In 2002, Christine Grosso – a French native, came to Bali. She decided to take a short tour to the Karangasem region in the east of Bali and landed in the small seaside town of Amed. One day while she was walking through the town, she met a young Balinese child on the street. She asked him why he wasn’t in school, and he told her that his family was too poor to pay for him to go. Grosso was very moved by her encounter with the young boy, which was the catalyst for her decision to create a foundation to help disadvantaged children in Amed in collaboration with Indonesia/France and Europe/France. Thus, Yayasan Anak Bali was founded in 2003, consisting of four divisions: Anak Bali (headquarters), Anak France, Anak Spain and Anak Switzerland. The primary function of the European divisions is to fundraise and manage Godparents in Europe. They send all money raised to Bali, but decisions are made collectively.
In the beginning, Anak Bali operated by finding donors who were then matched with a child who they supported through their primary school education. As the program evolved, donors continued their support through high school, providing funds that assist with children’s school fees, materials and uniforms.
On Bali, there are many families that are struggling to feed their children and maintain daily life. Thus, healthcare is seldom made a priority due to the immediate need of survival. Anak Bali sees a strong link between education and healthcare; thus, they bring kids to local healthcare centers every six months for medical check ups in an effort to support the wellbeing of disadvantaged children who would otherwise not have access to healthcare services.
In addition, Anak Bali is involved in ongoing school renovation & community center projects in East and North Bali. In 2006, Anak Bali built a community education center that is open to all children in the village of Bunutan. This center has four rooms that can accommodate overnight stays for volunteers or other people who work for Anak Bali. In 2009, they built another center in Pakisan that is equipped with a library, computers and classrooms, and in February 2010, a new library was inaugurated in a public primary school with the goal of encouraging children to develop a love of reading. Anak Bali has helped renovate more than 10 schools. Some of these schools were completely renovated and other schools had no libraries or were sorely in need of upgrading of their bathroom facilities. In certain instances, Anak Bali has given money for equipment such as new desks and chairs.
Nyoman Sutapa, President of Anak Bali Indonesia shares the success of three children who participated in a TAKRAW competition:
“We have 3 sponsored children who are doing well in their studies and who participated in Takraw competitions. Ni Kadek Juliantini participated in a TAKRAW competition in Denpasar. She managed to place third in the category of 15 - 18 year olds. Ni Ketut Rediantini came second in the 12 -15-year-old group. The third child, I Gede Suardana, was successful in his participation in the Jakarta Olympics, because he came in third in the 8 -12-year old group. He has great potential for the next competition because he’s young. We hope that he’ll be first and that he’ll therefore be able continue to the Asia competition level. I appreciate them a great deal, because they are motivated and well supported. I hope that these results will provide encouragement and happiness to all the other children. Thanks for your cooperation.”
Currently, approximately 250 children receive help from Anak Bali. One of their biggest goals is to help children continue their studies through university. Success of realizing this goal is evident, as there are presently seven students studying at university. One of these students is studying to become a dentist, and another student has recently graduated and is working as a primary school teacher.
Additionally, Anak Bali is currently working on getting donations from big companies to assist with funding university students, as these costs are much greater. For example, to fund a university student to become a dentist, it costs approximately US$5,000 - $6,000 a year. The student must study for five years, so the total cost is about US$25,000 - $30,000. Anak Bali would be very happy if companies committed to giving support to their organization on a regular basis. Through continued support, many children will have the opportunity to obtain a quality education.
All of Anak Bali’s programs are being funded by donations only. This makes it challenging for the organization to determine which programs will be able to be maintained in the future. At present, the younger children are matched with only one donor who pays for the child’s education expenses each month. In the future, Anak Bali would like donors who are not just looking to support one child, but who want to donate money to the foundation to assist a variety of projects as well as many children who are in need. Anak Bali determines the families that are in need by checking out the situation of the family before sponsoring the child. Anak Bali’s decision to fund a child isn’t based on a particular school. Often the head of the village or teachers will recommend children who really need assistance.
If you’d like to help out, you can give as little as10, 20, or 30 € monthly. This money goes into a common fund earmarked for 75 scholarship students and 4 young people undertaking advanced studies. The scholarships are distributed to studious children. It is short-term aid (a minimum of 6 months) dependent upon school results. What does this mean? The teaching body picks out the top three students of the class; the scholarship is then attributed to the student from the poorest family. Anak Bali has set up this program for the last three years of primary school, middle school and high school with sums of 30,000, 150,000 and 180,000 rupiah/month (2, 11, 13 €) respectively. For more information please contact:
Yayasan ANAK Bantuan ANAK Indonesia
Jalan Raya Pengosekan, Br. Kalah, Peliatan
Ubud 80571-Bali-Indonesia
0361977204 / 08123856809
E: info@anak-bali.or.id W: www.anak-bali.or.id
