"If You Can Read This, Then Thank A Primary School Teacher!"

The title of this post was the Teachers' Union slogan for better conditions in Australian Primary Schools. The message is poignantly true, as much so now as then.

For the weeks over this years Christmas break and beyond I have been in the Beluleng province of North Bali in a village called Les, approximately thirty kilometres east of Singaraja, following the coast road that goes around the island. Though Les is rather remote from Legian and Kuta it is easily accessible if you have the time. What has 'saved' Les though from the unplanned invasion of mass tours is this same remoteness in the minds of the majority. Here is an unspoiled Balinese village of some 8000 or so persons. The traditional way of village life marks each day. At approximately 4.30am the Temple priests call the community to prayer and the treck to the daily fresh food market begins for both buyers and sellers. Refridgeration in private homes is pretty much unknown and food is purchassed 'as needed' for that days meals. The first session of school [there are five Primary Schools in the lower village]begins at 7am followed by afternoon school at 1pm. The older children go by Bimo at 6.30am to a nearby village for either Vocational or Junior and Senior Secondary school.

Les has one [ 4 star ] homestay

and a near zero western population. What it does have though is enormous potential for a laid back, comfortable, off the track time out break, with walks, swiming/snorkeling, massages, and tuition in cultural activities and Balinese cooking readily available. Local English speaking guides are contracted to More. 'More' homestay is a joint venture between a Balinese family and the Australian Ethical and Green Foundation, the latter donate their share of income back to the village education fund. So your patronage creates and supports jobs as well as aiding education in the village. www.homestaybali.com

Les also has a 'top village' again there is a Primary School but due to the remoteness and the one hour walk up and down 30degree jungle tracks these children are effectively excluded from going to Secondary School.


The village have an ambitious plan to build a Junior [and later a Senior]secondary school in the Top Village. Work by parents has already begun though currently it is stalled by lack of funds. The Ethical and Green Foundation is working on behalf of the village to attract the necessary funds to ensure its completion and the chance for these children to compete educationally.




My tasks over these last weeks have been associated with the school building, hosting embassadors from such identities as Rotary International, as well as establishing the foundations bona fides with local government. Each of these activities has been successful in its own way.

Have YOU ever thought of volunteering, giving of your time and expertise to help others less fortunate than yourself? The rewards are huge. Apart from knowing that what you are doing will transform the lives of others there are the new understandings that come into your life, the friendships and the experiences that you could never expect to have.








The Ethical and Green Foundation will be seeking volunteers to join our programmes in Bali in 2012. Contact us for more information if you have a genuine interest.
email me at harrycs@englishexplorer.net.au

The Gold Fish Bowl, now looking outwards

INSIDE THE BOWL, LOOKING OUT.
My Sincere thanks go to Made, Ketut and their extended families, who have made everything possible. "Jaga diri baik baik ya".

