The authorities of the Indonesian holiday island Bali are anticipating an eruption of the Mount Agung volcano.  Mount Agung, with a height of more than 3,000 metres, has been showing signs of increased activity for days now. Thousands of villagers have already left their homes near the mountain. They are put up in emergency shelters in schools, sports centres and in the open air. According to a spokesperson of the national disaster response authorities, the alert level was raised to the highest level last Friday evening. About 10,000 aid workers have been mobilised to assist with the evacuation of villages. Some 80,000 people live in the vicinity of Mount Agung. The mountain is very popular among foreign hikers. The volcano last erupted in 1963 and 1964, which caused the death of about 1,500 people. There are roughly 130 active volcanoes in Indonesia.
The Kolewa team is especially committed to helping all the Kolewa families which are part of our aid programme but also helps many others. Board member Nusrani Putu is on site; driver Komang uses the school bus to help evacuate people. In Denpasar, we collect food etc.; you can show your support by donating.

A number of our school project children have been evacuated and so have other families that we support on a regular basis. Our board member Nusrani Putu has also taken many evacuated people we don’t know under her wing. Kolewa Foundation helps Putu take care of them and provides supplies. From Sunday, 24 September,  on our team went  daily to the area to help and to bring food and equipment. You, too, can help by donating!

A retrospective of the first six months

On 11 September of this year, the entire board of Kolewa Foundation met in Alphen aan den Rijn, where the foundation has been registered since 10 years. The first item on the agenda was the opportunity for every board member to comment on their own performance, their mutual collaboration and the tasks to be carried out. Board member Angela de Witte celebrated her 5th anniversary at Kolewa and fortunately decided to stay on as a PR member.
Then we looked back on the activities and finances during the period from January to July 2017. A lot of work has been done in both Indonesia and the Netherlands. Shelter home Rumah Bicara accomodated as many as 57 children and their companions for a shorter or a longer period of time, enabling the children to undergo surgery in one of the Balinese hospitals and recover from the procedure afterwards. Income and expenditure are fully in line with the 2017 policy plan.

This new website was launched in the Netherlands and the first “new-style” newsletter went out. In additon, various funds, service clubs and schools were approached and requested to support our activities financially. The first six months inspire confidence, in terms of commitment of the Indonesian team, the donations that were made and the interest in our work from private individuals from both the Netherlands and abroad. There were many pleasant interviews with students and volunteers who are interested in a stay in Bali at Kolewa.
Legalisation of the Kolewa Foundation in Indonesia
Apart from the budget to be drawn up, the discussion on the draft 2018 policy plan included the official legalisation of our activities in Indonesia.

The last couple of months, chair person Syta Plantinga has been working hard on setting up the Indonesian version of the foundation.  After several years of having worked on a sound and solid organisation with an excellent location and a committed team, it was time to be registered at the Department of Human Rights in Jakarta, Indonesia and also at local authorities in Bali, such as the Dinas Sosial.  The name Yayasan Kolewa Harapan Indonesia, having its registered office in Denpasar, has been entered into the records. In popular speech it will remain the “Kolewa Foundation”. The logo will also remain the same.

As the Dutch board, we expect this to bring new fundraising opportunities. We now have an official local field partner.
But even more importantly, it is the next step towards self-reliance of the Indonesian team. The local board, in which founder Syta Plantinga has taken a seat, also consists of Ni Luh Juliani (chair person), Luh Dessy Widayani Uttari (treasurer), Putu Nusrani (secretary) and Fenny Lourens (supervisor).
Although perhaps not much will change in practice, we all see this as a positive step forwards and we will be happy to inform you in detail about the projects for 2018 in the policy plan, which will be pubished on this website shortly.
The meeting started at 4 pm and was concluded to everyone’s satisfaction around 8 pm.

In the past months the Kolewa team on Bali repeatedly proved their commitment and effort. In unforeseen circumstances e.g. a baby with high fever, an anusatresie-patiënt with severe stomach pain, or a child with cleft lip that has to go to the hospitatl by dawn… there always is a team member who is standby to go.

After two years Ni Luh Juliani, better known as Ana, has made a promotion within the team. As of 1 June she has been promoted to team leader on Bali and PA for the Dutch foundation. A greater responsibility rests on her shoulders, something she has taken with pleasure and enthusiasm. She is in charge of Dessy, Widia, Uttari, Holldin, Heldi, Klemens en Komang. The volunteers and trainees are also directed by Ana.

Arini said goodbye to the Kolewa-crew in April to start a job at a hearing centre. At the same time Uttari returned form her 3 months maternity leave after the birth of a healthy son. Holldin finally ended her job as a mentor of burns-patiënt Heldi en entered the Kolewa team.

She took the place of Arini in, after having replaced Uttari at first. Her teaching experience has proved to be very useful.  The occupational therapy, English lessons and sports and game activities got an even better structure.

Komang has been our driver on the schoolbus since four months already, he drives daily from Rendang (Karangasem) to Denpasar and back.  From mid July even with eight children on board. These children follow special education on a school for deaf children.

Klemens, our cleaner-concierge is very happy in his job. Being a former patient, he not only keeps an eye at the household but also at the children in our home. after work he likes to come along with a walk and always watches everything, even outside working hours.

In the kitchen our Heldi is in charge since 1th of Juli. Her predecessor Ledi returned to Flores. Sometimes it’s just that way, the family calls a daugther to come home and take care of the parents. Most of the time there is not much to do about this decision. Ledi hopes she can combine the care for her parents with an education on the island. We wish her lots of luck.

A new era has come for Heldi. During the day in Kolewa’s kitchen, during the night attending school. It’s fantastic to see her radiate. And for us the cream on the cake is the fact that she can cook deliciously!