Hello Everyone!
Today we started our day at 6:30! We hopped out of our beds, threw on some swimsuits, and went snorkeling right off of Cape Eleuthera- 100 feet away from where we slept. What a great way to start our trip! We saw plenty of cool marine life including starfish, squid, and even a large stingray. After a delicious breakfast with the Island School Community, we continued snorkeling, this time at a different location that we traveled to on the school's boats that use Biodiesel made right here on campus! There we learned about how the Bahamas were formed. Chris Maxey, the founder of this amazing alternative, sustainability-minded school, led a theatre production that explained how the Bahamas began forming upon the drifting apart of the supercontinent Pangea. Later in the day, a researcher at Cape Eleuthera Institute (located next to the Island School) named Sam gave us a lay-out of the campus, and gave us insight into how the school is constantly searching for ways to make the school more self-sustainable through using renewable energy sources (wind turbine, solar panels, rain water, using an invasive species of trees to make furniture), while limiting the amount of waste they produce (limited use of plastics, taking only what you will end up eating from the buffet) and utilizing the waste that they do produce (using cardboard and pig manure as fertilizer). Their philosophy is that they should be putting into practice what they teach. We have already seen firsthand what sacrifices the members of this community make on a daily basis and have participated alongside them transitioning from an instant gratification culture, into a culture that is mindful of how it interacts with the world we live in. These sacrifices are made to conserve resources so that we do not compromise the generations of the future. Taking navy showers (turning off water when soaping), not flushing the toilet when you 'number one' in the potty, and not using napkins at meals are just a few examples of choices that members of this community make that keep conservation and sustainability in mind. Chris Maxey used a 'living on an island' analogy to describe the world population's situation on earth. He expressed that there are limits all around us in things that we use to meet our basic human needs- including water and food. This is a principle at the heart of our Environmental Science course and we are all excited for what this neat place has to offer. So far we have been sponges soaking up all of the lessons being taught to us and are positive that this will be quite an eye-opening experience. We feel blessed to be able to have an educational opportunity like this and would like to thank everyone involved in making this happen.
Your Hawken Pioneers,
Liam and Lauren
Ps. As the first 'Caciques', which means leaders in the language of the native Bahamians, we have now passed on the role to Aaron and Allie who will be sharing tomorrow's adventures with you! Tonight we watched a documentary about the world water crisis titled "Flow" which served as an introduction to our trip to a local desalination plant tomorrow!
Thank you for your blog post, Liam and Lauren! Your vivid descriptions of the day made us feel as if we were there – almost! (It snowed the day you left). Thanks for inspiring us to keep in mind that everything we do affects the environment – and that we should try to minimize the negative effects as much as possible...
ReplyDeleteWe hope you have lots of fun while you are learning. We miss you, but we’re so thankful that you have this unique opportunity! – Amy Green (Liam’s Mom)