Hope given to Bali's kids

Hamish Hutchinson • Published 11 Nov 2009 09:55 0 Comments

Share this

THE island of Bali may be a tropical paradise for the many tourists who flock to its beaches but for Tullibody couple Russell and Shona Fleming their trip to the island was much more than a holiday.

After visiting Bali last year with £1750 - which they raised thanks to generous donations from friends, family and various organisations in Clackmannanshire - Russell and Shona returned to see what impact the money has had on the impoverished communities on the island.

After taking a few days to relax, Russell and Shona found out about what was happening on the ground from Gede Suarsa, HR manager at The Melia Bali Hotel, the main contact for the Community Involvement Programme (CIP) which uses tourists' dollars to help malnourished and illiterate children in need.

Mr Suarsa is also a leading player in the HIV Aids Awareness Programme on the island.

When the CIP is not supporting children directly, it uses trusted foundations and organisations to deliver on the ground.

Forefront

And as the Melia Bali Hotel is at the forefront of work to allievate poverty on the island, it is ideal conduit for Russell and Shona's charity Bali Kids to identify the key areas where it can provide additional support to the work already being carried out.

Russell told the Advertiser, "It is hard to believe that it is already a year since we made our last trip to Bali. In the intervening 12 months Bali Kids has been registered as a charity and fundraising has continued apace.

"In 2009 the charity raised just over £1700. We left this time with over £3000.

"The contributions of everyone who helped us achieve this figure are greatly appreciated. Without them we cannot make a difference."

During their trip the couple returned to the north of the island to visit 10-year-old Setiwan and his family, who they helped last year with some of the money they raised.

Russell said, "Last year when we visited Setiwan and his family they were in very poor health and we hoped our support would have improved their situation.

"Setiwan certainly appeared much healthier and more alert and the sight which greeted us as we arrived was most heart warming.

"The families underlying living conditions may not have improved but they quite clearly are much healthier, especially the young twins. Like Setiwan they too are much more alert and they have lost the doleful hungry look that they had last year.

"The parents too look much better as a result of the medical help they are receiving from the island's Aids Programme.

"We also got to see Setiwan's report card and you can see clearly the improvement in his school work. We left in very different spirits from last year and it is very clear to see we have started to make a difference to this family."

Whilst visiting Setiwan Shona and Russell also visited the Krisna Rajasa orphanage which is one of the poorest on the island and houses 35 children, the youngest of which is only four. He was handed into the orphanage covered in blood after being abused by his step father.

Saddened

"Situated as it is in the north of the island very few tourists visit, so there are very few donations forthcoming and little or no sponsorship of individual children," said Russell.

"We left the orphanage saddened by what we had seen and heard, but uplifted by the wonderful work that is being done there.

"Once again we saw children with no real possessions but still they all smiled and appeared happy. We arrived back at the hotel tired but happy in the knowledge that we had started to change the lives of Setiwan's family and will be able to help others."

The couple went on a fact-finding mission, together with staff and other guests at their hotel, to SLB/B in Jimbaran. This is a school for hearing impaired young people, autistic children and children with other mental health problems.

The main aim of the school is to make their students capable of becoming productive members of the community and currently it has 220 pupils of which 65 are boarders.

At the school there is a great emphasis on vocational skills and there are workshops for vehicle maintenance, carpentry, ceramics, spa services, computer science and textiles.

Russell said, "We were greeted at the school by the head teacher. We were ushered into the school hall and, as is the case the world over, we were then entertained by the children.

"First on stage were some young girls in traditional Balinese dress doing the legong dance.

"The music started and the girls began to dance - but these girls are deaf and cannot hear the music.

Fascinating

"Our gaze was then directed to the rear of the hall where one of the teachers is signing to the girls and they in turn are transferring the signs into dance steps. It was quite fascinating to watch.

"Overall this was a very interesting trip and our first opportunity to see one of the areas where Bali Kids may be able to offer support as the school has funding issues, especially with regards to the children who board."

Another orphanage they visited was the Anak Anak Bali Orphanage and Care Centre which had been improved since their visit last year. Shona and Russell left a further five million Rupiah with the director of the centre to enable him to buy medicines.

Their final visit was to a new project on Bali called Shining Heart in Denpesar, which helps single mothers. Shona gave its manager 840,000 Rupiah which was donated by one of her work colleagues specifically for the project.

Last year Shona and Russell decided to support a family on the island and, whilst one of the family's three children is being sponsored by Shona's work colleague, Bali Kids continues to support the other two children.

The couple would be keen to hear from anyone who would be interested in sponsoring a family or any of the children at the orphanages.

Russell added, "In deciding how to distribute the funds we have raised this year we went back to SBL/B to visit the boarders' quarters.

"Rundown, tired, inadequate - just a few of the adjectives to describe the living conditions.

"The basic conditions here are poorer than those of the children at Anak Anak Bali and, as a first step, a coat of paint and some new doors on the toilets would be a good start before tidying the gardens and updating the sports facilities.

"We also felt the Krisna Raja orphange was in need of our support.

"It was quite clear that the funding given to support Setiwan and his family was bearing fruit and it was agreed that it should continue.

"We also learned that Setiwan's family do not own the land on which they live and there is a distinct possibility that they could be evicted so we agreed that funds would be made available to purchase land in order to secure the long term future of the family."

Return to the main index, get more from this section or browse our News archives.

Alloa & Hillfoots Advertiser Poll

When should the independence referendum be held in Scotland?

This Poll is now closed.

Within 18 months, as stipulated by the UK Government (30.2%)

Autumn 2014, as announced by Alex Salmond (52.8%)

Never (17.0%)

Follow @alloatiser