SCHOLARSHIPS
FOR THE DEEPLY DISADVANTAGED
Curated scholarships are offered to the poorest families in the remote communities.
Based on the districts requirements the scholarships include contributions to school fees, uniforms, shoes, school bags, English dictionaries, books and stationery. Some areas require higher levels of support depending on economic and locational circumstances including annual travel bursaries.
On invitation, families are invited to apply for a BCF scholarship. To be eligible, the family must hold a Government Poor Card. Once identified, the potential applicant is “surveyed”. A typical community survey might involve a journey of 45+ minutes into remote areas where roads do not exist and the only method of transport to the family is by foot or motorbike.
Typically, we will encounter previously unseen poverty and hardship. For example, in one small group of dwellings – no electricity, sanitation or clean water – we found an entire family of six sleeping in one bedroom; in another one-room house five sleeping in the kitchen; a blind mother with a brain tumour; and young children living with hunger and malnutrition. The family profiles vary but most of the families are landless farm labourers who work for a landlord, receive shelter and food but very little cash income. The mothers either bead garments or make baskets to provide some funds for the household.
Although most of the parents have received some Primary School education, many are functionally illiterate. Children of these families typically drop out after Primary School or early in Junior High School. The children with the most ability then leave the village seeking a better living elsewhere. However, as Bali becomes more sophisticated, prospects for uneducated workers are diminishing. We hope to arrest this pattern by becoming involved from Primary level, developing education aspirations and offering an education path for families who cannot afford senior education for their children.
TERTIARY & ACADEMIC SCHOLARSHIPS
Thanks to our generous supporters, BCF is able to facilitate a variety of full and partial tertiary and academic scholarships.
Our year 12 students who hope to complete University degrees are encouraged and mentored to apply for a range of scholarships supplied by Bali’s Universities, Indonesian National authorities and the Indonesian public service.
Access to these application platforms and explanation of that process is shared with students and their teachers in their relevant schools.
The scholarships are only offered to those deemed to be impoverished and have been surveyed and confirmed by the BCF process. When a student receives one of these scholarships they often require further support including remote housing assistance.
Some students enter our scholarship group after showing diligence and success in their vocational English and Computer classes however all families are surveyed before a scholarship is granted. Students must remain diligent to maintain their scholarships. Our scholarship students achieve high graduate results with less than 1% dropping out of school between grade 1 till year 12. This compares to Bali’s average of 30% drop out over the same twelve years of education.
BCF offer scholarships from elementary school through to Tertiary education.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Food for Thought is a joint effort from several institutions in Bali’s Food and Beverages industry. Initiated by Will Meyrick, the founding chef of Sarong Group, the program involves well established restaurants & hotels including Sarong, Mama San, Hujan Locale, Tiger Palm, Som Chai, Metis, Alila and Marriott Group. The program is also supported by restaurant suppliers and founding partner Indowines.
The program concept arose from the recognition that tourism in Bali, one of the world’s most popular holiday destinations has unfortunately not shared the positive impact evenly throughout the island. There are many families in the remote rural communities who live in poverty with little or no recourse to a manageable income.
Food for Thought aims to build the pathway for disadvantaged Balinese young adults, toward higher education and better employment opportunities in the F&B Industry. Will Meyrick the Street Food Chef believes that food does not recognise discrimination, therefore the F&B industry is the perfect vehicle toward the goals.
Collaborating with Bali Children Foundation, Sarong Group and its partners send the children to well regarded hospitality colleges, cover their educational expenses and employ them in the restaurants as interns where they receive a viable salary ensuring they are able to support themselves. After graduation the students are offered an employment contract in these premium establishments and the income they receive brings permanent change to their families and communities.
The program has facilitated 42 Hospitality scholarships in Bali to date with another 20 expected to be added this year..
Food for Thought seeks to partner with any organisation in Bali’s Hospitality industry which share their vision. Please contact us to learn how to become a partner in the Food for Thought program.
POSYANDU
This program will directly support the valuable work that the Kartika Soekarno Foundation is doing in the Songan community in Bali, Indonesia.
The Kartika Soekarno Foundation was established in 1998 and has extensive experience working with at-risk mothers and infants in under-resourced districts through the Foundation's Maternal and Infant Health Program in Indonesia.
Impacting the first 1,000 days of a child's life, Kartika Soekarno Foundation works to prevent stunting. Stunting has long term effects on individuals and societies, including diminished cognitive and physical development, reduced productive activity and poor health, and an increased risk of degenerative diseases such as diabetes. In the Songan District, in particular, there is a high occurance of stunting affecting children's health, their learning abilities and adult life expectancy. Stunting is a direct result of malnutrition in the early years.
We believe that with your help, we can prevent more children from growing up with this debilitating issue.
The first 1000 days of a child's life can have a lasting impact on the rest of their life in terms of physical health, mental health and education.