Reports from Previous Years

The past year has been a busy one as we continue to grow and increase the services we provide. In Bali, Made Yudiana (“Yudi”) not only serves as our liaison with the children, taking funds to them each month and encouraging them with their studies, but he also provides a dramatic role model for them. Functionally blind since early childhood, it took his family almost twenty years to save enough money for Yudi to have the eye surgery necessary to restore his sight. Despite his blindness he has taught himself English, Japanese and computers. We have provided him with a laptop computer, and through our intervention he is now enrolled in Udayana University on a full scholarship provided by the Bali Hati Foundation. When he has completed his studies, Yudi has plans to create a foundation to promote environmental education in Bali, a project with which we too shall be associated. We ourselves were able to spend six months in Bali during 1999, working with the children and locating new ones to support..

In the light of our experience, Yudi and we have decided that in future it will be better to start helping children at an earlier age. By providing music and dance lessons, and having regular visits from a role-model mentor, we hope to encourage the children to start envisioning a life full of exciting possibilities. We have found that girls, by the time they reach the age of eleven, are so conditioned by their culture that they can rarely envisage a life beyond raising a family.

Nyoman has chosen to study to be a mechanic. His parents moved to Sulawesi three years ago, but as there were no educational facilities there he stayed behind, living with his extended family. He lives in a mountain village, where his uncle is encouraging him to finish high school. This he will soon do, helped by the sale of metal candleholders and ornaments that he creates from discarded scrap.

Riska lives with her aunt and uncle because her parents are too poor to look after her and live in an isolated village without any school facilities. She is very bright and hopes to study computers after High School. Although very shy and quiet, she is kind and lovely. In spite of wearing thick glasses, she always has a beautiful embroidered gift for us when we visit her.

Putu lives with her parents and aged grandmother on the edge of a cliff halfway down a ravine. Her grandmother is the local midwife and climbs hundreds of steps every time she goes to deliver a baby. The family lives in one room, barely the size of one of our bathrooms. We are not yet privileged to know Putu’s dreams for the future.

Herma loves to dance, and does so exquisitely. Her parents are simple day laborers earning the equivalent of one dollar a day carrying rocks and gravel, and helping to harvest rice. They returned from Sulawesi where they were working after Herma’s father became paralyzed in an accident, from which he is now only partially recovered. The family was taken in by relatives and lives in a tiny cement room. Herma works hard at school, is bright and doing very well. She is full of potential and we have high hopes for her.

Superniti is a wonderful artist and will graduate from high school soon. We hope to help her to continue and develop her talents. She wants to attend the Tourism School, where she would learn English and computer skills, and we plan to provide her with this opportunity. The family has one cow, which will be reared for a year or two and then sold for a profit of perhaps $150 – one of the few ways a poor family can create income.

Agus is an endearing rascal from a poor family, but shows little interest in school. He will probably not continue in the program after this year, but at least he will have finished his basic education.

Wayan, Made and Ketut are three sweet brothers living outside the mountain village of Gobleg. Their father has been called to become a priest, but is having difficulties responding to the pressure and cannot support the family. Their mother struggles to run a roadside warung or stall, but cannot earn enough to provide for the children. At this point they need help with basic survival as well as assistance to continue with any kind of education.

Sri lives in the village of Bongan and is in her final year of high school. Her parents have no rice fields and are very poor. Sri’s mother works as a laborer in the market, where on better days she makes and sells cakes.

Putu has an amazing story. She was found abandoned as a newborn baby, covered in flies out in the rice fields. Her adoptive parents have found in her a daughter with incredible spirit and enormous talent. Putu is a dancer of high ability, and shines in her dance classes at Puri Lumbung.

SCHOOLS: All schools in Bali struggle with large classes and a shortage of materials. Teachers, mostly dedicated and caring, are poorly paid and overworked. The classrooms are bleak and barren, with inadequate desks and furnishings. The Bali Children’s Project helps to provide basic materials – books, pens, paper, visual aids and games – to several schools in Muncan, Bangle, and Munduk and around Ubud. We want to expand the number of schools we are able to help.

MEDICAL SUPPLIES: Every time we and our friends come to Bali we bring whatever medical supplies we can purchase or have donated. If you have access to any kind of medical materials, from aspirins and Band-Aids to equipment for clinics and childbirth centers we would love to hear from you.

