Our Sponsorship Waiting List of children needing sponsorship is regularly updated. Please see below to see the children and read their stories. You can help change their lives. To sponsor, click here and remember to name the child you would like to sponsor in ‘I want my donation to be dedicated: NAME OF CHILD’.
Please set your sponsorship to ‘monthly’ and $40 USD.
Made Gita Widani
Gita, age 15, is the oldest of three, with 2 younger brothers, living in Jembrana. She’s in her first year of High School – grade 10.
Since Gita’s determination to go to school is high and she had been pleading with her parents to let her continue to senior high school, her parents relented and took a loan to pay for her school and to buy her a motorbike so she can go to school. She needs a motorbike on her own to go to school since her house is located in a remote area.
The total of her family’s accumulated debt in the local village is about IDR 20 million (about $1500), which IDR 2 million is being used to pay her school entrance fee. Gita’s father is a rice-field laborer, while her mother is a housewife since she needs to take care of the youngest. Gita is afraid that she will have to drop out of school midway when her father can’t afford to take more loans.
Made Karya Ningsih
Adhe, almost 16, is part of a large family of girls, and she is the second. Her older sister currently works as a daily worker in Denpasar and she earns about IDR 1 million per month (about $80). Her father is a truck driver who transports sand from Karangasem to Jembrana.
Adhe is in 10th grade, her first year of High School, in Jembrana in the northwest. Adhe loves going to High School and is a smart student. She chose accounting as her major in her current vocational senior high school. She hopes she can graduate and work as a bank administrator and earn a fixed income. She wants to be able to help her parents in paying off their accumulating debt.
As Adhe’s major requires her to use laptop or computer a lot for their program, Adhe often goes to the internet café to do her homework and assignments since she doesn’t have a laptop.
Kadek Meta Aulia Loviana
Meta is the younger of two sisters. Her older sister almost dropped out after finishing Jr High but, fortunately, Bali Children’s Project intervened and now her sister is sponsored and will be going to school until she graduates in two and a half years. Meta is almost 12 and in grade 6 in Jembrana.
Meta currently faces the same crisis as her older sister last year. She’s in the last grade of primary school, but her father can’t afford the entrance fee to the secondary or junior high school.
Meta lives only with her sister and father. Her mother left the family years ago without any prior notice. No one knows her mother’s whereabouts even now. Meta’s father works in a trash bank and he earns IDR 800,000 (about $60) per month by sorting out trash into different categories.
Kadek Ida Sridani
Ida, almost 15, is in grade 10, the first year of High School. She is the younger of two and lives only with her mother and older brother. Ida works after school by peeling garlic and onions in her aunt’s place. She usually earns around IDR 5,000 to 10,000 per day (about 75 cents max).
Ida dreams of becoming a teacher. In her current school, Ida chose software engineering as her major. This is an unusual and ambitious choice, especially for a girl in a really remote area, and shows her desire to succeed.
Ida’s father passed away years ago due to diabetes. When Ida’s father was still alive, Ida was tasked with collecting the grass and feeding the cows. Her father was supposed to get his leg amputated but he declined. The cows had been sold to pay off their debt but they were still not enough. Her mother and her older brother only work as laborers.
Putu Yunita Dewi
Yunita is the oldest of three daughters. As a 6th grader, she’s supposed to graduate from primary school in June this year and then continue to Junior High. However, Yunita will have to drop out after 6th grade if she doesn’t get sponsored. She’s almost 12.
Yunita’s family owes about IDR 30 million (about $2,000) to the bank, and her parents earn only enough money to pay for the installments and interest rate. They took a big loan for her mother’s medical bills when she got critically ill after the birth of her last child. Her family also used the money to repair their home.
In order to afford her school supplies, Gita tutors her younger classmates in mathematics. Gita is a smart student. She’s always ranked the first in class. She also won First Place in a Bali Speech Competition, proving that she’s also confident in public regardless of her background. She dreams of working in a bank.
Gusti Ayu Widya Astiti
Widya, age 13, is the middle of three sisters. Widya is in 8th grade, the second year of Jr High, or secondary school. Her mother only graduated from primary school, while her older sister could only finish junior high school before dropping out. Widya will have to follow her older sister’s footsteps if she doesn’t get sponsored.
Widya is supposed to advance to senior high school in a year and a half, but money is very tight and High School too expensive. Even now, Widya has to work after school so she can have money to buy meals at school and to afford her school supplies. High school costs will be impossible, considering how little she and her parents can afford.
Her father works as a laborer and can only go to work when there’s a demand for him. Her mother is a housewife and makes offerings to be sold in the nearby market. Widya earns money by helping her mother and making special Balinese offerings by order. At most, Widya earns IDR 100k per month (about $7.50).
Putu Anugrah Krisna
Putu Anugrah Krisna is an only child. Even though he’s a boy and the only child, his parents cannot afford his senior high school expenses next year. So they will make Krisna drop out after finishing junior high school this term.
Krisna’s parents only graduated from primary school. They actually want Krisna to graduate senior high school, and they know this is his chance to break out of the limitations of poverty, but they can only afford to cover Krisna’s education until he graduates from junior high school.
Both of Krisna’s parents work as laborers in the field. Krisna helps his parents with their work by plucking cloves and coffee beans only when it’s harvest time. Krisna has a big dream. He wants to become an architect.
