I believe that every human has a gift – a gift of healing – which will manifest in different ways. I am honoured to offer my gift of healing through creativity, and relish the opportunity to connect others to heal through their own creative outlets. It was with this in mind that I jumped at the chance to partake in guiding over 200 children through a week of experiential education with Odyssey Institute, whose aim is to add meaning their educational experiences. And what a magical week it was!

Our first day was to repeat the same problem solving activity with small groups of children; Francie and I were offered the spider’s web game, which gave us a great opportunity to bring play, storytelling, imagination, humour and team building to the activity. It was amazing to see the way the groups settled into their roles as a team, each small and brilliant mind working together to solve something harmoniously.

The highlight of the week for me though was during the Batik printing, where I was able to encourage those that were adamant that they ‘couldn’t draw’ or had ‘messed it up’ that there was no mistake, that everything they created had beauty. This seemed to be a revelation for some of the students (and teachers!) and gave them the confidence to continue enjoying the process, without punishing themselves for a ‘mistake’ but merely to embrace it… and that is the beauty of creation.

Guinevere is OI facilitator. She was the instructor for batik making and wayang kulit (shadow puppet) workshop in the Jakarta International School’s 2013 cultural program. She’s passionate about arts and cacao!

What is a facilitator?

We thought we’d share a little brainstorm from our thought wall, where we play with ideas and strategies.

The challenge…

We are fast-growing company that needs to protect and nurture its culture and clearly communicate its values. Getting the right people on board is essential. But how to do that? How to communicate our values? How to assess the values of new staff – especially if they’re part time. An interesting dilemma and one that we’ve been spending some time on. Its a tricky balance to find highly accomplished facilitators and

To back up a bit and put this into context, we’re in recruitment mode right now. We’re looking for new staff – core team members that can help us move forward with integrity and passion and consistency. So we decided to ask ourselves a simple question, “what is a facilitator?”

At Odyssey we don’t draw a line in the sand between our logistical support team and facilitation team. Some organizations do. We don’t. They are not separate species. We want everyone to have an appreciation of what other team members are responsible for and what their duties and roles feel like. In order to do that we deliberately blur the line. Not that we don’t delegate. But at least when we do we know what it feels like to receive that responsibility and know who’s best to hand it to.

The Facilometer

First of all Novi and Ben took this one to lunch (a spinach pizza at Bali Buddha) and ended up drawing out a diagram on a napkin. Next it went back to the office and turned into the OI Facilometer! Its basically a tool for diagnosing the potential of professional experiential facilitators to become full time core staff members at Odyssey.

Once in the field with a group, our facilitators have what we call “front end” and “back end” responsibilities. As experiential educators we need to get a whole bunch of ducks in a row in order to create powerful Learning Adventures. Really, the list is long – especially when you consider we are operating in remote wilderness settings in developing countries!

If you get how to organize and manage the “space” (work environment) and are great at managing logistics, etc, but don’t have much of a connection to the students, or much of a passion for education, you could be a solid logistician (what we might call a “stage hand”) but very weak as a front end facilitator.

Similarly, if you are highly skilled and passionate about engaging students and holding them in a powerful, energized, focused learning space, but have no idea how to set the show up, you’re what we’d call a “rock star”.

As you can see from our Facilometer, anyone scoring high on either the front or back end exclusively is going to be suitable to part time work only. That’s not to say that Odyssey doesn’t need rock stars and stage hands (we need a whole bunch of them!). We’re just not building our company around them. At least not at the core.

So… for Odyssey the quest continues. Core Odyssey team members (facilitators) have a working knowledge of the dynamic range of responsibilities necessary for the creation of our Learning Adventures (holistic experiential education opportunities). And the more anyone is able to embody this middle ground (circled on the chart), the more likely they are to get hired and to become an active part of Odyssey’s growing family.

We are, after all, in the business of holistic education.

Here at Odyssey Institute, we take program design seriously, and approach it with the same vigor as a hungry polar bear in a seal colony, as a bird of paradise courting a mate, as a monkey hot on the banana trail, or a politician in pursuit of truth.

(Well, maybe not THAT.)

