First Post: Blake

For starters, local Balinese seem much happier and more friendly than anywhere else I have been. Walking down the street many people say hello and pass along a big smile, even including some driving by. As a culture, Balinese are very focused on balance. They work hard to maintain a strong community, spirituality, and environmental impact.

The learning in this program is much more powerful than a traditional classroom setting for me personally. In addition to reading about organizations, we are actually visiting them and experiencing first hand the work they do. A great example of the impact this has is the ROLE Foundation. They taught us how to recycle paper, recycle soap, compost, garden, and many other environmentally friendly activities. As a result, we were able to see just how easy all of these things are and the benefit that they have so we will all take some of those skills and ideas home with us. It was also very astonishing to see how many plastic straws they had collected, and all of us vowed to use them less after seeing that there is a large impact from something so small.

After a site visit, the perfect way to reinforce the lessons learned is with our class discussion. When we share our thoughts on the articles and organizations we all learn a lot from each other. Everyone brings a different perspective so collectively we are able to critique the projects and learn from them.

Pictured below is a table at the ROLE Foundation. On this small table, one can see a lot of plants that will create a great impact on the environment. One can also see just how easy this can be. It doesn’t take a lot of money or resources, it simply takes care.