Who are the people who are members of Rotary Club Bali Ubud Sunset [RCBUS]? We are people of action, people who want to be impactful in our communities, people who want to create sustainable, positive change around the world, in our community and in ourselves. Over the next few months, we would like to introduce you to these people who make a substantial difference in Bali. Some of us live in Ubud: others live in other areas of the island. To accommodate everyone, we alternate meeting places between Pukako Bisma, a panini shop in Ubud https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g297701-d16724835-Reviews-Pukako_Panini_Coffee-Ubud_Gianyar_Regency_Bali.html and Warong Legong, a restaurant in Keramas http://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Restaurant_Review-d4274987?m=19905.
Using these two eateries as meeting places highlights RCBUS’ renewed efforts to support local businesses. As you read in the previous article, Kadek Erawan, RCBUS member, owns Warong Legong. Abe Satria, another RCBUS member, owns Pukako Bisma. Abe is a former Rotaract [a service, leadership professional and community service arm of Rotary International for men and women between the ages of 18 and 30] who joined RCBUS. Married and the father of 2 children, Abe is an active businessman in the Ubud hospitality community. He was born in Denpasar and is active in community social projects that are based in Ubud.
Hans Joachim Schmid is one of RCBUS’ newest members. Hans was born in Munich, Germany, where he also attended Ludwig Maximilian University, graduating with a degree in computer science. Before coming to Bali in 2007, Hans served as CEO of BMW Bank and BMW Financial Services worldwide. He then became a partner in various consulting and software companies in the automotive finance industry.
Hans retired in 2018 and with his wife, moved permanently to Seminyak. They have 3 children and 2 grandchildren, all living in various parts of southern Germany. All 5 of them visit Bali as often as possible. Hans also enjoys traveling, riding motorbikes, and mountain climbing here in Bali.
Although he is a new member RCBUS, Hans is definitely a person of action. He is a liaison between RCBUS and Rotary clubs in Germany, working diligently to form international partnerships. He worked through German clubs to support RCBUS’s Sewing for Living project. Hans is a champion of the Wehea Project which focuses on preserving the rainforests and endangered wildlife of the Wehea Forest Area of Kalimantan. Locally, Hans is actively involved in the Kedampal Water Project and the Bali Sehat clinic project. Hans sold masks in Germany that were produced by RCBUS’ Sewing for Living project. He has also traveled to East Bali to help RCBUS members distribute food to those families in need, particularly during the current Covid-19 pandemic.
Marion Hook and her late husband, Jim, retired to Bali in 2019. Marion was born in Connecticut in the US but has also lived in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Arizona. She lived with her family in Jakarta in 1982. Her daughters now live on different continents. One lives in Australia, the other in the US.
Marion began her career as a high school English teacher and has taught Shakespeare to teenagers, ESL to little kids and to corporate engineers, communication skills to dislocated steel workers and cooking classes to kids and adults. She has also directed not for profits in Pittsburgh, PA and in Milwaukee, WI. She enjoys good conversation, meeting people, travel, music – particularly jazz and rock ’n roll, cooking, good food and new experiences.
Marion joined RCBUS in 2019. She, too, is a person of action, enthusiastically helping to raise funds many RCBUS projects including the chopper machine for Rumah Kompos Taro, healthy day clinics for Bali Sehat and supplies for Sewing for Living. Some of those efforts have connected RCBUS with other Rotary clubs as far away as Florida, USA. She is compiling information on low or no cost methods of water harvesting, methods that can be taught to agriculturalists in the arid mountain regions of Bali. She helps to find raffle prizes, serves on the Fundraising Committee and chairs the Membership Committee which has accepted 4 new RCBUS members in the past year.
