|
|
June 10, 2005
Retreats share a global vision
Jewish rainforest guide brings his passion for nature to British
Columbia.
BAILA LAZARUS
When Jonathon Weisberger talks about his life's passion, it's hard
not to get caught up in his enthusiasm. The ethnobotanist, who spent
10 years working with indigenous people in the Amazon in Ecuador,
is always ready to share knowledge about forest conservation, tropical
plants, wildlife and the joy of living in nature.
With the help of his family, Weisberger, 34, has been building an
eco-retreat on Costa Rica's famous Osa Peninsula. It is the culmination
of years of education and experience that combine a love of nature
with a desire to bring people into that realm. He had been invited
to give a talk at Ruby Lake Resort on the Sunshine Coast when the
Bulletin caught up with him and heard how a circuitous and
fateful route brought him to be in British Columbia.
Weisberger's grandparents on his mother's side were from Poland.
Though many family members were lost in the Holocaust, a couple
of great-uncles escaped, with one establishing a life in Ecuador,
where Weisberger grew up. His family set the stage for a life of
service and culture. His father was an artist from New York; his
mother was a concert pianist who studied at Julliard and taught
piano in Quito. She was a social anthropologist who ran a cultural
centre, social-conscience-raising bookstore and vegetarian restaurant.
Weisberger attended High Holy Day services and studied in afternoon
school but once his parents separated, he became the man around
the house and didn't have time for much else.
"We're proud to be Jewish," he said. "We consider
it our heritage but we consider it more of a culture than a religion.
We take pride in our heritage because the Jews as a people have
been a noble people."
When he was 14, his family moved to California and Weisberger attended
Humboldt State University, where he studied botany and music. Eventually,
education and experience came together. When Weisberger was younger,
he had joined a family friend – an ethnobotanist – to
study in Ecuador's Amazon rainforest.
"That was an incredible thing and got me thinking," Weisberger
said. "So when I went to the United States and went to Humboldt
University, there was a lot of talk of the destruction of the rainforest
and the indigenous peoples. So I thought, 'Wow, I've been down to
the Amazon rainforest and visited these communities.' So I started
getting involved in activism in Humboldt State, collecting petitions."
Then Weisberger got a chance to work with rainforest activist Douglas
Ferguson, who had started the Rainforest Information Centre in Ecuador.
He was 19 and would spend the next 10 years living in the rainforest,
documenting indigenous people and guiding tours. Around that time,
following Jewish custom, Weisberger went to the unveiling of his
great-uncle's tombstone in Costa Rica. While there, he visited Corcovado
Park: "I saw more wildlife in that weekend, I think, than in
10 years in the Amazon," he said. "And I thought, 'wouldn't
it be nice to have a retreat centre here.' "
With some money left to the family by the uncle, Weisberger set
to work. The intention was to create a "a place in nature where
people can relax and rejuvenate, get well, get healthy, be strong,"
he said. "It's an important aspect of human life to retreat
into nature every once in a while for rejuvenation."
Offering yoga, t'ai chi, massage and drumming workshops, the retreat
also brings in workshop leaders. "We offer different, unique
approaches to nature discovery, like exploration of tide pools and
night walks," Weisberger added. "It's for anyone who wants
to experience primary tropical rainforest in a safe, warm and loving
country."
After Giorgio Cogrossi of Ruby Lake Resort took a trip to Costa
Rica and visited the retreat, he invited Weisberger to Ruby Lake
to give a slide show. Now the two retreats are sister projects.
"That's why this project in Costa Rica was so attractive; because
I love nature ... but I love people, too," said Weisberger.
"So this way we can work in nature, bring people to our place
and share with them who we are. We try to be sensitive to their
need. They always have a good time."
For more information on Weisberger's retreat, Guaria de Osa, visit
www.guariadeosa.com
or e-mail info@guariadeosa.
Baila Lazarus is a freelance writer, photographer and
illustrator living in Vancouver.
^TOP
|
|
