Pink House : Understanding Pink House

“Thoreau, Gandhi, Schumacher... Over the last century or so, a number of original thinkers have had the audacity to suggest that economics is not only about how humanity satisfies its needs but also about what those needs should be. It appears that they were onto something, for, today, it is precisely excessive human needs that have brought the earth to a state of crisis. If there is to be a way forward, it will likely involve the exemplary rethinking being led by people such as Abhay and Jane at the Pink House.”—Robert Leonard, Intellectual historian and Schumacher scholar, Université du Québec à Montréal

“At a time when so few of us can envision a truly imaginative future, Pink House has found a way. I applaud these efforts and support them as best I can.”—Carol Becker, Writer/Professor/Dean Columbia University

Understanding Pink House

Dear friends of Pink House

Pink House is a lifelong and personal project of decolonization from the heart.

The four-hundred year old legacy of economics is the breaking down of reciprocal (human-animal) relationships and their replacement with market (impersonal-material) relationships. Our dream for Pink House is to disrupt market relationships and rebuild reciprocity in our community of five-hundred households.

To this end, Pink House is a decolonized public space. Our public koi meditation pond attracts neighbors of all ages to come together and contemplate the growing koi—silver, gold, black, orange, and white. Our planned yoga and meditation center would expand the public space inwards into our own home as we share living space, a ‘dirty’ kitchen, and eventually rooms that will act as guesthouse rooms for international visitors sharing our vision and values.

Pink Store, which is a part of Pink House, is a decolonized community convenience store. We have replaced the maximum-profit mandate of economics with the idea of subsistence-profit, which we define as just enough to ‘buy our rice,’ i.e. to live and love by. As the pandemic rages on, Pink Store has implemented Rice Now—a policy of giving rice to any neighbor who asks for it.

Abhay

Pink House

Bohol island

Philippines

30 April 2021

Abhay Ghiara

Abhay Ghiara is a multifaceted scholar and artist who seamlessly blends economics, performance, and building community worldwide. As an economics professor at Central Oregon Community College (COCC), he applies economic principles to real-world challenges, particularly in marginalized communities. His experiences in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro and the slums of Mumbai have shaped his understanding of global inequality and inspired his work.

Ghiara's artistic pursuits extend beyond the classroom. He creates thought-provoking interdisciplinary performance lectures that explore the intersections of culture, economics, and society. His collaborations with Every house has a door and his role in Broken Aquarium demonstrate his commitment to pushing artistic boundaries.

A dedicated advocate for international exchange, Ghiara is a lifetime member of the Fulbright Association. He has served as a Fulbright-Nehru Senior Research Scholar and has contributed to the Fulbright Commission and the United States-India Educational Foundation as a peer reviewer.

Beyond his academic and artistic endeavors, Ghiara and his wife Jane are building Pink House, a community-oriented project on Bohol Island in the Philippines. This ambitious undertaking combines a home, a store, a koi meditation pond, and a yogic meditation center, reflecting their commitment to holistic well-being and cultural exchange.

Our Anniversary campaign is now underway Let’s Make Pink House Christmas Magical Together! :) .

As always, we set no dollar goal nor minimums.

Community-building: the creation or enhancement of community among five hundred families within our neighborhood on Bohol island by creatively addressing common needs and building reciprocity.

Mindfulness: living in the moment and being fully aware of our inner and outer experiences, our own needs as well as the needs of all others in our community.

Reciprocity: that delicate cobweb of human interrelationships that transforms “the masses into a society.” (Gandhi)

Social business: a mindful business with the stated aims of zero profits and community-building.

Pink House dictionary of useful terms

A to Z (under construction)

Colonization: a failure of the collective imagination in favor of material structures replacing human-animal relationships.

Community-building: the creation or enhancement of community among five hundred families within our neighborhood on Bohol island by creatively addressing common needs and building reciprocity.

Cookies: Jane is a wonderful baker and our cookies are always made with fresh butter, local whole wheat flour and aluminum-free baking powder.

Decolonization: return of the imagination in favor of deep and lasting human-animal relationships, reciprocity, family, community, and society.

Eggs: the eggs we eat and sell in Pink Store are local farm-fresh, organic eggs, delivered the day that they are laid.

Frozen foods: we are always looking for ways to introduce healthy, organic, preservative-free foods to Pink Store. In October 2020, we invested in a large freezer, connected with a local supplier of fresh meat & fish, and started carrying our own line of frozen foods, much appreciated by our customers, most of whom do not own a refrigerator, who can thaw out their frozen purchases made during the day and cook a healthy meal by sun down.

Glass: we use reusable glass bottles for our drinks as far as possible, and collect them after use to be returned to the local soft drink, energy drink, and beer bottling plants.

Ice cream: our Pink Store bestseller! Priced at half of what the grocery store in town charges, our giant ice cream freezer (used solely for ice cream, the meat has a freezer of its own), has lollies and cones, cups and tubs, to serve every taste of every child (and child-at-heart).

COMPLETED PROJECTS (Fully operational)

Pink Store: a community grocery store with high quality products sold at very low prices to our neighbors consisting of five hundred families.

Koi meditation pond: a public microspace for contemplation complete with benches, a bridge across the pond & of course, beautiful Koi fish! A place for family and neighbors—and in the future, also international visitors—to mingle mindfully.

Rice now pay later: Any neighboring family may obtain rice from us and pay us when they can.

Great ice-cream giveaway: at Christmas and New Years we invite children (and children-at-heart) from our family and neighbors to join us for free ice-cream by the koi meditation pond.

BLUEPRINTED PROJECTS (Awaiting funds)

Community kitchen: A ‘dirty kitchen’ with wood-burning stove for the community and visitors alike.

Yoga and Meditation center: a tranquil place where visitors and locals can deepen their practice of yoga and meditation.

Guest-house: a small guest house within our home for students and international visitors to the Yoga and Mediation center.

Library: a children’s library, the first of its kind on Bohol island.

Arts Center: a children’s performing and visual arts center, the first of its kind on Bohol island.

Recent appreciations

“Pink House puts into practice a beautiful vision of what could be, manifested by you and Jane and members of your community!”

“Thanks Abhay and Jane, this is so clear and wonderful!”

“I'm glad you included me in your fund drive. Next year I hope to be more generous. I am proud of you for this work. Merry Christmas!“

“Happy Anniversary to Pink House. We wish you a bright future, and we hope to visit one day!”

“A bright spot in the world :))”

“I want to see them succeed in this exciting endeavor!”

“Thank you for inviting me to donate and sharing the lovely work you are doing. I wish you and your community love, light, joy, peace, inspiration, and grace.”

"For those of you who know and love Abhay Ghiara, wise trickster performer economist, and for those who may get that pleasure one day...consider a donation to Pink House!"

”Dear Abhay, thank you for being an inspiration in this world and doing everything that you do with so much PLAY and joy and invitation for engagement. I hope to one day to visit you and Jane on your island. In the meantime keep teaching through your emails, your acts, your big big heart.”

“You are great at fundraising! I love how you did it. I have to do it all the time for our festival, and yours was inspiring to me. So much fresher and more playful and sincere than most.”

“I'm so happy to see you building community in Bohol!”

Understanding Pink House

Pink House First Anniversary