2016....Bedulu means "on the hill" in Balinese and this beautiful place provides accommodation in Bunutan; a more remote area of Bali. This small family business is built on family land and helps give employment to the extended family community who live there. My nephew, Greg married local Bedulu girl Marini in 2012 and linked our extended families in a wonderful way.
Although having tourists is gradually enabling the Balinese people in this area to have more choices, there is still much poverty. In many parts of Bali high school education is too expensive for families and the children leave after primary school. This is certainly the case for the Bedulu children. At present there are eighteen children of all ages at Bedulu.
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| Marini and Greg |
Marini expressed her dream that all the children in this close knit family community have the opportunity to go to High School. Along with Greg's parents, Jane & Neil, and my husband Mike, we are making this a reality; deep gratitude to all of you who have contributed to this.
CONTRIBUTING TO THE FUND
If you would like to contribute to this fund email us at lizsims.family@gmail.com.
We keep meticulous records of the donations received and will give you regular updates on where the funds will be spent. We also have regular contributors. Thanks to those people. Mike, Neil, Jane and our friend Robyn all collect refundable bottles in Darwin for the fund. This is a big part of our contributions.
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Komang's story Some of you have met or heard of Komang; a remarkable young teenager who has had severe hearing problems since birth. This bright and vivacious girl is unable to speak and did not attend primary school with the other children as there are no facilities for deaf children at the local school. A few years ago Marini and Greg took her for a hearing test and were told she was profoundly deaf. Along with Jane and Neil we organised some private lessons for her with basic reading and writing. Naturally the hardest part was getting her to concentrate. A year later we saw her & noticed a big change. She was more confident and assured and as usual full of fun and mischief. She proudly showed us how she could write from one to ten and wrote some words for us. We bought her a tablet which she quickly mastered and now "skypes" us in New Zealand.
Komang's story Some of you have met or heard of Komang; a remarkable young teenager who has had severe hearing problems since birth. This bright and vivacious girl is unable to speak and did not attend primary school with the other children as there are no facilities for deaf children at the local school. A few years ago Marini and Greg took her for a hearing test and were told she was profoundly deaf. Along with Jane and Neil we organised some private lessons for her with basic reading and writing. Naturally the hardest part was getting her to concentrate. A year later we saw her & noticed a big change. She was more confident and assured and as usual full of fun and mischief. She proudly showed us how she could write from one to ten and wrote some words for us. We bought her a tablet which she quickly mastered and now "skypes" us in New Zealand. June 2016 Lake Tarawera New Zealand
We had a fundraising meal at our home at Lake Tarawera..I cooked a Balinese/Kiwi meal for 45 friends. $700 was raised. Thanks so much to all of you who came and supported it
Mike gave our first instalment of $900 to Kadek who is Marini's older brother & joint operator of Bedulu Resort. He deposited it into a joint bank account; The Bedulu Education Fund.
Rahul, Gede & Muli have recently started Junior High School. This isn't as expensive as high school and most families at Bedulu can afford it. It is High School which is unaffordable.
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| Bontot and Muli off to High School |
Bontot will be the first one to start high school
Its a big deal for these kids & their families are very proud. It costs us $500 a year for each child & they are there for 3 years. There are of course more children in the "pipeline".
With the help of your contributions, we have put five children through High School.
A letter from Muli when she first started High School......"I would like to say thank you to everyone who pays my school fees. It means so much to me and my family as my parents don't have permanent work. While I'm studying, I'm working at Bedulu before and after school hours so I can practise my English. I learn so much at the restaurant. To go to High School is my dream because I know if I finish High School, I have a chance to continue my study at University one day. Once again; thank you all for your support." Note from Liz. Muli's dream has come true. She's finished High School and we are sponsoring her to go to University.
Close friends, Sandy & Graeme are going to sponsor one child through high school & tertiary education (if the child wishes to go). If anyone is interested in doing this too..either just high school ( 3 years at approx $500 a year) or High School & tertiary it would be an amazing opportunity for the child & family. All of your contributions are so appreciated..some people are contributing regularly or as a one off or at our fundraising. Its' so gratifying to actually see the effects of it with the children proudly going to school. It makes it all worthwhile so thank you to all of you
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| Rahul, Gede, Bontot & Muli in their high school uniforms. |
Happy to say though that the children continue with their schooling. Thanks again to those of you who continue to support them through this fund. We've been unable to go to Darwin last year or this year so far. It means Mike's can & bottle collection is on hold as we don't have a bottle refund scheme here like the NT.
We have our first graduate from High school attending a tertiary institute in Denpasar. Bontot is studying accounting as a year long graduate course. Marini & Greg are supporting him in this. He is finding it hard but hanging on in there...all the best Bontot. Muli, Gede & Rahul are still at high school and due to finish next August. We have another young student, Wahyu who will start High School next year.
The four students who were at High School have now graduated. Thanks to all who have helped us financially to facilitate this and to the students who worked so hard to make this dream a reality. Well done Bontot, Muli, Rahul and Gede
Bontot has graduated from the Business Course he was doing in Denpasar and looking for a job. Marini & Greg sponsored him to do this
Mike and I are sponsoring Muli to do a four year teaching degree at Amlapura University. Rahul and Gede are considering their options. Be great if we could find sponsors for them both to do tertiary study too.