Gusti Ayu Putu Wiriyanti
Wiri is a 13 year old living in Karangasem, with 6 younger siblings and illiterate parents who work as laborers. Her story is an example of how a lack of education in parents creates a cycle of poverty that grows – unless we break the cycle through educaiton.
She’s now in 6th grade, and without a sponsor she will drop out after this term. Considering her family life and background, her future is bleak without a diploma and a chance to find work that offers a future.
Wiri struggled to learn to read and write, but now she is fluent in both and loves it. She loves going to school and loves her teacher. Her father is a rice field laborer, who works when he can find it, or he does other forms of labor. Witi really needs a chance to stay in school and graduate.
Made Nanda Putra
Nanda is a 13 year old 7th grader in Tegallalang who wants to grow up and be a policeman. He really enjoys studying Science. His school is a local government school and he loves going there.
Nanda’s father works as a construction laborer. His father doesn’t always get to work, since it depends on whether there’s an ongoing project that needs his work as a laborer. Nanda’s father earns up to about IDR 1.6 million (about $100) when he has work, which is way below the standard minimum wage, and it’s only enough to afford their daily expenses. He has had to get a loan from the village bank to afford daily life.
Nanda’s prospects of graduating are slim without a sponsor. While is current debt at school has been paid by donor Ruth, he’s already started accumulating more, so needs a sponsorship gaurantee graduation.
Komang Adi Astrawan
Komang Adi Astrawan (nicknamed “Mang Adi”) is a bright 13 year old 7th grader who has been raised by his grandparents and his two older brothers since his parents died when he was 3.
Mang Adi really likes being in Junior High. Every Saturday morning, Mang Adi has calisthenics at school. Sadly, as much as he likes it, there’s little chance of his being able to continue through High School without a sponsorship. The costs are just too high for his grandparents to handle.
His grandpa works by making plangkiran or a wooden box for praying for Hindus. Meanwhile, Komang’s grandma is a laborer. Komang helps his grandparents by foraging grass to feed the livestock or gathering firewood for cooking purposes. He also peels corn and cooks to help his grandpa after school. Their income as farmers/laborers is very minimal.
Kadek Dwi Sugiartawan
12 year old Kadek (nicknamed Dedek) is in Grade 6 and will soon be making the jump up to high school, when costs really kick in. He’s from Negara in Eastern Bali and dreams of becoming a policeman.
Dedek’s father is sickly and his family owes IDR 6 million to the local bank to cover their daily expenses when his father was sick and couldn’t work.
Both of his parents are laborers and can’t go to work every day. They earn barely half of the standard minimum wage. His older brother, would have been a droput
had he not gotten sponsored 3 years ago. Now Dedek is going to face the same predicament. He would have to drop out of school this year if he doesn’t get
sponsored, as his family can’t afford taking more loans.
Kadek Arianta
Kadek Arianta is a 9th grade 15 year old in Bongkasa, the younger of 2 sons. His older brother graduated only grade 9, and is now a low paid laborer like his father. His mother makes offerings and takes care of Kadek’s elderly grandfather.
Kadek really wants a better life, and knows the path is through education. His goal is to go into Tourism and then specialize in Food and Beverage. The chances of getting a job are strong with that specialty.
In the future, Kadek would love to become an Entrepreneur, someone who can own his own business and provide work for others. He dreams of possibly having a franchise when he’s an adult.
Kadek Adi Sedana Yoga
Kadek Adi, age 12, is in his first year of Jr. High in Wanagiri, lives with his parents, older and younger brothers, an uncle and aunt, and grandparents. His father is the head of the family and the main bread winner for nine family members. The only school nearby is quite a costly one in Bali terms, but it’s the only option.
Adi’s family has many problems. The grandparents are old and don’t work anymore. His uncle has a hearing disability and can only help with menial labor work. His aunt is a widow and can only help with some labor. Kadek Adi’s mother suffers from kidney failure and has to get hemodialysis twice a week.
Even now, Kadek Adi’s family owes money in the village bank after taking loans.
Kadek Oka Dwi Payana
Kadek’s parents divorced when he was young and his mother moved out, though she lives in the village. The only home they actually have is the shell of a building, and so they sleep with other family members. There are 3 families sharing the compound. Kadek’s dad is a laborer, and he helps him on weekends.
In school, he studies Hotel Accommodation and Housekeeping, as do many of the children in this area. It will be easier to get a job with this major, providing he can finish High School. Without a diploma, his future is dim.
His father has borrowed a lot for Kadek’s entrance fees, and they still owe monthly fees for 3 months. Now, the school is asking an additional fee for ‘improvements’. It’s depressing how hard it is for a poor family to ever break out of debt, and agonizing when the debt is for school, which will enable the son to work.
Kadek Fajar Sastrawan (brother of Lia)
Kadek Fajar Sastrawan (Fajar), age 13, is a 7th grader in Bangli. Fajar is the younger of two. He has an older sister, Lia, who just started High School.
Fajar and his sister currently live with his paternal family, which consists of his father and grandparents. Fajar’s parents have separated. The father is rather dysfunctional and has issues with drinking and gambling.
Fajar’s mother has a disability with her leg since she was young. His mother uses a custom motorbike with three wheels so she can ride a bike to go to work as a tailor. The money that Fajar’s mother earns is used to help pay for the living expenses of the two children. Fajar’s grandparents can’t afford to feed and clothe the kids all the time, since they’re already elderly and not as productive as they used to be. They’re only able to provide shelter for their grandkids