GARD Board of Directors

Long time resident of BC, is actively involved with Habitat For Humanity local chapter. Completed studies from UBC Sauder School of Business. Realtor and Small business owner. Operated the Abbotsford Teen centre for the Abbotsford Youth Commission. Enjoyed doing missions work for 1 month in St. Petersburg Alaska. Hobbies include mountain biking hiking, rock climbing, snow boarding and wake boarding.

Known as ‘musei muzungu’ among Ugandans when working with Geoff on water catchment projects in Uganda in 2005, Ed was raised on a small homestead farm in Saskatchewan where he experienced a simple self-sustaining life style. Getting clean water and gathering food was a daily task. Following physical sciences studies in college, he worked in the petroleum industry for many years in various technical roles with much of the latter years focused on development and application of technologies relating to water recovery and reuse.

Jaime started working abroad at the early age of 19 when he jumped off the Province of Newfoundland & Labrador in Canada and made his way to Asia. Over the years he has worked and studied in various countries throughout the globe, including, Uganda, Mexico, Korea, Dubai, and Europe. An avid traveller, he has happily set foot on all the continents minus the Artics and continues to fill the pages of his passport.

Paula was born and raised in South Africa, after completing high school she and her family immigrated to Canada where her love for volunteering and traveling blossomed. Paula has been working overseas since 1999, where she spent a year in SW Uganda teaching English. She has painted murals in various orphanages in South Africa, and been back to Uganda to work on the water catchments, teach orphans and paint more murals.

Carpenter by trade, filmmaker by desire, adventurer by heart and father/husband by soul. Currently, Dax spends his time with his wife and three sons on the pacific coast of Costa Rica. Low impact living is important to Dax, and by building a small eco resort he hopes others can enjoy the beauty of Costa Rica while experiencing a slice of self-sustainability. Dax is an avid believer in ‘Doing’, for obvious reasons, and holds a very dear place in his heart for his first experience in Uganda.

Lorne is an agriculture economist, business management and rural development specialist with more than 35 years experience.

He has a Ph.D. in Rural Studies from the University of Guelph and has worked as a consultant for agriculture businesses and governments in Canada and the US.

Lorne has served and is currently a director on both for-profit and non-profit organizations. He assisted his son Geoff on two previous water projects in Uganda.

Favorite Memory/s:

Meeting and working side-by-side with villagers

Geoff finished his science degree from the University of Calgary in 2001 and became actively involved with development work shortly after. With a love for traveling and experiencing new cultures, he made his way to Uganda for the first time in 2002 and has been actively involved with household and community scale water treatment systems since.

As a co-founder of GARD, Geoff has had the good fortune of presenting some of the charity’s work through CNN International and the International Rainwater Harvesting Conference held in India, 2006.