Way back in the late eighties I had my first trip to Indonesia. Our travel agent, back in the days pre internet, booked us in at Sanur and on arrival we set about some exploring. It did not take long to realise that we were on the geriatrics side of the island [as it was then] but too late. We did get to see Kuta though, as well as Ubud, before flying to Surabaya in Java and then by the night train to Jakarta, another bus to Yokyakarta a side trip to Burabudurr and bus again back to Bali, all over a two week period. Add being drugged and robbed on the night bus from Yogyakarta and you have a massive adventure for non speakers of Bahasa, on their first Indonesian experience. Fast forward over the next twenty five years covering double back packing circumnavigations of Java, plus more back packing expeditions to Sulawesi, West New Guinea, Raja Ampat Archepelago-SCUBA dive cruising, Molucus Islands, Sumba, Sumbawa, Flores, Lombok, Gilli Islands [pre modern discovery], Summatra and the Banyak Archipelago as well as Nias. Throw in a dangerous amount of ability with Indonesian phrases of the “I want/need” variety and that was the picture until around 2008. Very much Indophyles but still standing outside of and looking into the fish bowl.
About 2007 Cindy, a close friend, leased the top floor living unit of a Balinese family’s home and so began over the next year or so the transition into the bowl. Cindy has regular shift ‘swings’ from her mining job in WA, so the Bali unit became her base. I also have had for the last few years regular business trips to Java. Passing through and stopping off in Bali became a habit and so relationships with Made and Ketut, [owners of the family home] as well as their close and extended family developed. Over a period of time I learned their respective stories. In short both of them literally walked away, as twelve [Madi] and fifteen [Ketut] year olds, from their anticipated future of drudgery, poverty, ill health and short lives from dry land farming in an impoverished village. Made had completed only four years of school. After overcoming great heart ache and homesickness, in the following years - over time -they learned second and even third languages, started two businesses and made good. They have now, after years of struggle, become successful business identities in Kuta. They visit Les, [in North East Bali] their home village regularly throughout the year, especially for significant religious holidays. Over time I came to join them on such visits and also stayed in both parents’ homes. The ‘top village’ where Made lived as a girl is around an hour’s hard walk up a thirty degree incline. Not for the faint hearted. As a nine year old she went down each day to get to Primary school and often made a second round trip when she took produce to market and other food home before school. She also had her own secret business, collecting and selling both river sand and firewood. She buried the money in a secret stash. This was her stake money which enabled her to leave some years later. Hard work before and after school as well as on weekends was normal life. Nowadays the top village does have a Primary School- but available education finishes at around the age of twelve. The costs associated with sending children to either junior secondary school or vocational high school are beyond reality for most. The cost would often be more than a whole family in the top village survives on for a year!

And so with enough Bahasa Indonesia language skills to be getting comfortable, as well as the entrée to a Balinese family; with their close friendship I have began to move to the inside of the bowl ----and to walk a different pathway from my tourist days. I have now visited the top village many times, eaten and slept there. Also celebrated a birthday there, with an extended family of fifty or so persons. Chatting under light provided by diesel soaked rags in bamboo torches that evening and feeling inclusive, was memorable. I am now personally and awkwardly aware by my small experiences of the massive differences in what is normality in our respective lives. Each time I visit Les I can’t help but compare the differences there to the life that I know in Perth. It’s a complex and tangled series of emotions- that get more tangled as time goes by! My material possessions are infinitely greater, the enigma for me begins with the ready smile and the genuine affection that comes forth. The acceptance of what is and the strength of the bonds between family units and extended family-to allay the cynics, I need to say right now, my wife and I do not give hand outs. Our philanthropy is via the village council and is aimed at infrastructure, such as supporting the village plan to build a junior secondary school in the top village. We have built, in equal partnership with Made and Ketut, two extremely comfortable and well equipped Homestay units on the top of their family dwelling. There are superb views of both hills and ocean from them, the beach is five minutes away. Here it is possible to experience life in an unspoiled village, whilst being underpinned by four star western comforts. Visitors’ patronage provides a cash flow back to the village through support services and our 50% of the income goes back into village education. See www.homestaybali.com The dilemma is seeing with eyes that are not clouded by modern western values. What interest is it in Les that the ASX has gone up or down? Yet having an ability with English language will make it possible for those in the village to seek work which is not poorly paid manual labour. Education is the key to their future, no matter where they may choose to live. Made knows from bitter experience, with no school certificate she could only find basic ‘drudge’ work as a teenager. [Hear Made describe her childhood with no education http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsD0FZ_Yr6A ]
Difficult choices abound for us all as we develop an on going relationship with the Les community. A Cargo Cult mentality readily comes from hand outs and has no underpinning stability, we must all look to sustainable development owned and driven by the community. Infrastructure such as a school is something that will benefit generations, not just titillate the present. Look no further than Australia to see how to destroy an indigenous people with hand outs and no underpinning of beliefs, values and self respect.
There is much to assimilate, new values to understand, new bureaucracies to grapple with, different customs and mores to appreciate. Our journey inside the fish bowl, is just beginning. Our fledgling foundation, ‘Ethical and Green’ and the like minded persons who form its management group are one of our avenues www.ethicalandgreen.org

Helen Chats 3

Travelling through Spain has been quite a surprise to both of us. We had not expected such a large country with such diverse scenery. We drove just over 3000 kilometers, had only two wet days, a welcome distraction listening to the gentle patter of raindrops on the windscreen, no complaints from us-after six dry winters in a row and the current one going the same way- about not being able to get out of the car and take photos!!

