Trash-Educations begins in BONDALEM School

A great beginning!

This Easter weekend April 2012, the day after full moon, was the great inauguration day of the Trash Education Program at the SD2 school and Bondalem.

This is the 1st of 11 schools to benefit from this Trash Education Program.

Funds for this project were donated by the LIONS CLUB in Switzerland, spearheaded by Jeannie Pollak, who was previous participants, about 2 years ago in Ilona Selke’s seminar at Shambala.

Children of the 2nd and 3rd grade of the Grade-school, totaling about 50 children, ( 25 children from the 2nd and 3rd grade, and another 25 children from the 4th and 5th grade, totaling about  50 children) are being taught by the chosen teacher by the name of Redy, 2 hours for each group every Saturday.

Through hands-on training, the style of Learning by Doing, as well as with the support of the children’s books, colorful flyers, songs, games, and demonstrative PowerPoint presentations, the children will practically and theoretically understand how to separate trash, and why to do it.

• This is what the children will learn:
• how to recognize plastic from organic from paper trash
• were given trash cans that allow the children to separate trash (ECO BALI was kind enough to let us purchase these bags from them)
• the problems of burning plastic, and the health hazards
• how to create compost from organic matter
• how to plant a garden with using compost
• compare the 3 garden plots: one that uses ordinary soil, one that uses compost, and one that uses compost plus prayer

Teaching materials:

• 25 children’s books of the title: LUMBA LUMBA (to be edited) published by SARITAKSU (with colorful images and text printed in Balinese, Indonesian, and English)
• 25 children’s books of the title: KROBAKAN (to be edited) published by SARITAKSU (with colorful images and text printed in Balinese, Indonesian, and English)
• brochures designed by ECO BALI called: THE SOLUTION IS IN YOUR HANDS (Solusi adalh di dalam tangan Anda)
• games, and songs, and PowerPoint presentations created by the teacher, and/ contributed by Ilona SelkeA flyer created by ECO BALI called:  “The Solution is in Your Hands” (SOLUSI ADALAH DI DALAM TANGAN ANDA)

• PowerPoint presentations that outline the ugliness of trash filled streets, versus the pristine look of beauty in gardens and countryside, the suffocation of wildlife etc.
• games, and songs

Materials used:

• 2 sets of wooden frames, 50cm x 50cm x 1 m ( A set of 2 for each of the 7 classrooms)
• each wooden frame is covered with either a green or a red nylon bag, printed accordingly with the words: PAPER and PLASTIC which was purchased from ECO BALI ( who were kind enough to let us use their trash collection bags for this project)
• one big compost drum, plus bacteria, which will turn organic matter into soil within 2 to 3 weeks. For more information click here: COMPOST DRUMS

Although in general the children had already been taught the concepts of trash separation, I had seen no evidence at all when I 1st visited the school.leaves, organic trash, plastic, paper all were mixed in one stinky corner box in the schoolyard.

Until about 1989 food in Bali was packaged in palm leaves, the only telephone was to be found at the airport in Denpasar, electricity was rare, and yet in the last 25 years Bali has become a fully modern nation. However the educational system and trash management has not kept up with the speed at which plastic arrived on the market scene.

We hope that with the additional funds we can contribute to the education of these children and make a difference in how trash will be managed now and in the future by these children, their families, and children’s children.

In the West we know that education makes the biggest difference in how we wield our choices. May the children forever remember these precious months of training which will give them practical tools on how to start handling the trash issue in Bali.

May these children in the future become leaders in the field in the preservation of our Earth and her resources.

Resources and Help from:

We are very grateful to the LION CLUB from Switzerland and the help of Jeannie Pollak, who convinced all the members to contribute funds, so that the Balinese people here in Bondalem or given a chance to be taught HOW to make a difference from early on.

My gratitude also goes to the previous Mayor of Bondalem, GEDE and to ECO Bali, for allowing us to use their materials at their cost, for the publisher SARITAKSU for extending to us a 10% discount for utilizing the books in a public service program, to all the teachers involved to support this project, and to the gardeners from Shambala who are helping in the process of teaching the art of composting.

The fact that I am taking on this endeavor is all based on the teachings of my Mother, who took great efforts to teach me how to compost when I was a child. She taught me the value of taking care of our Earth, and who was able to prove my grandfather that utilizing compost was more effective and related greater yield that utilizing chemical fertilizers.