History and Achievements

The Bali Children's Project was born in the early 1990s in response to a growing awareness that a cycle of rural poverty in Bali was being perpetuated through lack of education. As we looked at the bright, eager faces of village children we became acutely conscious of the enormous wasted potential and of the many young lives that were being blighted by lack of opportunity. In particular, it was the plight of girls that distressed us, for they are invariably the first victims when families are forced to economise in times of economic hardship. 

We began informally by helping a few children with tuition, and soon developed a network of schools to which we brought pens, pencils, notebooks and other basic educational materials. 

It soon became apparent that in many cases, successful educational help could not be confined to the classroom, but had to extend to the home environment as well. It was to address this need that we started a pilot micro-investment program, offering families a capital loan for the initial purchase of a pig or cow. 

We have been very fortunate in the Balinese friends who joined us at the beginning. In particular we are grateful to Ni Ketut Resni and Nyoman Witama, whose dedication, integrity and personal histories as role models contributed greatly to the success of the project. From humble beginnings, tempered and tested through practical experience, the Bali Children's Project is now flourishing and able to touch the lives of a growing number of young people. 

Over time more projects have been added, including art classes and a program for volunteers. More recently the BCP has become actively involved in the creation of Montessori-based village kindergartens and pre-schools as a way to help a still larger number of children. In a gratifying ripple-through effect, teachers in the state system who have had an opportunity to observe the impact of our innovative kindergartens, are themselves stimulated to adopt similar approaches to education in their own classrooms.

Through the generosity of the Hammerax Corp. BCP now has both a boys and a girls gamelan orchestra that performs at temple ceremonies and in local hotels.   Children in the schools we support have been provided with backpacks containing a range of educational aids provided by Loretta and her Pencils-for-Kids program.

For a detailed list of year-by-year achievements go to Details.