We watched hawks hovering in the air streams waiting for either a juicy treat in the ground or another air stream to help them soar above the rocks and gain an even better view of the ground below.

The rock formations were quite spectacular- some covered in trees and others standing barefaced making silent guardians of the caves and holes just waiting to be explored yet visible from the road.

The landscape constantly changed with the rocks moving seamlessly into mountains and then around the corner into great massive plains of agricultural significance. These great plains of Spain whilst unfenced and unpopulated by either man or beast were impressive and sort of remind us of Australian landscapes. I was reliably informed at one stage that there was rubbish wild oats growing in profusion on the road verge and these would later present a serious fire hazard, unless controlled--and who am I to question farmer Harry?

Every now and then the fields/paddocks/large agriculture spaces were planted with sunflowers, by the acres. Just imagine the brilliance of these beautiful flowers in bloom, hundreds, nay thousands and thousands of happy sunny faces all moving around as they follow the sun!

We saw acres/hectares/dunaams/haras whichever measurement means more to you, of olives-hardly describable as groves-but as far as the eye could see at almost 350 degrees the grey foliage of olive trees, although somewhat strangely pruned. Harry's type of pruning-chain sawed through the middle to encourage low growing branches with quite prolific olive bearing branches the result.

Of course we also saw almonds, orange and cherry trees- all you would expect from a Mediterranean climate- yet unexpectedly prolific. Most of the agricultural land looked to be very fertile [no stock fences proved its value] so it came as a surprise to see so many abandoned farm house and buildings. These had been built in stone and it was a wonder that they had been just left to rot and decay. Signs of small farm consolidation?

There were many road signs indicating the presence of deer and also a strange looking cow that Harry felt was quite definitely a cow crossed with a donkey, as it was so badly drawn -and had proliferated everywhere, but we saw no signs of either on the roads and certainly no sign of the former on restaurant menus.

Amongst the agricultural landscapes we were very impressed by the Spanish uses of alternative energy. Numerous windfarms, and on the way into Barcelona there appeared to be a hundred of these strong silent guardians of the future, silently bingeing power to the people. And just as impressive were the solar panel farms we drove past and we also guessed from their locations that they were small private enterprises. Seeing a country with similar climate to ours making such good use of natural resources was most reassuring. the solar farms were outside of towns and it was indeed strange, but gratifying, to see hundreds of solar panels sucking in power from the sun.

Our days of driving were in huge contrast with each other--one day of vast plains and bare rocks and olives and the last big day of driving when I overturned the decision of Minnie the nav satty tom tom thingo and directed us through a very long and winding road from Toledo to Zaragoza. The route we took was of alpine beauty- hairpin bends and zig zagging roads, mountains on either side and a river meandering alongside the road--which of course must have been filled with fish waiting to be caught and either eaten or thrown back!! Harry's day dreaming here included he and Drew(his son) camping and poaching deep within the forests!! and often between the road and the river nestled amongst the trees would be tiny strips of verdant grass-great fodder for the deer we never saw. This was a day of driving that will stay fresh within our memories for some time--certainly a place to return to and explore.

Our last few hours of driving into Barcelona's airport reminded us of the fantastic quality of roads throughout Spain--we had driven a little over 3000 km in just over 2 weeks-the road surfaces were smooth, even the less significant of roads were easy driving, speed limits were barely adhered to, what traffic there was flowed fast-very fast! and smooth and despite any financial crises in Spain currently, there was much appearance of continued road building.

More to follow about the Southern towns.

And that’s all from him and all from me……
Helen Bryant