VOLUNTEERS: Several young adults have previously worked in Bali through the Children’s Project, teaching English and health education while learning about Balinese life. We can connect people to a variety of interesting and worthwhile projects in Bali where they can both teach and learn. . We are always looking for graduate students and others who would like to volunteer their time and talents to help in language, health and environmental education teaching.

Report for 2001

Most visitors to Bali see only a flourishing island paradise — the natural beauty and the spectacular hotel compounds that clearly attract abundant tourist dollars. In reality little of this tourist revenue reaches ordinary Balinese families, many of whom survive in rural areas on a pitifully small annual income.

Education provides an escape from the oppressive burden of such poverty, yet for many children the cost of education is beyond the family’s reach. The Bali Children’s Project helps young people, particularly girls, to realize their dreams of a better life by making education attainable. Our dream is to bring this opportunity to as many children as possible.

In Bali the dollar goes a long way. The cost of a single café latte alone can provide a Balinese child with nourishing breakfasts for more than a month. Your contributions make a very real and significant difference, with every penny going to help those in need.

With your help, fifteen children are now receiving our ongoing support. They are able to attend school clothed and fed, with necessary books, pens and uniforms; their families secure in the knowledge that these needs are covered.

For those of you who have been with us from the beginning, you will be pleased to learn that we now have six high school graduates, all leading productive lives and with two going on to higher education.

Schools in Bali, particularly those in rural areas, are unbelievably rudimentary and lack even the most basic necessities for learning. Most consist of little more than four bare walls, often with broken doors, windows and desks. We are continuallly shocked by the desperate condition of most schools in Bali. This schoolroom was better than most, but today it is unusable because the roof has collapsed. As you can imagine, it is difficult and sometimes impossible for children to learn without a secure building or basic learning materials. Currently, plans are underway to provide a roof for a school near Muncan, and in the mountain village of Tamblingan, where it is frequently rainy and foggy.

We have been active in bringing teaching materials, ESL books, dictionaries and children’s books from the United States. Clothing and medical supplies have been provided to poor village areas. Teaching materials of every kind are still badly needed.

We have recently established a new children’s lending library, which will be used at several schools on a rotating basis. We are also developing a literacy program for encouraging reading. This brand-new program needs funding for more books and training of teachers and volunteers.

The Bali Children’s Project provided funds to help finish the construction of a new studio near Singaraja. This will enable distinguished dance teacher, Nyoman Arya, to provide traditional music and dance lessons to local village children in a new area.

Money was provided for traditional dance costumes needed by the children who take lessons with Nyoman Arya at Munduk, where he runs a highly successful program for village children.

The Bali Children’s Project, through Nyoman Witama, has begun to find ways to help local families in the Munduk area in dire need. Here and in other areas, on a very small scale, we have provided emergency monies to help widows and distressed families become self sufficient through funds to purchase a cow, a pig or goats. These animals are able to be raised at little or no cost and eventually sold at substantial profit, providing a major source of family income.

We have made a financial donation to the Children’s Library in Ubud, which is the first and only library for children in Bali. In a culture in which it is not customary to read for pleasure, the library broadens children’s horizons and provides early exposure to English, a proven way to escape the noose of poverty. The library is also a hub of community activities – twice weekly dance lessons, spontaneous gamelan sessions and a place where westerners and children interact.

The Bali Children’s Project is working with the Kupa-Kupa Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of Balinese children and adults with disabilities. We have recently provided for them a printer and a cell phone, and assisted in setting up an art exhibition. More joint projects are anticipated.

We are immensely grateful to our Program Coordinators, Yudi (Made Yudiana) and Nyoman Witama, for their ongoing dedication to the children and their needs. They regularly visit students, families and schools, distributing scholarship money and providing encouragement & hope. We also are fortunate to be working with Gail Baillergeau (Berkeley) and Evelyn Crow (San Antonio) who are giving tremendously of their time and resources to help raise money and enable the project to grow.

Sponsors make all the difference in these children’s lives. One hundred percent of your support goes directly to helping in all the above ways. If you are not already sponsoring a child, we hope you will consider doing so.

If you can think of a friend who might like to sponsor a child for $20 a month, or who may be interested in the project in any capacity, please forward this information to them or have them contact me directly at balijoy@aol.com.

