26 March 2010. The latest project has been an emergency  "feed the kids" project, with a large donation by Brett & Susanne from Australia.  We found a few girls that often come on tours with us stopped coming and were complaining of dizzy spells and bed ridden, were actually going without meals and literally starving due to a rice shortage in Bali and therefore a price increase.  Unfortunately girls are feed last sometimes, and especially the 4th to 6th born.  We now supply meals every day for a select group of girls and the improvement in their health has been wonderful to see in only 2 weeks.  We prefer to feed them rather than give the meals to the families as we want to see that they are actually fed.  A few little girls have been so hungry they have been sucking the fish off the bones of the leftovers from our tourists, it's been hard to watch knowing how hungry they are, but after we leave the village everyday we know they have very full belly's.

With the help of some generous donors of clothes we were able to give each child a new outfit to go on their "field trip" to the Museum of Gunung Batur.  The trip was also funded by donors.  Here are some pictures of the kids enjoying their day out of the village.

Clothes are coming in from around the world, we received 3 large boxes of donations last week and the office is filling up quicker than we can hand them out (Oh, where are our volunteers!).

Here are some pictures of last weeks recipients.  There are some very happy villagers and many more smiles to come over the next few weeks as we manage to hand them all out.  It is a time consuming task, sorting in to sizes etc, however with many rewards. We must ensure that all the villagers are receiving something and not just a select few.  We also need to look at the poorest ones first.  Thanks again to all the donors!

On July 13 2009 Kedisan Primary School started back after a winter holiday break of 4 weeks. On this day C.Bali were lucky enough to be able to present the school with enough school supplies to last the next 6 months.  These included 1 note book, 1 pen, 1 pencil, 1 eraser and 1 pencil sharpener for every child.  Spare pens and writing pads for the teachers and up to date Indonesian maps, glue, staplers and colouring pencils for every classroom.

We thank all the donors that donated school supplies and money for us to purchase supplies. We thank you so much for giving us the resources to continue to support this village and the joy we get when we are able to witness scenarios as above..

As we are a very big distraction at the school the headmaster told us that we were not allowed to visit when the children were at school so we visited after school ended, quietly sneaking in and delivering the supplies.  1 hour later one child from each class came down to our office as representatives of each of the 6 year levels to thank us, it was a great opportunity for us to explain a bit more about our donors and how the supplies came about, we showed them photos on our computer of different parts of the world where our tour guests live, it was great experience for the children and now they show so much interest in geography. The other day a year 6 girl (Luckday-Wayan) had her geography book with her and asked me where our guest were from and then proudly pointed to their home town on her map and showed them were they lived (El Paso, Texas)...

Our Childcare centre has also received donations lately including cash to buy our usual supply of vitamins, toothbrushes, milk and rice.  We received wonderful colour posters of animals, flash cards, puppets, musical instruments and more toothpaste. From left-over cash for school supplies we were able to buy colour pencils and colouring books as well. Our pre-education program here was a great introduction to our 2 of our little ones Pipit and Maya who also started school on 13 July, they are big girls now...

Clothes have been coming in from around the world and they have all been handed out with welcoming arms, including shoes, gloves and we even had two ladies give two older woman the hats right of their heads while on one of our tours.  Although a traditional village the warmer clothes are really appreciated and of far higher quality than clothes available in Bali. The older woman love towels, they wear them around their shoulders as a shall, around their sarong and on their heads, rolled up to help carry the heavy loads. So any medium size towels are always appreciated and latest and greatest fashion item in the village at present.

C.Bali have received many donations this year of books, pens, pencils, crayons, rice, clothes, gloves, shoes etc and many thanks goes out to all that donated.  They have also received money and would now like to make a more formal and auditable arrangement for cash donations.

C.Bali have decided to start a Foundation to support the Village of Kedisan.  Through this Foundation C.Bali hopes to provide not only financial support to the villagers but much needed research to ensure the funds are spent in the best possible way.

In order to administer funds and conduct research, C.Bali will take on volunteers.  Volunteers will be provided with basic housing and meals (Balinese style housing and Balinese meals).  C.Bali will help organise their visas for a 3 month period.  Volunteers will be required to do economical, social, technical and environmental research in the village of Kedisan in order to best determine the distribrituion of Foundation funds.

Coming to Bali and want to donate to the Villagers, but don't know what they need?

C.Bali will gladly pass on any donations to Kedisan's less fortunate Villagers.

Often people want to donate second hand books for the children, but remember this area gets very cold at night and some families live in grass huts so second hand warm clothing and blankets are really needed but if you can't fit them in your case and you really want to donate juts contact us and we can let you know what is most needed at present.  We have just received a large amount of writing supplies for the school so we dont need any more at this stage (Thanks to all!). Books, will be passed on of course, but they must be in Bahasa Indonesian as they are not learning English (We know that the books end up in the back of the cupboards at home at the moment).

Second hand shoes are always welcomed, especially if your children have out grown their black leather school shoes as the children in the village often carry their school shoes to school, walking barefoot so they don't wear out their school shoes, as the family can only afford to buy them once.

School Uniforms are needed, so if you have the time, we can send you the details and you may wish to purchase a child a uniform while you are visiting Bali.

At present Small blankets, mattresses and rice for the Childcare Centre would be appreciated. The Childcare Centre was opened officially in August after a kind donation of 100 euros each from 12 Dutch people to the Bali Female Farmers Partnership Project, we thank you all very much.

And thank you to those who donated vitamins and small towels. 

A big thank you to our 2 young female Dutch volunteers who lived in the village for 3 months and worked so hard on the childcare centre by painting the walls and making chairs and tables and a blackboard and bringing in donations to provide toothbrushes, vitamins etc for the kids.

Thanks Manon and Stephanie, the children miss you already.

Western Toys are not traditional for Balinese children, Balinese children entertain themselves as they are always with other children, we do not wish to change the culture of these children so the introduction of Western toys is not something C.Bali would like to do as the children need to learn their traditions such as practicing Gamelon etc.

If you want to bring something over and you are not sure, just contact us.

Thanking you in advance

C.Bali

C.Bali spent 27 July 2008 purchasing 'sandals' (thongs) for the 105 children that attend the Kedisan Junior school.

In order to spread the money around, thongs were purchased from every Warung (store) in Kedisan so that the donations were spread to as many small businesses as possible, it took a whole day to purchase and sort them into sizes.

The following Monday, 3 August, 2008, C.Bali had the joy of being able to hand out the 105 pairs to the children and watch their faces light up.

C.Bali "walk the walk"

C.Bali purchased rubbish bins for the village of Kedisan and to set an example, spent the day picking up rubbish.

C.Bali will spend a few hours every week picking up rubbish and will empty the bins on a weekly basis or as needed.

The rubbush is srted for recycling and this practice encourages the villagers not to burn their plastic rubbish

The children of Kedisan are rewarded for their efforts in collecting a full bag of rubbish while learning the importance of caring for the environment.

The kids of Kedisan meet at the classroom, collect their empty rubbish bag and head off down through the village to fill their bags with rubbish.

(The classroom is an old restaurant that has been converted to serve as a classroom and computer training centre for the project 'Bali Fresh Female Farmers')

Once they have filled their bags they come back to the classroom, wash their hands, receive a small bag of treats and sit down to watch a movie. The kids have enjoyed many western movies such as "A Bugs Life", "Finding Nemo" and "Happy Feet" but they also enjoy the educational dvds that are in Bahasa Indonesian and teach them about the elements, such as "Why does the Wind blow?" and "Why is the sky blue?". We invite volunteers that speak Bahasa Indonesian to be a part of this rewarding experience.