TIME CAPSULE LETTER
Written by Skylar Silvera
To our wonderful GLA students,
What’s up guys?! Long time no see. How’s life back home treating all of you? For me, it still feels odd being back home after such an amazing summer in Bali. I still think of you all often!
I’m writing this letter to you today because I don’t want any of you to forget the wonderful times we had. Our early morning walks through rice paddies, blasting Beni’s playlists on the bus, unsolicited character building from Musha, and the many important life lessons we learned from our fearless Director, John. Whether or not these are the first memories that come to you when reflecting on Bali, I carry these memories with me still today.
Out of the many things I learned from Bali Institute, tri hita karana is something that I will never forget. Do you remember? The Three Values of Goodness: health through connection with your spirit, community, and environment. Bali opened my eyes to how health can be perceived in a more holistic manner. Balinese people’s kindness and hospitality towards foreigners is just one of the many ways they practice tri hita karana, along with their devotion to family and community and the belief that all aspects of their natural environment have a spirit and must be respected. One of my personal goals after this summer was to incorporate the Three Causes of Goodness into my everyday life. To be honest, it’s been a struggle merging these holistic health values into my life in the U.S., but I’m not givin’ up!
Speaking of goals, how are all yours going? If I remember correctly, the group goal was to spread the values/lessons you learned on this trip to your friends and family at home as well as to become more active in your community. I loved your group goal, it made me such a proud mentor hearing that you all went home feeling inspired to take action and be the change you wish to see in the world. After spending two weeks with you all and watching you expand the borders of your comfort zone, I am so certain that each of you have the power and passion to accomplish anything you want in life. Hopefully the Bali Island Health program sent you home with a couple more aspirations for the future you want to live in.
I’ll hold onto to our moments together for a very long time. I have one last request of all of you: After reading this letter, send a message to a friend from this program you haven’t heard from in awhile. Ask them how they are, what they’ve been up to, and whether or not they’ve followed through with a Full Belly Brazil club at their school (😉). Tell them you miss them, that you’ve been thinking of them, or laugh at how cheesy I’ve made this letter out to be. It was amazing watching you all form such close bonds this summer and I don’t want those bonds broken!
Remember Bali, guys. Be grateful that we had the privilege to experience this part of the world and don’t let the lessons we learned along the way go to waste. I hope you all are making the most of your lives back at home. When in doubt, think of Bali.
Hope to see you around the world again someday guys!
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Thanks for the checking out the blog for this Global Leadership Adventures program!
PROGRAM PHOTO ALBUM
Here are a few things you can expect:
- We typically receive 2-3 blog posts per week here at GLA Headquarters from our program staff and students, so please don’t be alarmed if you don’t see a blog post daily – that’s totally normal.
- Blog updates sent on weekends may not be posted until Monday.
- Due to many factors, including but not limited to internet accessibility, photos may not always be available to post onto the blog. Sometimes onsite program staff are only able to send text back to Headquarters, where our team updates the blog.
Thank you for your patience and understanding, and we hope you enjoy following along on these unforgettable adventures.
Cell Phone Policy: The GLA cell phone policy is currently in place this summer to help foster meaningful connections between students. This means your student’s phone will be collected every day and returned to them after activities are completed to have with them through the night. Actual tech times and regularity will vary greatly by program location and time zones. During designated ‘tech time’, your student may use their phones as they wish. Please note that your student may not always choose to use this time to get a hold of their parents. If you are not hearing directly from your student each day, you can assume that no news is good news! We strongly recommend you follow the blog to follow your students’ experience without talking to them every day. If you are a parent and would like to get in touch with your student directly, you can call us at +1-619-758-3031 and we can set up a formal time for you to connect with your student.
For frequently asked questions about the blogs, please visit our Program Blog FAQ page.
-The Global Leadership Adventures HQ Team
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BLOG POST FOR JULY 27
Greetings from Bali!
Today we kicked off the first day of the last program of the summer. As staff, we can already tell that this is going to be a good one. We are very excited to get to know our twelve students over the course of the next two weeks.
The sun was out and the sky was blue this morning when we started orientation. People were still a little sleepy after the group’s first night in Bali (most of the students got in last night just in time for a welcome dinner and coconut), but after a couple of icebreakers, everyone was already interacting and making friends. We covered GLA’s Code of Conduct and then did a cultural orientation to get the students ready for being immersed in Balinese culture.
