Expanding the educational opportunities for children in poor, rural parts of Nicaragua and El Salvador is the focus of a low profile Sonoma-based non-profit.

Seeds of Learning was started 18 years ago by two Sonoma County men, Todd Evans and Patrick Rickon, based on their own experiences in Central America.

Although they are no longer involved in running the daily operations of the organization, Executive Director Annie Bacon says both men continue to actively participate in the group’s international projects.

The Seeds of Learning volunteers have been warmly, if somewhat quizzically welcomed by the people in Nicaragua and El Salvador, Bacon says, with little regard for the region’s difficult history with the United States government.

Equador

KRCB's mission is to encourage full participation in society and community. We do that by providing educational, informational and cultural telecommunications services in partnership with the community.  Like every organization with a mission, we like feedback - how are we doing?

The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) requires every public broadcasting organization to have a group of community members who can effectively provide input to the station's governing board about the station's programming, community service and impact on the community. At KRCB this group is called the  Community Advisory Council (formerly the Community Advisory Panel), which meets four times a year (sometimes more) to talk about how KRCB is doing in terms of meeting our mission and goals. It is a lively group with good ideas and lots of energy.

At this time we are seeking to expand the membership of our Community Advisory Council. We are particularly looking for people who can represent the following communities: Petaluma,  Sonoma, Kenwood, Cloverdale, Healdsburg, and Windsor,  as well as outlying unincorporated areas of Sonoma County such as Roseland. We would also welcome our supporters from Marin County who could help us connect with their communities.

Please give Cheryl a call at (707) 584-2005 if you think you would be a good candidate for the Community Advisory Council, or if you would just like more information (curiosity is good!) You can e-mail me at cheryl_scholar@krcb.org  You will need to fill out an application and submit it to the station before the end of August. We anticipate final appointments will be made by our Board of Directors at their first meeting in September.

Permaculture - an idea that began around sustainable agriculture - is moving into the urban environment.

  You can also learn more about this subject at the Oakland-based Urban Permaculture Guild.

Dave Henson, Executive Director of the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center (right), explains that interest in permaculture arose in part in response to the widespread dominance of "monoculture," or large-scale farming of a single crop.

One of the enduring examples of crop integration is indigenous to Mexico and the American southwest, and known colloquially as the "three sisters."

In her recent visit to the Gaza Strip, a Sebastopol woman left behind some hot pink playground equipment, and brought back a heightened humanitarian concern for the region's residents.

CodePink , the San Francisco-based women's peace organization, assembled an international delegation of 66  that included Barbara Briggs-Ledson of Sebastopol, for a five-day visit to the Gaza Strip early this month, just ahead of President Obama's visit to Egypt. While they were there,the CodePink represetatives were given a letter from the leadership of Hamas to deliver to the President, inviting him to also visit Gaza. Read the letter here .

The sliver of land known as the Gaza Strip comprises just 139 square miles, covering roughly the distance between Sebastopol and Petaluma and extending halfway out to the coast. Home to 1.5 million residents, nearly half of them children and youth, it is intensively urbanized--the refugee camps are blocks of concrete apartment buildings. So Barbara Briggs-Letson says she took particular pleasure in helping bring something colorful for the kids to that scene.

Barbara Briggs-Letson (in white) smiles for the camera along with the Palestinian women who acted as translators for the  CodePink visitors. In addition to bringing and assembling the playgrounds, the CodePink delegation visited hospitals and other public facilities, Briggs-Letson says they also met with some of the area's political leaders.

Damaged buildings at every turn were a constant reminder of day-to-day dangers of life in the Gaza Strip, says Briggs-Letson. And there were others, too.

You can see more photos from the Code Pink Gaza delegation's trip here. 

A wealth of local history is buried at the Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery, along with many other stories that may never be told.

Although it is surrounded by the city now, the Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery was at the edge of town when it was established in the early 1850s. But  volunteer and docent Brett Gripe says that's not why it's called the "rural" cemetery.

 Read a brief history of the cemetery here.

From the war in Iraq back as far as the War of 1812, veterans from every major military conflict can be found in the Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery. Brett Gripe explains why they are so well represented.

There are numerous ongoing volunteer opportunities, and a regular series of public events are staged at the cemetery throughout the year.