A wonderful surprise awaits the young learners at Katung Village, as Bali Children’s Project have just completed a renovation to their kindergarten, thanks to funding from donor Noah.

It all started when Noah got in touch, having been inspired by seeing the difference we made when renovating the Herbert Learning Centre and Bazzi Kindergarten.

Noah had got in touch and asked how he and his family could help. One of the first schools on our list for renovation was at Katung Kindergarten.

Although school is currently ‘working from home’, the young learners of Katung will have an incredible new school when Bali gets the COVID-19 all clear.

Welcome to Katung

In the mountains of Bali, nearby the crater of Mount Batur, is Katung village.

In Katung most people are farmers, growing oranges in the cooler climate of the Bali mountains. While village life is more traditional here, local village income is very low and the community could not afford to invest in things like early stage education – they just did not have the funds.

Although they lack funding, the village has tried incredibly hard to make their kindergarten successful. The village owns the building and has tried to make the school as interesting as possible by painting murals outside.

On the face of it the kindergarten looked well presented for Bali standards. However a closer look reveals some poor supplies, broken furniture, a ceiling about to fall in and a playground that literally has holes in the middle of the slide.

Three dedicated teachers run the kindergarten from 7.30 am – 10am every day. They also dream of running a pre-k too.

Sadly, the good paint job can’t cover up the problems with the kindergarten.

Renovating Katung

Thanks to Noah’s donation, we were able to renovate the kindergarten, turning it into the school it should be.

The result is a kindergarten that children can actually learn in – a beautiful renovated facility, full of supplies.

A trademark of our renovations is the wall murals that bring kindergartens to life. At Katung, the inside walls were painted with a jungle themed mural to add an extra air of excitement to school.

Integrating the kindergarten into Bali Children’s Project’s Teacher Training Program is also a crucial part of our school renovations.

It helps teachers  to deliver a structured play-based learning curriculum and give them that extra inspiration and pride in their jobs

The Noah Simons School

To mark the renovation, we named the school in honor of Noah’s son, also named Noah.

It’s now a school where crucial life skills are taught to early learners – making friends, co-operation, problem solving, working as a team and more.

Poor quality kindergartens, with a lack of supplies mean teachers struggle to properly educate children. This leads to them undertaking similar lesson plans every day, usually revolving around coloring and singing (as that is all their supplies allow for).

This has all changed now. Teachers can expand their teaching repertoire, enabling students to access a higher quality of education.

The investment peaks the interest of other community members too. After a renovation, we often see attendance double, almost instantly. Parents who did not bother sending their children to school previously change their minds and enrol their kids. Over the years, the school will serve thousands of children in the village.

Not only is it a wonderful place for children to learn, it is also a great source of pride for communities we work with.

We cannot wait to run an official opening ceremony for the school when the COVID-19 hiatus has finished and children can safely return to school.

How can you Help?

Bali Children’s Project has many schools just like Katung that are in need of support. You are welcome to fund a renovation by seeing our Fund a School page.

Donors are also invited to contribute to our latest donor community project at the Banana School. We’re asking donors to come together and donate a small portion each to help us reach out target of $5,000 USD.

Most kindergartens in Bali lack supplies and support. We are helping to improve the quality of education by providing these.

Bali Children’s Project is proud to help schools and libraries improve, as well as showing donors exactly how their funds are spent. Please help us to transform more schools in Bali.