My name is Garry Brooks, a Canadian and I was born in the final year of the Second World War, 1945. My home is in Victoria on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. I am married with two grown sons, daughters in laws and three lively granddaughters. Being raised in a family of five brothers with only one alive today I am appreciative of life. We lived close to nature and my father taught us how to live close to nature and to coexist with the other species of this world. I am not religious but very spiritual, acknowledging the maker of all that exists. I chose an occupation of working with wood; in the forest sector of Vancouver Island. Owning my own logging company with sawmills and also a heavy construction company for almost 40 years. Retiring in 2002. After I had retired I decided to give back to society and nature for my prosperities in life; as I had never went to bed hungry, I wore only the clothes I wanted too and was never out of work for one day in all that time. After doing some volunteering with indigenous communities in Canada, I arrived in Lusaka on October 8, 2020 as a volunteer Community Developer with Volunteer Services Overseas. I started my time in Zambia, working in Petauke, Eastern Province with an American organisation the Cooperative League of the United States, (CLUSA). And a year and a half later, I became the founder of African Community Project (ACP) which is still very active, partnering with communities helping with their betterment. African Community Project practices Social Forestry; which is to deliver safe, clean drinking water to the community, helping to provide basic education and health services and most importantly creating community wellness. We take extra time with the women and children making them the forefront of all our programs. My latest quest is to provide a hard copy of my latest book to every school in Zambia. It is appropriately named, Mr. Garry’s Collection of Zambian Trees. Almost 500 schools now have a copy and hopefully by this time next year will have succeeded. It has been well received by the professional Foresters of Zambia and is used as a teaching tool at the Zambia College of Forestry. A soft copy of this book can be obtained for free online at Zambiantrees@gmail.com, just give your name and where you are located. I am a concerned world citizen, an environmentalist and believe in the fact that we are ruining this world not only for our own children but for all the species that call this planet home. Please visit www.africancommunityproject.com to see what we do.
Email: Zambiantrees@gmail.com
