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Monday, October 1, 2012

Inspiration from an Icon, Dr. Jane Goodall

Some travelled from long distances, some were young and some of us grew up with the story and inspiration of Dr. Jane Goodall but the two hour stillness of a packed Key City Theatre on September 30th reflected the esteem held for this amazing woman.  Dr. Jane Goodall is an icon and inspiration.  At nearly 80 years old she travels 300 days a year to spread a message of reason and hope for our planet, which has been abused and taken for granted for too long.  Dr Goodall is best known for her observational work of Chimpanzees, which revolutionized conventional thinking in the 1960s, about the intelligence of animals, other than ourselves.  Dr. Goodall illustrated this with many anecdotes but her statement of, ‘look into their eyes’ is enough for anyone who knows animals.

Dr. Jane told her life story and that of how her Roots and Shoots Program evolved from her original observational work.  Some local educators were lucky enough to take part in a three day workshop with CBEEN (Columbia Basin Environmental Educators Network) to learn about this program and Dr Goodall was the special guest.  Today she speaks to Grade 6 students from two school districts.

When asked if you would choose only one, which of her many books she would recommend she said, “In the Shadow of Man.”  Lotus Books was present at the Key City lecture and has brought in all Jane Goodall’s books.  The profit on these books will be split between the local environmental work of CBEEN and that of The Jane Goodall Instititute…..if there are any books remaining.

When asked what we can all do to preserve our planet, our only home, Dr. Goodall said that we must connect our hearts with our intelligence and all we need to do is think about the impact our actions, even the simplest ones, will have upon this earth and then act accordingly in the most appropriate way.


So Very Many Thanks to Duncan and all at CBEEN and their sponsors for making this event happen.

1 comment:

  1. Joe Pierre made a similar comment when speaking to the RDEK about the Jumbo Glacier development proposal. He talked about the importance of connecting the head and the heart. Dr Goodall's talk reinforced for me the importance of looking after our own backyard and how we must address the social, economic and environmental concerns in our own area which will then make for a better world.

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