We help in 2 ways:

• Direct Sponsorship of Children

Although education itself is free, and the funding from the Indonesian government is expected to increase the amount of participation of students, there are still many children who can not attend school, drop out of school and can not continue their education to the next education level. 

One major cause of this is the difficulty parents / poor families have in meeting the basic school support needs such as uniforms, books, shoes, transportation costs and the cost of other education not covered by funding from the government. If a child does not have a uniform for example, they are not allowed to attend school. 

The cost of these basic supplies and support is roughly IDR1,500,000 (AU$150), per child per year. For a poor farming family with income barely IDR1,000,000 – 2,000,000 per month, and more than 1 child, the cost to pay for 1, let alone all of their children, is prohibitive.

Damara currently sponsors around 100 children, by supplying them directly with uniforms, books, shoes, transportation costs and the cost of other education not covered by funding from the government. We purchase these from suppliers, and deliver these directly to the children, to ensure they receive them.

Currently we do this in a combination of donations from Villa Bugis, and now also from generous individual sponsors, just like you, who directly sponsor a child, for only IDR1,500,000 (AU$150) per year! To read more about Villa Bugis here: https://www.damara-bali.org/villa-bugis/

Individual sponsors get a Bio and pics of their sponsored child, twice yearly school report updates, and quarterly newsletter updates from Damara. We can also arrange visits to the village to meet your child in person when you’re in Bali, to see how your donation is changing their lives.

• Longer term sustainable farming projects
  In 2015-2016, we started the following farming projects, to experiment with farming methods and to support local farmers with training.

• Farm in Bedugul, Tabanan Regency: 3000 m2 (30are) land for experimenting with soil improvement and sustainable farming methods for near organic produce.
• Farm in Kedis Village, Buleleng, North Bali: 5500 m2 (55 are) land for community development, with an initial focus on developing clove farming.
• Livestock support program to poor farmers (cattle, pigs and organic chickens).

Through work focusing on:

• Empowering the families to have the capability to earn a decent income.
• Provide training in good, sustainable and productive farming methods.
  Helping farmers to sell high quality produce at best possible prices without middle men.
• Provide poor farmers with the opportunity for independent income generation by providing them with startup help through financing and training.
• Provide tuition assistance for poor children and students who dropout

Distribution network

We have started to establish a distribution network, to help farmers to sell their quality produce at best possible price directly to restaurants.

Upcoming farming projects.

The following projects are in preparation and we aim to have them started in the near future:

• Helping out with capital loans to help families to start new income generating activities.
• In some cases, we will lease land to provide an opportunity to farmers to start their own independent farming business, supported by training and our distribution network.
• Working with universities, government institutions and other foundations to facilitate the transfer of knowledge to local farmers.
• Experiment with dry and non-productive land in east Bali to find income producing opportunities for local farmers.