After orientation, the group did a Bahasa lesson to help prepare for basic day-to-day interactions with the locals, and then we went out on a scavenger hunt to explore the community we will be calling home for the next two weeks. The students had a great time and already are asking so many intelligent questions about Bali. We love to see their eyes light up as they experience this new culture and all of its nuances.
The family we are staying with invited us into the family temple this evening for a traditional ceremony. This was a very special experience that most foreigners do not get to experience, and we were all very grateful to take part in the cultural ceremony.
The next two weeks have so much to offer. Expect a blog every two to three days highlighting the group’s journeys around this magical island. We can’t wait to share our adventures with you.
Cheers,
John Dewald
GLA International Director
(Not pictured is Joe, who arrived late. Will update a new one soon.)
BLOG POST FOR JULY 28
Afater receiving a late arrival the night prior, we are finally all together ready to start the first “official” day of program! We started program off strong at Bali’s infamous Bumi Sehat natural birth clinic, exploring the intersection of Western and Eastern medical values concerning maternal healthcare. We met with Robyn Lim, CNN’s 2007 person of the year and founder of the clinic, where we discussed the importance of accessible and holistic maternal healthcare. We left with stickers, shirts, and new perspectives.
We then made our way back home for a quick lunch, put on our sarongs and sashes, and visited our village’s local banjar for some fun cultural activities. We played traditional gambelans, learned how to do legong dance, how to make Balinese offerings and even some wood carving!
Finally, we had the honor of visiting Puri Agung Blahbatuh palace where we had a tour of the grounds and got to have dinner with the Princess of Ubud. The Princess is 16 and loves American pop culture! We asked her questions about what it’s like to be a princess, her favorite type of music, and her interests in school. Exhausted and cultured, we loaded back into our buses and made our way back to home base. We’re looking forward to another packed day filled with bus dance parties, rice paddy walks, and volcano views!
Until next time,
Mentors Skylar and Musha
BLOG POST FOR JULY 29
Written by Alex and Celio
Today we woke up very early in the morning because there was s a magnificent walk waiting for us through rice paddies, colorful plants, medicinal herbs, and fruits.
After the track we took a look at the market of the city and then went to a beautiful handmade shop with a big variety of perfume, herbs, and body products. After finishing the shopping, it was time for lunch so the staff brought us, with our “party bus”, to eat in front of the Batur volcano, one of the best views on the island. Besides the buffet, a lot of us ordered coffees, smoothies, or juices!!
When we got back to the home base, we had a lecture on public health in Bali, including the current issues and solutions and how our volunteer time with GLA will benefit both the local community and ourselves. Following the presentations, we worked with 8 local female med students and prepared for our house visits we will begin tomorrow. We are all so beyond excited to expand our knowledge of Balinese culture, community, and medicine, while also gaining experience and memories to bring home!
Bring it on Bali,
Alex and Celio
BLOG POST FOR JULY 30
Today we woke up around 7 to enjoy a wonderful breakfast. After our breakfast we found what kind of leaders we are. We packed our bags slowly… and left to go cook our own lunch at Ubad Ubud cooking class. We met the cutest little animals and devoured our delicious food. After leaving with our belly’s full we got our things together and left for our service. We arrived at our service and met up with the medical students. We were able to meet many families and were able to diagnose blood pressure, height, weight, blood sugar etc.
After finishing a tiring day wet hopped back in the bus and headed back to homebase. Dressing up for dinner was a necessity. We all enjoyed a wonderful walk down to de metri we enjoyed our pre planned dinners and splashed around in the pool. We then ended our dinner with being serenaded, by Beni on guitar. The walk back consisted of party music and embarrassing ourselves in front of the locals. We finally finished our wonderful day on an adventurous game of charades.
BLOG POST FOR JULY 31
Written by Dhanvi and Mikayla
Today we started out our day by with toast and eggs at 8am, and then quickly refilled the medicine and prepped our service bags for day two before going to Senang Hati, an NGO. We were greeted by a lemon drink, flowers, and a warm welcoming. We learned it is the only place in Bali for people with special needs and when it was made, people with disabilities had a place to go and learn. We played a cool drum circle with a call and response game, learning new rhythms.
