In Dancing Dragon Cottages (the hotel I built here in Bali), I created a small shop in the reception area to sell Space Clearing products to visitors. The prices are substantially cheaper than in the West, so many visitors to Bali come to Amed to buy them.

A few years ago, the economic situation on the island became so dire that children began to drop out of school in droves. The government pays for elementary education from age 7 to 13, but to continue beyond that until age 18, the parents have to pay for it themselves. It's a sad fact that there are now 105,000 school-age Balinese children whose parents cannot afford to send them to school, according to a recently published survey by the Bali Education Agency. You can see them everywhere, helping their parents in shops or building sites, or scavenging in trash bins for things they can sell to help buy food for their family.

The problem has grown to such proportions that a few years ago I decided to add a percentage to the sale price of all Space Clearing products sold in my shop and have been donating that extra money to sponsor children who would otherwise have had to leave school. It costs around US $270 per year per child, which is $170 for school uniform and books and $100 for bus fares to and from school.

I'm happy to announce that in addition to the 2 children I am personally sponsoring, the Dancing Dragon shop has sponsored another 10 Balinese children through school for the last two years. They have asked me to say a big 'thank you' to everyone who has contributed, and the photo of their happy, smiling faces says it all. And Space Clearing product prices are still substantially cheaper if you come to Bali to buy them. It's a win-win for everyone.

Be the first to comment on this article

Write a comment

Please keep your comments relevant to the subject of the article. Don't use this facility to plug your own web site. Such material will be removed. If you enter the wrong security code, just refresh your browser and a new security code will be displayed.
Name:
BBCode:
Comment:
Code:*