The Bali Whisper
The newsletter of the Bali Children’s Project
Issue 1, September 2003
“ The Bali Children's Project (BCP) is dedicated to improving the lives
of children in Bali by providing opportunities for a better education
and a richer life”
In this Issue:
Features
J New Volunteers Arrive
J Indonesian Independence day
Regulars
J New Projects
J Thank-you to Donors
J Volunteer’s Corner:
J Next to the Highway by Robert Crosby
J Volunteer Profile
J Bali News
New Volunteers Arrive:
Excitement level raised a notch as new volunteers’ dive in
headfirst.
The first day of August dawned bright and warm as the new volunteers
arrived for training week. They showed up one by one at the
BCP headquarters, a large
beautiful house perched on the edge of a verdant canyon that drops
down to a wide, rushing river. They introduced themselves over
Bali
coffee and tropical
fruit salad prepared with care by Desak, the bright eyed, ever smiling
lady who
keeps the volunteers stomach’s full and the house sparkling clean.
The group of volunteers included Kerry and Jenny, two Australians who
coincidentally live five minutes apart in the home city of Sydney.
From England came Zoë,
who had just completed six months teaching in Hong Kong, Kian a Canadian
arrived from Australia and is en route to a teaching post in Taiwan.
Jonno, a South
African, joined the group having just completed two years living in
England and Maya,
the second Brit in the group who now resides in California joined after
traveling through Cambodia and Thailand.
Highlights of the volunteer’s first week were:
J A trip to the Market, with its aroma of turmeric and ginger, where the
volunteers tasted, smelled and touched local staples like jackfruit, sirsak
and lak-lak.
J Many hours of intensive language training with ever patient Yudi
and occasionally spiced up by giant bars of Cadbury’s courtesy
of Jenny.
J A stroll through the rice paddies in the soft early morning light,
which ended with a traditional Balinese break-fast of fresh fruit and
rice pudding
at Darta’s
(the guide for the walk) home.
Merdeka!
Volunteers enjoy festivities of the Indonesian Independence Day: 17 August
2003
On the 17th of August Indonesia celebrated its independence with red and
white flags adorning every village. The volunteers celebrated the end of
their first
week teaching with a weekend of sun and surf in Kuta. It so happened that
Kerry, one volunteer teaching in Desa Tajen shared her birthday with the
Indonesian
independence, so all the volunteers celebrated with the villagers and enjoyed
watching the local men attempt to climb the greasy pole that has become
a tradition on independence day. The men try to climb a well-greased extremely
smooth pole
to claim prizes suspended at the top. It was a real sight and a privilege
for the volunteers to witness.
New Projects
Yoga, Independence of Volunteer
division, Partnership with IDEP
J This month the Bali Children’s Project were happy to see the beginning
of weekly yoga classes for adults and kids, taught by Maya. The proceeds of the
donation-based classes will benefit the Bali Children’s Project.
J The volunteer component of the BCP has decided to become an independent
organisation and will now be called Teach Indonesia. Teach Indonesia will
also be developing
it’s own Website and monthly newsletter with the launch tentatively set
for the beginning of October. Teach Indonesia and The Bali Children’s
Project will still be working together in creating a better education and
richer life
for the children of Bali and Indonesia at large.
J Under their new title of Teach Indonesia the volunteer component of the
BCP is proud to announce that they, have joined forces with Indonesian
Development
of Education for Permaculture (IDEP). IDEP is a yayasan (non-governmental
organisation) dedicated to raising environmental awareness, supporting
sustainable development
and many other projects for the development of Indonesian people. Teach
Indonesia and IDEP will share new office space in the middle of Ubud and
the partnership
will bring together to passionate teams of people whose goals are for the
development and improvement of the Indonesian community.
Volunteer’s Corner
Next to the Highway
The world is a highway, we’re on a ride
To begin everyday a turn to the side,
Next to the highway a dirt yard with a house
Squats kind of sideways, adjacent6 to wealth
Next to the house, a hotel on a hill
Gapes like a baby bird’s mouth, never filled
Next to the hotel, a farmers rice grain
Stinks the stale smell of a high-yield strain.
Next to the farmer, his little child
A cuddly charmer cascading with smiles
Next to the child, the highway roars by
In her own style the child wonders why…
If the world is a highway, why can’t she get on?
I wanted to help, but by then, I was gone.
