Staff Spotlight: Tim Hare

Tim has worked for Where There Be Dragons for 12 years, and in experiential education for 18 years, previously with Outward Bound. He believes that healthy and calculated risk taking is essential to meaningful learning and growth.

My favorite travel memory is spending four months with my wife and two children supporting our programs in Nepal and South East Asia. We lived in a Nepali colleague's farm in the Nepali lower hills, with my three-year-old son and five-year-old daughter helping to milk water buffalo, feed chickens, or prepare the fields for rice planting.

There is something truly incredible about being immersed in such dramatically different cultures.

I have gained a knowledge of cultures and regions of the world that I never could have imagined. Any time we travel now, through Dragons’ huge international community, doors as well as intimate relationships which are simply hidden from other travelers, are opened for us.

I care much more about communities and cultures now, and work hard to create meaningful and caring relationships around the world.

I was so impressed when one of my Andes and Amazon students, Chris Temple, decided to live in Guatemala and study poverty around 3 years after our course. He and some colleagues made a movie called “Living on One”, where they documented their mission and experience of living under the poverty line, and spending one dollar per day, to bring awareness to issues of global poverty. The movie has since become incredibly popular.

I would choose our program in Bhutan. It is a difficult country to travel to, and the mountains and culture intrigue me. With Dragons, we would be able to do so in an intimate way, which is not the case with most trips to Bhutan. It is a complex country, which often makes news for its focus on Gross National Happiness as well as the beautiful Himalayan culture. I'd be curious to peek behind the veil and see what that actually means.

The team is composed of the most passionate and compassionate people I have ever met. I am most proud during our all-staff training and orientation, which we host at a campground in the Eastern Sierra Nevada of California. It creates space for such a diverse cultural and creative expression. We have art shows, dance parties, talent shows, sacred ceremonies, live multi-ethnic music, and dozens of amazing workshops on everything – from power and privilege to diversity and inclusivity to risk management in the field.

Trust. In our work, trust must be built and maintained with students, families, instructors, and, most importantly, community members across the globe.

We also know that it takes an immense amount of trust for a family to choose to send their son or daughter with us - to Bolivia, Laos, Madagascar, etc. It is not a responsibility we take lightly!