Hidden Worlds continue to have two houses available for rent in Ubud and Munduk to raise funds for the project. They are also available for the use of students and volunteers.

At the very end of the year 2001, we are proud to announce that The Bali Children’s Project has finally come of age. We are now a fully independent tax-exempt charity in our own right, registered in the State of California.

Report for 2002

The year 2002 is proving to be an important milestone in the life of the Bali Children’s Project. Just before Christmas we took a major step in becoming a formally registered charitable foundation in our own right. In the spring, Rachel Sugiharto of New York contacted us, and offered to organise a big fundraising on our behalf. Anticipating a significant increase in BCP income, the decision was made to move ahead on plans to convert our house in Ubud into a permanent project office and create a volunteer program to help teach English and environment education in village schools.

The first step was to appoint Jenny O’Donnell as volunteer coordinator and office manager. Jenny, who speaks Indonesian, had previously developed an English language teaching program while volunteering for us herself in the Munduk area. Joyce flew to Bali in May to make the necessary arrangements, before heading to New York for the fundraising.

Although the fundraising failed to generate the money expected, despite good attendance, it proved a valuable learning experience that will be of great help in staging future events. More importantly, it provided the impetus for initiating the volunteer program, which has proved remarkably succesful.

Our first official volunteer program is off to a very promising beginning. On July 22^nd, seven volunteers arrived in Ubud, Bali to begin their one-week intensive training period. The volunteers come from many different places, there are two from Holland, two from England, two from America and one Australian.

Yudi, our program assistant in Ubud, Indonesian Language teacher, and friend began the training week with intensive Indonesian lessons daily. Every morning the volunteers gathered in Ubud for three hours of Indonesian language with Yudi. The lessons were fun filled and lively, and after one week our volunteers were successfully able to speak very basic Indonesian. Along with language lessons, our volunteers also received lessons and training on how to teach English in Indonesia, cultural expectations, and lesson plan and curriculum development. During the cultural segments of our training week our volunteers meet many Balinese figures, including a Balinese healer, went on a sunrise rice field walk, and an early morning market excursion, led by expert guide and teacher, Darta..

This basic language knowledge was necessary and important for our volunteer’s next move. Five of our volunteers moved to Munduk, a rural village in northern Bali, and one moved to Gainyar, Ubud (one volunteer returned home to America, due to her job as a teacher there, but she continues to help us from there). Three of our volunteers are currently living with Balinese families, and the other three are living in our volunteer house in Kayu Putih, Munduk. We currently work with 9 schools (3 in the village of Munduk, 2 in the village of Kayu Putih, 3 in the village of Tamblingan, and one in Gainyar, Ubud). We also have created classes for adults at the central community hall in Munduk. These classes consist of government workers, village locals, and market women.

For our volunteer group in September, we hope to expand the number of schools where we have placements. Likely areas are the villages of Gesing, Marga, Muncan,and Tabanan.

We are currently creating a number of gardens at our center in Ubud. We are establishing a medicinal plant garden, a vegetable garden, a flower garden, and a compost system. We have also set up recycling for plastics, glass, and paper. Once all is in place and running, we will begin a series of environmental awareness classes for kids to teach waste management, recycling, composting and gardening, and the important uses of specific herbs and plants. This is also a lecture that we can take on the road to visit our schools.

Along with this, we would like to begin a mobile classroom to travel with with our developing mobile library. We can visit outlying schools with various themes and topics, as well books and materials to share. Yoga and art classes for children are also in their beginning phases of development. We continue our sponsorships of children who could not stqy in school without our and your help. There is still a long waiting list of children hoping for a sponsor.

We have many wonderful people contributing their time, energy and ideas towards our projects. With time, love, and patience; and with the generous help from sponsors and friends around the world, our programs continue to grow and flourish. Thank you.

Report for 2003

This has been a year of great change, as well as accomplishment, for Bali Children’s Project.. The year began under the shadow of uncertainty caste by the Kuta bombings. Visitors fled, and hotel vacancies remained extremely high. Many hotels were forced to close Everywhere tourism, the backbone of the Balinese economy, took a body blow from this devastating event. The results have been widespread hardship for the people of Bali. But, in spite of this tragedy, our volunteers have continued to flood in and make enormous contributions to the communities in which they have worked.

