Institute of Global Education

Annual Report of the Chief Executive Officer to Board of Directors
Institute of Global Education, April 30, 2009 to April 1, 2010

We are completing our 18th year in India. I was in India until January 2009 and again from July 31, 2009 until January 29, 2010. I had the immense pleasure being invited to Horto via Thessaloniki, Greece July 23 to July 30 and did a workshop there on my way to India. The workshop was sponsored by the Pia Halzinikou Angellini Cultural Foundation which includes several Robert Muller World Core Curriculum Schools and many cultural activities as well as an intentional community. It was an incredible and wonderful experience. I had met Dimitris in Zukovsky, Russia many years ago and he had tracked me down to invite me to Greece. I received a handsome 2,400 Euro honorarium and an airline ticket to India. I am grateful and indebted to Dr. Neils Christensen and Bernard Gross for their extended help and research for my workshops.

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Dear Supporters, friends and family:

I am in Northridge, California at the home of Board member  Wanda Pierkarski.  I talk to our students in  India daily thanks to free pc to pc and sometimes we see each other via webcam. All are very busy with internal exams and some even with final exams. Most will have their final exams in March and April except the engineering students who have finals in May. Of course, the final tuitions and fees for the school year are all due within the next month.

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It was a bright and beautiful day. By 2:00 pm all the chairs were filled and hundreds were standing. It was a joyful celebration of Ruth’s (Granny’s) life. There was deep emotion but the tears dried and there was laughter and singing. Her favorite song “Amazing Grace” filled the air in both English and Telugu. The fifteen speakers were all mercifully short (average five minutes) and were students and former teachers who went to school under Ruth as well as community, tribal and political leaders. We had Christian, Muslin and Hindu participation.

I was thoughtful when one speaker referred to Ruth as Mucherla’s Mother Theresa. I cut the ribbon, by request, and the senior most security official (a two star commander) pulled the curtain to unveil the pillar with Ruth’s photo etched into the five foot black marble plaque along with her now famous Nine Rules of Granny. Because we were on high security alert in the area due to Naxlites and strikes across the state demanding a new state, we had twelve fully armed police officers. This is a state requirement for gatherings of this type at present in the district. This attachment of security with the addition of twelve ministers made a full house of protection.

There were tons of flowers, including lots of roses and marigolds, which were her favorites. For many it was a pilgrimage. Many had spent hours on the train or bus to be there. The outpouring of caring, remembrance and devotion was inspiring and very moving.

I closed the three hour program by holding up an original drawing of hibiscus that Ruth drew while at the school in March 1996. She had written on the photo “I am happy to be here! It is another home for me”.  Her ashes now rest in that home for all time.

Richard