Bali Children’s Project is delighted to announce the opening of another two schools in Bali, thanks to funding from Karmagawa.

The two schools – one kindergarten and one library – are both located in one of Bali’s most rural areas.

It brings the number of schools supported by Karmaagawa in Bali to a massive seventeen – impacting thousands of children.

Welcome to Songan B

On the dry and arid slopes of Mount Batur’s northern side live thousands of people. The area is known as “Songan B” and has basic breeze block houses dotted all around the side of the mountain. Songan A refers to the area surround Mount Batur’s crater, but Songan B is a treacherous journey over the crater and down the north side of the mountain.

Even water is hard to come by in Songan B; it is collected in huge concrete pits.

The level of poverty in Songan B is clear just from looking around. Villagers live in small, poorly constructed breeze block houses. Most villagers struggle to afford day to day life, working on local farms or as basic day laborers.

Many villagers earn $1.50 a day.

Schools in Songan

The condition of the schools in Songan B is sadly no surprise.

The kindergarten was one of the worst we’ve ever come across – so bad that the students had to move out from the old and dangerous building, onto a nearby porch.

With only an outdoor slab of concrete to learn on and hardly any supplies, it was no wonder many parents didn’t send their kids to this school.

Operated by two volunteer teachers (one of whom is still in high school) and severely lacking supplies, giving young learners a quality education was nearly impossible.

Over in the nearby elementary school, the library condition was also typical of many libraries. To say that it had seen better days would not be strictly  true.

The building was in poor condition, and with a lack of quality books, it was hardly ever used by students. The majority of books were over 20 years old and to make matters worse, they were all black and white text books.

Renovations

Now, that has all changed thanks to Karmagawa’s funding. The schools have a new lease of life and so does the community.

What was once a kindergarten in tatters now has a brand new school that is literally the best quality building in the area.

After demolishing the old building, Bali Children’s Project built a brand new one on top of it. The change is astonishing really. Instead of a dilapidated, broke building, children now have a new bright, light and spacious building, full of learning supplies and furniture.

At the library, children have gone from not even owning a book themselves to having access to over 500 new and exciting books. The library is now the pride of the elementary school with children literally queuing up to use it.

It’s all a far cry away from the old buildings.

Karmagawa to the Rescue

After the renovations were complete, Karmagawa joined us to officially open the new schools, helping us cut the ribbon and open the schools for the first time ever.

Surrounded by an excited community, you could tell just how much the new facilities meant to children and their families.

During the celebrations one villager told us “We are so happy. Because now our children can go to school in good buildings. Before the buildings were not good. They could not learn.”

What was once a broken old library has been replaced with a new world of imagination.

At the kindergarten, a building that was literally falling to pieces is now the best quality building in the area.

If you would like to fund a school renovation, take a look at our Fund a School page, which includes a list of kindergartens needing support.