Poverty project promising

Thank you for publishing Murdani Usman's article Balinese artists help children to be happy in the Sept. 20 edition of The Jakarta Post, which certainly gives an insight into the lives of one of the most isolated communities in Bali. The excellent photographs help to transport the reader to this amazing and unspoilt corner of the world.

If not for the initiative and enthusiasm of Matamera's Creative Director, I really didn't know how we could attain this goal. Now it seems a little nearer.

The children's ability to produce some remarkable ink drawings was a tribute to the skill of artist Made Budiana, aided by the fresh minds of the children, who through their true isolation had never been exposed to any outside influence except for East Bali Poverty Project staff and the regular visits of our key donors and sponsors such as Sari Tours, British Women's Association, American Women's Association, Bali Dynasty Resort, Hard Rock Hotel Bali and the Balinese volunteer dentists from Saraswati University in Denpasar.

In 1998, when East Bali Poverty Project field staff interviewed over 1,000 families in 1998 in order to try to work out a list of their priorities in development, they chose "education for our children".

Once the foundation was established in July 1998, we started from zero with a community that had almost no contact with the outside world. Initiating the first education project took a long time due to the lack of motivation and understanding of the parents, and their difficulty in planning who was now to get the water, and replace the children to maintain their dry-land cassava farms. Yet, with our sensitive participatory approach, progress was fast, and all the signs are now that our goal of empowering the community to sustainability and self-reliance can be attained.

DAVID J. BOOTH

Founder & Vice Chairman

East Bali Poverty Project

Bali