In Reply to: Used Toys etc posted by Balifun on Wednesday, 10. May 2006 at 15:07 Bali Time:
I took my 9year old son up to Bali 2 weeks ago.
Same as you we had loads of toys we no longer required and were looking for good new homes for them.
When we left Perth our luggage was over weight!
My bag containing the toys was marked with a chalk cross at Bali airport so I knew it would be opened for inspection.
The customs man was really nice,he simply asked if he could check the bag and also enquired what was inside.I said it was toys for the children.Again he asked if they were for local children, yes being my reply. He had a quick look through and then thanked us for being so kind to bring gifts for the people.
He then wanted to know if we thought that Aussies would keep coming to Bali as there were problems between the Indonesian Govt and the Australian Govt.(Papuan Refugees)
Then we were right to go. As we went past my son gave him a packet of pringles chips we had purchased in the Duty Free Shop, he was thrilled.So not all Customs guys are ogars.
As to the toys,well I wish we could have taken more up with us.
We gave ours out to people we came across over the 2 week holiday.
They were appreciated so much by every one, we also had some new and near new clothing to pass on and this was a huge hit as well.
It doesn't matter were you go in Bali every one of the locals seem to be in quite a desperate situation.From the Family at the laundry to the hotel staff, local store keepers, they are all doing it tough!
We took a backpack of McDonalds toys with us on our Bali Buggy tour up through one of the villages.
I had asked our tour guides Gede and Putu if we could stop along the way to give the toys out to local children.Kids came from every direction each time we stopped.They each waited their turn to receive a toy and were extremely happy for anything they got.
This whole trip was a great education for my son, he really got to see just how much these families and children really appreciate every thing they get and just how little they have.
We bought many folks their breakfast or evening meal whilst we were there. Its only 3000Rp each. It gives you one of those warm fuzzy moments!
We came home quite a few thousand dollars less and were under our luggage allowance.So I quess we gave more away this time than we bought back home.
But we had one of the best holidays we have ever had in Bali.
Just loved it.
Enjoy yourselves, and good luck with your toys.