Robin Genthon's story

My name is Robin Genthon. I live in Vernon, where I work in the School District as an Aboriginal Education Assistant.

In our daily lives, there are many ways to care for the Earth, from biking, walking or car-pooling to turning off lights, not wasting water, buying locally grown organic foods and much more. We can recycle, re-use and more importantly, reduce the amount of garbage we generate by consuming less and purchasing items with less packaging. These are some of the things that my family does to show respect for the Earth.

I have noticed that my students are extremely conscientious about taking care of the Earth, and I would like to share a story about them. The other day we were making drums as part of the Aboriginal Education program, and we finished earlier than we expected. The traditional ways of the Aboriginal people promote living in harmony with the Earth and to have a great deal of gratitude and respect for all that she gives to us. So when I asked the children what they wanted to do with our extra time, they decided, with great enthusiasm, to go out into the neighborhood to clean up litter. I was so proud of their commitment to caring about the Earth and their awareness that tending to the Earth was tending to their future and their children's future and so on. The teachings are that you consider the next seven generations in all that you do and I was very honored to witness their generation doing just that! What a different world it would be if we all lived by these teachings!

Thank-you, Robin Genthon