As Mahatma Gandhi put it, "There is enough in this world for everyone, but not enough for the greed of one man."

Bali has many social challenges, ranging from abject physical poverty to the more subtle problem of spiritual deprivation. At the same time, many of the people who live in and pass through Bali have the resources and willingness to address these problems. Most of the time, all they need is a gathering point from which they can combine their resources and encourage each other in the intriguing process of answering Bali's social challenges.

Denpasar, 45 minutes from Ubud

Sukra is not your typical university student.: She achieves high marks in her studies and is deeply involved in campus activity, but she is not satisfied. As a student in a teaching university she wants to practice teaching children, but in Denpasar there are not many chances to do it.

The schools in Denpasar are not too eager to recruit part-time teachers, and there are not many educational institutions outside of formal schools that fit Sukra's requirements. But recently she learned of an opportunity that really suited her requirements. There was a foundation in Ubud looking for volunteers to teach English and leadership in rural elementary schools during weekends, and they were giving a presentation at her campus. With quite a few other students she eagerly hurried to the small room, where a young man (not much older from Sukra herself) from the foundation explained the program. She became excited when the young man, Made Skolastika, explained that the teaching session would not be the static session that most schools use and Sukra hates, but a very dynamic one involving hands (with games), head (through direct uses of English), heart (via story telling and acting), and spirit (with a reflection session). Sukra eagerly signed herself up for the program. She had to go through a stringent filtering process, as there were only eight places for volunteers and many others were interested. After passing an English proficiency test, teaching test and interview, Sukra was delighted to be accepted as a volunteer! She eagerly awaited the day when she could teach children using the skills she'd learned at university.

Payangan Subdistrict, 2 hours from Ubud

Suarnayasa is the principal of a rural elementary school in Payangan Subdistrict, about 2 hours drive from Ubud. In two years he will celebrate his 60th birthday when, according to government regulation, he has to retire. He's been a teacher all his adult life; most of the time he taught math. Being the principal of a small school in a rural area means that he often has to compete for attention for his school's needs. Although the Indonesian government has started to give more attention to education, there are only limited resources which must be divided between a large number of schools in a very wide territory. Pak Suarnayasa also has to put a lot of effort into keeping the younger teachers at his school, because teaching in rural areas offers very little opportunity for advancement. The nearest decent book store and university (which provide advanced teacher training) are in Denpasar, which is almost 2.5 hours drive from the school. Suarnayasa likes to teach, but his situation does not allow him to do his best.

Songs and games are the main
ingredient of learning in a
fun way.

During a monthly elementary school principals' meeting in the Subdistrict, Suarnayasa was fascinated by the presentation of a young man (not even half his age!) from a foundation in Ubud. The young man described how his foundation helps rural schools by providing teachers and students an opportunity to learn English and leadership in an entertaining way. Suarnayasa's eyes lit up — this was exactly the help his school needed! Quickly he wrote a formal letter requesting the foundation to come to his school and signed and stamped it before handing it over to Made Skolastika. A week later, Skolastika called Suarnayasa to notify him that his school had been chosen as one of the recipients of the Educare program of Karuna Bali Foundation.

In preparation for the program, Suarnayasa and some of his teachers were required to participate in a three day workshop on Living Values Education, together with the new volunteers of Educare program. This workshop was organized by Teacher Training program of the same Foundation. Initially, Suarnayasa was a little resistant to attend yet another workshop, as the workshops he participated in were usually just another burden for the teachers. But he was happy to discover that this workshop was totally different. It focused on the teachers first; its basic tenet was that teachers' personal values were the main force that would affect students' behavior and values. The workshop emphasized teaching by example, and he learned that a teacher with a lot of emotional burdens could therefore not provide students with a positive example. There was also a process where the teachers had to dig through layers of their own beliefs in order to be able to recognize what kind of values affected their day-to-day actions. Nothing on the workshop added to the teachers' loads - in, fact, it helped the teachers to strengthen themselves.

Kauai, many hours of flight from Ubud

Patricia walked briskly toward her plane to Bali. She was no stranger to Bali, as she'd been visiting the island for several years. During each visit she always tried to find something to do for Balinese communities, instead of just relaxing and enjoying the scenery, the local culture and of course the market. For this visit, she had arranged to volunteer as an English teacher in Campuhan College, the second time she had volunteered at the College. But even more than teaching in classrooms, she looked forward to becoming involved in the outreach program, where she and others would visit schools in rural areas and play with the kids. That would really be fun. As soon as she settled down in Ubud she came to the College and discovered what she gotten herself into ...

It was Saturday morning and I'd been invited to attend a preparatory meeting at Campuhan College in Ubud, Bali, for the Rural Village Educare Program. The meeting started at 10:30am sharp. When I arrived at the college, the place was silent. Not knowing what to think, I sneaked quietly up the stairs to the upper hall to find about 18 college students and volunteers in meditation. This is how they start their meetings. I was impressed!

Patricia of Kauai and
little Iluh of Lodtunduh
sharing the experience
of fun learning

Ten minutes later the volunteers were designing a program for the next day, Sunday, that they would bring to youngsters in a school in some remote village called Jatiluwih. The director of the program, a visionary young man of 25 called Skolastika, had come up with a basic design for the program to address the body, mind and spirit. This, he explained, created and maintained balance within.

