Help Dreams Rise in Remote Bali

Ni Nyoman Maga Ani (RHS in the photo above) was born on January 3^rd, 2005 in Jatituhu hamlet on very dry slopes of Mount Abang in East Bali. She is the 2^nd of 5 children and her parents are farmers who are only able to plant vegetables (corn and cassava) in the 4 months rainy season.

Her mother miscarried when she was pregnant with her youngest brother due to falling on the steep hill slopes whilst finding grass for their cow. At the time, she slipped and fell and her leg got impaled on a dry tree branch and became swollen, resulting in serious infection and weakness, resulting in the baby dying before birth.

Maga Ani never despairs, even though she is only 11 years old as she loves to help her parents. She wakes up every day at 6am then looks for grass for her cows and also looks for firewood for cooking. She also takes care of their pig after school hours.

Currently Maga Ani is in fifth grade of elementary school. Last year she felt sad when EBPP explained that one of the Jatituhu school sponsor stopped the donation due to difficult financial condition. She was though very happy when we told her that she still able to continue her education because EBPP managed to get sufficient funds for her and the other 11 Jatituhu children through the GlobalGiving UK crowd funding platform.

She loves learning the Balinese language as her favourite school subject and she really likes to work in groups. Her favourite school activity though is learning Balinese dance. Due to her high motivation, within a few months Maga Ani was able to master several types of Balinese dances, such as Pendet (welcome dance), Puspanjali, Rejang and Merak dances. She is often asked by the community to perform Balinese dance at the local temple when they have traditional religious ceremony. In the future, she wants to be a Balinese dance teacher and establish a dance studio to teach the children. Maga Ani also likes to paint, and would also love to become an artist one day!

In celebration of Indonesia’s National Education Day on May 2^nd, 2016, Maga Ani and some of her friends was also chosen to represent Jatituhu elementary school for inter-school quiz contest.

Overall, EBPP’s 12 Jatituhu children who received sponsorship though GGUK crowd funding campaign last year are very motivated to study and promise to continue their education so that someday they can realise their dreams.