Somewhere high up in the mountains of Mexico's southernmost state of Chiapas, a man set out on a mission: after travelling the world with his Mexican wife, in order to learn about sustainable agriculture and permaculture farm principles in numerous communal projects, German Sebastian Winnen moved into the Mexican highlands. Since eight years now the two have been working on turning a dry wasteland into a lush permaculture farm, reconverting the deserted and dried grounds and growing a communal project of impact beyonds its properties' boundaries.

"It takes a village to have a baby" goes the saying - and so it does for Rancho Lum Ha, Sebastian Winnen's vision of converting a piece of land to transform people's lives. By creating a self-sustaining, circular system of growing crops, breeding animals, fertilizing the soil, digging cleverly designed irrigation channels and strategically planting a diverse range of plants, all while building a community, creating dignified job opportunities, establishing sustainable agriculture practices as well as new knowledge amongst the local population.

In a state where the local youth is inclined to migrate towards the bigger cities or even the United States, deprived of perspective and dignified working opportunities, threatened by ever lurking narco wars, violence and crimes, a permaculture farm yields manifold opportunities to learn to grow a change and a chance.