NEW ACTING DIRECTOR IN BALI
It gives us great pleasure to announce that our long-time friend and valued associate, I Made Yudiana, better known as 'Yudi', has assumed the position of Acting BCP Director in Bali, overseeing much of the day-to-day management. Yudi has been associated with the BCP for many years, and has long served as our grassroots link to the children we support, as well as providing a splendid role model. Yudi’s childhood experiences have been similar to those of the children in our program- growing up in a rural Balinese village with limited resources and opportunities. In spite of this, Yudi has attained a university degree. As a child, Yudi had to be led to school by the other village children and now, symbolically, he reaches out his hand to these village children in their journey to school, heading toward a more certain future with Yudi beside them.

Joyce and John remain the pro bono executive directors in the US, spending time in Bali with the programs and the children whenever possible.

MONTESSORI KINDERGARTENS
Education in Indonesia tends to be full of repetition and rote learning while Montessori education takes a hands on, creative thinking approach, a much needed alternative.
On his own initiative, Yudi has created Montessori Kindergarten schools in the villages of Tajen and Pesagi in Tabanan regency, and is planning more. At present there are 43 students and three teachers. The children, ages 4 to 6, are acquiring an early love of learning and teachers are being trained in the Montessori approach to education. The Bali Children's Project and Yudi, with the help and support of Linda Moselle, of New York City, are working directly together with this program, providing funds, materials, and the sharing of ideas and resources. We are proud to be a part of this innovative educational program. A Montessori methods training program for teachers in the upper grades in several schools is in the planning stages.

MUNDUK PROGRAMS BEGIN AGAIN
Under the previous volunteer program, activities in mountains were unfortunately allowed to languish. However, this situation is being rectified, and under our regional director, Nyoman Witama, our house at Sanda is again available to volunteers and will once more soon be bursting with children and village adults attending English language and literacy classes, in addition to all sorts of children's art and learning activities and as always in Bali, music .

ART PROGRAM
Our arts program developed in Ubud by volunteer, Karin Goris, has drawn more than 50 children from all around Campuan and surrounding areas. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, local children arrive for their art classes, creative fun with painting, drawing, collage making, flower stamps, music makers and much more.The BCP center at Purna provides the perfect open space opening onto the ridge and montain terraces. This program has been operating from May through October. Karin is back in Belgium but plans to return in the New Year when the program restarts.

BCP ART SHOW IN JAPAN
Art created by the children in our Art Program was exhibited in Japan this fall in the Art Party Exhibition.sponsred by Hiroshima Starship under the direction of Adam Beck [starship@hiroshimastarship.org]. Children's art from 12 different countries was displayed. Of the 24 pictures BCP sent to Japan, 18 were purchased. This money raised from the picture sales goes back to provide more art materials and supplies for the upcoming classes. We are extremely grateful to Adam for the support his organisation has given to the BCP.

SPONSORED CHILDREN
Several of our sponsored children have now graduated from high school, something utterly impossible without your help. In some cases, they were the first children in their villages to achieve high school graduation. Some of our children now have jobs, some have gone on to computer and tourism school, one continues with dance. We have some children still in earlier grades needing our help and some who are waiting to join the program when funds are available.

We hope, with your help, that together we can reach more children and more schools in need. An automatic bank deduction of $20/mo/child is now available through CHI [Caring Habits, Inc]. All money donated goes directly to the child or the classroom.

COMPUTER NETWORKING PROGRAM
We have been approached to play a major role in a new educational computer networking program being planned for Bali. Funding for this is being raised in Singapore, and will initially link 50-100 schools in Bali through a wireless network that will be a pilot for third-world rural education. The primary aim is to provide teachers themselves with educational materials - something seriously lacking at present - but in addition, children will learn basic computer skills and gain access to limitless information. The BCP expects to play an important role in providing specific school and education information about Bali and in the preparation of classroom material. for this program

VOLUNTEER PROGRAM
The work of the BCP in 2003 was dominated by our Volunteer Program, which has been extremely successful. However, the very success of the program has proved to be something of a mixed blessing. The rapid growth of this one program diverted resources and attention away our other activities, which suffered somewhat in consequence.

