The classes have been very full since we did the new registration, and we have a lot of new students. I am very lucky to have Andrea coming in and helping to teach English, and I think the kids have a lot more fun too. After one month I know many of the kids’ names and their personalities, it makes teaching easier and a lot more enjoyable. We can play games and have fun, even if we get so loud that Ade has to come up to see if I’m ok!

We also have some other new local volunteers, in addition to Anissa, and Cahyo, Mylyn and Ronald who come on Saturdays. Ade’s friends Tila and Nika are helping out, as is Antonius. Their help is greatly appreciated!

We have all enjoyed watching the progress of the kittens, who have grown up from blind helpless creatures and are starting to become playful. Their antics on the curtain they live behind are completely adorable. Of course it is Andrea and I who are most enchanted by them, the others have seen a lot of kittens before and know they will soon grow up into trouble-making cats.

TessClick to view slideshow.

‘Keep Bali Clean’. That has been the motto spread throughout the Bali centre and indeed the wider community this week.

Our Bali centre, is located on a beautiful stretch of beach, in between two lovely communities, and set in a small but lush water garden. Yet the one isaw that all volunteers notice when they arrive, is the rubbish strewn over the road that has infiltrated the gardens and indeed the beach.

Thus our special project this week has been an ‘all hands on deck’ clean up of our area. All Directors, work study volunteers and volontourists have come together this week to design joint lesson plans and activities that promote the theme of environmental education.

We started the weeks classes with an educational session based around teaching the children how they themselves can directly help to save the environment. We taught them the difference between biodegradable and non bio-degradable goods, the importance of turning of lights, and the most important part was encouraging them not to drop their litter on the ground.

Our children responded in a manner so positive that none of us could have dared to believe. After our learning sessions the children engaged in crafts to emphasise what they had learnt. The younger children were given hats and they traced our motto onto them. The older ones where each given a cotton bag that they again had free reign to decorate. On Wednesday, the view from our home was children walking with coloured bags and hats throughout the area all promoting ‘Keep Bali Clean’.

Phase two of our special project was a practical beach clean up, that we were hesitant was going to be a logistical nightmare. We had no need to worry. All children were given a plastic rubbish bags and were asked to collect bio-degradable goods from the beach. The enthusiasm was electric. All the children were running around collecting straws and plastic bottles and crisp packets, running and shouting ‘Kak’ Kak’, eager to show us what they had found and collected. Some of the older children from the community grabbed a bag and helped and even a couple of parents voluntarily helped, thus fermenting the example to their children!

By the end of the day we had collected over 40 bags of rubbish just from our small beach. I cannot express how much cleaner our area looks, and how enthusiastic the children were to change their old habits. I really feel that this week’s special project has been an overwhelming success, one that the children thoroughly enjoyed and one that will continue to benefit the centre and community for weeks to come!

NaomiClick to view slideshow.

We were lucky to have a really great day at Andrea’s pool on Sunday before Bally left. Everyone came and we had so much fun in the water. It was certainly a relief to be in the cool water after roasting all week inside. I was very impressed at how good the kids were at swimming, after being told that most Indonesians can’t really swim properly. The water was over Nia and Adit’s heads but they kept swimming and swimming until they looked like they might drown with exhaustion. The pool was amazing and it’s crazy to see luxury like that in the same city as people who have to support their families on less than a dollar a day.

The classes are being shuffled around a bit, but I’m starting to get used to the kids now, and now they are wearing name tags, so I can almost remember their names. Sort of. I’m starting to get the hang of teaching, but as I go on I also realise how much I don’t know. For instance, I don’t know much about English grammar! So the younger kids are easier in terms of content, but the older kids are much better behaved, and more interested. I hope it’s the same in Australia, when I become a teacher. I think maybe not.

I’m really enjoying the food that Ibu Rini cooks here at the centre. So many different dishes, almost always delicious. There are one or two Indonesian delicacies I’m not too keen on, and occasionally it’s incredibly spicy, but on the whole I’ve enjoyed it far more than when I’ve had to eat out every meal, when I’ve been traveling. A lot less nasi goreng. I’m starting to feel sad about leaving in three weeks!

TessClick to view slideshow.

The children love coming to the center so much that majority of them usually show up an hour or so before class starts. Our volunteers decided to make that time more productive and started setting up stations for the children when they arrive. This week we had a jump roping station, an area to play jacks, another playing a math game, and another the volunteers were teaching how to play crazy eights ( a card game.) We found that this is WONDERFUL! The kids love it and it keeps them busy and productive while they wait for class to start.

We  were fortunate enough to get to visit a local school and observe a class. So Friday morning we piled in the van and went to visit a school in Padang Bai about 15 minutes away from the center. The teachers and staff there were so welcoming and we had such a wonderful time learning about the childrens’ school schedule and watching their classes. I found their music class really interesting. The children play songs in a line with an instrument made from bamboo. It takes lots of discipline and perfect timing to make the songs sound as beautiful as they do. It was a wonderful learning experience and all the volunteers enjoyed getting teaching tips for the teachers!

We have also been busy planning events for next week’s environment week! We have found that in Bali they do not stress the harm of littering. So we decided to spend a week teaching the children about being environment friendly and the harm pollution and littering can have. We are all very excited about it and have many fun things planned including a beach cleanup!Click to view slideshow.

Our new volunteers have presented the children with all the donated goods given to them. The children were thrilled to be colouring with brand new crayons and colouring pencils!

We now have lots and lots of games and craft materials for the children to come and play with before their classes – this has caused a huge amount of excitement and means that the children now arrive as early as 11am even though their classes do not officially start until 2pm!!  This has only got to be a good thing and their happy smiling faces makes the busy mornings well worthwhile!

The children are also huge fans of both Kah Sue’s and Kah Pam. They have taken over the role of main teachers for class three. Our largest class of 8 year olds. And don’t the children just love our new voluntourists. With a combined 60 years teaching behind them there seems to be no better people suited to this challenging role!

The children in class three absolutely love the new style…as the class is a tad on the large size, the voluntourists have taken to separating the class into three groups which rotate around stations each manned by one of our volunteers. Not only does this style entail that the children get a more intimate learning experience, it also means that class management is easier, and the children’s enthusiasm to learn is kept at an all time high, as they rotate around different learning styles.

As class three student Ninda stated so passionately after her first class with her new teachers. We love Kah Sue, Sue and Pam.

The Bali Centre has also been developing and practicing a new style of pre lesson entertainment for the children. We have turned our small dining/living room and porch into a station of activity each manned by either a volunteer, work study or director. We have physical activities such as skipping outside, colouring on our dining room table and maths games with large dice on our sofas.

All here absolutely LOVE the new system…it’s great fun for the children as every day is a new activity and they are eager to come, whilst also it is a much more manageable time for the staff here, having the children play in small

Naomi (Work Study volunteer Bali).

Tess at the Jakarta centre