Rotary Club Bali Seminyak recently celebrated its 15th birthday and we’re proud to have 50 members with more joining us on a regular basis. Our club is one of five English speaking Rotary Clubs in Bali and we invite YOU to come and have lunch with us at the Trans Resort. For meeting dates and times, please check out our calendar at rotaryseminyak.org/events/calendar. You would be most welcome.
Doing good in the world is what Rotary is all about and Rotary Club Bali Seminyak is doing its part. You’ll find our club at work in many Regencies of Bali and on other islands as well. On Bali, the club currently has over nine active projects in the Regencies of Karangasem, Gianyar, Tabanan and Klungkung. On Flores, a huge water project is bringing clean water to over a thousand people in 10 villages. There are even MORE projects waiting in the wings.
‘Hands for Tista” is one of our projects taking place in Karangasem, and is aimed at helping poverty level families…defined as earning less than US$ 2.00 a day…create more income. How? By raising pigs! This project initially purchased 10 female piglets and one male pig.
Then, with the help and advice of local village leadership, ten poverty level families were identified and each was given a female piglet. At maturation (about 6 months) each female piglet was visited by the male pig (who clearly enjoys his work). When the female pig delivers a litter of piglets, half of them will go to other waiting poverty level families. Because families can’t afford to buy pre-prepared pig food, these pigs are fed natural wild foliage collected from the surrounding area. This makes the pigs more valuable because they have ingested zero chemicals or antibiotics. They taste better, too!
Coming at the end of August, the local government clinic in Payangan, Gianyar will be sending its staff of doctors, dentists, and nurses to elementary schools to examine over 500 elementary school children. Parents are invited to participate in this health check-up. Doctors will also teach children (and parents) about basic hygiene with a huge emphasis on hand washing. The World Health Organization tells us that keeping our hands clean reduces illness from diarrhea by 50%. For more information about our projects please see http://rotaryseminyak.org/SitePage/club-projects.
Informative guest speakers at our meetings give us insights into important ‘goings on’ in Bali and throughout Indonesia. From these guest speakers we often learn about major needs in our Balinese communities and how we, as a Rotary club, can help. Mike O’Leary, Director of the ROLE Foundation (Rivers, Oceans, Lakes, and Ecology) recently spoke to us about an international problem…mountains of plastic. Mike suggested ways by which we can avoid adding to that mountain, made suggestions about how to safely get rid of plastic that has already accumulated and wanted us to clearly understand that we don’t want plastic ending up in our waterways!
In between working on projects, the club is always ready for fun and fellowship. President Alex Jovanovic, General Manager at the Trans Resort, makes our twice a month club meetings light hearted and informal…with delicious lunches, too! Occasional Vocational Tours take us to places we might never see in Bali…like a pig farm! In support of the Smile Foundation, one of our members invites everyone to free Sunday brunches…with hopes attendees will leave a donation.
So, if you have a couple of hours to spare and are interested in what happens behind the scenes in Bali, come join for lunch!
By: Marilyn Carson
Copyright © 2017 Rotary News
You can read all past articles of Rotary News at
www.BaliAdvertiser.biz