As we all know Bali is one of the most popular holiday destinations in the world and people travel from far and wide to come visit this tropical island .. enjoy sunsets and cocktails on the beaches, wonder at the endless stretches of green rice fields, the tropical rainforests abundant with palm tress and most of all the beautiful and gentle Balinese people.
But behind Bali’s face of luxury hotels, fine dining restaurants and shops galore, there are many impoverished local communities who encounter many life threatening problems. Water is scarce, there is very poor sanitation,no health facilities for them and the children have little or no schooling. Our aim at Rotary Club Bali Canggu is to provide as much help as we can to assist and provide for those in need by organizing fundraising, applying for special funding grants and seeking to join alliances with overseas Rotary Clubs for joint projects together.
We are very fortunate to have 2 of our current members Tim Cameron, the founder of Stella’s Child and Chris Sperduto, the founder of Project Protect Helmet Man and both are very passionate and very committed with their work for the children of Bali and we endeavor to support them in any way we can.
Stella’s Child .. is a foundation here in Bali whose focus is on helping Balinese children between the ages of 4 and 18 who come from impoverished backgrounds, are victims of violence and exploitation or come from broken homes. Stella’s Child provides safe places to live, quality health care and access to formal education. Tim’s mission is to empower Bali’s youth by equipping these underprivileged children with the necessary skills to create a better future through classes, mentoring, workshops and programs. The training programs help the children not lose sight of their dreams, to gain self confidence and learn skills to last a lifetime. With Tim’s passion those who have been unfairly disadvantaged are given the opportunity to grow and prosper and create a future.
Project Protect Helmet Man .. “Always Wear Your Helmet And Remember To Clip It ” is the catch phrase of Chris’s life saving education project whose aim is to transform the habit of a nation. Too often on these busy Bali roads we see adults with helmets (unclipped) and the children with none at all. Chris informs us the parents wear helmets to avoid fines from the police, not because they are trying to protect themselves. With an alarming rate of serious head injuries occurring due to no helmet use, Chris created an icon called ‘Helmet Man’ who spreads the word to the children about the importance of wearing one and clipping it. He keeps it fun and positive and distributes the helmets so they learn how to wear them. Over the past 2 years Chris has done over 60 presentations and distributed over 9,000 helmets and the aim to is to never see a child on a motorbike without one.
Our Rotary Club is heavily committed to helping those in need with a lot of projects directed towards children as they are the most vulnerable of all. Most of us who have happy healthy well cared for children and grand children could not imagine those we love living lives without care, food, shelter and protection. After hearing about a relatively new project in Bali called Project Karma, our President approached the Founder Glen Hulley to enquire more and ask if him if he would join us at our meeting to do a presentation. Though the nature of this would be very confronting he felt it would be beneficial for all to be made more aware of the sinister side of our paradise island.
Project Karma’s ‘Sentinel Project’ in Bali is to combat child exploitation and child trafficking for sex abuse… so shocking but an ugly truth. One we don’t think about really as a world away from how we live.
When Glen travelled to Cambodia in 2013 his life changed forever. He was approached in a market, offered a young girl and the realization that this was happening shocked him so deeply he set about to do what he could to stop this evil trade. Glen then started the charity Project Karma with the aim to create specialized teams to work in the hot spots of Asia. Glen’s background was in security, police investigation (gaining an Advanced Diploma in Public safety), intelligence analysis and field and drug investigations. He spoke at length about child trafficking and the sad reality that in SE Asia this problem is worse than anywhere. Glen is now conducting awareness seminars with the local security, village leaders, civil police, business owners and university students with the plan to train community investigators to communicate with villages and schools. These investigators will gather evidence and work closely with police to be able to finally arrest the offenders and help lessen this evil. One would have to say the sooner the better! We were all shocked, saddened but transfixed to hear the harsh reality of what lengths some people go to and on a lighter note so happy to hear of all the success stories.
On a final note our club was very happy to be able to contribute towards the Mt Agung Relief Fund recently. On 2 occasions we travelled to 10 evacuee camps in the Karangasem area to supply 30 Nazava Water Filter units which I must say were badly needed. These poor people had been having to boil water for drinking so the sight of these units bought out a lot of smiles. And a big thank you to all who donated!
Our Rotary Club meets the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month at the beautiful Hotel Tugu at the end of Jalan Batu Bolong in Canggu. Come along, join our meeting and meet the team! For any info please contact the clubsecretary grantsusan58@gmail.com
By : Susan Grant
RCBC Club Secretary
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