Membership in Rotary International offers many benefits to Rotary Club members. Members of Rotary Club Bali Ubud Sunset [RCBUS], have the opportunity to meet people from all over the world, to share experiences and to share ideas that will help make the world a better place. Rotary is a global community of 1.2 million members who share similar values. Rotary membership comes with access to this network of 1.2 million people located all over the. RCBUS members regularly attend club meetings and work within our local community, but we have also taken the opportunity to make a larger impact by connecting with Rotary members outside of Indonesia.
RCBUS has formed partnerships with five different Rotary Clubs on three different continents to ensure that projects that aid the Balinese population are successful: Alfredton Rotary Club of Victoria, Australia; E-Club of Cologne, Germany, Europe; Rotary Club of New Tampa Noon of Tampa, Florida, USA; Rotary Club Tucson Sunrise, Tucson, Arizona, USA; and Rotary Club of Seaford, Australia.
Four of RCBUS’ five partnerships include joint endeavors to support the local Sewing for Living project which teaches local Balinese women to use sewing machines and to crochet in order to earn money to support their families.
E-Club of Cologne is RCBUS’ most active partnership. Both clubs participate in a joint Zoom meeting once a month. The Cologne members developed a successful online fundraiser called “Bali to Batmen” which discussed with examples of influence of gamelan music on composers from Claude Debussy to those who composed music for Hollywood. Proceeds will go to Yayasan Bali Sehat to support healthy day clinics in the villages of Karangasem. Recently, the members of the German Club have helped RCBUS to develop markets for items created by the women involved in the Sewing for Living projects. E-Club of Cologne sponsored a booth at a German Christmas market in Cologne where they collected donations in return for the handcrafter items. All donations went to the Sewing for Living project. Their marketing efforts for the Christmas Market booth helped raise awareness for the Sewing for Living project in Germany. E-Club of Cologne thanked RCBUS for providing a way for them to get together in person to work on a project and promote their club’s sense of camaraderie. They have also expressed interest in a joint effort to secure a Global Grant from Rotary International to support a project of mutual interest. As both RCBUS and E-Club of Cologne are interested in environmental projects, E-Club of Cologne has worked with local university students in Cologne to develop a website in German for the WEHEA project supported by RCBUS. The WEHEA project works with Hutan Masa Depan Yayasan to help protect the WEHEA rainforest in Kalimantan, the endangered animals who live there, and the homes of the Dayak people who inhabit it. Both clubs are eagerly anticipating the day when members of E-Club of Cologne will be able to travel to Bali to participate in a Rotary Friendship exchange.
RCBUS is also eagerly awaiting the day when Rotary Club Tucson Sunrise will travel to Bali to participate in another Rotary Friendship Exchange. Rotary Club Tucson Sunrise has actively supported RCBUS’ Sewing for Living project by sending a donation of approximately 41 kilo of yarn (wool) and sewing supplies for the Sewing for Living participants to use to handcraft their items for sale. They have also supported the project with a generous donation to help RCBUS establish markets for the items the women create. Rotary Club Tucson Sunrise is collaborating with other Rotaries in the Tucson area to promote Sewing for Living. They staffed a display which explained the project to attendees of the Rotary District Conference which was held in Tucson.
Sewing for Living has also be supported by two other of RCBUS’ international partners: Rotary Club of Seaford, Australia and Rotary Club of New Tampa Noon of Tampa, Florida, USA. Together they have been responsible for the project’s ability to purchase sewing machines and an overlock machine for the women to use.
The Alfredton Rotary Club of Victoria, Australia, has supported the Kendampal Water Project, an inter-continental effort between two Rotary clubs responsible for bringing water to 87 families in Kedampal Village. The village is located in Karangasem Regency in Eastern Bali, one of the poorest areas on the island.
If you are considering joining RCBUS and would like to attend a meeting to see what we are all about, please contact Marion Hook at marion.hook@gmail.com for more information. We meet every 2nd Monday at Warong Mina Ubud and every last Monday of the month at Sthala Ubud Bali, a five-star hotel managed by Marriott International. It is located in Lodtunduh Village in Ubud. If you would like to join this dynamic group of people from three different continents who love Bali and work to help the people who live here, information to do so can be found at http://rotarybaliubudsunset.org/how-to-become-an-rcbus-member/.
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