Hence, our excitement at the prospect of designing a 2^nd consecutive Global Citizenship Week program for International School of Bangkok (ISB).

So, we started with the question—what IS Global Citizenship?

We turned to our good friends at Webster to help us define…

 Global-  pertaining to the whole world; worldwide, universal.

Citizen- a native or naturalized member of a state or nation who holds allegiance to its government and is entitled to its protection.

And so it was…a paradox.

Of global proportions.

How can we be global citizens of the world, if the very definition of citizenship pertains to a particular entity—nation or state?

The answer?  We can’t.

So, we needed to expand the parameters of citizenship, and therefore, came up with the following frame:

“a Global Citizen considers the whole world their Home, and all of humanity their Family.”

This became our premise for exploring the Culture and Environment of Bali– the 1^st half of the program an exploration into “Family” through a range of cultural experiences, and the 2^nd half—an in-depth exploration of the environment—to better understand our “Home.”

And the mission for the students: to define the characteristics and values of a Global Citizen, as understood through their experiences.

So we began the program in the artistic hub of Ubud, with students learning the art of traditional offerings (canang), and participating in Balinese ritual at the sacred Tirta Empul water temple.  Here, students got to participate in a “cleansing” experience with hundreds of Balinese people!

We visited our friends at Yellow Coco Creative Nest for a wayang kulit (shadow puppetry) workshop, where the students made their own puppets, which I might add, are definitely “stage ready.”

They learned the intricacies of traditional dance, both as observers and participants, made batik prints, and visited the Goa Gajah elephant cave!

Don’t worry—this wasn’t all in one day…

Through these experiences, students shared about the value of experience—about the benefit of learning by doing.

After 2 action packed days, we left the comfort of Ubud and began the journey west—to West Bali National Park.

The journey “into nature” would mark a first for many students.

First time camping.  First time snorkeling.  First time on a night hike.

We shared stories around the campfire.  Performed a survey of a transect of coral reef.  Learned about key reef indicator species and removed crown-of-thorns starfish from Menjangan Island.

Students made “beanbag chairs” from washed-up Styrofoam, sold them to their teacher and school, turning the profits over to a local NGO—Friends of Menjangan.

They debated about the impacts of building development, woke up with the sun, and walked alone under the stars.

And they learned about integrity– matching our values with our actions.

It was a powerful program, “an eye-opener”, and one that hopefully has initiated a few more members to become true Citizens of the Globe.

The Earth is 4.5 billion years old.  Which, I think we can agree, is a pretty long time.

I mean…it takes roughly 144 years just to COUNT to 4.5 billion.  (Google it if you don’t believe me.)

Now, here’s the reason I bring this up.

If, on the 1^st day of planet Earth, a Styrofoam cup appeared alongside the post-birth primordial goo that comprised our baby planet, that cup would STILL be here.

Styrofoam is immortal.

Fast forward to the present day, and go for a walk along a beach.  Or down the street.  Or along a river, field, or park.  Go snorkeling on a coral reef.  Climb a mountain.

Chances are you will see immortality manifest.

Styrofoam—like plastic, cigarette butts, and all other synthetic waste—has become ubiquitous to “life on Earth.”

Which is why, here at OI, we’ve decided to DO something about it– give it a use beyond its original function.

With the help of our International School students, Friends of Menjangan (FOM), the communities of Gilimanuk and Sumberklampok, and XS Project, we’ve initiated a program for turning this immortal rubbish into productive (and comfortable) “beanbag” furniture!

The beanbags are made entirely from recycled materials—with the stuffing coming from the Styrofoam, and the covers made from excess car seat covers and used billboards!  (Thanks XS Project)

Our good friend, Pak Nono (National Park Guide and FOM leader), manages labor production—providing jobs for members of the local communities—and in turn, receives all proceeds for FOM.

Of course, we couldn’t make this happen without our students—who play a vital role in the collection and creation of the final product.

All in all, it’s an exciting service project, sustainable livelihoods initiative, and effective solution for dealing with an immortal challenge.

And do you know the most exciting part?  This is just the beginning…

Be The Change.

