Help Dreams Rise in Remote Bali

We are proud to report on the continued development of the 12 students in Jatituhu education programs that you sponsored through our crowdfunding campaign. All students are very eager to learn in the school even though they have to walk quite far, average 1 – 1.5 hours by foot from their house to the school. No public transport in this area, because the village is located on the slopes of the mountain, and can only can be accessed by foot; thick dust in the dry season, slippery in the rainy season, every day they pass, nevertheless they never complain because the one thing they want is SUCCESS, as verified by the expectations of one of the students below.

I Nengah D is currently in class II Junior high school and the 11 other students are still in elementary school. He was born in Jatituhu on August 17th 2003 and he is the 6th son from 7 children. His parents are dry land farmers who can only grow crops in the rainy season. He is very diligent in helping his parents; although he is still a child, he works like an adult. On none school days (Saturday and Sunday) he works from early morning to dig soil in his dry farm, planting or maintaining the crops and taking care of some livestock such as cattle, chicken and pigs.

At the school he was known to be very quiet, but diligent in study. He likes history and Bahasa Indonesia subjects and sometimes Nengah looks very nervous when they learn in group lessons in class, because he is the only boy in the class. However, he always tries to be the best, as can be seen from their development while studying at EMpower programme, our youth empowerment programme to give various skills to the students for their future. In this programme, from July 2015 to June 2016, they all learn about nutrition, reproductive health, job skill, financial literacy and computer literacy and from July 2016, bamboo handicraft training. In this semester he is also learning about the Photovoices, where he wants to tell about the issues that exist in his hamlet to be made public though photos, so that local government and others also know what issue exist in their hamlet. Since he knows that EBPP found the donors to continue his education, he became more confident to study and he showed so much passion for learning in school. 

He said: "I am very worried if no one helped me, I may not be at school, as my expectation was to go to a government school, but I have to walk very far and also I do not have a cost for myself. Lucky there is EBPP’s school in our hamlet, makes me and my friends can learn together to have better future, so I would like to say big thank you to everyone who has helped all of us to continuing our studies. I'm hoping so much to get a sponsor until university level, so after graduation I can help my village and also help families and communities to improve in many things to have a better future.”

School is an important place for children to study and share their knowledge. Because education is so important to the intellectual and social growth of a child, EBPP raised funds using a crowdfunding campaign to improve Desa Ban’s Jatituhu hamlet where 12 children are reaping the benefits and thriving from their studies more than ever.

Through the help of an EBPP Art Teachers, children are now able to use art supplies to turn plain white paper into a beautiful work of art. They combine many colours to make incredible pictures. Only those children who enjoy art as a hobby and wish to work at it daily achieve such a high standard of artistic talent – it’s something they must work at and dedicate themselves to.

August is the happiest month of the year for children of EBPP because we celebrate Indonesia’s Independence Day on August 17^th, 2016. This year was the 71^st Independence Day and the event was very fun and successful for everyone who attended. The day allows children to participate in competitions and races as well as perform music, dance and drama.

Before the event begins, all students receive a nutritious breakfast which includes bread and fresh fruit. Afterwards, everyone gathers to attend the flag ceremony and participate in competitions including: chess, 100 metre sprint, potato sack races, and Panjat Pinang (traditional Indonesian Independence Day game which has people climb up a slippery pole by working together in order to win the prizes placed at the top – it’s always a highly anticipated event)!

During the performance part of the day, children participated in music, dance and drama and this year they were very entertaining while also being educational. They started with a series of sketches entitled “EMpower”. These skits were about nutrition, reproductive health, and how to operate computers. Then, the traditional Balinese dancers wowed the audience with their incredible routines. Afterwards, there were musical performances that included singing and playing instruments. One of Jatituhu student, Ni Nyoman Sudarmi, performed “Merak Angelo” (Peacock) Balinese dance.

In this annual EBPP Independence Day celebration, some of our Jatituhu students were winners in the followingcompetitive events: I Kadek Suryanata came FIRST in our inter-schools chess competition; Ni Nengah Maga Ani, besides being good in Balinese dance, she also came second in the 100 metres girlsrace;I Ketut Rudi came 4^th in for 100 metre boys race and Ni Komang Parti, Ni Wayan Sukerni & Ni Kadek Sudarmi all got first place in the clogs race!

At the end of the events, trophies were presented to all the schools, based on their scores from the different events and then all were given hygiene kits comprising towel, soap, toothbrush and toothpaste, all donated by Bali Dynasty Resort. Finally all of the children helped clean up the plastic waste that had been left after the festivities before heading home.