The opening of Sriharjo Kindergarten

December 24th saw the opening of the BKP’s fourth kindergarten in Sriharjo village, Imogiri. We all gathered in Sriharjo’s brand new playground complete with beautiful green grass (a novelty for kindergartens here), blooming tropical flowers, sandpit and brightly painted play equipment. The kindergarten’s colourful Mr Men and Little Miss mural brought smiles to the faces of young and old alike. We were soon entertained by the kindergarten’s drum band with all of the children looking adorable in their red suits and red and gold peaked hats. This was soon followed by traditional dancing performed by the children and even a few Javanese songs. Once the ribbon of fragrant jasmine flowers was cut, the BKP team and communities leaders inspected the new facilities.

Thank you again Happy Hearts.

The opening of Ngijo Kindergarten

On January 27th the village of Ngijo came together for an event-packed evening of Javanese dance, singing and karaoke all in aid of the opening of their new kindergarten. As this kindergarten is looking so fabulous the education office in Piyungan sub-district has selected Ngijo as the location for their annual kindergartens’ competition in April.

Thanks to Happy Hearts. Petra and Leilani, you would not recognise this kindergarten now.

Dahromo Kindergarten opens thanks to the Warisan Fundraiser

On Saturday 24th February, the village of Dahromo held the opening of its beautiful kindergarten for its 63 young students. The rebuilding of this kindergarten was made possible thanks to the Warisan Restaurant ‘BKP’ Fundraiser held in Bali last November 15th. The opening was a wonderful opportunity to bring together the communities of Bantul and Bali – a reoccurring theme in all of the speeches that day.

Montessori School comes to Bantul

To coincide with the opening of Dahromo Kindergarten, we were very pleased to welcome Miss Holly and James to Bantul. As part of the opening, Miss Holly presented gift bags full of goodies to the excited children of Dahromo Kindergarten. We need to say a special thank you to the children, parents and teachers at Montessori for their wonderful presents that clearly had a great deal of thought put into them. The children were over the moon on receiving their individual gift bags. We look forward to Montessori visiting us again in Yogya.

Barry from SIRF touches down in Yogya

Barry, one of our wonderful surfer lads from Ireland arrived with his girlfriend Elizabeth to visit SIRF’S SECOND KINDERGARTEN CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION!! It was great to see them again and we look forward to seeing you and the rest of the SIRF team during the year.

The Happy Hearts Fund continues to support the BKP
On February 10th, the night before the Grammy Awards, Happy Hearts hosted a dinner party in Los Angeles in aid of the BKP. We feel very blessed to be working alongside such a dedicated and pro-active group of people who we consider to be members of the BKP family. We love you guys!

THANK YOU…

• Before we begin we would like to say that if we do forget to thank you (and sometimes we do!), we are truly grateful for all donations be they monetary, clothing, toys or support, words of wisdom and pats on the back. We could never achieve what we have done without you all.
• Pak Yusuf and Radala Cargo, Denpasar
  For so kindly bringing all of Amber’s belongings up to Yogya when she made the big move from Bali. Thanks also for sending the slide for Dahromo Kindergarten from Bali.
• ACE Hardware and Index Furnishings
  For the desperately needed tables and chairs for our little ones. Again thank you for the fabulous colourful toys that have been distributed to ten kindergartens. We look forward to developing our relationship with ACE and Index. Also huge thanks to Romie for your support.
• Xiomara
  Xiomara came up to Yogya late last year and assisted the BKP team. On returning to Bali, Xio raised money and awareness of the need for long-term temporary bamboo shelters for families still in need. Through her persistence and dedication, Xio raised money to build 6 bamboo houses for 6 grateful families in Bantul. Thank you Xio.
• Tony Butler and Sweetwater Surf Shop
  After Tony’s annual December fundraiser in honour of his mother, BKP received a very generous donation. Thank you Tony and we’re sure this would have made your mother very proud.
• Holly Le Good and family
  Holly and her family in Canada very generously purchased outdoor play equipment as well as classroom resources. Thank you from the children and teachers from Dahromo Kindergarten.
• Mary Vaughan and Rudy
  Thank you so much for your kind donation and thanks also to the patrons of your store in the US for their generosity.
• Carola, Valeria and Pedro Saez Vazquez Lapuente
  Who so very kindly produced and donated 30 fabulous teak desks and chairs that we so desperately need. These were shared between two kindergartens. Thank you so much.
• James and Adam
  As we are writing this newsletter, the playground at Kwasen Kindergarten is being constructed. We cannot begin to express the excitement and gratitude of the children, teachers and parents of Kwasen village. Thank you and may others also support our ‘Pledge a Playground’ project. Photographs will be posted on the website shortly.

The BKP Wish List

As we continue to build kindergartens, we realize how little these kindergartens have or have ever had. The BKP would like to make positive change and ensure that the education and learning environments of these children is improved and better developed. This is our long-term vision. We urgently need the following:

• Desks & chairs;
• Bookcases & cupboards;
• Indonesian early childhood reading books;
• Educational toys – wooden toys, building blocks, train sets, dolls etc;
• Writing & drawing books;
• Crayons, colouring pencils, non-toxic paint etc;
• Educational posters;
• Coloured paper, glue;
• Outdoors play equipment.