In Reply to: have a list of questions posted by Kranski on Tuesday, 10. May 2011 at 10:16 Bali Time:
I turned 50 last year and asked friends and family if they would like to contribute to a donation that I was taking to a Bali orphanage in November. I will say that visiting the orphanage was one of the most fantastic experiences that I have ever had. The kids were amazing and were so happy to see us. We had booked a time to see them and as we drove up they all ran out to our vehicle. There were 16 of us girls from Canada and not one of us left with dry eyes...but it was all happy tears.
We also took over bags of clothes, toys, puzzles, books and stuffed animals.
The orphanage is called Yayasan Widya Guna. It was south of Ubud (about 20 minutes).
I had an opportunity to go back 2 weeks later (with another group of 15 girls from Canada) and they had already used most of the money I had donated on the construction of new classrooms. It was very exciting to see the money being spent so quickly and on something that they had been planning but did not have the money to start construction.
There are over 100 children at this orphanage and essentially they are living in a small Balinese compound that is owned by the Mom of the man that runs the place (with his wife...Ketut and Nyoman). They were able to puchase a plot of land just a short walk away (again from other donations)and are building 3 classrooms and an open air pavilion.
They live in very, very basic conditions but the kids are all happy and look to be healthy. They were so polite and most of them spoke some English. Ketut believes that in order to get ahead, the kids need to learn English so that's a big part of their education.
Ketut would be happy to show you how the orphanage is run. I was very impressed with the transparency of all their finances. The kids are each given a bank account, which they manage every month using their sponsers donations (which I think amounts to about $28). Ketut wants the kids to be accountable for their money so that when they turn 18, they will be prepared to live outside the compound. The older kids all had big educational aspirations but also talked about wanting to give back to the orphanage when they were able to...very empowering.
You can take a look at the link I added and even email Ketut from there if you decide to go and see them. I hope you get a chance to visit and orphanage and I would highly recommend this one. I know they are always looking for sponsers. The website has been recently updated so there is quite a bit of imformation on there now.
I also went to Biku with both groups and loved it. The food was fantastic, service a bit slow but then we had other things we had to get to. I would suggest going there when you have plenty of time to enjoy your meal.
Also did the Bali Bike trip with Wayan...again fabulous. The meal at the end is one of the best I had in Bali. It's all Balinese food and very, very tasty. We had done the cooking class the day before at Honeymoon Bakery/Casa Luna so it was nice to taste all the lovely spices that we had used at the cooking school.
Have a great trip!!!
Cathy