One of our school’s leading focuses is sustainability; our campus runs off a combination of different sustainable elements: our field of solar panels, our waste-water treatment, our composting center, and our bio-intensive gardens full of fresh, organic fruit and vegetables.
Of course, news spreads quickly and Malcolm, our Director of Sustainability, alongside Dempta, our Chairwoman of the board, attended a Green Knowledge workshop hosted by Undana University in January. Our school attracted a lot of attention.
60 government representatives learn from Sumba Hospitality Foundation
This month an organization called Current Plan International-Indonesia visited our school; 60 government representatives, joined by our very own Wakil Bupati of Sumba Barat Daya, came to discuss climate change issues within the regions of Nagekeo, Belu, and Lembata.
They recognized our school as an excellent example for sustainability and believe our school provides a positive model for what they are hoping to achieve in schools within the 3 regions of their project. It was a wonderful event, where both staff and students got the chance to discuss and exchange ideas regarding sustainability, and they didn’t go away empty-handed; we made sure they were given a selection of our seeds and vegetables to take home with them.
Young people making a difference
This month, all staff and students teamed together with Loura Youth Community to do a trash walk on Pantai Mananga Aba, a beautiful beach situated 3km from our school. The community members consisted of young people from the villages of Karuni, Ramadana, Letekonda and Loura, all with the same vision of wanting to improve the economy for local people, whilst protecting their environment and culture.
Not only did the beach clean-up consist of Sumba Hospitality Foundation members, the local community who weren’t associated with the Youth organization also got involved. After collecting the trash, our wonderful team joined the Loura Youth Community to build two temporary bamboo trash bins on the beach. We believe that this gesture will raise awareness as talks with the government continue, in order to find a permanent solution.