This Saturday morning is like any other for these 19 - 23 year old Campuhan College students and volunteers. They decided what team they wanted to be on: the English language team (addresses learning and therefore the mind), the games team (which moves the body), the story- telling team where the youngsters get to act out the story (which addresses the creative aspect of the mind), the art team (which makes use of the mind and spirit) or the reflection team (which is a guided

meditation and addresses the spirit). Great detail was given to the design of each team's program. What would be taught in the English language and how, what games would be played, what story would be told, and what guided meditation would be given. Everyone was invited to comment until everyone was in agreement. This planning process took two to three hours.

Quarter to seven Sunday morning is the hour everyone agreed on to meet again at Campuhan College. The students arrived promptly one after another on their motor bikes. Video and camera equipment were picked up from the office upstairs and we were on our way. About one and a half hours later, we arrived at a small town in the hills of Bali, called Jatiluwih.

The area was breathtakingly beautiful and almost had an atmosphere of otherworldliness about it. We climbed off our motorbikes and were greeted enthusiastically by a group of ten year old kids. They were barefoot but neatly dressed in clean clothes, with great big smiles from their hearts on their faces. Their enthusiasm was contagious and a deep gratitude to be able to spend the day with these beautiful children filled my heart. As soon as they saw us they got busy clearing the class room where we would spend the morning with them. They picked up tiny brooms with very little brush left on them and started sweeping the floors. Furniture was moved to the walls to make space in the center. Everything was done with a smile. They are like beautiful butterflies, these children.

After the EduCare Program,
the children are more creative,
confident, their shyness lessens,
they can express what they
feel, they are not afraid
to make mistakes. The
teachers can teach easier.
I hope this program can
continue.

Nine o'clock sharp and we began the morning with a song, "I am a peaceful star, I am." It was sung with all the open-hearted enthusiasm that I so loved about these kids. This was followed by a lesson in English language. One of the college students wrote the days of the week on the blackboard, which wasn't that black anymore. 'Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.... The leader of the team read out the days in English and the children repeated them after her. In unison, their voices were not at all shy, but strong and joyful. Then they were taught 'before and after'. Each child was asked to come up to the front of the class and I got to ask each a question: 'What day is before Monday? What day is after Friday?' etc. If the answer was incorrect, the rest of the class helped out. Some were shy; some were proud that they knew the answer and responded in loud, clear voices. Every one of these children was so focussed, eager to learn and to get it 'right'.

After about an hour and a half of English class, we moved outside for the games. A string was suspended like a wash line between two buildings and pieces of rice crackers were hung on strings from it. At a distance of about 20 yards, a couple of children were blindfolded, turned around and told to move forward towards the rice crackers, under loud guidance from their peers. They had to eat the rice crackers without reaching for them with their hands. One kid hated the taste of the rice cracker and spat it out in disgust after he reached his goal, amid loud laughter and applause from his team.

Next, we moved into story telling with new team leaders. A story had been translated from English into the Indonesian language by one of the team and was now narrated in Indonesian. The children got to act out the story and everyone howled with laughter. Then the children were asked what the 'moral' of the story was; sometimes there was more than one lesson and they all got it. Art was the next item on the agenda. A bundle of crayons was spread out on the classroom floor. Each child was handed a package consisting of a red plastic envelope that contained paper, a small notebook/diary, pencil, pen and an eraser. They took out a sheet of paper, moved to the center of the floor and began to draw with the coloured crayons. I was astounded by the quality of the art, given their young ages. One drew a turtle with amazing detail and shades of colour, another drew a typical Balinese farming scene of a farmer and his oxen ploughing a rice paddy, some drew butterflies, etc.

Story telling and story
acting helps the children
understand the world
around them.

After art, it was time for writing and reflection and everyone took the diary out of the red envelope and began to write his/her experiences and thoughts of the morning. This was followed by reflection. All the kids sat cross-legged on the floor, closed their eyes (some boys peeked) and the guided meditation began. 'Imagine you are a star in the big open universe...'

Our morning with these children had flown by. It was almost noon and there was one more thing left to do. One of the team leaders asked for a volunteer to say the closing prayer. A boy eagerly raised his hand and proudly came up to the front of the class room. He was handed a paper upon which the prayer was written in the Indonesian language. "Terima kasih, Tuhan", was repeated after each paragraph — "Thank You, Lord" — while Scholastika accompanied him softly on the guitar. My heart melted even more. I didn't want this morning to end. I was so humbled by these incredible children and my heart was as big and as open as the sky, as the prayer ended.

The kids shook hands with each of the team leaders and thanked them for the time spent together. It had been a high-energy morning and everyone had so much fun. The Oneness was palpable, the Joy amazing and the Love incredible and so much... so much gratitude from these children!!

After our time together came to an end, the furniture was put back and the classroom tidied up. We all left together — the kids went home and the team leaders gathered for lunch nearby at a local warung (local restaurant), where delicious meals were served for about $1.50 a plate. The purpose of this lunch gathering was to discuss any observations that were made during the morning. The main question was where was there room for improvement? Was our purpose — to teach these kids in an entertaining and loving way — achieved? Did we create a safe environment in which they could learn? What needed to be done differently? And also - where did we do well? Again, everyone's comments were welcome, including mine.

My admiration was huge, for this project and especially for the Campuhan college students. They give freely of their time every weekend in order to facilitate a pleasurable learning experience for these children who live in rural, and often remote, villages and to give these children a chance to expand their lives. The sense of community service, their creativity and genuine love and care from the hearts of these college students truly is an example to the world.

I Love these students and I Love these children and I will return. I am deeply grateful and honoured to have had the opportunity to learn from these wonderful people who are the future of this country, Indonesia.

The resources are there, and the willingness burns like a candle. Let's gather together for a brighter future!

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