Sandy and Graeme were recently in Bali & went to Bedulu to meet Wahyu and his family. They are sponsoring Wahyu to finish his High School and then to go to University. Thanks to Sandy and Graeme.
There are other children due to start High School at a later date. We will keep fundraising to allow this to happen. Thanks to all... Cheers from Liz & Mike.
Mike and I are back in Darwin and Mike is busily out and about on his bike again collecting refundable containers. Neil has innovatively made up a great trailer for his bike and this has enabled him to collect many bottles at one time. He collects them all year and is contributing hugely to our fund. Robyn and Jane collect containers as well.
Picture of Neil, Mike & Robyn.
Thanks so much to our extended family who came and to Jane and Neil's special Darwin friends. Your generous contributions will enable another child to attend high school. We were lucky to have Marini's mother there as well.
Muli is one of our students who went to high school due to the Bedulu Education Fund. Graduating and finishing from High School enabled her to pursue tertiary studies. She is now studying to be a teacher at University. The closest place for her to study is at Amlapura. Muli travels an hour on her scooter from her home with her family to her campus. We find sponsoring her very rewarding. She is motivated and hard working and keeps in touch regularly. Here's a message from her.
The other three boys who we all sponsered, and who graduated from high school have been able to get jobs or are waiting to hear back about jobs.
Muli's brother, Bontot is planning to work on a cruise ship, Gede is working in Ubud and Rahul on a nearby island. Finishing high school and learning English has been instrumental in them gaining work. We wish them all well.
18/07/23
As we have more funds in our account now, we decided to offer the opportunity to do some tertiary study to our high school graduates.
He will board & study at the capital city of Bali, Denpasar.
Here is a message from him."
I want to say thank you very much to Uncle Mike and Aunt Liz and everyone else including,Uncle Neil and Aunt Jane, who is willing to pay for my tertiary study.
Yes, without you guys maybe I can't continue my schooling anymore. Once again, I want to thank you all for wanting to help me go to this school.
I will be enthusiastic about learning and will not waste it.
June to October 2024
A very enjoyable time in Darwin saw Mike cycling four & a half thousand kms to raise money for the education project from the sale of the many thousands of refundable containers he collects. He gets 10cents per container….hard, but rewarding work for Mike.
translating and liaising with the children and their families.
Jane & Neil, & our friend Robyn also collect multitudes of containers and have done so for years. Their many friends drop their containers to them too. Of course thanks to those who give regular donations to our fund and also to those who have given donations in the past. Marini is our "go to" with organising the schools and education and of course translating and liaising with the children and their families. We wouldn't be doing it without her
On our return to New Zealand in October we flew via Bali and were
delighted to spend time at Bedulu. We hadn’t been for quite a few years and it was exciting to spend a couple of days there as part of the rhythm of their daily life. We have three more teenagers starting high school next year.
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| Liana loves her stay at Bedulu |
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Komang is always excited to see us .
Marini and Liana were there too for school holidays. It was a joy to see Liana thriving in the company of her cousins and extended family. As usual, Komang was excited to see us and loved coming to our villa for a visit and to hang out.It was so special to catch up with the first group of students we'd put through school. All were there except Rahul who was working. They are now around twenty one years old and have all been able to get work. It has brought them a certain confidence, and also pride to their families and community. The traditional work in this area is fishing but fish stocks are low and it's getting harder to make a living from it. Enabling children to finish school and get work has certainly brought a change for the whole family community.
Close friends from NZ, Sandy and Graeme, are sponsoring Wayan to follow his dream to study medicine. They are enabling him to have extra lessons to help him to get the necessary grades to be accepted. He's studying very hard and is determined and focused.
We wish him all the best (pictured with Sandy and Graeme and his parents, Kadek and Dayu)
Even though Komang lives in a silent world she keeps in touch with us..ringing on Messenger most weeks where we communicate in her own “language”, mostly gestures and emojis. She delights in showing us whats she's doing and we do the same.
With the help of Marini and Taryn, Mike and I are working to bring Muli to a language school in Darwin. Muli had been studying teaching at the University closest to Bedulu, but coupled with the long daily scooter ride and returning each day to help out with her family at Bedulu, it became too much for her. Hopefully this new plan comes to fruition as I'm sure Muli will thrive esp with having Marini, Greg and Liana, Jane & Neil, and other extended family and friends to support her in Darwin.
While in Legian we were thrilled to hear from Gede who is another of our graduates. He's studying business in Denpasar and came on his scooter to join us for a meal.This fine young man is combining work and study and is doing well
Thanks to all of you on both sides of “The Tasman” who contribute in any way.
We have nearly $10,000 in our account. The priority is to school the high school children, which so far has mostly worked well. It costs approx $500 a year for each child. It takes two years to finish High School and graduate. The tertiary study is funded separately by a few of us with the occasional top up from the education fund if needed. Without you all, this wouldn't be happening.
Cheers & thanks from all of us,
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