Recognizing that the BCP must focus its energies on core programs directly related to helping disadvantaged Balinese children, families and schools in rural areas, we found it necessary to separate the expanded volunteer program from the Bali Children's Project at the end of September. We are pleased to have supported the program in its development and wish it success in its independent operation, which will begin with a new set of volunteers in February 2004.

The BCP will continue to run a smaller, more focused volunteer program, providing positions for two volunteers in the impoverished mountain area of Tamblingan and two working with our Montessori kindergartens in Tabanan.

A fuller account of our volunteer activities in 2003 is given below.

We have continued our association with the Bali Children’s Library, Kupu Kupu Bali [a non profit for children with disabilities], and the SOS orphanage. Our volunteers have worked with these programs during 2003 and we have been able to supply clothes, books and educational materials. We look forward to working even more closely with these organisations in future.

A big hug and thank you to Elizabeth Wallace (of France and Boston) who spent many hours creatiing our new, professional and very beautiful website. The earlier website can still be found at www.hidden-worlds.com/bcp.htm

THANK YOU!
To all the incredible volunteers who have given their great talents and energies and months of their live, thank you so, so much. Lives have been changed and futures brighter because of you.
As this year ends, we want to thank all of you who have continued to support BCP and to help in whatever way you can. Some of you are old and dear friends, some long time lovers of Bali and the Balinese people. Some of you are new friends who have contacted us through the website or through your travels in Bali and have wanted to help. To all of you old and new friends, thank you to each of you, for your concern, your interest, your donations, your help. Without your support the Bali Children's Project would not be able to continue.

We continue to welcome visitors and supporters who are interested to see our programs and whenever possible, visit the local schools. Yudi, Nyoman and Darta, who also teach volunteers about the Balinese culture and Indonesian language are often available. They are tremendouly knowledgable and care a great deal about children and education in Bali. They will be happy to meet with you.

A few major new projects are underway. Karin Goris, our lovely Art Program Director from Belgium, has been a wonderful hit here in Ubud. She teaches creative arts to local children from around the areas of Ubud, Campuhan, and Sanginggan. Every Tuesday and Thursday around 2:00 PM the welcoming sound of pitter-pattering feet and giggles enter our compound. These are the sounds of Karin’s dedicated art students arriving for their art lessons. In her art lessons, Karin engages the children in fun, colorful, and creative crafts such as collage making, leaf and flower stamping, music makers, painting, drawing, and more. On Mondays Karin also teaches an art class at the local children’s library in Ubud. Future plans are to start a children’s art gallery, to hold a children’s art fundraiser, and refurbishing donated iron chairs for promotion and fundraising.

Environmental Awareness

John Krautkremer from The USA is in charge of our environmental awareness project. The aim of this project is to raise awareness and sensitivity in children to environmental issues through hands on activities, art, and fun lesson plans. John has been working hard touring some of Bali’s house and organic gardens in order to gain a better understanding of agriculture and environment in Bali. He is composing and collecting a series of activities and lesson plans that will be piloted with our children soon. Our future goal, along with Karin’s art project, is to transform these activities into mobile classrooms, where we would visit our network of schools with traveling topic based workshops. John has also set up a waste management system at our volunteer house in Ubud, including recycling bins, waste separation bins, and a composting system.

Curriculum development

Sandra Lee, also from the USA, has been working towards establishing a curriculum for our project. Her former school in China has donated to our program an amazing and complete set of New Enterprise ESL books. This series consists of student’s books, workbooks, teacher’s guides, and audio tapes from an introductory level up to advanced. Sandra lee has spent many hours photocopying, organizing, and reviewing each of these books. She is creating a functional system that will allow our future volunteers in the field and in Ubud to have a clear and useful curriculum. Future projects for Sandra Lee are to work with our friend and teacher, Yudi, to review the National Indonesian curriculum for English and to ‘Indonesia-fy’ our curriculum.

Dawn Davis and Emily Thomas took over our office here in Ubud. Unfortunately, both of these wonderful women have finished their terms with our project and are traveling onwards. Dawn put to use her extensive experience and friendly disposition to network The Bali Children’s Project into some new circles of NPOs in Bali. She worked very hard to create properly formatted grant proposals (for future use) and other documents for funding. She also volunteered at the Children’s Library every Wednesday, where she spent four hours reading books and playing with the local children of Ubud. Dawn is presently in Malaysia in route back to Canada. She has brought a sufficient amount of work home with her, and plans to join The Bali Children’s Project again later this year, and until then we will miss having her here. .

