The Global Classroom

	The Global Classroom Around the World • For the World

The GCR in...

Make a Donation
in support of The GCR

The Global Classroom
39 Glasheen Rd.
Petersham, MA 01366
(978) 724-3530
www.globalclassroom.net

A chat with Colin Garland, Founder of GCR

To understand why Colin has devoted so much of his life to the conservation of the natural world and the education of our youth, he shares a little about himself and the reasons for his dedication and perseverance.

Why did you choose to dedicate your life to education and conservation?
I don't think I chose it, I think it chose me. Whether I'm guiding a paddling trip to see whales, leading a rock climbing day for the blind, or giving a slide show on the snow leopard, I know I am doing my life's work. I have a deep, visceral feeling that I am on the right path. I know this is my calling.

When did you know being in nature and sharing it with others was your calling?
When I was old enough to hear my first bird song, see my first insect? I really don't know. I don't ever recall it not being a priority in life, my true passion. I grew up in a small New England "mill" town that was very rural. Across the street from my home was a stream that came down from the nearby mountains and flowed along our quiet street. Ever since I was old enough to walk I was playing in that brook. I would spend every waking minute exploring the brushy banks in search of frogs, snakes, butterflies, etc. Because my grammar school was bordered by the brook, I could be found there every recess as well. I was not just fascinated with nature, I was obsessed. I was not interested in anything else.

Even as I entered High School, being out in nature dominated my free time. When I dreamed of owning a car I thought only of driving to a better sight to find fossils, butterflies and reptiles. Something quite different than the activities of my peers.

What did your peers think of you being so different?
Oh, I struggled with that as a child. Everyone wants to be cool, be like everyone else. I just couldn't do it. When I was in 2nd grade I carried a large snake into the classroom to show my teacher and classmates. They nearly went through the roof, especially the teacher. I guess it was my first physics lesson in the chaos theory. I didn't understand why they were all so freaked out. Later, two weeks later to be exact, the snake was found in the library behind some encyclopedias (I neglected to tell anyone it had crawled out of my lunch bag later that day) and I was the called to come remove it. No one else dared touch it. That evening she gave birth to 39 little ones in my bedroom. Garter snakes are one of the few that do not lay their eggs. From that day on I was know as the weirdo who would catch things just to let them crawl on him. In 6th grade I had 49 different species of animal living in my bedroom. I had quite a reputation then. People called me from all over town to identify the strange insect in their kitchen, rescue the bat in the attic, stuff like that. You know, I just gave a slide show at that grammar school and a teacher came up to me and told me she still remembers the day the snake was found in the library. That was nearly 30 years ago.

Did any of your teachers encourage you to pursue this fascination?
Last year I gave a commencement speech at my high school alma mater. In that speech I told the graduates a story about a teacher I had in Grammar school who inspired me so deeply. She loved her job. She came into that classroom with a passion to teach. She went the extra mile. She sang us songs, she took us outdoors, she looked for those individual interests in each one of us and encouraged us to follow that path. She was amazing. Though I never mentioned her by name, after the ceremony, three people came up to me and told me they new exactly who I was talking about. This woman had stayed on her path, she was listening to her calling and in the process she inspired so many people.

Why did you create the Global Classroom?
I suppose I did not create the Global Classroom. It was always there right under my nose, my feet and before my eyes.

The turning point for me was in 1989 when I decided I would sell everything I owned, give away the rest and buy an around the world ticket. I left the "safety" of the United States and entered the big unknown. Only after I had wandered the jungles of Malaysia in search of tigers, climbed mountains in Tibet and Nepal and wandered the plains of Africa did I realize that my living in the "Safety of America" had kept me isolated from some of the most amazing miracles. Miracles that are going on now, even as we speak.

What do you mean by miracles?
Have you ever seen a tiger in the wild less than 3 meters away from where you sit? Or help a group of Tibetans escape into Nepal, risking their lives to flee the oppression and atrocities in their homeland? To hear what they have endured and see how they still smile, laugh and offer you the shirt off their backs, even if that is all they own? These things are miracles. I lived with Australian Aborigines in the bush for some time. Talk about witnessing miracles. For me, being among them was the most incredible crash course on miracles. In my lifetime I will never process all I witnessed and was part of. I am not saying we don't have miracles all around us in America. We do. We are just so insulated, so busy, so programmed to do, do, do.... We don't take the time to just "BE" and notice them.

