Please note: Due to PPKM mandates, Bogies for Bali, Rotary Club Bali Ubud Sunset’s [RCBUS] first annual golf tournament has been postponed until 29 & 30 October 2021.

“Serve to Change Lives” is the presidential theme for Rotary International’s new president, Shekhar Mehta. RCBUS is actively embracing Mehta’s challenge. Our goals for the 2021-22 year include:

1. Adding 6 new members to RCBUS
2. Strengthening ties with our Rotaract Club (Rotaract focuses on young people between the ages of 18 and 30, helping them to develop leadership skills to be used professionally, in their communities, and worldwide.)
3. Strengthening ties with our international partners in Australia, Germany, and the US
4. Distributing 10 toilets to schools who currently do not have them
5. Hosting our first annual charity golf tournament, Bogies for Bali
6. Launching our first environmental partnership with the WEHEA Project in Kalimantan
7. Growing our Sewing for Living program by adding new participants and new markets for the items produced
8. Revitalizing our Guest Speaker program
9. Examine the possibilities offered by Rotary Internationals three grant programs: District Grants, Global Grants, and the newest possibility, Programs of Scale Grants.

RCBUS will install its first new member of the current fiscal year on Monday, 13 September. 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 and 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. Our new website is currently under construction. You will be able to read more about RCBUS on our new website shortly.

Our Rotaract Club is noted for its mobile library which brings books and school supplies to children in the Gianyar Regency when classes meet in person. This year, the Rotaract members will help identify schools in need of toilets which RCBUS will provide and help to install. Members will also help manage the inventory for Sewing for Living items.

The women who participate in Sewing for Living are currently producing items for two Christmas Markets located in Cologne, Germany. This is a result of RCBUS’ partnership with Rotary E-Club Cologne. They will also produce items for a privately owned gift shop in Germany. The items the women produce are handcrafted from yarn which has been donated by private individuals in Australia and the USA. Our newest donor is also our newest international partner, Rotary Club Tucson Sunrise in Tucson, Arizona, USA. In December of 2021, Sewing for Living will open a gift shop next to Jiwa House at Jl. Sandat No. 9, in Ubud, Center City. All proceeds from the sales there will go directly to the women who handcrafted the items. Sewing for Living will also produce Obe, the Orangutan, toys. Not only will the proceeds from these toys help support the women who participate in the Sewing for Living project, but 50% of the proceeds will go to support RCBUS’ involvement in the WEHEA Project in Kalimantan.   The WEHEA Project is helping to prevent the devastation of Wehea National Forest, which is the home of the Dayak people, along with several endangered species of animals such as the Borneon orangutans, clouded leopards, grizzled langurs, and sun bears. Fabrics for sewing and yarn for crochet projects are provided free of charge to the participants of Sewing for Living.

If you know of Balinese women who would like to learn, at no cost to them, to use a sewing machine or to crochet items which they can then sell to support their families, please contact Kartika Dewi at kartikadewi0580@gmail.com for details.

Our Australian international partners have also funded several of RCBUS’ water projects which have brought running water to around 17 villages in East Bali.

RCBUS meetings are held in person, on Zoom or with a combination of both types of meetings as some of our members are in Australia or the US. With that in mind, we are pleased to announce that we are lifting the moratorium we had placed on speakers at our meetings. Our speakers are generally members of our community who are leaders in business, not for profits, or education. They have the opportunity to present details concerning their organizations that will inform our membership of activities within the community. If you would like to address our Rotary Club, please contact kartikadewi0580@gmail.com for details.

Cindy Bachtiar, the current District Governor of Rotary International District 3420, visited RCBUS’ 31 August meeting via Zoom. She stressed that the current fiscal year would be a year of challenges and positive change as Rotarians “serve to change lives’ in District 3420 and around the world. She looks forward to expanding the Rotarian membership so we can also expand our sphere of service to others. Her signature project is to provide 5,000 toilets to Indonesians who do not have them. She also strongly supports Rotary International President, Shekhar Mehta’s initiatives which are Girl Empowerment and the manifestation of a Rotary Day of Service.

 

Copyright © 2021 Rotary News

You can read all past articles of Rotary News at www.BaliAdvertiser.biz