Page 27 - C.A.L.L. #45 - Summer 2019

When I ask what attracted him to life on
this ‘‘intentional community’’ he quotes an
Egyptian architect, Hassan Fathy: ‘‘One
man cannot build one house but 20 men can
build 20 houses.’’
A year after they joined the community,
Bob and Yolanda set about building their
house. Despite being dubbed ‘‘the most
impractical man on earth’’ by his brother,
Bob taught himself all the necessary skills.
‘‘None of us had any money or contacts or
expertise. We just applied ourselves to
learning.’’ A decade later he published a
book about how to do it, which became a
bestseller: The Earth Garden Building
Book.
‘‘Bob dug his house-site by hand, because
he didn’t want to use fossil fuels,’’ one
member of the co-op recounts, with a
slightly bemused smile.
‘‘I’m not the kind of leader who persuades
people,’’ Bob tells me. ‘‘I’m the kind of
leader who says, ‘I’m going this way. Copy
me, if you want’.’’
The co-op requires every member to
contribute 60 hours of physical work per
year. They also attend monthly meetings
about land management, maintenance and
the myriad challenges facing a community
committed to living co-operatively.
For Yolanda, the meetings were a chore.
For others, they are the engine room of
the community, even when there is conflict.
‘‘If you want a vibrant community, you’ve
got to vibrate,’’ says Bob.
Chelsea McNab, 42, is one of the new
generation who are leading the community
into the future. She is a fit, clear-eyed
woman who radiates strength and goodwill.
She came to Moora Moora as a child to play
with school friends. She always knew she
wanted to live on community. Despite
travelling and living in many places around
the world, she says that Moora Moora
feels like home.
She has three children, Ari, 15, Pepa, 13,
and Tiga, eight. They are free to roam the
leafy bushland that surrounds the
community.
The children have plenty of mates to hang
out with after school. It’s a fabulous place
for kids to grow and learn. The first
afternoon we meet, a gang of kids pour
through the airy hexagonal house that
Chelsea built with her partner, Ollie. She
despatches two of the girls to feed the
goats. They whinge, like any kids. But they
do it.
Chelsea acknowledges that co-parenting
poses its own challenges. Other parents in
the community have different values:
different views about discipline or what’s
acceptable for children to watch on TV. On
one occasion, a parent asked Chelsea to
make her own daughter’s birthday party
sugar-free. She laughs good-naturedly.
‘‘That wasn’t going to happen.’’
Darkness embraces the mountain, and the
community settles in for the night. I drive
back down that winding road, through the
ghostly and silent forest.
I leave behind me a robust, idealistic and
practical group of people who are powered
by optimism, curiosity and commitment to
the planet.
And somehow, the world tonight seems like
a slightly better place.