What have I been up to you ask?

I’ve been getting that question a lot lately & decided to respond. I am working for the Sathya Sai Institute, a sector of a Sai Baba organization in Lautoka, Fiji. Sai Baba is a spiritual figure that governs a set of his own beliefs that is respected & practiced globally beginning in 1947. The main project the Institute needs me for is to produce a music cd that teaches what they call Universal Human Values including Love, Peace, Right Action, Truth & Non-violence, so basically yogic principles. This is totally bitch’n, b/c the spiritual principles are what I believe, however on the flip side of this I am FAR from a singer- song writer. My job is to write & produce music etc. and thankfully, I have already enlisted other PC volunteers to help in this musical endeavor so that I don’t make a complete & utter ass of myself.

The Institute that governs the school is very unique because it urges other schools to teach these Human Values in their schools & incorporate them into their curriculum. Traditional learning focuses mostly on left brain learning & this instigates the right brain….feelings, emotions, spirituality etc. to be developed and balanced. Right on. I have been tirelessly working on a resource book for secondary school teachers that incorporates adding these human values into their established curriculum.

Creating one smart little loving Buddha at a time.

The resource book has quotes, stories, activities and visualization exercises that focus on a specific value, for example compassion. I edit stories, compose the activities, include questions and write the visualizations as well. This is a massive endeavor for the Institute & I am happy to help. They appreciate my “American” view point & thanks to having an English teacher as a mom my English skills are pretty good.

I also got together a composting area. The school that the institute governs is extraordinary & is a pilot for many others. They teach composting in their curriculum & because of that it was very easy to work on getting that done. So with myself, 5 students, 2 teachers & the grounds keeper we built a 3 sectioned compost with corrugated tin, sawed up logs, nails, a cane knife and a hammer….oh yes & sweat. In an hour and a half it was done and there are all kinds of delightful things rotting in it already! The school has a working garden that a garden club is in charge of & they take home veges to their families when it is time to harvest. So our compost goodies will now act as fertilizer for the garden.

There are 30 min yoga classes once per week that are for the older kids. I have taught a couple of times when the other teacher was out of town. I’ve never loved teaching kids yoga and this group is so big, around 35, that I find myself disciplining more than teaching and its just flat out exhausting. But it is nice to still be teaching.

The director of the institute was interested in making virgin coconut oil & another volunteer has been working on that as her main project, so I got the instructions from her & we will start making VCO as soon as the resource book is finished. I’m really excited about that because coconut oil is wonderful for you and is kind of expensive…..cheap compared to US prices but expensive for my PC budget. The process is done using very basic-mostly recycled materials-and we hope to provide a workshop to the teachers and parents of the students to educate them on how to make it , use it and possibly start a little coconut oil business of their own as it is becoming increasingly popular.

The head master of the school was interested in recycling paper instead of burning it & I found instructions on how to make paper from paper. Like the thick grainy kind that sometimes has flowers pressed in it for like $5 a sheet in the states…now all of you know what you are getting for Christmas :) The technology is simple and cheap & all ages of kids can participate so this will also be a fun and rewarding project.

Finally, I met Milt Nelms, Int’l swim coach and husband to 5 time medalist Australian Olympian Shane Gould. We met at a local pool where he was conducting a swim lesson to teach gym teachers in training how to swim themselves & also how to teach swimming. The S. Pacific has a huge drowning rate & Milt is implementing a maverick style swim training to help educate & prevent. So I went to the pool & observed & met him & Shane & had dinner & talked about future projects I could assist with around the island.

There is a ton of work potential here & I am lucky to have so many opportunities and such great people to work with. My work environment is laid back, we get to work at 8:30am, have tea at 10:30am, lunch at 1pm & leave at 3pm.

Unfortunately none of these projects involve snorkeling or the beach, but that will come later as I am going to visit my BFFF-best friend forever Fiji….(I know its totally juvenile, but I was really tired when I came up with it) in the Yasawas, the islands where the movie Blue lagoon was filmed….circa 1980…think 15 yr old Brooke Shields be-bopping around naked..yes that one. It’s totally gorgeous and I am welcoming the brake from the city, buses, exhaust etc.

I'm missing the comforts and familiarity of home, and friends and family so much.

xoxox