# global trust for hygienic darkroom retreats

by Andrew Durham
with Marion Abbott and Finn Po

## intro

The trust provides free hygienic darkroom retreats worldwide to all who ask. Remote trustees assist local liaisons and supporters to organize retreats for beneficiaries.

The trust is like pizza delivery without the bill. One orders a retreat and the trust delivers, period. It is also like how Airbnb provides shelter remotely. Rather than owning or managing sites, Airbnb connects travelers with local owners.

Recently, Andrew had failed again to organize a 20-day retreat for himself in southern Europe. He started speaking daily for hours with Marion Abbot of Australia, also committed to hygienic darkroom retreating. He asked her to organize a retreat for him there in Spain. She thought about it. A few days later, she said, “Yes. And we will take care of you in the meantime. We will form a trust. Your case will be a prototype. We will apply what we learn with you to help everyone else in the world in your situation.” She got in touch with Finn Po of Oregon, who had initially shown Andrew darkroom retreating, and he has announced the opening of our first localized chapter by telling everyone he has contacts for.

We made the trust because we personally need its help. We need to rest in order to heal. Organizing a retreat is work, so one cannot do it for himself. The means is the end. We cannot work in order to rest, but must stop working. The idea of rest, the purpose of hygienic darkroom retreating, drains the motivation to work. And rightly so. Someone else must provide the conditions of rest. But who? - the trust.

The beneficiary participates as little as possible, just providing relevant information. The trust is prepared, as necessary, to treat the beneficiary like a survivor of a car crash, acting like a virtual hospital that dispatches an ambulance. The trust helps the beneficiary deal with everything needed until the retreat and its aftermath are over and he is re-established in regular life.

The trust produces retreats, books, darkroom components, public talks, training programs. It is automatically funded by members, philanthropists, former retreatants and their friends, family, and colleagues. It’s also a bit like Vipassana’s reciprocating retreats. Except the trust will never ask for money. Hygienic darkroom retreating is so much better than anything anyone has ever experienced or even imagined. Once people see the results, they will passionately support the trust. The trust succeeds because it over-delivers. Like Willy Wonka.

## process

- General
- Multiple roles can be filled by one person
- Everyone reads darkroom retreat
- No hierarchy. All authority is local, advice is sought from all stakeholders in a decision
- Work with the Reinventing Organization directions
- Roles
- Adviser: outside the trust, helps keep the trust on track
- Trustee: entrusted with assets, trust purpose, knowledge. Assists liaisons remotely.
- Liaison: local trust contact, assists beneficiaries in person, guides supporters, receives help from trustees through frequent conference
- Supporter: helps liaison concretely provide retreat for beneficiary
- Beneficiary: retreatant, vessel of value of trust
- Providers: the steward of a dedicated darkroom(s)
- Benefactors: provides material assets, money
- Order
- The prospective beneficiary orders a retreat with a call, SMS, or email and one word: help.
- A trustee takes the case and fills out the registration form with the beneficiary’s help. This gives the trustee a chance to get to know the beneficiary and get basic info necessary to provide the retreat.
- Trustee
- manages assets
- communicates with beneficiaries at first, then weekly until in retreat
- trains and guides liaisons
- is available to supporters, often talking to them as a group
- listens to the trust and makes decisions about it.
- Liaison
- A beneficiary names or is assigned a trust liaison. The liaison is a local person who personally assists the beneficiary with whatever is necessary to make the retreat happen. For example, I need help staying safe keeping a roof over my head till a suitable house for a retreat can be found.
- The trustee assists the liaison to assist the beneficiary. The trustee is at headquarters, the liaison is in the field. The liaison has final say, but must seek advice from all those her decisions affect, including the trustee and beneficiary. The liaison is the beneficiary’s advocate and face to the world, handling everything that overwhelms the beneficiary or delays the retreat.
- Between the beneficiary, the liaison, and the trustee, a specific plan is made to make the retreat happen. The conditions are the same for everyone, but how best to acquire and provide them differs depending on person, place, culture, etc.
- Supporter
- The liaison gathers yet more people to support the beneficiary: friends, family, service donors, benefactors, etc, who genuinely care for the beneficiary and believe in his doing the retreat, either because of implicit support for the beneficiary or explicit belief in retreating or both.
- Supporters find a house, darken and ventilate it, source food, maintain the darkroom and support the beneficiary during the retreat and its aftermath.
- The retreat supporter reads the book darkroom retreat*
- Ideally, the liaison is the first retreat supporter and the second retreatant. The beneficiary is the second retreat supporter. The liaison supports the third retreat of the future retreat supporter.
- Beneficiary
- asks for help
- gets a retreat
- Documentation
- Liaison and supporters document actions taken, progress made, obstacles encountered, process improvements discovered, etc in a web-based system so everyone, including trustee, can monitor the process.
- Liaison and trustee call each other daily for a few minutes to maintain contact, documenting things as necessary.

## Present Activities 01/17

- accomplish: prototype retreats for Fay and Andrew
- study: darkroom retreats; organization, and hygiene
- darkroom retreat - Andrew Durham
- Reinventing Organizations - Frederic Laloux (skip pt 1 if need be)
- Science and Fine Art of Natural Hygiene - Herbert Shelton
- retreat: trustees, liaisons, supporters become beneficiaries as soon as possible
- write: trustees develop the process, review documentation, write an open source manual everyone can help improve.
- build: darkrooms
- organize web presence
- website
- social media
- team collaboration
- ryver, trello, wunderlist
- outreach activities
- organize and support retreats
- organize talks
- edit and publish the book
- handle funds
- manufacture components

## Further models

We are all tired and at wit’s end to varying degrees. The trust will help us focus what we have left to help one of us at a time to get back on their feet. Then it will be someone else’s turn to collapse and receive the others’ help. We will repeat the cycle with longer retreats until we each make full recovery of psycho-physical integrity.

It’s like micro-finance: a group of entrepreneurs who know each other receive a loan and the training to use it. They are all responsible for its repayment. They use it to capitalize one person. They provide support and counsel. Once his venture is profitable, he returns the loan to the circle for another member to reuse it. Everyone gets a turn with the money. They repay the loan with interest. All are on their own feet, recapacitated, functioning, out of poverty. The bank grows a bit and finances other circles. This is another similar model.

The trust is a social enterprise, I guess, because we are not investizng in businesses, but in people themselves. Being closer to the source of wealth - human consciousness - it is a smaller, simpler investment and with greater return.

## links

book and website of author:
[hygienic darkroom retreat](https://darkroomretreat.com)

[Dark Retreats Oregon](https://www.facebook.com/groups/706208216204198/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel) (facebook groups)