40into the community in Egypt and the
5:43world second has not only been growing
5:46food and selling products the massive
5:49increases in organic matter carbon
5:52sequestration and water management are
5:54in fact much more valuable than any
5:57products for most of the past 30 years
6:01I've been focused on observing
6:04documenting and communicating about the
6:08restoration of large-scale degraded
6:10landscapes I have witnessed that it is
6:14possible to rehabilitate fundamentally
6:17degraded landscapes including those that
6:20have been degraded over vast areas and
6:23over long historical time for more than
6:2840 years the community at second has
6:31been working to transform desert
6:34landscapes to beautiful functional
6:37ecosystems this is natural regulation of
6:42the climate second is transforming
6:46fundamentally collapsed ecosystems into
6:49functional lands this is exactly what is
6:53needed at very large scale to naturally
6:57reregulate the Earth's climate what
7:00second has been doing over decades
7:02through peaceful collaboration and
7:05unwavering dedication is teaching
7:08humanity what we are required to do to
7:12ensure the future of our children and
7:14generations to come
7:16at a time when human civilization faces
7:20an existential threat from climate
7:22change the value of natural regulation
7:26of the climate is enormous the dream of
7:30restoring the deserts and creating
7:32peaceful healthy and educated
7:35communities holds the answer to many of
7:38our society's most serious problems
7:42humanity needs second and second needs
7:47you
7:49[Music]
7:57you
7:57[Music]