In my project, I am interacting with my fellow community members every day! Working in an educational environment, that interaction has really manifested in two ways: with my students and with my coworkers. Most of the students are international with many coming from Jakarta, South Korea, Japan and many others. There are also many Balinese children who I interact with on a daily basis. When working with such a diverse group of children and of many different ages, it has been important to find ways to build trust and community. For me, that has been through playing card games like Uno with them during their break times and sitting with them during lunch time when most of the staff will eat in the break room. 

Another way in which I have connected with community is through my coworkers. They are all from different islands throughout Indonesia (there are over 17,000 different islands which I recently learned)! I have bonded with them by learning a little bit of Bahasa (the Indonesian language) and also watching World Cup matches during our break times. It has been great getting to know each and every one of them and learn about their journey to teaching and to Empathy School! My direct supervisor Nathan is from England and one of the only other non-Indonesian staff and he has been a great resource for finding good restaurants and things to do in my free time.