5th November 2015.
After months of planning, students from the International School of Kuala Lumpur came to provide some extra special support for their student counterparts in Bali.
There was a huge wave of activity at Bali Children’s Project at the end of October. 26 students and teachers from the International School of Kuala Lumpur (ISKL)
had arrived in Bali for an extra special trip.
Far from what may be considered a standard field trip, the school trip was created specifically to help Bali Children’s Project. And when they arrived, amazing things began to happen.
Aptly named the ‘Global Action Program’ (led by Melissa Smith Yoga) the idea of the school was simple – to help it’s students learn to give back to the societies less fortunate.
Upon arrival, the students were welcome in a special way that only Bali can boast – traditional dances from children involved with Bali Children’s Project. The children were more than happy to show off the unique tradition of Balinese dancing – a highly technical dance that takes years to master.
It wasn’t all dancing though. The grade 9 students had serious business to take care of.
Learning Together
We’d relished the opportunity to help create some cross-boarder education sessions with the children and schools we are involved with.
The ISKL students were up to the challenge too, having developed a series of English, music, arts, reading and creativity sessions.
Special Gifts for Bali’s Less Fortunate
When planning the trip, the group had asked what we needed most. With many children unable to afford transport and having to walk long distances to school, we suggested bikes.
Before we knew it the incredible group had set up an online crowdfunding campaign and had raised over $2,000 USD to purchase the bikes!
The bikes were given to 10 children at a celebration part in Bali Children’s Project’s preschool and library building, to the delight of the Balinese children. The bikes were something they could have only dreamt about before today.
A further 12 bikes were delivered all over Bali, bringing even more joy to children both already sponsored by BCP – and those still waiting for a sponsor.
Mira was just one of the 22 children who could not believe their luck.
You can see the full album of bike donations here.
What an effort from the students, teachers and parents who joined forces to raise the money.
Gardening for Education
The group weren’t finished yet though. With the whole ISKL school getting behind the program, children and parents from the Roots and Shoots club had got together to raise even more donations.
The money enabled us to buy new tools, plants and plots for our herbal teaching garden. After finding out how our garden aims to teach young Balinese children about the heritage and cultural value of plants, the ninth graders got their hands dirty.
Painting the names of each donor on each brick, the group created brand new plots that will literally grow into a wonderful education resource for Bali’s children in the future.
Mobile Library Lifts Off
Even after all this, there was one more order of business – an inventive new library program for pre schools, created and funded by the kind people at ISKL Library.
The pilot program is a brand new idea, designed to get children to read from an early age. Many pre schools in Bali are shockingly under equipped. Even some of the government supported pre-schools lack books and reading programs.
A large amount of high quality educational books and learning games were crammed into 5 huge boxes. Each box will be rotated to a different school in need each month. It’s a simple, but effective idea that launched with a bang at 5 schools in the Ubud and Tegallelang areas.
From our initial sessions, the pre school students were loving the new boxes of surprises. We’ll be continuing to rotate this mobile library to bring reading to as many children as we can in Bali.
It’s not over yet…
Upon leaving, ISKL vowed to support Bali Children’s Project even further in the future and were already planning next years trip. In fact, the ISKL Library is even planning an additional trip early in 2016!
We couldn’t bring education and smiles to the faces of Bali’s children if it weren’t for such generous support. We thank every single student who came to give their time, donations and support, as well as the teachers, parents and friends of ISKL, who all banded together to fundraise, organise and develop their support for our work.
If you are connected to a school and are interested in developing your own social awareness programs, please get in touch.
