![green-carbon-leaf-footprint-for-vector-illustration_zyCtQYj__L.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmNmzQNJnWz8DaMWExGyupf9npSgR2XyRsTMcRjhcKc8qB/green-carbon-leaf-footprint-for-vector-illustration_zyCtQYj__L.jpg) ***Due to the fact it's illegal to homeschool in Sweden we have been planning a way to leave this country ever since our first child was born, 4 years ago we sold everythinng we owned and moved into a [tinyhouse](https://steemit.com/tinyhouse/@markwhittam/we-sold-it-all-and-never-looked-back) in preparation for the day when the government would [call and demand to have our children.](https://steemit.com/blog/@markwhittam/the-government-want-our-child-which-is-why-we-are-going-on-the-run)***
For the last 4 years we have been trying to find somewhere we are allowed to home educate our children and somewhere we could settle down and call home. It has always been a dream of ours to live in an Eco-village, we have travelled far and wide in our tinyhouse but never quite found the ideal plot to start growing our future. Luckily for us, we have not been alone on this mission, on our travels we have met two more families who have joined us on this quest and one of the families has come across a little piece of heaven in Portugal that is just right. ***In September we will leave Sweden for the last time in our tinyhouse to begin our life long dream of living off the land in harmony with nature together with families who share the same values.***
![1499197543126.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmU4tt5X1BL6Q6S6rQnRLkeRfiQ3NHVHuGGaDqcRGdnF8V/1499197543126.png) # Where to start?
***When I do something I really try my best to make it a success which is why I have been doing my homework on this one, for years we have been researching and have also visited various communities to get an idea of what lies ahead.***
Through a friend, I was introduced to @marionjoe, who I later found out was into cryptos and also happened to be on steemit, as an anthropologist, @marionjoe and her young son lived in a pre-industrial isolated Pacific Island village. over a couple of decades, she has observed and studied how communities succeed and how they fail. you can soon read her articles in a new Medium Publication titled Bit Nation : Bit Village https://medium.com/bit-nation-bit-village Through steemit and @marionjoe I was introduced to @everlove from the @gardenofeden I had the most wonderful 2 hours with these two amazing characters, we chatted in the Village (Bit Nation : Bit Village) discord chat about how to build a successful eco-village, this phone call really helped me fill in the gaps and has made me confident enough to have a solid vision on how to make this a success. # Our Community Vision.
***Our vision is to have a sustainable community that is welcoming to families.***
We don't like rules, instead, we will call them expectations, our only expectations are that you do not bring Drink, Drugs or Drama into our village. These three expectations are essential to have peace and harmony in the community.
We will have a Chief, He or She will make the decisions, the Chief will have advisors to help Him/Her in the decision making but the Chief will absolutely have the final say. But if the Chief for some reason completely loses the plot and starts making decisions that are not in the interest of the community, then He or She will be denounced within minutes, and a new Chief will be sworn in.
***We have many idea's and dreams for this community, the great thing is we always make our dreams come true, no matter how elaborate.*** # In this community, we will have activities projects and experiences such as:
- ***Permaculture***, which is basically an intelligent and more natural way of managing the land and crops. - ***Spirituality***, various types of meditation, , healing and my favorite, a [dark room retreat.](http://darkroomretreat.com/) - ***Workshops*** where people can come and learn how to live in harmony with nature. - ***The education centre***, a place for kids to learn and grow into individual creative beings. - ***A refuge***, this is my idea, and this will set us apart from most eco-communities. The refuge is going to be a yurt or a wood cabin that will house guest's who are in serious need of help, for people who've had a rough life and need the love and support of a community to help them back on their feet. Some might say this could be disruptive to the community but I disagree, it's part of life to be able to help others in need, and a community as a whole is in a great position to help others. It will start off as an experiment and if it works we will expand the idea, my ultimate dream would be to eventually have a type of rehabilitation centre, as I strongly believe people who are lost and in pain, need to be around love to find and sooth themselves. I know it will be a challenge but I will make it work. # What do we need from the steemit community to make this a reality?
We already have enough money to buy the land and to build a communal space, we also have enough to build our yurt, but because we have to leave Sweden for good this means i am waving goodbye to my income, we will need a little steady income to buy trees, tools etc. until the community is making enough money from the produce, retreats and workshops. What we really need are followers & steempower. # ***Followers.*** We need you to follow us, we already have over 400 followers but on closer inspection, I would say half of these are auto adds. We want more of the real followers we have who are interested in our lives, who interact with us in the comments, who enjoy following us on this amazing journey and want to see us build this community, and in return, you will get step by step detailed and daily posts on our progress, and an open invitation to visit or join our community. # ***Steempower.*** This is my vision, I want to build up more SP, this is not to spend in the community, although if an unforeseen crisis arises then some of it might, instead this SP is to help our blog to grow so that we should be enable to make more SBD and Steem from our posts, which should give us that little steady income we'll need, This SP will also enable us to reward our followers with healthy upvotes, thus creating more of a buzz around our blog and especially in the comment section. I have already started this week by investing around $6,000 into SP to show you all that I am serious, I would invest more but we need the rest to build our community. So all I need now is some "whales" all though I prefer to call them "pioneers" all I need are some pioneers to help this vision become a reality, by helping me with an SP delegation loan, or an SP donation, or just by resteeming and helping our blog reach a larger audience. Thank you for taking your time to read this post. ***I am not an educated man, and [I didn't have the best start in life](https://steemit.com/blog/@markwhittam/i-was-homeless-at-15yrs-old-now-i-m-rich-beyond-my-wildest-dream-s) but what I do have is the heart and the determination to never give up and I know I can make this a success, and you are all welcome along for the ride.*** # ***Peace and love to the World.***
![20170616134033_Picture_20170615_212026931.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmcmqHUz3Rqied9MUPLk3VHUKg8xju36vFJoaH75GCjYw5/20170616134033_Picture_20170615_212026931.jpg)