Bali

The Green School - Sonoma Academy’s Bali Intersession – Spring Break 2016

Background – This past spring break, my awesome school, Sonoma Academy, allowed three adults (myself included) and twenty-two students to visit the Green School located in Bali, Indonesia. The Green School is a model school in the area of sustainability and was started by John and Cynthia Hardy in 2006 as a way of giving back to the province of Bali that provided them with abundant wealth through the jewelry business. After watching Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth John Hardy wanted to start a school that would teach the world how to live in such a way that his future grandchildren could enjoy a healthy and beautiful planet. The Green School is a K-12 school with mostly international students but also at least 20% Balinese youth – a reflection of their commitment to “keeping things local.” We were in Bali for roughly ten days, and our purpose was to learn about the Balinese culture as well as how the Green School is practicing sustainability with the hope of implementing more sustainable practices back at Sonoma Academy while we extend our current campuses facilities with a new grange/studios building.

(me and one of our seniors, Caleb, at the Denpasar airport in Bali)

(the Green School main buildings)

(another Green School building)

(admiring the bamboo architecture on a tour of the Green School)

(the classrooms at the Green School have no walls)

(to learn more about the Green School visit www.greenschool.org/about/ )

Green Camp – We stayed next to the Green School at a place called the Green Camp. This is where visiting groups, like ours, are fed and housed in bamboo yurts. Green Camp is full of palm trees, educational gardens, and abundant greenery all around. Some of my fondest memories of the trip were waking each morning at sunrise as light beamed through the bamboo slats of my yurt while the birds and insects began to sing and chatter. I would open my door to see the sun climbing over the hill in front of me illuminating the many trees and bamboo huts connected by gravel pathways. Each day I rinsed off in a roofless, bamboo-walled outdoor shower and used the sawdust composting toilet. We had incredibly healthy and tasty meals prepared by the Green Camp staff incorporating lots of rice, fruit, and chicken. We were living sustainably.

(upon arrival)

(yurts at Green Camp)

(bamboo outhouse [left] and outdoor shower [right])

(inside my bamboo yurt at Green Camp)

(signage at Green Camp)

(composting toilets at Green Camp)

(informative bathroom signage)

(uplifting bathroom signage)

(more informative bathroom signage)

(meal at Green Camp)

(to learn more about Green Camp visit www.greencampbali.com/ )

Sustainability Projects – During our time at Green Camp and the Green School we learned about how the Green School practices sustainability by visiting the various student-made projects on campus – a fish/plant aquaponics system, solar panel-covered roofs, a hydroelectric turbine called “the vortex” which will produce 8 kilowatts of electricity day and night when finished (enough to power about 123 desktop computers at once), a compost system, school gardens, recycled-materials projects, and more. There was even a bridge dreamed up by students (but build by engineers J) that spanned over the nearby Ayung River!

(aquaponics project structure

(aquaponics - inside structure)

(aquaponics plants)

 

(aquaponics fish-holding tanks)

(the "vortex" - a hydroelectric generator)

(close up of the vortex)

(chair made from car tires)

(student-created bridge)

Fun Activities - In addition to these sustainability projects we engaged many activities facilitated by our Green Camp staff – climbed coconut trees, spelunked through irrigation canals that connected rice fields (called the subak system), weaved bamboo leaves to make table clothes, made chocolate, practiced laughing yoga, enjoyed campfire performances, songs, and puppet shows, and, possibly my favorite, tried mepantigan (mud wrestling). This included me being thrown over the shoulder of one of the junior boys in a foot-deep mud-pond! This rekindled the appreciation of having a good fight once in a while, and reminding me of the warrior spirit that lies within all of us.

