Brophy College Preparatory 2009 Summit on Human Dignity

One People, One Planet, One Mission:
Renewing Our Commitment to Sustainability and Stewardship

A Forum to Examine Global Environmental Issues in Light of Our Gospel Call
to Respect and Promote the Human Dignity of Each Person.

 

Day Seven: Monday, February 9, 2009
All School Assembly
Eustace Conway

Studying modern America, Eustace has found his most interesting subjects: people in cultural and environmental crises, his own people. Eustace started teaching about environmental ethics long before it became an "in thing." He said, "Americans have separated themselves from the natural world. During the past eighty years we have been 'advancing' so fast that we are as infants trying to run. We would be wise to slow down and learn more about primitive (first) values. Today more than ever we need to understand and live by harmony and balance with nature, for truly, man separate from nature is a fantasy."

Eustace Conway is a dreamer who puts foundations under his dreams, an activist that "gets things done!" He has a humble appreciation for everyone's story and reality, celebrating the diversity of all people as we go through the human experience. "All things are related in the circle of life," he says as he interprets our connection to nature. "The natural environment is at the heart of my teachings. I have gained great inspiration and direction from the examples of American Indian traditions and feel that even today humans can live in harmony and balance with nature. My way is to share skills and technologies, giving students 'hands-on' involvement with close-to-nature experiences. Through participating in these traditions, one soon comes to realize the role that man plays in the great connected web of life. In studying other cultures, we learn more about ourselves and our relationship to all things in this world."

In 1987, Eustace founded a lifelong dream--Turtle Island Preserve, an environmental education center and 1000 acre wildlife preserve near Boone, North Carolina, where he directs a unique visionary approach of getting people in touch with nature. Eustace ideally works towards peace on earth through a bottom-line program of understanding and respecting the people and environment that governs the quality of our lives. As an educator, he loves to uphold Emerson's quote, "What you do speaks so loud, that I cannot hear what you say."

Eustace will share his experience with our students through his uniquely captivating storytelling.

Biography of Eustace Conway.