Emily came to join our program straight from Japan, where she had spent four years living and teaching English. She is clearly a computer whiz and has a program for virtually everything. She worked on our promotional side, creating and formatting a brochure for the BCP, reviewing our current website, and taking digital photos for us to upload onto our website. Emily has finished her period with us, and is now continuing her travels in Indonesia. She may also join us again in the future.

Our English Teachers

Now here is a wonderful and commendable group of people! Let me introduce everyone to you! First we have Shane Coffey from Australia and David Kennedy from New Zealand who are living and teaching in Desa Baturiti. Next we have Emma Castle from England and Shirani Alfreds from Singapore in Desa Tajen. Finally, Louise Wilson from England who was in Gianyar. These guys all deserve a round of applause for their work. They all live with local families in these rural Balinese villages, and they live a very local lifestyle. They eat with their families, take local transport, and teach in Public elementary and junior high schools. They do their best with limited materials and communication. On their spare time, they have been known to teach extra evening classes the village children and schoolteachers. We are very proud of them!! We are also very sad, because both Louise and Shirani have completed their terms with us. It is always very sad to lose great volunteers. We owe an extra thanks to Shirani, who is a Lawyer in Singapore, as she tidied up all of our files and researched legal documents concerning non-profit organizations in Indonesia.

Other happenings

Several teachers have been running free public English courses at our volunteer house in Ubud. Currently we run classes for children twice a week. Soon we will start classes for adults, and in the near future also a class for women at the library in Ubud.

The BCP has been working in association with SOS Bali (international children’s villages). We have visited their site in Tabanan on several occasions, and at the moment three of our volunteers are there running short workshops. Karin will run an art workshop, Sandra Lee will teach the ‘mothers’ basic English, and John will explore their home gardens. We hope to work together more with SOS Bali in the future.

We are very proud of our accomplishments and of our hard working volunteers. They are the true backbone of our organization so a big thanks to our all of our past and present volunteers. With the skills and experience of our volunteers, we hope to continue creating and developing strong and sustainable projects that will enhance the quality of our educational services in Bali.

2004 Newsletter
a) Montessori-based Kindergartens

Last year we celebrated the creation of two village Montessori kindergartens in Tabanan. This year the BCP, with Made Yudiana and Linda Moselle, is ready to celebrate another new kindergarten in the village of Penestanan near Ubud and two teachers are now being trained. The chairs and desks have been ordered in bright primary colors and Montessori toys are being made in the village. All is ready!

It will provide a wonderful opportunity for the 5- and 6-year-olds in Penestanan and will also be open to children in neighboring villages. In Bali, the only kindergartens generally available are private ones. We anticipate that this program will be a model for Montessori kindergartens throughout Bali, one that will be available for local children at minimum cost. Small scholarships are planned for children whose families are without financial resources. Already everyone is very excited about this, especially the children and their families.

Montessori Wish List

* Desk & Chair Set - 2 chairs & 1 desk @ $12.00 - We're making up 12 sets for 24 children.
* Desk & Chair for Teacher - $85
* Swing for Playground - Holds 4 children like porch swing - $140
* Playground slide, handmade locally - $140
* See-Saw for 4 children - $100
* Montessori toys, made locally - 6 different toys, $10 each.
* Teacher's salaries - $80/month
* Children's school uniforms - $20/each
* Bookcases & Shelves made to order - $15 - $30 each
* Montessori educatioal materials for children & teachers

If you can help with any of these needs, it would be so appreciated. If you can't help us, then just wish us luck.

b) Art Classes

This year the art classes started again in February with Karin Gorris from Belgium as Art and Program Director. More than 60 children showed up, many with proud parents looking on. With classes two days a week, and visits in-between, our house at Purna is full of laughter and joy these days. We quickly realized that the group of participating children was far too big for one teacher and so Karin contacted April, an Indonesian Art teacher from last year and we were happy that she could once again join us. Both she and Karin are wonderful teachers and the children adore them.

