Money Money Money!

Yes...we need more money, but we’ll try not to ask for more until we really need it urgent...but what we would like to ask from all of you, your friends, relatives and whoever you can get your hands on, is this- JUNK! Quality junk that is...out-of-season clothes, accessories (the ones you wonder why you EVER bought!), out-grown toys, or whatever you think can be sold in the second-hand market.

We know of a second-hand evening market that sells, yes, second-hand stuff, to mostly locals, and that’s where we’ll be heading when we get all your donated barang-barang sent over. We will personally be there to sell it, or we could get help from another charitable group- the Rotaract Club (of which Made is also a member of) to help us out. All will be sold and all the “profit”, ALL OF IT, will go to the library fund. What do you think of that?

How we’re going to collect them from you and how we’ll ship them over...well, we've not figured that out yet! But we will, so please...collect and keep them for us first, won’t you?

If you’re here in Bali, and would like to sell your luggage’s contents to make space for all your shopping, or would just like to pick up some cheap goodies, you can make your way there too-

Where: Pejeng, lapangan (lapangan means “field”)
When: Everyday from 4pm to 7pm
What: Not quite sure...but we’ve heard they’ve got lotsa second-hand stuff from Singapore! Maybe you’ll pick up that dress you gave away during the relief collections (in good faith that it’ll reach the victims of the last tsunami disaster)! Gosh...
How much: RP3000 (approximately S$0.50) for a lot (floor space) to sell your stuff
Blue circles where we are..and Purple is where Pejeng is

So please, "karang guni" for us so that we'll be able to "lelong" it here :) Email us when you've got the hoard !

Reading Program

So what’s been stewing in the pot? We’ve laid out a tentative schedule for our reading program, it’s sorta like a pilot program, we’ll be testing it out really soon in another school that already has a library, fine tune it, then implement it in the new school library. Here’s how it goes-

Where: Sekolah Dasar Singapadu, Belang (That's Made's primary school!)
When: Every Sunday, 2 sessions for 2 different groups of kids
Time: Session 1- 11am to 12pm, Session 2- 12pm to 1pm
Who: The 4 of us (Made, Miyuki, Siew Cheng and myself), and the school’s English teacher, plus whoever would like to volunteer

In a typical school, the pupils start learning English only at class 3 (that’s age 9!) They have lessons once a week, and the English teacher goes to a different school everyday of the week to conduct lessons. It is difficult to get “proper” English teachers for the schools, thus they usually “make do”...if you get my drift.

We’ll try to include the pupils from class 1 and 2 for session 1, so that’s going to be really basic, then the rest for session 2. It’s not just going to an English lesson though, we hope that we’ll be able to work with Miyuki and incorporate learning with visual arts and movement. Siew Cheng will draw up the lesson plan, and for continuity, the English teacher will hopefully be able to use it during the curriculum hours to support the program.

BUT! As it is hard for us to be volunteering with the program all of the time and be with whichever library we manage to set up, we hope for the school to run this on its own as much as possible. Before we start planning for a school, we will have to speak to the head of the school and have his/her assurance that they will make full use of the library, also how they will be doing so, and if they will need some assistance from us. On top of that, we hope also to tap into the expats living around the area to volunteer long term with the school.

An auspicious date to start work

For reasons not worth mentioning, we will start work AFTER 2 March (this year). Starting work means:

1. Scouting around for schools, though we already have 1 in mind, but that’s just in case we miss out a school that needs it more. How would we know? Feeling, I guess.
2. Sourcing for materials, cupboards, and books in Bahasa Indonesia (of which Made has contacts to get them cheap)
3. Doing up the room. That’s us, cleaning up, giving the room a fresh coat of paint, and with a touch of artistic thoughtfulness, design the room to be (hopefully!) conducive for reading and learning. We’ve got an artist in the house- Miyuki, another good friend of ours, so that’s her area.
4. Move in the furniture and books, stand around and admire our work :)

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you...

Om Swasthiastu!

It's been almost 2 weeks since we've come back to Bali, and things have been stewing in the pot...but before that's cooked, a few "thank you"s are due.

First of all, thank you all for the donations! We have collected in all:
Singapore dollars- $1673
Ringgit Malaysia- RM 28
Japanese Yen- ¥10000
And we believe some more will be coming in :)

Secondly, thank you all for the wishes and greetings that came along with the donations! They're sweet...and we do certainly welcome more (even if they come without money hehe...) So if your children, little nieces and nephews, grandchildren, friends and yourself would like to send more, please send it to our address.:

No. 27 Jalan Sandat, Taman Kelod, Ubud 80571, Bali, Indonesia

And thank you all, for all your offers to help in so many other ways e.g. donating books, volunteering, offering ideas, etc

A most heartfelt THANK YOU! to Es and Ann, who worked more than us in Singapore to collect funds!