Ladies and gentlemen, we present to you our latest manifestation—the ever-useful, Rizky Tizar!

Rizky joins the Odyssey Institute unaware that his unofficial bio would be written in such a manner, but he joins us nonetheless.

We knew when we brought Rizky in that we were on to something special—we just didn’t realize to what extent.

Now we do.

Initially, The Chameleon, as he is now being dubbed, stepped in to help balance the serious P-O-W-E-R energy of our Wakashorea facilitation team during the ACS Tiara Bangsa program in December.

While Scotty and Bucky were busy raising heart rates, Rizky calmly returned things to normal with his beautiful storytelling and magic act.

His kind smile and big heart ensured that there’d be a place for him here at OI once the program was over, and sure enough—there is!

Now Rizky harmonizes in a much different way.

While Novi, Ben, and I sit huddled over our laptops searching for the right words to lift Odyssey into the next stratosphere, Rizky bounces around the HQ fixing tents, decorating the lounge, creating organizational systems, and so much more, that if I could stand to leave my air-conditioned desk, I’d tell you all about.

This I can assure you.  Rizky is the man!

Now please come upstairs and help me figure out how to upload this to the blog:).

Welcome aboard partner!

Since it ‘tis the season for the blogosphere, newspapers, and every other media outlet to offer their opinions on the year that was, relative to their interests, I too shall oblige with a recap of all that was: Odyssey 2012.

We began in our freshly minted office space—the fishbowl, as we sometimes refer to it—which was a major upgrade (no offense Ben) to the previous digs at the home of the captain himself, Ben Tamblyn.

The workspace quickly became a manifestation of all our clerical dreams, utilizing the ample glass as our brainstorming tablet, the ceiling as our inspirational quote board, and installing meter tall speakers, you know—for background music:).

Many dreams are yet to be realized here, though 2013 holds much promise for fulfillment.  The raw food corner should provide all our daily nutritional requirements, the bean bag chairs to allow for a balance of comfort and focused work, and the yoga swing to…demonstrate our flexibility I suppose.

Once we settled in our new home we were able to properly focus on the task at hand: facilitating programs for schools!

And what a year it was…

We welcomed new clients, strengthened existing relationships, and broke ground (figuratively speaking) on expanding our programming into new locations within Indonesia and SE Asia!

Our team grew too!  We’ve had the pleasure to work alongside amazing individuals—Novi Tourisia, Sarah Byrden, Katie Homes, Nico Chmielewski, Kenny Peavey, Scotty Ze, Rizky Tizar, Umi Akhdadiyah, Bucky O’neill, Jen O’neill, and Lorraine Keane!

We installed the first coral reef hexadome structures at Kotal beach in West Bali National Park, participated in World Oceans Day, engaged in service projects to remove crown of thorns starfish from the reefs of Menjangan Island, and initiated our own project to turn trash into furniture!

And the programs. Ah, yes—the programs!

Green School students paddled their very own raft out to Menjangan Island!  Saudi Aramco schools and Tanglin Trust released turtles in northern Bali.  Many of our ACS Tiara Bangsa students trekked, snorkeled, hiked at night, and enjoyed a starry sky for the first time!

We climbed volcanoes.  Slept out under the stars.  Waded in the mangroves.  Stood on the roots of giant fig trees.  Told stories around the campfire.  Snorkeled, snorkeled, and snorkeled some more.  Danced with local students.  Visited temples.  Mountain biked in the pouring rain.

And no one got hurt!

Yes, it was quite a year.  And now as the year comes to a close, we wish to share our sincere gratitude for everyone who joined with us and helped out during this beautiful journey!

To all the organizations, bus drivers, cooks, boatmen, rice farmers, teachers, facilitators, students, the list goes on—thank you!

Now…let’s do it again!

Happy New Year.

It’s all about the duct tape!

Some days are glamorous; filled with fame and glory – inspired students rising at dawn to watch the sunrise and listening to our every word as we facilitate cutting edge experiential education programs in unforgettable locations!!!

