Acerca de Reem

I came to the jungle with more curiosity than resources, which turned out to be a useful combination. When something breaks, needs building, or simply seems unnecessarily complicated, I tend to wonder whether there might be another way. Over the years, that has led me into building houses and furniture, making food, experimenting with energy and water, growing things, working with materials, and generally making whatever seems necessary at the time. But the point was never simply to make things. It is to become less dependent on systems that are increasingly designed to do everything for us. The more we can understand, make, repair, grow, and solve for ourselves, the more freedom we have to decide how we want to live. I like the idea of stepping a little outside the machinery of everyday life—not by rejecting the modern world, but by becoming capable of functioning without needing it for every small thing. I don't have a grand theory for all of this. I just prefer to look at what we have, question what we are told is necessary, and see what we can do with it. Mangrove grew out of that habit.