Newsletter 2008

The Bali Children’ s Project continues to reach out, helping young people in new ways and in more communities, through the generosity of our sponsors, donors and volunteers, as well as the dedication of our staff.  

In recent months the BCP has seen many exciting new developments.   As we expand and diversify we are attracting a growing level of support from visitors, by word-of-mouth and through our Internet presence.  We thank you all.

Sponsorships

We have been fortunate in being able to expand our sponsorship of individual children with the help of friends from many countries.   This has always been one of our most important core  programs as it enables children to stay in school and complete their education.  We have also created a separate program of sponsor scholarships for children who are slightly older and need financial help to finish high school.  Through the generous help of Sheeda Cheng, and more recently Fern Katz, we are able to help these children complete their education.  We are now envisioning a school that will provide training and apprenticeships for the twenty-first century.

Among our many wonderful sponsors —  too many to list by name here —  one deserves special mention.    Fern Katz is just 14 years old but has already raised over $2000  for BCP, and is arranging with the Rotary Club to pay the salaries of two teachers, and for the supply of playground equipment  -  a truly remarkable achievement and one for which we are extremely grateful.  She will be coming to Bali with her mother this July to meet the children she has raised money to sponsor and is planning to make a film about Bali to show her school back home.

Corporate Support

We are pleased to acknowledge the growing number of companies who support the Bali Children’ s Project.  We are very excited to have become partners with Pencils for Kids, the wonderfully innovative organization started by Loretta Jitner in Los Angeles .  This year, through BCP,  they will be helping 375 children in Bali by providing backpacks containing notebooks, pencils, crayons, erasers, sharpeners, drawing paper, rulers, glue sticks and a toothbrush.  In addition, each child will receive a voucher for a school uniform.

Pencils for Kids has joined with AsiaLuxe Holidays, who for each and every trip to Bali booked through them will donate $10, which will be earmarked for children’ s school uniforms. 

Taylor Hofer Partners, the Swiss-based executive search company, has recently joined our corporate sponsors and say on their web site:

“We have chosen to support this organization based on the impressive scope of  their community outreach and hope to assist them with bringing their various projects to fruition.” Taylor Hofer employees are now working on their own project to bring donations to BCP.

We are grateful to Karma Resorts for their continuing commitment to support the Bali Children’ s Project and its programs.

John Stannard and his Hammerax Company have presented BCP with  a complete custom-built gamelan orchestra.   We are actively looking for funding for a music teacher for this program and eventually the purchase of uniforms. We look forward to the time when our children will be able to give public performances on their new instruments.

Spirit Quest Tours  a company promoting responsible tourism and that includes the sacred sites of Bali among its destinations, promotes BCP to its clients and has recently collected over $800 for us.  Further donations will be made when the group returns to Bali in September. 

Volunteers

We continue to welcome a growing number of volunteers, who bring with them a wealth of experience and expertise.  These have included: 

English Classes:  Several volunteers have contributed to our English language program.   We are happy to have Faye back with us, a much loved teacher who was with us last year.  Tracy and Michaela, also from Australia , who are now with us for six months, have designed an ESL program that can readily be used by future volunteers.  They have also set up a wide selection of teaching materials at Purna, the BCP house in Ubud, which has been regularly visited by groups from surrounding villages.

Health Education:   BCP seeks volunteers with dental and medical training, who can provide instruction in hygiene, nutrition and disease prevention.   Rachel, a nurse from England specializing in dermatology, has helped many rural Balinese with rashes and other skin problems.  In the kindergartens she has taught the importance of hand-washing and stressed the importance of fresh fruit and vegetables from the market over junk food.  

Baby Massage:  Linda-Anne from Australia brought her unique program of therapeutic baby massage, for which she had an enthusiastic audience.  She also visited a traditional midwife and women’ s health clinic.

Art Workshops:  Sandra,  a multi-media artist from Canada , gave a two-day workshop at which village children created their own wayang kulit or shadow puppets, and staged a performance.

Yoga:  Teresa created a yoga program for women, that was designed particularly for laborers, who daily carry very heavy loads on their heads.  The classes were well-attended by village women, who were very happy to learn how to stretch and relax.

Environmental Education:  As part of our environmental awareness program BCP has had volunteer teachers, including  Sandy of Lawyers without Borders, Monique, and Emily from WWOOFERS International, create organic gardens on the grounds of local schools in Ubud and Munduk, and also at Purna. Working with young children, they have taught the principles growing seeds and plant care while nurturing the child’ s curiosity and love of the earth.

Kindergartens

Our latest pre-school/kindergarten has just opened this month (June, 2008) in the village of Katik Lantang , and like its predecessors is already proving extremely popular.  Our flagship preschool in Penestanan has moved to new quarters near the BCP office, where there is more space and greater privacy.  We are rightfully proud of the success this program enjoys.

Further News

 We are deeply saddened to report the recent death of BCP friend and supporter Hank Swan.  Hank and Jan Sells were with us in Bali last year, and generously  committed to paying the salaries of our teachers at the Wanagiri kindergarten.  

The Bali Advertiser interviewed BCP director Linda Moselle and wrote an article about our activities.  This resulted in BCP joining the select band of non-profits supported by the Ganesha Bookstore in Ubud  as  part of its Books for Bali literacy program:

“Our aim is to foster literacy, learning and a love of reading throughout the Balinese Community.  Customers can purchase books at the store or on-line (click here) and ask for the purchase to be donated to the school or library of their choice.” 

Rima Xoyamayagua has been a dedicated supporter of BCP for several years, and has raised  money for us in various ways.   She has also persuaded five friends to become sponsors of our children.  Thank you, Rima.

Our cow micro-investment program is flourishing through the continuing generosity of the Melvyn Myers family from Australia .  We have now been able to purchase twenty cows and two bulls,  which have gone to impoverished farmers in the Klungkung and Penestanan areas.    It has been  a real pleasure to go with them through the rice fields to visit the cows and their new owners.

Kerry Clarke and her clients at the Balance Yoga studio in England have generously collected over $400 for kindergarten playground equipment.  Kerry is also sponsoring a child herself.

Sesame Street , the world-wide children’ s television program has recently launched its Indonesian edition.   BCP has installed a TV set at Purna to enable children to come and watch the programs, during which they are provided with healthy snacks.

The BCP shop, located at the top of the Campuhan hill across from the Bintang Supermarket, plans to open shortly, selling BCP T-shirts, postcards, re-useable bags,  children’ s art and more.

Through the kindness of organiser Pam Weatherford, BCP will have a stand at the Berkeley City Fair at the end of June.   Manned by San Francisco volunteers Diane and Elliot, this will be selling Balinese kites, jewelry and other handicrafts.

We have recently learned of  a valuable way in which individuals can support BCP.   GoodSearch is a Yahoo-powered search engine for shoppers that donates up to 37% of every purchase made through them to a charity of the shopper’ s choice.  To learn more go to the GoodSearch web site. 

Finally, for those of you interested in seeing pictures of the children we sponsor, together with other aspects of BCP life and work, we suggest that you visit the website of BCP Director Linda Moselle.