So, back to the Global Classroom Idea. It is quite unusual to find a non-profit organization that is run entirely by volunteers. I guess the volunteer part is not so uncommon, but to have 100% of all donations go directly to the project? None of you have ever taken a wage.. Ever! You even pay out of your own pockets some times to make things happen for kids. That's unusual. Why is that?
After my world trip I came home to North America and for a while I was quite ashamed to live here. The amount of waste, energy consumption and the things we take for granted was sickening to me. I lived for nearly two years with some of the most generous, kind and trusting people on earth and they were so poor, yet so rich. I lived with Sikhs, Muslims, Arabs, Buddhists. With Massai, Kikuyu, Thai and Tibetans. Some of these people had an annual income of less than $100. They worked harder than most of us will ever experience, and they did it just to live. Though they did not make a "living", they had a deep and meaningful life. It seems the "simpler" we live, the harder we work.

What do you mean the simpler we live the harder we work?
Well, I live in a small cabin that is 16 feet by 20 feet and has no running water, a small solar panel for my two light bulbs and is heated on occasion by a little wood stove. I choose to live this way and it is easy for me, but it is hard work. Not just physically either.

I cannot just come home, flip on a light switch, jump in the shower, cook a meal and go to bed. It is a very different lifestyle. I live a very simple life. I have no depts. I have very little income because I volunteer all the time, yet I have a very deep and meaningful life. I am rich beyond my wildest dreams. My father worked a factory for 40 years, retired and died. I am alive now, I live for now. Life is such a gift. And it is a gift that can be taken away at any moment. We can choose to make a living or have a life. When we follow our path , creating a life while making a living, that is when we know we are pursuing our calling to the fullest. At least in this society.

You seem to never have a shortage of helpers. Why do people give so much of their time to a project you created?
I am amazed at that myself. I guess it has to do with allowing them to feel empowered. Take our web site for example. I know next to nothing about how to create a web site but really felt it was time to have one. Then, seemingly out of the blue, A student named Charity Ritscher (how fitting) who had been on a rock climbing day two or three years ago called and said she wanted to volunteer. I said great, lets meet. We talked and I asked her if she knew how to make web sites. She said she could learn. I think of that day and then I look at the web site as it is now. It's great. Granted it is not perfect in that I know there is a typo here or there, a missing coma etc. What is great about it is the fact that Charity created something tangible and useful out of her desire to follow her calling. I certainly give her some information and ideas, but from day one I told her it was all hers to do with as she liked. It's her baby. It is beautiful to see people taking on things, expressing their passion. If it were a paying position the energy would be quite different. the magic would be gone. It's a great thing for me too. I have no leg to stand on if I ever felt I want more work out of her. What can I do, dock her pay?

So how does this energy apply to the Global Classroom trips and programs?
We do the programs because we love what we are doing. That is infectious. As humans, being around people that support our passions and encourage us to shine helps us charge our spiritual batteries. On the trips people are allowed and encouraged to be alive, be aware. How many times in school were we told to stop laughing, stop expressing ourselves because it was disrupting. I have had schools offer me paying positions and I turn them all down. There is not enough money in the world to keep me indoors, to make me tell those students to stop laughing. At the Global Classroom we have created an environment that feeds us. There is an energy there, a magic. We want each participant to feel the same.

So what is your greatest passion?
It used to be rock climbing. When I was on a hard route that was at the edge of my ability something would change inside. I became so aware of my body position on that tiny nubbin, it's strengths and limitations. Sometimes I would do a climb and realize I was so deep in meditation the entire time that I barely recall the route.. My mind was so clear, so focused and free. I would get to a tiny hold a thousand feet off the ground and think I can't do it. I would begin to shake and "wig out" as I used to call it. I would shake myself right off the climb and take a fifty foot fall onto my rope. I would go up again and get to that same spot, only this time I would free my mind and just let my body do what it needs. I could swear I did nothing different the second time, but I would breeze right through the moves. Something inside me shifted. I want to say it is a spiritual "centering" but I really don't know how to describe it. Yeah, I used to live to climb.
Now I am in a different place. The passion for climbing is still there but I have found ways of reaching that place of "centering" without the fifty foot falls. I guess my greatest passion now is to share magic moments with my group. To help them "feel" all that is around them. To be so aware of their surroundings and the magic found there. To witness first hand the miracles that happen daily on this miracle we call Earth.

Home ~ About Us ~ Get Involved ~ Projects ~ Journal ~ News ~ Links
Costa Rica ~ Baja