Rotary Club Seminyak Helps East Bali Schools

A few days ago I put up an article about the good Work Rotary does in Bali and about the jewellery they are selling to raise funds. However, the Rotary Club of Bali is involved in work the island over establishing programs to assist those less fortunate.

I was reading an article in the JP written by expat Andrew Charles in reference to some of the work Rotary is doing and has done in the east of Bali, and in particular, Amed. Oddly enough I had never been to Amed until a few years back when Nick took me up that way on a road trip. I have fond memories of happy children always wanting to 'high five' me wherever I went and, I was extremely impressed with the beautiful surrounding area.

I could have posted a link to the article but the JP often changes these and so I have included the article for your perusal:

Rotary assists with hygiene in East Bali schools
Andrew Charles, Amed, Bali

Amed area in the far east of Bali is a ruggedly beautiful part of the island with volcanic bays and fishing villages. Despite a steadily growing tourism sector, fishing and farming are still the main occupations with many families living well below the poverty line.

Of the seven elementary schools here all are poorly equipped and most do not have even the basic essentials such as electricity, water or toilets. The first school to be identified as being in need of serious assistance was the Lean Beach School with some 200 pupils, many of whom live in the hills and in the dry season, they have no opportunity to wash as all water is drawn from wells at sea level and carried to their homes. As a consequence impetigo and other skin diseases are rife.

The Rotary Club of Bali, Seminyak, established hygiene as the first priority of its humanitarian projects and resolved to install toilets and simple showers as a first step on the hygiene trail.

To achieve this, a discussion room was converted into a toilet block, a water tower and septic tank were constructed and a pump was connected to an existing well with good quality water.

Without electricity the pump would have been useless so in May 2004 the Rotary Club arranged for the school to be linked to the power supply. The children now have access to toilets - many for the first time ever, shower facilities, drinking water and hand-washing with liquid soap (from donations).

All this was achieved for around US$3600.

Of the other six schools some are in exactly the same position and others have toilets but inadequate water storage to last through the dry season.

The club urgently needs funds to construct and upgrade facilities at the other schools and seeks partner clubs in other countries to help with this task.

Once this has been achieved the focus will shift to the provision of educational aid and direct assistance to the neediest families with such items as school uniforms and stationery.

In March 2005, the second project at Batukesani School, was started with a grant organized by Noel Allan of the Swan Valley Club, WA. It began with a cleanup of the village well beside the school which was badly contaminated. A gravity tank was constructed, power was connected to the school to operate the new pump and pipe work was run to the existing waterless toilets and also to taps to water a garden which previously used to die off in the dry season.

The school is at sea level in a fishing village; it has stunning sea views, dedicated teachers and some very nice children who are now a lot cleaner and healthier than they were before the improvements were made.

Once the Rotary Club's part of the project was finished, sand, cement and paving were provided so that parents could pave the school assembly area which used to turn into a sea of mud in the wet season and for another area beside the school temple.

While certain key members of the Seminyak Rotary Club play a very active role in this project, other members assisted with raising the finances necessary. The donations from other countries are also extremely important and for the school hygiene project, the club is very grateful to its sister club, Mount Martha in Melbourne, and the indefatigable Howard Roy. Mark and Julie Church, from Perth, W.A., donate $5 to the project for every booking received by their company, Travel About Bali.

They also collect clothes, books and toys for distribution to the needy mountain children.

This year the Mount Martha Club is assisting with a project for the Tukabase School in Bunutan. This small school is up in the mountains, has 45 pupils from a very poor local community and has no running water or toilets.

The club will install a tank beside a fresh, clean, mountain stream around 100 meter uphill and pipe water to the school, construct toilets in available space and construct a bank of taps and drinking fountains.

Desks will be supplied for those children currently without and school uniforms will be provided for all the children.

This school also features in the Eye Screening program where after the screening the children were given clothes donated by past Rotary Seminyak president, Mark Savage.

Mark and Julie Church's contributions will go towards assisting with the hygiene project for the well-run Dusun Sega School. The families close to the village and road are better off - these are the children with shoes - while the ones from further away are very poor and have little access to water in the dry season.

The village had just connected a pipeline to a spring - two kilometers away - and was working on the holding tank when Rotary members visited in November 2005. The Club will run a line into the school, connect to the existing waterless toilets and build a bank of taps for washing and drinking.

For information please visit www.rotaryseminyak.org or, if you would like to assist Rotary in achieving its goals, send an email to the club president at: president@rotaryseminyak.org.