By Robert Crosby
Volunteer Profile
Name: Kian Robert Weber
Age: 24
Birthdate: 9 March 1979
Starsign: Pisces
Nationality: CanadianFavourite Indonesian Food: Gado-Gado and Mango Lassi (Gado-Gado
is steamed vegetables covered in a spicy peanut sauce and a Lassi is blended
yoghurt and fruit)
Favourite music: A tribe called quest, Bad Religion and Jack Johnson
Favourite movies: American History X, Dazed and confused and Terminator 2
Favourite past times: Guitar, reading, writing, travelling and dancing
What one possession would you ask for on a deserted island?
A guitar
Where have you come from?
I graduated from The University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada
where I majored in Anthropology in April 2002. I then worked on a broccoli
farm
for four months before travelling to Australia in November 2002. I lived
and worked
in Melbourne for the summer and arrived in Bali in July 2003. I started
working as a volunteer with the Bali Children’s Project in August
2003.
Why did you choose to do volunteer work in Bali?
My original plan was to travel around Bali for three months but I didn’t
want to get stuck in the tourist scene. I decided to become a volunteer on the
project because I wanted to do something more meaningful with my time in Bali.
The Bali Children’s Project was the perfect solution as it allowed
me to get more experience teaching English as a foreign language. I liked
the
BCP especially
because teachers get placed at schools that are asking for English teachers
as opposed to schools that take English teachers due to regulations. I
believe that
working on the project is an excellent way of giving back for the opportunity
I got to spend my time in such a beautiful place. In Bali it is easy to
take advantage of the local conditions as everything is so cheap and easy.
I found
teaching more challenging, enjoyable and rewarding than simply lying on
a beautiful beach and doing nothing. What you get out of your travels is
dependent
on what
you put in.
What was your best experience in the village?
There are a couple of experiences that stand out:
Sitting around chatting with my family and exchanging Indonesian and English
words.
I got renamed Putu Kian by my family, which means first born in Balinese.
What was your funniest experience in the village?
Being asked by the kids in my class for my autograph in their notebooks.
What was the hardest experience in the village?
The hardest experience was getting dropped off at my new home after spending
the training week in the beautiful homestay in Ubud. The first night was
difficult due to the re-adjustment and getting used to living in a new
family’s
house. After the first night however it became really easy and I felt very
welcome.
Where to next?
Taiman, Taiwan for a one year contract teaching english to children age 6-17.
Inspirational quote:
People
Rely
On
People
Thank-You
Thank-you to the following kind, generous and thoughtful people
who gave their time and resources during August.
J Kerry Brodeur, USA
Kerry is a teacher from the United States. She traveled around Indonesia
during her summer holidays taking video footage of the cultural diversity
of Indonesia
and intends to use the footage to educate her students. She is also planning
to set up a drop-off box at her school where her students can donate
stationery and other classroom necessities to a fellow student in Bali.
Kerry accompanied two members of the team on a visit to schools in Baturiti
and Tajen and she was clearly touched by the friendly and eager nature
shown by the
children.
Thank-you Kerry for the your time and interest in the Bali Children’s
Project and we hope that our long distance partnership will grow stronger.
J Carol Bitera, Ireland
Carol is an art student from Ireland who visited Bali during August to
study the Balinese art and tradition. She was based near our offices
in Ubud and approached
us after reading about the project in the area. She accompanied two members
of the team on a day trip to visit schools that the volunteers work at.
She also
kindly donated art supplies, books, wall charts and writing books to
the schools. In addition to this she agreed to teach an English class
of attentive students
at a school in Baturiti.
Thank-you Carol, for the much-needed donations and for so generously
giving your precious time while you were in Bali.
J Yvette Lewis, Pearson Education Australia
Kerry Grant, our kind-hearted volunteer from Sydney, Australia contacted
her close friend Yvette Lewis at Pearson Education Australia with a view
to getting
a donation of scholastic books published by her company. With no hesitation
at all, Yvette agreed and by the end of the week three large boxes arrived
on our
doorstep.
The books will be used as teaching aides and a reading corner at schools
in Tagen, Baturiti, Gianyar and at the Ubud, Homestay. The donation
of books is
the biggest
the project has ever received and everyone at the Bali Children’s
Project is extremely grateful to Yvette and her colleagues; Tricia
Agius, Denise
Ryan and Rod SURNAME at Pearson Education for their generosity.
J Steve the Canadian and his lovely girlfriend, Sasha
These two teachers brought books, stickers, puzzles, games and more for
our villages. They also joined us for a day in Tajen to celebrate. All
our resources and materials
are donations so we are thankful for those who think about our mission
and the children during their travels and visits to Bali.
