We shall meet again!

Well I am sad to say this is the last day of our amazing Green Leaders Journey.

This past two weeks really has been a great balance of Service Learning, Leadership and Adventure with all the young leaders stepping out of their comfort zones and growing enormously.

Emily and I could not be happier with the way this journey has gone. Each and every one of these young adults brought an amazing energy and truly gave 100%.

I want to take this opportunity to thank each and everyone of these Green Leaders, and especially their parents who gave them this opportunity of a lifetime!

We are moments away from our closing ceremony now and the final wrap up of this powerful journey. I’m looking forward to seeing all of you guys in the future! I love you all. You are amazing and inspiring and you can do anything! I believe in you. I am here for you. We are truly in this together!

~ Scotty Ze

Day 2 ~ Trash Day!

One of the biggest problems facing the island of Bali, and the world in fact, is pollution from rubbish.

Whole islands of trash have formed in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and plastic rubbish is being piled up in dumps across the world to sit unchanged for hundreds of years to come.

Today we spent the day with ‘Trash Talker’ Olivier from Bali Recycling, a passionate environmentalist you has set up a sustainable recycling business here in Bali to help tackle the trash issue.

Any tourist coming to Bali is bombarded with the sights of plastic rubbish scattered across streets, in gutters, rivers and along the beautiful beaches. To kick start our Green Leaders Journey we tackled this issue head on with Olivier as our guide.

 

The Green Leaders were joined by the local village school kids for some fun and games on the Green School field followed by a cooperative village clean up where the students got their hands dirty picking up the rubbish along the streets.

Next we boarded a bus to investigate a local illegal scavenger operation, one of thousands we were told opperating on the island of Bali. Students went into the shanty facility as Olivier explained to us the phenomenon of these operations that cause more harm than good, with recyclables being sold on and the rest burnt in toxic fuming piles out the back.

 

After a shocking exploration of a dumping site we headed finally to Olivier’s recycling plant to see part of the solution first hand. A pioneer of the waste to wealth movement in Bali, Olivier has been working with the trash problem on the island for nearly 20 years. A passionate expert with a life long mission to help green the island, it was a pleasure to see his operation in action.

A very big thanks to Olivier and his team and to the many local people we met along the journey today with their hands in the trash. Please read the Green Leaders posts here too to get an more complete understanding of the transformation it had on their young lives. Indeed an eye opening beginning to our Green Leaders Journey, 2013.

~ Scotty Ze

 

Scotty Ze~ Ready for the Adventure!

G’day guys and girls, my name is Scotty Ze and I will be your co-facilitator along with the amazing Emily Rose.

How very excited I sit right now in my bamboo house on the eve of the Green Leaders Journey here at Green Camp, Bali. After months of preparation, and years of self development, I am over the moon with the opportunity to serve you all.

I am originally from the banks of the Great Barrier Reef in north eastern Australia and have spent the past decade of my life traveling the world working as a professional Adventure Guide and Outdoor Educator. My passion is people and nature so coming to Bali nearly two years ago to work with the Green School was a simple fit. I love living here and bringing others into this magical natural world.

What I am most excited about for this program is the multitude of ways we will connect with Nature, our Mother and our teacher, and connect with the people working most closely with her. I truly believe that by deepening our relationship with Mother Earth we are more naturally called to nurture her, to care for her, to be stewards of her wellbeing and those beings that rely on her. In that way we are not burdened by the responsibility to ‘do the right thing’ or make a special effort to help restore or preserve our planet, rather we find joy and a sense of purpose in taking care of our Mother.

In the next 12 days each of us will strengthen this relationship with Mother Earth and with the team of amazing Young Leaders we will be working with. But most importantly we will deepen the relationship with ourselves; with the power we possess as leaders and change makers and earth shakers as we walk this path together.

Here’s to our success! And the rocking time we will have on this Green Leaders Journey!

~ Scotty Ze