We then had lunch at the NGO site and bought some cool bracelets. After, we headed back to home base to get ready for our final day of service health checks. We split into our groups and went around teaching kids how to wash hands, checking blood pressure, blood sugar, heights and weights. After we finished health checks, we said goodbye to the medical students.
When we got back to base we changed, had our traditional chow circle, ate dinner, and had some free time to play with the kids outside. When everyone was ready we then headed off to watch the Legong, a traditional balinese dance. It consisted of 8 parts, each culminating to a final conclusion of the story. Ending our night, we ate some ice cream and drive back to home base. 🙂
BLOG POST FOR AUGUST 1
What’s up it’s Jacob and Carmin here. Today we woke up at and got an inspiring presentation about Johns organization, Full Belly Brazil. We learned about how impactful of an issue food scarcity is and how we can aid the efforts to fight it. Next we started preparing 200 meals consisting of rice, tempe , eggs and tofu to give to workers and their families who are currently living and working in a landfill. We passed the meals throughout the mountains of garbage. Next we came back to home base and played a game of street soccer with some local kids. Then after a good dinner the mentors surprised us by taking us to an indoor soccer field. We enjoyed a fierce three games before heading back and ending the night with a game of apples to apples.
BLOG POST FOR AUGUST 2
Written by: Amber and Dana
Halo all!
We kicked the day off with a classic Sudjana homestay breakfast of fresh fruits, pancakes, and eggs. Then we rode another eventful bus ride to the beach. Here we learnt about Mangrove trees and plastic pollution. We put on our protective gear and rode paddle boards to pickup the most plastic than any other GLA group 😎. After sorting out the pollution we collected a very small amount of plastic that was actually reusable. The rest was for landfill, this was definitely eye opening. Once we got home we had fun passing time by playing soccer and card games before the Galungan festival. When it was time we walked to the festival and listened to the bands of Indonesian xylophones and gongs. This was a true immersion of rich culture and religion. Lastly, we ended the night with mentor groups where we debriefed about our feelings and talked about key moments in the trip so far.
Selamat tinggal from Amber and Dana!
BLOG POST FOR AUGUST 3-4
August 3
We started the day off with our last breakfast at home base before heading off to the resort. We stopped for lunch and went sightseeing at the water palace, where we got an ice cream snack and walked over the water on stones.
After that we made one more stop at the Bali Besat clinic, a nonprofit health clinic that offers free medical service to locals. They gave us a tour of the facility and explained the service they do.
Then we finally arrived at our resort! After acing our swim tests, we all went snorkeling, and ended the day with dinner and service prep.
Song of the day: Riptide
August 4
Today the alarm rang at 5 a.m. just in time to see the beautiful sunrise on the typical balinese wood boats.
After a lot of photos we did some snorkelling in the bay where were there fishes and corals of every type.
We finished the morning with a big breakfast and long naps.
We had a very delicious lunch and prepared to go teach some basics to Balinese kids at their school. We were groups of 4 and each group had 30 minutes to educate the kids about their topic .. (but to be more realistic, we had only about 5 minutes of education and the rest was games and fun). The kids were so exited to see us and they had so much fun and we did too.. and everyone was all smiles and laughs. After that we came back to the resort .. had dinner (BURGERS) on the beach, the. We had some down time .. we played, chilled, and did the chow circle and went to sleep.
This was such an amazing day and we managed to out so many smiles on ao many faces.. so shoutout to everybody that helped make this happen.
BLOG POST FOR AUGUST 5
Written by Alex & Mikayla
Hi everyone!! Welcome back to our channel!! Sunday was a daring day for Bali GLA as most of us participated for the first time in Discover Scuba Diving.
For the scuba newbies, we started in the pool and then went 12 meters under the ocean in two different locations! Lots of coral, turtles, and Nemos were found which were BEAUTIFUL!! The three certified divers; Zeina, Joe, and John experienced “such high quality of both soft and hard corals and assorted reef fish”. They also were lucky enough to see the great wonders of a sunken ship wreck from WWII. Many of us learned the importance of trying new things and how new experiences can reshape your mindset.
Cheers to seeing the world!
—
The dive was delightful
The fish were an eyeful
It was cooler than the eiffel
We were under the water for over an hour
Slam Poetry.
-John
