What we do
For many years, Tjeerd van Dijk, founder of Foundation Education Project Bali, spent his holidays on Bali, Indonesia: also called the ‘’Island of the Gods’’. He fell in love with the beauty and the unique culture, but especially with the people. He got to know many families in different villages, and was touched by the difficult living conditions of many of them. He was also impressed by the way the people deal with poverty, and support each other unconditionally. There is a great sense of community on Bali, inspired by the Hindu religion. They all help each other!
Unfortunately, many families lack sufficient financial means for the education of their children; while we take it for granted that our children receive a good education. The income of many families is often not much more than a few Euros per day. But since Balinese parents really value the education of their children, they sometimes go the bank for a loan to pay the costs for the school. Money they often cannot repay, so their debt grows every year. It is also quite common for children to work in their spare time, to earn some money, such as selling souvenirs on the beach.
What is it all about?
Education up to the age of 15 (SD=Sekolah Dasar=primary school, and SMP-Sekolah Menengah Pertama-junior high school) on Bali is free of charge, there is no school fee. Still there are a number of obligatory expenses for the parents: money for books, school uniforms, sport clothes and shoes, transport to school, food. This adds up to for us the quite modest amount of € 100 (primary school), and to approx.€ 135 (junior high school). Not really much for good education. After the junior high school, the children can continue with the senior high school. Although not obligatory any longer, most parents will stimulate their children to continue, since this offers much better changes in life. This SMA (Sekolah Mengah Atas) or SMK (Sekolah Mengah Kebangsaan) is another three years, and more expensive. Depending up the type of school, this can add up to about 300€ in the first years, and often the same amount in the final year. Since we do not want to raise the sponsor amount of 135€, the foundation builds up a reserve from our regular sponsor income, so we can support these children when and where needed.
Foundation Education project Bali
Tjeerd got the idea to support these families by sponsoring the education of their children, and together with two friends he established the ‘’Foundation Education Project Bali’’. To prevent parents from getting into problematic debts in order to give their children a decent education. This website tells you more about ‘’our’’ good cause, but even more about our ideal: being small-scale and transparent, so that every euro is spent on our cause. Not only do we have an ANBI recognition, but thanks to our small group of dedicated volunteers, no money is wasted on overhead costs. Just visible results. Because ‘small is beautiful, and our sponsors deserve that their money goes where it is needed. Because we can all agree on one thing:
A child without an education is a child without a future
Help? Click here for all sponsoring possibilities
For all your questions, you can contact us through our contact form.
ANBI
An ANBI or ‘ algemeen nut beogende instellingen’ is a Public Benefit Organization who’s efforts are almost entirely commited to the public benefit. To be qualified as an ANBI the organization has to meet certain conditions, those can be found under the ‘About the foundation’ section.