“We are humus,

not Homo, not anthropos; we are compost, not posthuman […] To renew the biodiverse powers of terra is the sympoietic work and play of the Chthulucene. Specifically, unlike either the Anthropocene or the Capitalocene, the Chthulucene is made up of ongoing multispecies stories and practices of becoming-with in times that remain at stake, in precarious times, in which the world is not finished, and the sky has not fallen —yet. We are at stake to each other. Unlike the dominant dramas of Anthropocene and Capitalocene discourse, human beings are not the only important actors in the Chthulucene, with all other beings able simply to react. The order is reknitted: human beings are with and of the earth, and the biotic and abiotic powers of this earth are the main story.”

- Donna Haraway, Staying with the trouble, page 51.

This is one of many bold statements in Donna Harawaway's book "Staying with the Trouble." Understanding the myriad concepts and novel terms that Haraway throws at me as a lector could not be more challenging; each new term she coins is multi-layered, shooting in many directions simultaneously, pregnant with multiple meanings that reveal themselves depending on the context.

Eventually, I found one of these fundamental ideas, “Children of Compost,” particularly haunting; while going deeper into it and encouraged by the input that this lecture was pouring into my “mind&soul,” a new idea sprouted up or better said, it came humming to me after a trip to the Mexican jungle.

Humus facts

Humus: a mixture of compounds and complex biological chemicals of plant, animal, and microbial origin that has many functions and benefits in soil:

✤ improvement of soil structure

✤ water retention

✤ absorption and retention of pollutants

✤ soil biodiversity

✤ buffering capacity

✤ cycling and storage of plant nutrients increase of soil app

Humify app is a tool to promote and provide humidity + humification in places with little or no humidity. It aims to encourage humification and prevent dehydration through a digital interface based on the Hopi legend of the creation of the hummingbird. The App name “Humify” stands for humus (fertile soil)

+ hummingbird (jungle&buzz)

+ humidity (water)

= Life.

How it’s done

✤ A digital platform on the web to gather the latest data on water bodies and ecosystems on planet Earth with an algorithm to combine all that data and to decide once a year on a list of places on Earth that need to be “humified.” humify/ verb

✤ An application where people, organizations, and institutions connect and choose, once a year, one village, one city, and one region to “humify,” to summon forces and gather the necessary resources, beginning with the “HUMThePlanet” festival.

Hopi and Zuni myth

These two cultures have a hummingbird creation myth about a young brother and sister starving because drought and famine have come to the land.

❖ Their parents have left to find food, so the boy carves a piece of wood into a small bird to entertain his sister.

✴ When the girl tosses the carving into the air, the bird comes to Life, becoming a hummingbird.

❖ The small bird then flies to the God of Fertility and begs for rain; the god obliges the request, which helps the crops to grow again.

Horizons of the “humify” concept

Not only are deserted regions dehydrated; a city, village, or region can also be lacking “humidity/humification” if it:

✤ Doesn’t have green corridors.

✤ Doesn’t have enough sanitary infrastructure.

✤ Is plastered with concrete and asphalt.

✤ Has not easy access to nearby water bodies.

✤ The nearby water bodies are polluted.

✤ …

To humify, within the frame of this project, is also understood as an attitude toward our planet and its inhabitants that embodies some of the practices that makes us sentient beings1

TOGETHER:

• Caring

• Sharing

• Creating

• Learning

• Making

• Thinking

• Storytelling

• Laughing

• Dancing

• Playing

• You name it