WE ARE ALL SO VULNERABLE TO THE WHIMS OF MOTHER EARTH

JAPAN EARTHQUAKE-

When my long-time friend Dave Brown, had his outdoor education centre closed in the late 1990's, largely by political indifference and short-sightedness, (pig-headedness) it clearly meant there were more important uses for the money......than to keep students aware of the nature around them. It was a devastating blow to Dave, who had built a truly dynamic resource centre, largely on his own, and somewhat at his own expense. His programs gave inner city kids a chance to explore nature and learn about man’s place in the grand scheme of earthly life-forms. It was an important way to appreciate the true dynamic of natural occurrences, and the reasons for its conservation. While other outdoor education programs were spared, Dave was sent back to a normal classroom, and it just didn’t work for him.

I could never, and will never forgive any one who would shut down an outdoor education program.

Dave would have found a way to localize, and emphasize, the role of mother earth in this latest earthquake, and Tsunami event in Japan. He would have made a natural-earth-event a learning experience for students of Southern Ontario......he never missed an opportunity to bring events home, so that youngsters could fully appreciate the power of the natural world......by their own immersion. Dave tied the world of nature into his own region, and made youngsters appreciate the fragility yet resourcefulness of mortal-kind. His respect for nature, became ours. He was a damn fine teacher. The earthquake in Japan, would have been his case in point, and from a tragic situation, he would have made every kid in the class appreciate what force was being exerted half a world away.

I was thinking about Dave this morning, while watching news of the earthquake in Japan. I hope teachers in this country will help students understand just how important it is, to know about the capabilities of nature, and the true vulnerabilities of mankind in its wake.

As for outdoor education, fund it! It is an absolute necessity in our ever-changing world, and it could well be the life lesson for our future survival.