Suzanne and I have been at a conference promoting Karuna Bali to a beautiful group of Americans here in Lake Louise in the Canadian Rockies. We do get around don't we? The group we are with are the very first people that we opened up the Bali opportunity to two years ago and as a result this group funded some 147 young children into school with many of them continuing to offer their support to the children.
Karuna Bali is moving in leaps and bounds, one of the great steps took place when Wayan and Iluh decided to take the College activities out of Ubud and the College with our students by reaching out into the poor rural areas.
Our students took the initiative and each weekend would ride 21/2 hours on their bikes — usually 7 or 8 of them to a small village — Jatiluwih, Tabanan in the hills where the kids (and the teacher too!) were desperate for more learning, particularly in English. You have probably read about that. It has been so successful and such a joy to witness. http://picasaweb.google.com/rustiasa/20080613Jatiluwih_Graduation
It is truly wonderful to know that we are making a difference — in this instance our students were really empowered personally by what they achieved. Most have now left the College and have been placed in well paying responsible jobs in the community.
Last week the 2008 intake of new students — fourteen at present, all fully sponsored one year students started their first semester (see www.karunabali.com/news) and we are anxious that what we began last year in the rural education area continues to grow benefiting both our students and the young children they are able to reach out to.
We are limited only by our inability to get the students to the villages. The driving distances on these narrow and often dangerous hilly roads are too time consuming to continue to expect our students to ride every weekend and frankly, the less we see them on their scooters and certainly in service to others, the happier we are.
It's now time for Karuna Bali to invest in a mini bus that can take up to 8 students to the villages.
We certainly don't need a new vehicle, a good condition reliable second hand one costs about $10,000 and once we have the capital for the initial outlay we can cover the ongoing operating and maintenance costs. This vehicle will also be used for the Rural Library project — getting reading material out to the children in the villages.
At the conference here we have already been offered 50% of the Mini bus cost — this is a great contribution and means that we are already halfway to our goal
We have recently printed some new brochures, created completely in-house at the College. It is an excellent representation of the quality and professionalism of what we are about, and I think demonstrates also of the success that Karuna Bali is enjoying. We would be delighted to send some to you to give to friends who would like to see what you are involved with and perhaps join with you to assist the Balinese in the Rural Education program. Please email Pania at office@elohim.com if you would like them, also we have a great 8 minute DVD presentation available free on request.
One of our thoughts is that perhaps a Service Club in your area might be looking for a worthy project and of course, if you have any other fundraising ideas that might help please let us know. You can contact me even while travelling on raj@elohim.com
We do thank you so much for all the support.
If you haven't done so recently, please check out the upgraded website when you have a moment and refer your friends to it. www.karuna bali.com
We keep open to miracles !
Blessings,
Raj & Suz
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