Written by:
12/24/2011 6:03 AM 

It has been almost eighteen months and nine thousand sea miles since I last visited an SOS Children’s Village.  The last village on my route was in Tahiti in the South Pacific.  That was until I made my first stop in Southeast Asia.  My introduction into the region and culture started in Bali.  With every new culture I must start over.  I speak no Bahasa and had no contacts with which I could begin my search for SOS Children’s Villages in Indonesia.  Luckily, using the SOS Children’s Villages USA site I found a link to the regional country page.  Relying heavily on Google translate I made my way to the contact link and sent an email introducing myself in both English and Google's translation of my email in Bahasa.  Sometimes I wish I could see the expression on the faces of those who first read my email and try to make sense of what I am saying.

Those emails go something to the effect of, “Hello.  I am an SOS Children’s Village supporter currently sailing around the world to help raise awareness and donations for your organization.  I’ve recently come to your country and if possible would love to schedule a visit to your village.  You need not arrange anything special as my only wish is to see how SOS Children’s Villages operate locally.  Afterwards, I’ll publish a small story on my website about my visit in hopes of getting more people involved around the world”.   Usually I get a pretty good response.  Sometimes I think the concept of sailing around the world combined with the language barrier makes my emails incomprehensible.

In this case everything worked.  The national director forwarded my email to Novie, the SOS Children’s Village Bali secretary.  If I’d done nothing more than meet Novie I’d have considered the visit a success.  Novie is originally Javanese and started working with SOS in Jakarta.  She spent several years in the organization there before moving to the private sector and teaching in a school populated with children of the wealthy.  Novie spent four years in the private school, but never found either the satisfaction from her work or the connection with the children she had felt with SOS Jakarta.  The income was certainly better, but Novie knew where she belonged.  It didn’t take long for her to find the opening in Bali.  Lucky for the kids and myself, she’d been there many months when I arrived.

I reached the village after a 45 minute scooter ride though the mountainous jungle covered hills of southern Bali.  Novie and the village director, Mr. Agung Suweca, warmly welcomed me to the village.  We started with a stroll around the grounds stopping at each house to meet the mother and children residing within.  It was then that I met the newest resident of the village.  The young boy had only been in the village for 20 days.  How he came to the village speaks volumes for the credibility of SOS Children’s Villages.

The child was being raised by the sole effort of his mother.  For one reason or another the woman became mentally unstable and had to be hospitalized for treatment.  It was clear she could not nor did she care to continue raising her child.  The boys uncle was aware of the situation and while unable to take on the care of the child himself, he knew who to call for help.  SOS Children’s Village was the obvious answer in this case because the boys uncle had grown up in the same village some 18 years earlier.  His own fondness for his village mother, sisters, and brothers gave him the confidence to bring his nephew to the very village he called his own.  Now this child has a stable loving home of his own and still maintains contact with his extended family outside of the village.

Our walking tour got cut short when Mr. Suweca informed me he had a meeting he must attend.  With a questioning glance he asked if I’d like to attend.  What came next was the bimonthly gathering of the Family Strengthening Program (FSP).  SOS Bali works hard with the local community to ensure that families in danger get the support they need to stay together.  Often that support comes from a micro loan combined with micro business training.  The smallest additional income can move a family from the edge of disbanding towards a stable foundation.  Often these small business come in the form of petrol stops for scooters, snack vending, or even taxi work.  Small sums of money make big differences in the lives of everyone here.

Everyone who in the community who takes part in the training was at this afternoons meeting.  The primary goal is to solicit feedback on the program from the community, but also build communication across families.  SOS Children’s Villages promotes strength in the individual, family, village, and community.  The number of families and gratitude they had for providing tools otherwise unacceptable to them was heartwarming. 

To say that SOS Bali had a lot going on would be a massive understatement.  To top it all off, I arrived on the 20th year anniversary celebrating the day the village first opened.  To celebrate, one of the village children had choreographed multiple traditional and modern dancers.  Each dance, more than eight in all, were performed by the children themselves.  The festivities were attended by the village children, staff, and many influential community leaders.  These included military officials, parliament members, and famous local musicians.  The dances done three bands and anyone who could play picked up an instrument and jammed well towards midnight.  The children began to drop off by twos and threes either on the pavilion floor unwilling to quit the party or joining hands and walking back to their houses.  It was a party to remember.

it has been a long time since I’ve called on those who follow this blog to help, but now is that time.  You may also decide that giving a donation as a gift in someone else's name is the way you’d like to help.  Instead of spending money on more things, make a real difference and sponsor a child in the name of a loved one for Christmas.  Not only will they receive a thank you from SOS Children’s Villages, but they will receive detailed information and most likely correspondence from the sponsored child.  You may specify an area in which you’d like to help or you may allow SOS Children’s Village to apply your donation wherever it is needed most.  If that doesn’t move you, don’t forget you only have a few more days to secure charitable deductions for the 2011 tax year.  Here are the easiest ways you can help.

Option 1: Please take a moment to email your friends and family about this voyage. The single most important thing I can accomplish is to raise awareness for SOS Children’s Villages. I know things are tight everywhere financially, but this only costs a little time.

Option 2: The greatest way to benefit SOS Children’s Villages is to sponsor a child. This is a monthly donation of $30 USD that covers the cost of caring for a child in one of their villages. You can specify in what country you’d like to make your donation as well as making contact with the particular child you sponsor. Click Here

Option 3: Donate any amount that you can afford to give. It doesn’t matter if it is 50 cents, the donation matters. Use the form to enter a preset amount or enter your own amount. Click Here

Option 4: You can donate directly to Sailing For SOS to keep this project sailing. However, I will not accept any financial donations unless you have donated to SOS Children’s Villages first through one of the means above. Additionally, unlike the two options above, this is not a tax deductible donation. Click Here

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