Thursday, 17 January 2013

Intrepid in Indonesia


What's the best way to have a good Christmas in this cold Vancouver winter? Escape the country and head for Indonesia! On December 15, I did just that. I flew to Bali to meet up with Tim Fijal, the co-owner of Little Mountain, and take the first steps in planning LMLA's summer development project.

As soon as I arrived in Bali, I knew I was going to be in good hands. I was greeted with a friendly face and a sign reading 'Ms. Su -Little Mountain Canadian delegate.'


My first stop in Bali was Green School. Guided by Tim and his two kids, JJ and Ben, who are both students there, I explored all the grounds and the classrooms. I fell in love with the two pigs they keep on the grounds and spent ten minutes trying to feed them. I did not fall in love with the insects that spent the afternoon feasting on me whilst I was distracted by cute pigs.


Green School is beautiful. The tall bamboo structures really are breath-taking and there is something truly wonderful about being out in the open every second of the day. Even though it was hot and sticky and extremely humid, it felt great to run around barefoot chasing baby chicks around. It was a joy to see kids learning in an environment so rich in discovery and adventure. I really look forward to hosting our Think Tank students there in August as they begin their orientation to the project.


Next, the Fijal clan and I hopped on a plane to Sulawesi, an island about an hour's flight away from Bali. After landing in Makassar, we embarked on a bumpy car ride. Five hours, one gorgeous sunset and many Indonesian rap songs later, we finally arrived at the home of Noan Fesnoux in Ara. 


Over the next few days, Noan and his wife, Kiky, took me on adventures unlike any I have previously experienced. I went snorkeling every day and even saw a sea turtle! I was too chicken to do any diving and got shown up every day by 10-year-old Ben, who looked like he was born in the ocean. 

The most amazing thing I saw in Ara was a fresh water cave just ten minutes away from Noan's beautiful beach house. To get to it, we climbed down heaps of rocks crawling with millipedes, snakes and other exciting friends. Just when we were starting to ask ourselves what we had let Noan get us into, we got to the bottom of the cave. There, surrounded by stalactites and a ledge lit by candles we had brought with us, was a small pool of cool fresh water. It didn't look like much at first, but as soon as I put on my snorkeling mask, the underwater view took my breath away. What looked like a small puddle from the top was revealed to be a giant, everlasting pool at the bottom of an enormous cave. I could see only giant stalagmites way down deep under the surface, in a darkness that seemed to carry on forever. Every time I came out of the water, I thought to myself, 'Holy moly, I'm in a middle of a CAVE!' It was awe-inspiring and majestic and something I hope all our kids get to experience in the summer.

On my last day in Sulawesi, I had the privilege of meeting with local leaders and village elders to talk about what our kids might do with the community in August. With the help of Kiky and Noan, we were able to really talk with and listen to the local community as they shared their excitement over our development project. We learned from them that technology and waste management are two big concerns that they hope our students can help us with. As the hours passed, we all got more and more excited as we realized how much we could all accomplish. I think we all left feeling like we could change the world together -I know I did! 


It was such an honour to listen to the group talk about how excited they were to receive me and our students as guests. In Think Tank, one of the most important things we teach our students is that social justice is about listening to people and working with people to solve problems. After my big meeting, I knew without a doubt that we are teaching the right thing. Just seeing the excitement on all our faces told me everything I need to know.

I can't wait to talk to our Think Tank students about my trip, my meeting and all the amazing things we are going to accomplish. I hope they will be as excited as I am. It is a truly once-in-a-lifetime opportunity -both for the community of Ara and for us.

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