​ Bali GIN 2013

This October Bali will be hosting the first island wide Global Initiatives Networking ( GIN )Youth Conference. It’s a dynamic three day workshop for international and local school students that, it is hoped, will leave them feeling very much a part of a global, regional and local community that is clued in and knowledgeable about world issues, positive about their ability to effect change and motivated to make solution seeking part of their lives. The theme of the conference is MOTIVATE, chosen as there is plenty, even too much information about global disasters and looming destruction. It can, especially for young teenagers, all get to be overwhelming and the sheer volume can create situations and feelings that are demotivating.

In response MOTIVATION is a clear path to action, it is about doing something that feels good, has a positive effect on others and the community and builds a sense of achievement.  So in keeping with the theme I-Mag got motivated, got on board as a media partner, and went to find out how the whole thing got started with a chance meeting behind the scenes in Singapore between a skater and two very determined students.

 

October 2012

There were at least a thousand students packed into an auditorium at a high school in Singapore. The student leaders had made the introductions and a beautifully choreographed dance routine had been performed. Then it was time to introduce the main speaker: Rob Dyer.

A young man walked on stage, skateboard under his tattooed arm, his close-cropped hair hidden beneath a beanie and he began to speak. Behind an image was shown, him on the open road, on his skateboard.

 

It’d be normal to think “How cool?” This guy gets to skate across the globe, across Canada, across America, through New Zealand and over parts of Australia, but what is not normal is why he does it.

Dream. Love. Cure is the name of Rob’s organization came into being as a result of great loss. In a short space of time, Rob explains, he  lost both his grandmothers to cancer, then his mother too. Devastated by the loss and determined to do something Rob arranged a skate marathon from Los Angeles to his hometown in Ontario. The idea was to raise awareness.  Cancer, he tells the crowd, if detected early, can be treated, and it is believed that 80% of cancers can be prevented with the right education. And this is what Rob wanted to do get that education and information out there.  It seemed unbelievably harsh then that just before he set out on the first of his journeys his best friend succumbed to stomach cancer. The image of the boy standing alone on the stage gives out an important message, the audience is now engaged and emotional. So Rob skates, and skates, but most of the important action happens in between all of his epic marathons. When not on the road, Rob and the S4C (Skate for Cancer) team focus on throwing free events like all ages skate comps and concerts so that everyone can come and jam together.  

Over the years Rob has been invited to give talks about what he does and when he does that he raises a lot of positive energy. He makes people, especially young people, feel empowered to be part of a solution, they may chose a different cause but he lights the spark.

 

In Singapore he did just that, he lit the spark particularly for two members in the audience, Molly and Chloe from Bali International School. They decided they wanted to meet him and this is when the magic began. While the girls were decidedly star- struck they did manage to tell Rob where they were from.  Rob was pretty impressed that the girls went to school on a tropical island he had only read about and the girls were pretty impressed that someone who had just been on stage in front of a huge international audience was impressed by where they went to school. And, as Dream. Love. Cure say on their website “It’s funny what a whole lot of silliness can lead to when a person ignores logic. Sometimes turning your back on the idea of impossible is the only way to get anything done in this world”

In their moment of mutual impressiveness they put all logic aside and decided between them that Rob would come to Bali and they would create a Youth Conference for him to speak at.

 

How they explained it to their teacher immediately afterward was like this:

“We met Rob, he is so cool, he skateboards for cancer. He is from Canada and he lost his mum to cancer. He skates all over the world inspiring people to do things they are passionate about to raise awareness about global issues.

And we did one more thing...He wants to skate across South East Asia and we have invited him to Bali... in fact we have told him we will host him and his crew, and we will put on an event for him...he was so excited. We can do this right?”

 

And that is how the idea of hosting the very first Global Initiatives Youth Conference in Bali was started.

 

What the students recognized was that Bali is an ideal location for this type of conference, there is a great deal of positive change happening here just on one island!  There are dedicated, talented and community minded people who are motivated to give back to the community 100% of the time through their music, their art and their words…there is also a vibrant youthful movement of kids who have certain freedoms, certain abilities to make and create change within their communities.

 

May 2013

Over email everyone has kept in touch, Rob, his friend and co-presenter Scott Hammell, Molly and Chloe have exchanged plans and messages of positivity. The girls were then joined by Fionna and Nicole who offered to create the opening night Gala Event, a fundraiser for Ayo Bicara HIV/Aids, a local NGO that educates on health issues for remote and marginalized communities on the island. The idea grew and grew as everyone kept dreaming it into reality. A few comments here and there and other people were keen to show support, other schools too, so when the opportunity came to host the conference at the Canggu Community School, have Bali International School and The Green School act with Canggu Community School  as co-hosts and Volcom, Deus Ex Machina and Motion Skate park had all indicated their willingness to support, it seemed the right time to say it’s not just a dream anymore.

August 2013

"Every few days the conference organizers get emails from Rob about the conference, they are always so positive, they remind us to have faith in the process, that what we are doing is the right thing to do,.. We are so lucky to have him, and he feels lucky to be coming to us..it is going to be great to welcome him to Bali" 

 

The Bali Global Initiatives Youth Conference is a reality…

 

“We just met Rob Dyer, he is so cool. He skates all over the world inspiring people to do things they are passionate about to raise awareness of global issues. He wants to skate across South East Asia and we have invited him to Bali... we will put on an event for him...he was so excited. We can do this right?”

Molly and Chloe

 

 

The Skateistan Girls from Cambodia:

 

In July Volcom and Motion Skatepark assisted the organziers of the conference to visit Skateistan in Phnom Pehn to invite these inspiring young women skaters to join the conference ..

 

 

Kov Chansangva (Tin) Skate and Programs AssistantSkateistan Cambodia Tin was born in Phnom Penh, Cambodia and graduated from Derm Tkov high school in 2012. She began as a Skateistan student through a partner NGO called Tiny Toones, and is now the Skate and Programs Assistant for Skateistan Cambodia. Tin says that she really enjoys working with Skateistan and wants to help give street children a chance to skateboard and play sports in Cambodia. Tin is a keen skateboarder, dancer, and DJ, and hopes to become a lawyer in the future. To our knowledge, Tin was the first Cambodian woman ever to land a kickflip. Tin can be contacted at tin@skateistan.org                               Photograph courtesy Skateistan        Judyna Pres Judyna was born and raised to Cambodian parents who immigrated to Montreal, Canada post-war in 1983. She graduated in multimedia design in 2003 and has been working as a web designer up until her new position with Skateistan in June 2013. Her interests in Cambodia originate from listening to her parents retell their stories living through various periods of time in the country prior to their move, and the Ninja Turtles can be attributed to her discovery of skateboarding. She is very keen to help Skateistan develop their programs and put her creative skills to good use.  Judyna can be reached at judyna@skateistan.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More to come on our presenters shortly...

 

Nila Tanzil from Taman Bacaan - bringing the gift of reading to the Archipelago.

 

Tas Pasar - Learn about the initiative to rid Bali's warungs and markets of plastic bags.

 

Fa'Empel - talks about her journey from catwalk to the jungles of Borneo.

 

Bambou Chieppa, Dyatmika student and the team from Permablitz explain their commitment to a greener world.

 

Martyn Denis - multilinguist and UNDP intern in East Timor talks about how he is making a career of caring.