Now that we are into our second year in Bali, I am getting to know the school community more and have enjoyed volunteering for many great fundraisers and events throughout the year. Since we started I was part of the P & F committee and this year I became the Parents and Friends President.
The school has some wonderful events celebrating both the Australian and Indonesian cultures but they have never had any focus on where the fundraising efforts go.
However just recently the school came across this wonderful organisation called Bali Children’s Foundation (BCF) who provide community education to remote areas of Bali, including primary, secondary and tertiary scholarships to children in 40 communities. They also provide English and Computer classes in the village and educational opportunities at associated Children’s homes.
Our P& F committee voted this year to make AIS the first school to partner with the Bali Children’s Foundation. Our school will sponsor 13 children this year with a BCF child allocated to every classroom. Each class will be responsible for fundraising money to pay for their child’s yearly sponsorship which will give the students a sense of ownership. BCF also encourages communication with the child via letters to promote a mutual understanding of culture so each class will grow and develop a wonderful friendship with the child as they travel through their schooling years together.
As a committee we have decided that this charity will be one that we as a school will fundraise and commit to for many years to come. Exciting times!
Our inaugural fundraising event that will be a regular on the school calendar was a Walkathon. Both the AIS children together with the sponsored Bali Children Foundation children walked together on the school track raising money for the number of laps they complete. There was lots of fun with water pistols, colour powder and music. Watch the highlights of the AIS and BCF Walkathon here.
Our personal sponsorship
Last month our family also sponsored our own child and we are happy to be helping 8 year old Kadek from Tigawasa, North Bali (about 2.5 hrs from where we live).
Kadek’s favourite subject is maths and he loves to play football and wishes to become a football plater when he grows up.
His mother is a Bamboo folder and his dad is a labourer. As we organised the sponsorship at the BCF office in Kerobokan, we met with the inspiring founder Marg Berry who told us that Kadek’s family would earn an income of about $40-$70 a month.
She said apart from sending each other letters we could also organise a visit to where he lives. This is something we might look into down the track.
It was lovely speaking with Marg and hearing all the wonderful projects BCF are doing and how successful not only the sponsored individual but their communities are becoming over the last 8 years. BCF started with 1 village and now they cover 49 villages!
You can see on their website they do many great fundraising events back in Australia too. For more information about this charity visit: www.balichildrenfoundation.org