With traditional education in Indonesian based primarily on rote learning, the art classes give the children a chance to express their tremendous creativity. We find both the children and parents are pleased with the variety of art supplies available, which give endless possibilities for exploration. Creativity is never far away. Any of you visiting Bali are welcome to come over to have a look at our children’s artwork and to visit a class.
c) Art Party in Japan

With Karin and April’s support, the children are excitedly preparing for another Art Party in Japan. Here children’s art from many countries will be displayed and offered for sale. Last year the Art Party in Hiroshima, organized by Adam Beck, successfully raised a significant sum for the BCP. Our children were proud to see photographs of their artwork on display, knowing that their efforts had helped raise money to buy more art supplies.
d) Volunteers in Munduk

Becky and Nathan from California stayed at Sanda, our house in the mountains near Munduk, during February and March. Here they taught English and music in local schools. It has been a rewarding experience for them as it was their first time teaching in a school classroom. They loved being in this more remote and rural part of Bali, and enjoyed being with the village children, who are not used to having foreign teachers.

Nyoman Witama, the BCP coordinator in Munduk, takes care of Sanda, the volunteer house, and is on hand to welcome BCP volunteers into the community and the schools. He provides volunteers with the support and help needed during their stays. This summer Jodi and Kirsty wrote of their stay at Sanda:

“ We have been living in Bali Bliss at your beautiful home amongst the rice paddies and palms of Sanda. Thank you for providing this wonderful program. We had a great time teaching English at SD5 and SD2 with the help of your good friend Nyoman. We also had afternoon English lessons at Sanda. Up to 25 local children would turn up bright eyed and enthusiastic to learn and practice their English with us each afternoon. This was well received within the community. We were happy with the kids progress and only wish we could have stayed longer.

We are now in Kintamani and on our way across Bali by bicycle (our chosen mode of transport). We made many friends while at Sanda and enjoyed learning music and cooking and attending ceremonies with Made and Komang. Thank you once again for this unique opportunity.”

e) Volunteers in Ubud

Two volunteers, Kathrin Sattmann from Germany and Kristy Melvin from Australia, taught English at Purna during this spring. Kristy had taught in Korea for several years, and both Kathrin and Kristy turned out to be wonderful teachers. The children greatly enjoyed their lessons and were eager to learn.
f) Sponsored Children

We continue to provide sponsorship for children who would otherwise be forced to end their education at an early age. As you may know, we focus particularly on girls, who are often compelled to leave school by the age of eleven, when free state education ends. Sadly there is no shortage of bright children, eager to learn, who must leave school to work in the rice fields or craft workshops. Only through the generous support of our sponsors is it possible for these children to continue their education and have the possibility of a life where their gifts and talents can be realized and used. A heartfelt thank-you to all who are able to help. We need more of you! Special thanks to Rima Undavia and her class who have recently sponsored two more children in need.

g) Book Drive

We are developing a children’s library at Purna, where children gather almost daily for art and English classes. Before and after class, they browse though the books, sometimes reading out loud to each other. As lighting is poor in most homes in Bali and reading not a custom, it is a lovely sight to see!

We have been shocked to find that many schools in Bali have no books whatsoever, but now have the possibility of joining with another non-profit in Indonesia to obtain a bulk shipment of books from Java. Our goal is to buy 500 books this year, donating ten each to fifty schools.

If you can help with a donation, please mark it for “book drive.”
h) Japanese Student/Teacher Exchange

Plans are well advanced for a group of students from Japan to visit Bali next year under the auspices of the BCP and Starship Hiroshima with Adam Beck. More on this later
i) Thank Yous

We would like to give special thank to all the people who help keep the Bali Children’s Project going. To our staff and associates in Bali: Yudi, Nyoman, Desak, Rama, Darta, ade, Ibu. Thank you to Karin, program director, who has given her all to keep the BCP alive and growing.

To all our volunteers; thank you for your time and the joy you’ve given the children. To Linda and Yudi; thank you for your dedication to the Montessori kindergarten development program. Special thanks to Emma, to April, and to Joyce, returning volunteer and teacher. We thank Elizabeth Wallace for her help in creating www.balichildrensproject.org and continue our thanks to accountant, Kathi Dillinger. Additional thanks go to to Royal Resorts, Bali for generous monthly donations, and to Club Inc & Lounge in Seminiak for their financial support.

Reports from Previous Years

Report for 1999

Report for 2001

Report for 2002

Environmental Awareness

Curriculum development

Our English Teachers

Other happenings