REED paraphrases a writing of Jawaharlal Nehru made early in his life, long before he became Prime Minister of India, and notes: I was filled with shame and sorrow; shame at my own easy-going and comfortable life and our petty policies of the city which ignored this vast multitude of the rural areas of the developing world, sorrow at the degradation and over-whelming poverty of their lives. A new picture seemed to rise before me: people starving, crushed and utterly miserable. And their faith in us…embarrassed me and filled me with a new responsibility that frightened me. REED engages this challenge of human development in rural areas of the developing world. The 18th, 19th, and 20th Centuries presented revolutionary changes in which problems were addressed and resolved. The Industrial Revolution provided significant increases and dramatic growth. Starting with a simple water wheel, human creativity was released from the drudgery of physical labor. Rapid developments lead to steam driven machinery while electricity generation dramatically accelerated the change. Organizing and consolidating individual steps into production lines, people such as Henry Ford further revolutionized society and economies. The Communications Revolution of the last decades of the 20th Century established even greater differences between the past, present and future. REED developed its solutions based approach integrating technology and management methods REED contends today’s technological advances demand the addressing of the issues of rural poverty threatening the security of the world REED notes the importance of integrated planning and management of land resources to protect the safety and stability of human society REED catalyzes sustainable development for the rural poor by its integration of technological advances, including: Basic water and wastewater technologies Increased aquaculture capability Improved organic agriculture Renewable energy Superior education and health Monitoring and managing via the Internet, RFID, wireless, security systems and satellite communications Economic development enhanced with e-commerce and related technologies REED brings the world to the rural poor and the products and services of the rural poor to the world REED addresses societal security issues REED establishes these developments as Open Source REED nominated for recognition by the Royal Society of the Arts, Great Britain, for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development in South Africa, 2002 REED analysis currently being prepared for publication in UN Journal on Sustainable Development. REED is now in final phase for initial community development program in Vietnam on 200 hectares of land, employing 100 rural poor families. Final site selection underway. REED initial three phase development underway: First phase—ten hectares with production goals for fish of 25 kgs per cubic meter per annum on 18,000 cubic meters production per hectare on 30% of land area. Intensive diversified organic agricultural production on 50% of land area with production goals of 10 metric tons per hectare. Balance of land to be utilized for housing, water, wastewater and waste treatments, renewable energy, community areas including recreational sites. Completion time for phase one within 15 months of construction commencement; Phase two to build out 50 more hectares utilizing same ratios for production. Second phase to be completed within additional 12 months; Phase three to complete total land area of 200 hectares. Third phase to be completed by end of year four. Total employment at end of Phase Three— 100 families. Total production revenues—exceed $10 million per year. Systems for establishment of cooperative ownership program initiated. Systems for education, health, training, management, monitoring, and oversight implemented. Reinvestment schedules developed for funds remaining after providing agreed return on investment to funding sources. REED to establish further development in Vietnam REED diversify activities to broaden and expand production. REED employs networking, video-conferencing, Internet, satellite, e-commerce and other methods to promote development expansion. REED has received requests to implement program in other countries including: Brazil, South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, India, Central America, Mexico REED component technologies provide: Multiplying aquaculture production Increasing organic agriculture production Treating water and wastewater Improving and restoring soil conditions Establishing educational opportunities Advancing health issues Providing monitoring and control capabilities Creating new opportunities REED developed from work started in Asian countries in the late 1980s and continuing until today. In addition, substantial research and communications have been undertaken from the United States into numerous other countries and regions of the world in support of the initial conceptualization. REED, in closing, quotes: “Poverty is an ignorant choice for a society such as ours. Martin Luther King said, ‘A society cannot survive with people isolated on lonely islands of poverty in the midst of this ocean of material wealth.’ Nobody would defend slavery nowadays, 150 years later. In another twenty-five years, I hope we will feel the same about poverty. We will realize that poverty is as primitive in a civilized society as human sacrifice. In fact, poverty is a human sacrifice. It is obscene and immoral, and no intelligent people as rich as we are ought to be associated with poverty.” Statement by Andrew Young, A Wealth of Wisdom: Legendary African American Elders Speak. p. 268.