(coconut tree climbing)

(preparing for mepantigan [mud wrestling])

(mepantigan ... taken from Lonely Planet website)

(chocolate making)

(preparing for laughing yoga)

(biking around area near Green School)

(investigating the subak irrigation system)

(walking through rice fields)

(our guide, Pinetree, giving us a history lesson of a Japanese memorial)

(food art activity at Green Camp)

(making offering from flowers)

(bamboo egg slide rules ... written on car windshield)

(student egg slide)

(SA students getting into the traditional local attire)

(learning about nearby neighborhood temple from our guide "Wi-Fi")

(placing offerings at gate of temple)

(visiting to larger, regional temple)

(inside regional temple)

(regional temple artwork)

(at regional temple)

(SA students acting at talent show)

(our guide Ferli getting down at our last night dance party at Green Camp)

(magic performance at Green Camp by Pinetree)

Away from Green Camp – We also took some time to travel to other parts of Bali, specifically to Mt. Batur and the beach town of Amed. Near Mt. Batur, an active volcano, we stayed with a Balinese host family who graciously housed and cooked for us. Even with a multi-house property where three or four generations of their family lived, with our group of twenty-five plus our Green Camp staff things got cramped. It was especially interesting for me sleep with a bunch of the staff after they had just eaten a bunch of durian - the worst smelling fruit ever created. In addition to learning how this Balinese family lived and some of the customs they practiced we also woke up at 2:00 am to hike Mt. Batur to see the sunrise. It was one of the most beautiful and magical sunrises I can remember. We were one group of many that hiked up Mt. Batur that morning. It made you feel like such a small part of all the living things on earth that stood up to greet the coming of a new day. There was even one girl hiking up next to us from Sonoma State, which is no more than ten miles from Sonoma Academy back in California. Small world! 

(having food at homestay)

(our guide Victor teasing SA student, Emmy, after trying the disgusting friut durian at homestay near Mt. Batur)

(cramped sleeping conditions at homestay)

(nighttime hike up Mt. Batur)

(sunrise at the top of Mt. Batur)

(gift exchange and farewell to homestay family)

After our time at Mt. Batur we drove to the beach town of Amed where we snorkeled at a Japanese ship wreck, had a raft-building contest, learned about aquatic sustainability, and camped on the beach. Perhaps it was due to having gotten up at 2:00 am that morning to hike Mt. Batur or maybe it was the sheer beauty of the beach at Amed, but I felt more present and peaceful there than I have in a long time.

(sleeping on beach at Amed)

(Amed beach sunrise)

The People – The people involved in this trip were all amazing, both those from our Sonoma Academy group as well as the staff from Green Camp. As mentioned, there were twenty-two students from SA, all juniors or seniors, and three adults (Brandon, Irma, and me). Not coincidentally Brandon, the second teacher chaperone, had lived in Bali before working at SA. This is where he met his Balinese wife, Irma, who was the third adult chaperone on this trip. The Green Camp staff numbered about six, mostly in their 20’s and 30’s, and were always with us during our ten days in Bali. Pinetree -yes that is his real name - was a fun and adventurous outdoors man. Victor was a Phillipino who was also our group nurse. Sasri, “Wi-Fi,” Ferli, and a number of other Green Camp staff also facilitated our stay there and were an indispensable and wonderful part of our experience.

(Pinetree and Wi-Fi)

 

(Sasri explaining how to make food art)

(Brandon and Irma)

(SSU girl, me, and SA students at top of Mt. Batur)

(awesome SA students)

Reflection/Lessons Learned – Of course when you are hiking volcanos, climbing coconut trees, mudwrestling, doing laughing yoga, and visiting one of the most impressive and beautiful schools on earth you will look back on your time and says it was magical. But the people and lessons learned from our time there also contributed to the magic. Brandon’s wild stories and explanation of the Balinese culture opened our eyes to the history and mentality of the people there. This mentality included a sense of playfulness, humor, community, and light-heartedness easily noticed in the Balinese people. All of our SA students, including the ones who had never been outside of the USA, rose to the occasion of being present, selfless to the group, and willing to try just about any activity placed before them. Once again, I am filled with gratitude, awe, and joy having been able to share in this experience.