July is the best time of year for Bali Children’s Project. Why? Because all the hard work of sponsorships really pays off, in the form of graduating children.
This year, we are delighted to have 22 children who have graduated from school. It may not sound like a huge amount, but these 22 children all now have significantly new paths to take.
Bleak Futures
Before finding sponsorship, these children faced dim futures. Coming from backgrounds of poverty, the children entered our Sponsorship Waiting List in a bid to secure their school futures.
It is a sad fact that in Bali, 18 % – around one in five children are destined to drop out of school. What faces them are limited opportunities, a cycle of poverty and most likely a future in basic labor.
Laboring is not something many children aspire to – instead it is a means to an end for poor families. Children who do not graduate from school are less educated and unable to find jobs.
Brighter Futures
This future is not the case for our 22 graduates in 2018.
Thanks to the wonderful ongoing support from their sponsors – the 22 children have all turned their futures around. Graduating from school, they now have a high school diploma. In most cases, they are the first children in their whole family to ever graduate.
To celebrate, Bali Children’s Project held our annual Graduation Party, bringing together graduates and hearing their stories. The feeling of jubilation was palpable, as students arrived to proudly tell us and their graduate friends about their plans for life.
Sponsorship Makes a Difference
Without sponsorships, none of this would have happened. Bali Children’s Project is forever grateful to the dedicated sponsors who kindly took on the commitment of helping their children through school.
These children, most of whom would have been basic laborers now have new futures. In fact, out of the 22 graduates, 14 have secured new jobs, while 8 are moving into college or further education.
Bali Children’s Project thanks sponsors who helped these 22 children to graduate from high school and gave them opportunities in life.
Gunawan Goes to Japan
Gunawan was just one of the 22 graduates . When we met, Gunawan is from a family so poor, they qualified for the government to build them a basic house, such were their terrible living conditions.
Being the oldest boy and orphaned, Gunawan is the head of the household, including his sister, grandma and grandpa. Even at this young age, he faces the task of being the sole breadwinner for the family.
School costs were a different matter. At 14, he was told be his grandparents that he would be dropping out of school and becoming a village laborer. They just couldn’t afford to pay school fees.
That wasn’t the future Gunawan wanted. Obsessed with Japanese cartoons and language, Gunawan always dreamed of working in Japan. He knew there is a worker shortage in Japan and that he could earn great money. Most of all, he dreamed of sending money home so he could build a new house for his family. But there was no way of that happening if he couldn’t graduate.
Thankfully, he was sponsored by Myrna in 2015. The sponsorship gave Gunawan a massive boost. He worked hard in school and even managed to enter a Japanese internship. The internship teaches Japanese and the essentials of how to live in Japan, and most importantly it channels a workforce from Bali to Japan. It’s graduates usually work as a Japanese tour guide later on after completing their work in Japan.
Gunawan worked hard in school, graduated and has even secured a place at a Japanese training school, which includes internships in Japan. His future is now in his own hands and we can’t wait to see how he does.