Congratulations Happy Hearts

On October 10th Petra Nemcova hosted the Happy Hearts Fund annual gala dinner in New York City with more than 700 guests attending including Bruce Willis, Eva Mendes, Uma Thurman and Russell Simmons to name a few. The M.U.M. Bali Foundation and the Bantul Kindergarten Project would like to congratulate Petra and her Happy Hearts team for yet another successful HHF gala.

New BKP kindergartens

We are currently working on building the following kindergartens spread across the Bantul Regency: Nglorong Kindergarten, Tunas Harapan Kindergarten, Kemloko Kindergarten, Wanujoyo Kindergarten and Lanteng Kindergarten.  We are planning to officially open Gulon Kindergarten, Grinda Kindergarten and Dukuh Kindergarten in December and January 2008.

The opening of Saradan Kindergarten

On Wednesday 8th August we opened our first kindergarten in Dlingo sub-district, high in the hills overlooking Bantul. This kindergarten had been in a tent for 11 months before we gratefully received funding through AIG and CHF International to begin rebuilding. The entire village is delighted with the completed kindergarten and playground and as the village chief expressed ‘this is by far the best kindergarten in Dlingo’.

AIG and CHF International were also kind enough to give the BKP a generous donation of school bags, pencil cases and stationary sets for the Year 1 pupils at Sriharjo Primary School.  We would like to thank Peter Meyers of AIG, Louis O’Brien, Kelly van Husen and the rest of the CHF International team for their generosity and support of the BKP and its efforts to improve the education of Bantul children.

A dental check up

Thanks to a suggestion from the SIRF team, we were very fortunate to have two young dentists staying with us in Bantul. Cathy and Claire came out from Ireland on a mission to check the teeth of kindergarten-aged children and to explain the best way youngsters can look after their teeth. Everyone, including the parents, enjoyed the visit and the children loved getting their own toothbrush and tube of toothpaste from Claire and Cathy. Thank you again Cathy and Claire for coming out to visit us here in Bantul and sharing your expertise with us. We all look forward to seeing you out here again soon. Thanks also to SIRF for sharing this initiative with us.

And speaking of SIRF…

This dynamic trio, or should we now say quartet with the addition of Pete Bremner, has again raised enough funds to start their fourth and fifth kindergartens – Masyithoh Lanteng Kindergarten in Imogiri and Tangkil Kindergarten in Pundong.

Thanks again to ACE Hardware and Index Furnishings Indonesia

We would like to thank Index Furnishings and ACE Hardware for continuing to send us boxes of donations for our kindergartens. We would especially like to thank Romie Johanes for his tremendous support and encouragement.

Nogosari Kindergarten’s new playground

The BKP would like to give special thanks to Joan and Peter Radis of Fremantle in Western Australia for their generous donation to out ‘Pledge a Playground’ fund. This donation has allowed us to create a colourful and exciting playground for Nogosari Kindergarten in Imogiri, an addition that has delighted the children, teachers and the rest of the community.

Thank you Australian International School

The Australian International School in Bali has been very active in selling our BKP stickers to raise funds for classroom resources for Bantul kindergartens. We would like to thank AIS’s Head of School John Milliss for his great support. The BKP would also like to sincerely thank Penny Robertson, AIS Indonesia’s Principal, who took 500 stickers to a conference she attended in Australia and sold all of them.

Thank you Nurani Dunia Foundation

The BKP would like to thank Ari from the Indonesian charity Nurani Dunia Foundation who very kindly delivered several hundred cakes of Lifebuoy soap to us in Bantul. This soap will be used in our kindergarten hygiene promotion programs.

The BKP Wish List

• 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 paints etc.
• Educational posters.
• Coloured paper, glue.
• Outdoor play equipment.

Thank you all for your continued support of the Bantul Kindergarten Project.

Alison, Amber & Wawan