Other days are, well, quite frankly, pretty unglamorous. Days like this one, where we spend the day in our basement (which is in desperate need of better ventilation) fixing equipment and sorting out our expedition inventory. And collecting smelly odd socks from inside the last groups’ tents.

Some of these less glamorous days require a little grit and ingenuity. And there’s nothing more synonymous with grit and ingenuity than a trusty old roll of duct tape. You’ll find one in every one of our med kits. You’ll find extra in our back up supplies. We even wrap a supply around our water bottles.

Sometimes it just takes a little duct tape to keep everything on the rails.

Duct tape + creative trouble shooting = ALL SYSTEMS GO!

On the second day of being in West Bali National Park with students, we played a game of keep away Frisbee in crystal clear waters.  Leaders  against the students and  by the end of it, I fell over into the water, to rest my entire body on soft sand, exhausted from running, diving and laughing hysterically.  There were more shades of turquoise then I’d ever seen and I tried to come up with unique names for them all.  Lilly Blue,  Blue Star Fish Number 5, New Zealand Shooting Star, Hazy, Indian Glass.  None of them adequately describing their beauty.

While on a boat ride, I couldn’t help but notice the hillsides emerging out of the turquoise waters, only to be met with some of the most beautiful waters I’d ever seen.  “You know you guys are incredibly lucky to be living in one of the most beautiful places on Earth right?”  In an attempt to respond, I got a bunch of 8^th grade early morning head nods and smiles.

Students spent the previous day learning about the marine environment in West Bali National Park.  We played a sort of Round Robin as they rotated to different stations getting grips on the Fish, Substrates and Invertebrates which would reside in the areas of our upcoming exploration.  Our objective was to see just how healthy the coral reef was outside our tent doors and then across the way, to Menjangan Island, a 1.5 Km long and 500 km wide landscape that houses a coral reef that wraps around the Island and then dramatically drops to a depth of 40 meters.  While in the water with our flippers and masks in place, our students would swim over to me -wide eyed -waving their hands in hopes to communicate their desires to show me what they had discovered: crown of Thorns, Butterfly Fish, Blue Star Fish and an Eel .

We all swam through thousands of bubbles coming up from below us as divers explored the greater depths, popping the pockets of air with the points of our fingers giddy with laughter.  For the most part the waters were calm and being able to connect what we learned in our beach classroom to the coral reef, was rewarding to all.

That evening we walked through a Mangrove Forest, with only our adjusting eyes to lead the way.  Sitting in a circle, under constellation formations I’d never seen before, Leland whispered across from me, “Do you see that love heartconstellation up in the sky?”  Toby responded, “Yes, I do. There is another one just below it.”  My head jolted up towards the end of their pointing fingers, as I struggled to see a heart made out of stars.  “That’s got to be impossible” I thought to myself, but just as my eyes gave up, there they were:  Three love hearts scripted in the sky -one after the other, like a bird having swooped through in the evening and delicately placed each one in its perfect place.  I smiled.  We all smiled- in the dark, with ourselves, connected to community and to the sky and to the Earth.

OI community # 2 :: I Gusti Ngurah Wisnu Wardana

You can just call him pak Gusti! Pak Gusti’s arrival at our locations in West Bali is always met with a cheer!

Gusti’s team consistently deliver the most amazing food you can imagine! He and his wife Diana run the nearby Puri Ganesha Villas and are the Founders of the Pemuteran Children’s Foundation, where Diana is teaching local underprivileged children how to cook. Given her knowledge of all things green and delicious (see her recent book, Rawfully Good, for inspiration) we feel the kids in Pemuteran are in safe hands. And we are delighted to be supporting them!

The long term vision is for the Foundation to establish a cafe, which will provide all our catering services. Beyond havign identified a source of delicious, locally sourced, organic food, we have also found a partner that can help us in our mission to develop sustainable livelihood initiatives for the loca community.

As if that isn’t enough, all our meals are delivered to our West Bali National Park field sites in artfully crafted “lontar” boxes. These are lined with banana leaves and accompanied by bamboo mugs, all the creative work of Diana Von Cranach, Gusti’s wife. In short, we have basically created an entire range of bio-degradable picnic paraphernalia – and created revenue for skilled local weavers.