WHITEWATER REGION (La Passe) — Bali, an island province of Indonesia, is the home of a private ‘Green School’ which features an ecologically-sustainable design, the structures made of locally grown bamboo. The largest Green School in the world, founded by the Hardy family, utilizes 70 large bamboo wall-less structures and a bamboo bridge over the Ayung River to the school’s main entrance, This ‘Heart of the School’, serves as its centrepiece with its swirling rooftop design built on long bamboo stilts.
Amanda Crosby, currently visiting her parents Linda and Peter Crosby who relocated to La Passe, will shortly begin her third year of teaching Grade 1 at the school. Each class of 25 students, Grades one through 12, have a teacher/manger like herself to teach the basic courses, an assistant for increasing the culture and knowledge of the Balinese people and another person to manoeuvre the students to and from specialty classes such as music, drama, etc. The three are portrayed as equals in the students’ eyes, purposely done to prepare students with a lifetime of respect for all people everywhere.
Ms. Crosby, now 33, grew up in Ottawa but enjoyed weekends and summers in La Passe. After graduation from St. Xavier University, she travelled to Thailand to teach English for three years and studied as well to obtain a teacher’s degree. She taught afterwards in Southeast Asian countries, including nine classes of English in South Korea.
“All the countries were different from each other and all were interesting,” she said. “My favourite though is the Green School in Bali.”
Ms. Crosby moved to South Korea to teach English after university as a way to fund her travelling.
“I have been on the road since, teaching and travelling,” she said.
Teaching a lesson is flexible and classes are held outside, Ms. Crosby said. Sometimes animals, such as roosters, cats or cows, get inside the gates and come right amongst the students.
“I simply adjust my lesson to interact with them – no one is allowed to touch the animals out of respect for nature,” she noted.
Even inside the classroom, Greco lizards that live in the ceiling occasionally will drop with a plop. Included with the school is an organic farm and a bird sanctuary. Only healthy foods are served for lunch or snacks, mostly vegetables. All various religious holidays are celebrated by the school which is a bonus for the teachers.
Green School Bali is a shining vision of hope as a natural, holistic student-centered learning environment that empowers its students to become creative and green leaders in a global citizenship, Ms. Crosby said. Letting the environment be their guide augmented by strong values will prove well for sustainability in the future, she said. The world needs change-makers, she added.
Even though Bali is predominantly Hindu, formed as a combination of existing local beliefs and Hindu influences from mainland Southeast Asia and South Asia while Indonesia is the country with the largest Muslim population in the world, all religions in Bali coexist comfortably. Ms. Crosby has friends from both religions and ex-patriots as well. She rents a house near a beach, about a half-hour motorbike ride from the school. She has two rescue dogs at home, Bintang and Boney.
Balinese ceremonies are an important, integral part of daily life and that’s partly what makes Bali so unique and charming, she said. Offerings to God are an integral part of daily living for the Balinese. These selfless offerings or blessings are usually small woven green leaves holding a small amount of rice, other snacks and flowers, she explained. They are placed at the entrance of buildings and houses in simple thankfulness. New houses must receive an offering before being occupied.
Ms. Crosby explained that her landlord had her house blessed with a traditional Balinese ceremony before she could move in. After a minor accident on her motorbike, the landlord’s family made an offering for her and the bike in her front yard. A new bike later couldn’t be ridden by her until the landlord’s family blessed it, she recalled.
The Full Moon Ceremony is avery special to Balinese people with a deeper meaning than the one celebrated every month. Everyone is busy preparing as this one is considered favourable to obtain a plentiful harvest. Every class, students and staff, take part in the monthly and full moon ceremonies if they fall on a school day.
Ms. Crosby has adapted her lifestyle around the acceptance of the culture and customs of Bali, its never-ending ceremonies and offerings and has been further educated in critical thinking – to consider rather than just accepting, and in addition, values and the concept of sustainability, learned by her relationship with both the Green School and the Balinese peoples.
