22nd February 2017.

In Bali Children’s Project’s first project of 2017, we renovated an old, crumbling school in the mountains of Tabanan, Bali. It’s unrecognisable now.

Welcome to Widya Baru

Up in the mountains of Bali, we came across a school desperately in need of support.

Located in the most northerly area of Tabanan regency, TK Widya Baru has had some difficult times.

Most parents had stopped sending their children to school because of its condition. The roof had holes in it and the structure was dangerous. Even its playground equipment was full of sharp, rusted metal.

Watch and read below or see our facebook album for all the photos.



Planning the Project

There had been reports of children getting sick from the damp. Attendance had dwindled from 50 to 10 students.

Thankfully, Schools Support Manager heard about the school and vowed to help. The preschool was a perfect candidate for our Schools Support Program – it was linked to the local elementary school and its teachers were desperate to improve conditions.

Even better, we were ready to help the school immediately, thanks to the fund created by supporter Timothy Sykes​ and the Timothy Sykes Foundation.

After checking the school ourselves and discussing it with the community, we got to work on completely renovating TK Widya Baru.

Things have been moving very fast and the next week, our contractors were on site, getting started.

Renovations at Widya Baru

The condition was worse than we originally thought, and the school required a full renovation. It meant we would need to completely gut the school, but we were able to save costs by using the same basic structure.

The restructure means an increased space, with fresh and bright new windows and walls. The roof will be water tight and the school will soon be completely renovated.

We’re proud to say that the school renovation is now complete. Now the school has nearly doubled in space, is much brighter and engaging for it’s students. In fact, attendance has also doubled since reopening.

Educational Future

Parents had taken their children out of school due to it’s poor quality, but now they can’t wait to enrol them for next year.

Ayu Trisna, our Schools Support Manager did an amazing job, supported by the Bali Children’s Project Team and we’ll be continuing to support this brilliant new school with supplies, a new playground and teacher training.

It has now transformed into a bright, fully equipped and fully capacity kindergarten. The project was made possible thanks to the generosity of Timothy Sykes and the Timothy Sykes Foundation.