Hi all.
We arrived home last Sunday after 3 weeks in Paradise.
Luckily we don't live far from the airport & were relatively early for check in with no dramas. Met up with Mr & Mrs Wally before boarding and found we had been allocated seats 1 A & B. These are clearly the best on the plane and we must sincerely thank whichever little Goddess at Garuda was looking over us.
The flight was uneventful, as was getting through Customs at the other end. Walking out the airport doors really felt like coming home again. I feel so comfortable in Bali. Sometimes I think I must be thick or naïve after all that has happened.
The first week or so was almost totally R & R. Eating, drinking, sleeping and catch up with loads of friends.
Visited 3 of our schools & delivered a load of letters to the kids from their sponsors. We were privileged to watch the children practise their dancing and games for the Distribution Day the following Saturday.
Visited another school just out of Sanur where a large percentage of the children are sadly neglected for a variety of reasons. The school is set within a cemetery on a sloping site. To access the school grounds the kids have to pass the gravesites & cremation remains. To make matters worse, when it rains, I imagine the water filters through all of this & flows down through the school grounds. Surely this can't be healthy.
Some of you may remember a while ago we were part of a project to distribute 1500 bikes to needy orphanages around Bali. There were a few unexpected hurdles in our way to achieve this by the original deadline and we only gave out a token 100 or so at the time. It took quite a while for the one factory to produce the rest of them all to our specifications. However, I inspected the warehouse where we now have the remainder stored ready for distribution on October 15 this year. To see 1500 bikes all lined up on two complete floors is an awesome sight. Although it has taken far longer than initially thought, it will certainly be a worthwhile result.
Distribution Day 2006 was everything we had hoped for and I sincerely hope all those who joined us enjoyed it as much as we did. The day was filled with traditional games and races and the kids from the 8 competing schools supported there teams and celebrated their wins in real Olympic style. The quality of the performances by the singers, gamelan players and dancers belied the young age of the students. There were also some older girls from the Dana Punia Orphanage in Singaraja who travelled down to entertain us with their dancing. Their outfits were absolutely beautiful (as were the girls themselves)
I admire these kids just so much. There really are incredible young people.
The whole day was organized by 3 Rotaract Clubs working together as a team to produce a fabulous day attended by members of Local Govt and the Minister for Education and culminating with the distribution of clothing, shoes and educational packs to over 400 kids.
Later on that day we learnt the protocols involved in resolution of accidents after a kamikaze motorcyclist tried his luck taking on the Kijang we were in. Very interesting concepts.
Visited Pancasari and another 3 schools where we will be developing libraries this year, thanks to a grant we have been granted.
We had some virtual Bali virgins with us and took them to the elephant park before having lunch in Ubud with some great forumites. Finally, I got to meet the famous DB in person (& Nanik of course). What a truly great person, I only wish I had time to talk more. I'm sure they have so many stories and experiences to share. It was also good to finally put faces to Baliman & Marnu, plus to catch up once again with Benny & Clive, Shelda & Mal, David & Moira.
Later that day, I had the pleasure of meeting with Bapak Ken & Chris. I always remembering attending a conference a long time ago and listening to a keynote speaker talking on the topic 'What can I achieve, I am but one person'. I'm sure Ken & Chris must have heard the same talk because what they are achieving for benefit the kids of Bali is awesome.
I think the highlight of my holiday, though, was visiting the High 5 Rehab Clinic in Lovina and meeting all the helpers, the recently returned and famous Komang, and seeing what a difference a simple op can make to a child's future. The next young lad to have his foot corrected here in Perth was also there with his Mother and I'm looking forward to him arriving here shortly.
The results this little clinic is attaining are nothing short of astounding and are entirely due to the efforts of the amazing Marieke. She must be admired and commended for what she is doing with such limited resources. We have all the equipment she really needs available here in Perth. It is lying in storerooms gathering dust since being discarded, but we lack the resources to transport it. Hopefully we can change that one way or another.
Booking in for the return flight home was interesting. I knew we were slightly overweight & was anxious to see just how much. The check-in scales at the adjacent desk had nothing on them but the readout screen on the side read over 4 kgs, so I checked the screen on the one I was about to load my suitcase on. The reading was 6.7 kgs. The check-in person saw me checking and politely zeroed the scales for me.
Once again the Garuda Goddess was watching over us and we were seated in Row 1 A & B. Who said you can't win Lotto twice? The flight was smooth and comfortable. However the mood on board was quiet - the holiday was over.
Arriving in Perth in the very cool early morning hours still in shorts & T-shirt is not to be advised.
Oh, yeah, Geraldine tolerated me for an entire three weeks without even trying to negotiate an amicable divorce. In fact we celebrated our 39th wedding anniversary before coming home and made a date to do something similar next year. She has, however, taken off today for a holiday in Broome with her Mother. Not sure if there's a story in there somewhere.
There are a few photos of the Distribution Day, Bikes and High 5 Rehab at Web Shots. Just Search for - Member Search - scroll to bottom & Find a Member 'lonarch'
Cheers
Noel