Month: November 2015

In my opinion, academically speaking, there is more to school than literacy and math. In fact as important as literacy and math are to me, they do not make much sense without a genuine practical context as they are tools that are most useful when implemented in real life critical thinking.

As parents, Jeff and I are fully committed to helping our kids carve the path that will guide them to (hopefully) become wholesome human beings: empathetic with themselves and others, aware of the world and of the impact that we have through our actions, capable of listening and collaborating, ready to take risks and to learn from the mistakes made, invested in thinking critically and competent in solving problems.

That all sounds like a very big undertaking and as I write these words I get scared of the monumental responsibility that it entails but then, I remember…

I remember our path every day. I remember we are in Bali, I remember we are at Green School and I remember a few weeks ago when I randomly learned about the GreenLEAP program at Green School. Modeled after the renown iLead+Design initiative co-founded by Aaron Eden, Director of Entrepreneurial and Enterprise Programs at Green School, the GreenLEAP program opened a new door of hope and excitement for our family on this path that we have been carving for a few years now. On our path, we envision to see Education redefined so kids, teachers, parents, entrepreneurs, professionals, visionaries, philanthropists, thinkers… get to collaborate in real life problems to find real life solutions. On our path we hope to find answers as the relationships among individuals bloom and grow through hard work, cooperation, creativity, drive and endless curiosity. On our path we strive to inspire our kids, so they are motivated individuals with a compelling sense of belonging and strength that pushes them to make a difference. On our path answers are unscripted rather than rehearsed, free rather than confined, discovered rather than memorized.

Learning about the implementation of the GreenLEAP program at Green School was inspiring, hopeful and powerful. The  program will run for three consecutive and intense weeks. The High School students will work in teams and will be assigned a wide range of relevant challenges for which they will need to find answers: from the non-flush compost toilets at school, to creating a Bio Bus App, to developing a campaign to free dolphins, to redesigning and improving work spaces for sugar harvesting and production, to community action projects such as education for disadvantaged women and waste center solutions, just to name a few. Along with faculty and coaches, students will team up with professionals from all over the world, including a group of students and teachers from the Design School in Hong Kong, that will travel to Green School for the sole purpose of working collaboratively with our high schoolers in finding tangible solutions and, together, make a difference. The gears will turn faster and faster as the different teams of students, faculty and guests research, discuss, test, fail, breakthrough, advance, regress, relate and own the challenges faced and the answers uncovered. All in all an amazing journey of discovery, an unbelievable opportunity for growth and a deep, long lasting impact on the approach these young adults (and teachers, and guests!) will take to tackle the world from now on.

GreenLEAP is a strong foundation that supports teamwork and collaboration so different perspectives merge to provide a rich learning experience. GreenLEAP promotes cooperative experimentation through the successes and failures encountered as both are equally valuable and necessary in the process. The program’s core encourages embracing risks and facing uncertainty to keep on moving forward together. GreenLEAP rewrites the misconception that students are recipients for information because students really are Shapers of Knowledge.

Life in Bali keeps on unfolding and I find myself realizing that in essence, no matter how much my surroundings have changed in the last few months, I continue to live by the same principles: quality family time, our well being through diet and exercise, our kid’s education and our friendships, yet somehow, there is something about Bali that makes me feel empowered, motivated, receptive and (surprisingly) serene. The “Bali way” encourages me to be present in the moment, to live mindfully, to truly embrace life from the inside out.

Perhaps I am still in the “honeymoon” stage of life in a new place; that stage where everything is new and exciting, that stage where there is immeasurable room for effortless growth and endless discovery. The stage where things seem familiar enough to feel comfortable yet at the same time unexpected surprises arise to turn any given moment into a fun and interesting moment. I am sure this “honeymoon” state of mind plays a role in why I feel so positively strong about life in Bali, but I am also certain that Bali is a special place regardless and my intense sense of belonging in Bali comes from many other factors too.

Bali is nothing like I had imagined. In fact, Bali couldn’t be any more different than everything I thought it would be. So much so, that if I had come to Bali just for a “short vacation in paradise”, I probably would have been disappointed! To me, Bali is a compelling balancing act of chaos and serenity, a game of contrasts between unparalleled beauty and unsightliness. An island of plentiful history, rich in culture, and faithful to ancient traditions, Bali is also, on the flip side, a dreamland for the foreigners who move here following the pursuit of having an unprecedented life of luxury, impossible in their own home country. Bali’s innate beauty of lush jungle, endless terraced rice fields, infinite stone carved temples, pristine holy waters, paradisiac beaches and kind souls cohabit with piles of toxic plastic garbage, horrendous traffic jams and limited resources. But it is precisely this commingling of opposites, this constant balance of contrasts that co-habitate in such harmony that makes my Bali so livable, interesting and fulfilling. Nothing in Bali can be taken for granted.

And if Bali itself wasn’t enough already, there is also Green School and its many student-led, programs: Kul-Kul Connection, Bye-Bye Plastic Bags, GS Green Generation, The BEEP Project, GS Bio Bus, Shift… just to name a few. I feel like a groupie writing these words but I am intensely attached to Green School because of its deep and positive impact not only on our children (and on us, adults) but also on the local communities and beyond. Bali is the land of opportunity where initiatives can start, grow and have an undeniably positive impact. Initiatives with humble beginnings, full of passion, focus and purpose. Initiatives that promote integration and collective efforts as valuable tools to move forward. Initiatives that evolve into powerful avenues that guide us towards the monumental endeavor of working cooperatively to ultimately make the world a better place.

If life as I understand it is indeed about balance, Bali is the quintessential Ying Yang, a bomb of potential for substantial change, fertile soil for plentiful possibilities to take root. Perhaps I am becoming a neo-hippie or maybe a bohemian (ha, ha, ha.. go figure!), but for the first time in my life I see my potential, I understand it, and I cannot be stopped.