Our Education Centre in Bali is a special place. Featuring traditional Balinese architecture which brings the outside in, an abundance of nature on the doorstep, and a feeling of tranquillity that is the perfect backdrop for learning. At the heart of this, is our wonderful team of educators and, at the helm, a really special person. Meet Anne…
Hey, Anne! Can you believe that you’ve been our Education Centre Coordinator in Bali for a whole 6 months already?! Is there a stand-out moment that you recall that solidified your decision to join us?
Yes. I’d arrived in Bali fairly burnt out, as I had been working as a Primary years teacher by day, and chairing a children's charity in the evenings for many years, whilst simultaneously bringing up my family in the Middle East.
I had taken some time out to reflect and revive myself, and during this period embarked on an immersive educational training programme at an alternative school in Ubud, Bali. I knew I was looking for an opportunity where I could marry my passion for education with my desire to make a difference in the world.
Through my connections at this school, I heard about a new concept that was coming to Bali, where a caring community and whole-child learning experience were united under the framework of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
I was SMITTEN from the get-go and signed up for one of the online info workshops. And the rest, as they say, is history!
You’ve been on an interesting journey ahead of arriving at Boundless Life, Bali. Can you tell us a little bit about your story so far?
My journey has taken me on an incredible adventure both through my life as a teacher working in many parts of the world, and laterally through the charity I ran, where my passion for equal opportunities for all children was the driving force behind all our fundraising efforts!
Through Gulf for Good and the many charity challenges I Ied, I climbed many of the highest mountains on the planet and volunteered in projects throughout the developing world.
Moving to Bali a year ago with my husband (when our children finally flew the nest) has been a new challenge that we have both fully embraced, delighting in the culture, the beautiful nature and the wonderful warm hospitality of the Balinese people.
When you reflect on your parenting journey, what would you say are the most important and beneficial lessons you can impart to your children?
- Celebrate our differences. For me, cultural understanding is a key lesson. Having been brought up in Northern Ireland, where even your name could make you a target of hatred, I was determined my children would experience the world from a different perspective. We have been travelling for many years, mainly in the Middle East, America and now Asia and have taken our children on numerous adventures to lots of far-flung destinations,
- Treat everyone with respect. My husband and I used our holidays to take our children to many places in the developing world where there was a very obvious disparity between our relatively privileged lives to those who had much less. I wanted them to know that with privilege comes social responsibility, and that we should advocate for those who can't stick up for themselves.
- Model good behaviour. So if we tell our children that they must not spend much time on devices but then continue to be on our phones 24/7 we can’t really blame them when they push back on this! Sometimes the best thing we can do is reflect on how we are behaving too, before we set the expectations for our children.
How does Boundless Life - and slow travel in general - help prepare our children for a world that is changing so quickly?
There is a famous Chinese proverb that talks about not judging someone until you have walked a mile in their shoes. Likewise, slow travel and Boundless Life in particular allow us to immerse ourselves for a while longer than a usual holiday, with the hope that, through this lens of cultural immersion, we learn to know and understand the world, which should encourage better understanding and greater empathy. We walk in that culture’s shoes!
Building community and making this a priority in this fast-paced world is a key ingredient for the Boundless way of life. Humans need other humans, to learn, to grow and to feel purposeful. Having these connections between families and the global Boundless community has a very positive impact on general well-being.
I love that we use the UN Sustainable Development Goals as the framework for all learning at Boundless Life. We want our students to be informed. We teach for the real world IN the real world. We care deeply about the health of our planet and those who live on it. We hope that we encourage our students to care also!
If you were to describe your ideal ‘day off’ in Bali, what would you do?
Thats easy. I’d start my day with an early game of padel tennis with friends, take my new pup for a walk to the beach with my husband (and family when in town), head off to Ubud to have lunch and a yoga class and have sundowners at my favourite spot in the middle of the beautiful rice padi fields! Perfect! 😍
If you and your children would love to meet Anne in person, talk to us about how to Get Started.
