Teach A Man To Raise A Fish

The Island School: The Most Sustainable School in The World

When visiting my sister at the Island School I was struck by how nothing, absolutely nothing goes to waste.  Every system is set up with ecology in mind from cleaning up in the kitchen, to the collection of human waste, composting, aquaculture - growing their own fish in a underwater dome, agriculture - growing their own food in their vegetable garden, bicycles for transportation, no heating or cooling devices - just smart architecture.

The school is set up with all the classes being hands on learning and tied to preservation and restoration. My sisters human ecology class team project went into the settlements and documented the effect of television on the Bahamian youth culture.  Her archeology class, identified sites on the island of early settlements tagging and documenting artifacts.  Math class, was celestial navigation, learning how to read the stars and find your way home by using trigonometry and geometry.  

Science was everywhere.  One team tagged sharks and followed their population.  Another team experimented with human waste to use as a fertilizer for the garden and capture the methane gas for heating the kitchen stoves, another group raised cobia in a underwater huge sphere,  while another group did something similar to what John McMillin did in Ethiopia in 1989 and is doing now in Honduras.  This group is raising tilapia - after identifying it as a very fast growing fish.  This group is working closely with the Cape Eleuthera Institute, a graduate level program associated with the Island School.  They are doing pieces of McMilin's work, but have not as yet recreated his fully integrated aquaculture/agriculture system that I call "Teach A Man To Raise A Fish."

Once I have more information on this blog - I intend to share it with the Island School and the Cape Eleuthera Institute. My postings have been slowed down because John McMillin is busy saving lives  in Honduras right now, and rather focus on that then take the time to share information via the web or with me.  I know he wants to, but he is in an emergency situation and that takes priority.  The information is coming slow, but it is coming through the help our friends the Newcomb's, who introduced me to John last summer.

The Island School in Eleuthera, Bahamas

The Island School in Eleuthera, Bahamas is a semester program offered to sophomore and junior high school students.  My sister Adriana was lucky enough to be accepted and I even luckier, got to visit her.  I knew it would be a cool place, based upon her descriptions during the weekly phone calls she made home, but I had no idea it would be this cool. 

My first impression was, it is so beautiful.  The ocean water is aqua green and different shades of blue and many of the beaches have pink sand, but I would soon discover one of the greatest things of all - that the water is not only beautiful but also very warm. Unlike the Pacific Ocean, where I spend most of my time or even the Northeastern part of the US, in the waters off Cape Cod in the summer, nothing comes close to the warm and clear waters of the Caribbean Sea. 

My second impression was the local people are incredibly friendly.  Though they don't seem to have much in the way of possessions, everyone seemed relaxed and content and they would stop whatever they were doing and wave at us as we drove through "the settlements", their word for little village.

After we drove about one hour we finally made it to the Island School on the southern most tip of Eleuthera.  The driveway is lined with conch shells, thousands of them.  The campus is on it's own peninsula with the buildings laid out around a circle.  The circle is used like an outdoor assembly room to start and end everyday.  It is the place everyone gathers, makes announcements, shares information.  There is a strong sense of community and joy when the circle gathers.  Sort of like our family meetings at home.    

It didn't take long before I decided I too wanted to attend the Island School, but being too young to apply I did the next best thing and moved into the dorms for parents visiting week.  I got to experience first hand what Island School life was really like.  And I will tell you in one word - Awesome!  It must be the most sustainable school in the world.  I say this without exaggeration.