Humanitarian projects ease agony of the poor in Bali
Rita A.Widiadana, The Jakarta Post, Sanur
Seven-year old Komang was burned in a house fire some years ago in his hometown in one of the most impoverished villages in East Bali. The right side of his body was burned so badly, that his harm was fused to his torso.
It was really a miracle that he survived the fire. But, his previous cheerful childhood vanished as he could do nothing but cry miserably with no respite from the pain. His destitute parents were unable to take him to a doctor.
Fortunately, they made their way to the Australian-based John Fawcet Foundation, a humanitarian and non-profit organization dealing with community-based health activities on the island of Bali.
They were very lucky to have met a visiting plastic surgeon, Dr. Tim Cooper from Perth, who then operated on Komang to return his arm to its normal position.
The Foundation set up a set of Roman rings in the yard of Komang's house for him to exercise his arm and keep the skin from contracting. Komang now has full use of his arm again.
Komang also received donations so he could return to school, from the foundation's Primary School Children Assistance.
Komang is only one of thousands of other poor children and teenagers in Bali who have had to go through difficult periods but regained new and fulfilling lives with the support of this foundation.
Established in l991, the John Fawcet Foundation set up its Indonesian affiliation as Yayasan Kemanusiaan Indonesia (The Indonesian Humanitarian Foundation) located in the Sanur area.
In the eyes of millions of tourists, Bali seems like a tropical paradise. But it is a paradise that some 1.7 percent of its 3 million population cannot see because of half or full blindness.
"The prosperous tourist island actually has a dark part in which thousands of its people are extremely poor and unaffected by the glitter of the tourist industry," explained Penny Lane, an executive officer of the foundation.
The majority of poor Balinese families are faced with the heart-breaking fact that they cannot afford to save their own child's life.
There have been cases where a child in need of a simple appendectomy, has died because the parents had no money to pay for the operation or medical treatment.
"We are here to prevent such tragedies, our programs are specifically intended to help these needy people by paying for all treatment costs for children who would otherwise die or whose quality of life would be severely diminished because their families cannot afford medical treatment," she said.
Among the foundation's "giving hope" services are free surgery for cataract, cleft lips and palates.
The cataract surgery is one of the longest-running of its many services. It has been going on since 1991 when the foundation started the Sight Restoration and Blindness Prevention Program.
It started with a mobile eye clinic to reach the most remote villages, and in 1996, in cooperation with a local health office, established the Community Eye Center in Denpasar, using a former leprosy hospital.
"Surgically, a cataract operation is simple and costs only (US$35). However, for a Balinese villager, it is financially impossible. An operation would cost a year's income for a farming family. If Balinese people begin to lose their sight, they literally can't afford to do anything about it," she said.
For the cleft lips and palates surgery, the foundation, in cooperation with the Rotary Club, make use of government hospitals in Bali to give free services.
The foundation often invites volunteer consultants from Australia and also from other countries to share their experience and knowledge with local medical workers.
After the Oct. 12, 2002 Bali bombing, the Foundation cooperated with Bali Hati to help the victims obtain treatment in various hospitals in Australia.
Funding seems to be one of the challenging hurdles to the foundation's mission in Bali. Therefore, no less than the founder John Fawcet himself took the lead in fund-raising.
When visiting the foundation's office in Sanur last week, Fawcet was seen busy making phone calls to seek assistance from his global contacts for the poor Balinese.
"I have good news, one organization will donate 40 hospital beds, each worth about ($2,800)," Fawcet smiled brightly. "My staff and I here work like beggars asking for help from anyone in the world. And I am very content to do that as long as the poor here can get what they need," he commented.
"We often ask Australians in their country or those visiting Bali to join the foundation's Primary School Assistance program by donating A$100 to $200 per child per year to help these needy children in school," he said.
"We ask individuals, organizations, companies to also take part in our programs," he said.
More coming to Bali for good
While about 280,000 Australians visit Bali every year as tourists, some Australians have come to the island and have been residing here for many years to dedicate themselves to the well- being of the impoverished Balinese.
There are a number of humanitarian organizations and philanthropic individuals whose compassion runs beyond race, culture and religion.
Brent Hall, Australian Consul General for Bali and West Nusa Tenggara provinces, estimated that there were about 5,000 Australians now residing in the two provinces, the majority in Bali, coming from diverse professional backgrounds such as businesspeople, artists, designers, sportsmen and women, teachers, exchange students and committed people involved in various humanitarian activities.
"Bali has become a second home to many Australians. Once they fell in love with the island and its people, they would likely visit here frequently and even stay here for certain period of time. A lot of Australians have visited Bali for more than 10 times and many of them have stayed here for 15 to 20 years," Hall explained.
"The John Fawcet Foundation is one of the many humanitarian organizations that have been reaching the poorest groups of the Balinese population to enable them get access to medical facilities, education and other basic needs," he said.