April 20: Volunteering in Bangli brings a new sense of purpose

The Widhya Asih Foundation is a collection of 7 different orphanages and one office location spread out across the entire island of Bali. Since they are so spread out, we often start our days waking up early for breakfast and then heading out to one of the sites which can be anywhere from 45 minutes to three hours away. I have found this to be a great way to see the whole island even if it is only from a car window as we pass through towns. I would hardly call these drives relaxing though, as these roads have some of the craziest drivers I have ever seen. One of the locations we went to today, Bangli, is still a construction site. They have 25 kids at a temporary site nearby which is an old restaurant that contains two large dorm rooms. The plan is to have the new site up by June and they also would like to at least double the amount of kids they can take in as well. Bangli has quickly gathered a reputation among our group for being the most challenging site you can visit. As much as Bangli is physically exhausting, it is just as much mentally exhausting.

It can be so hard on you because throughout the other orphanages we have been working on the actual site where the children are staying. So no matter how much physical labor we are put through each day, we can all look forward to the breaks where we can hang out with the kids. We can spend time getting to know them, helping them practice English or even going out to a field to play soccer. At Bangli, however, there isn’t any of this - just straight work – and hard work.

At the site there are some workers who point out what they need us to do. The last few days, we’ve carried tile and dirt to the second story of the structure in 95 degree heat. We also learned how to mix concrete….by hand. Since the labor here is so cheap, about $4 per person per day, there is no reason for anyone to buy anything like a belt sander or cement mixer – they have the people do it themselves. This also meant that we were learning to do all these things by hand ourselves as well.

During one of our water breaks, I decided to walk around the place and check it out. In one of the rooms, I came across some pieces of ply wood leaning upright against each other. When I peeked inside, I discovered a pillow and blanket covering the dirt. Not only do these workers only get paid $4 a day to work construction for 8 hours in the heat, they also have to live onsite at night as security guards to keep their supplies protected. We found out later that everyone there does this year round. They move from site to site building houses and live onsite while they are there. It is kind of like being homeless except they have something to do during the day, and at $4 a day, it is a very small step up from living out on the streets.

In another room we come across a baby…yes, an infant. Lying on a piece of wood crying in the middle of the construction site. Her mother was in the shower at the time and her father was working and wasn’t allowed to take a break to tend to his child for even a minute. That for me was when it really hit home. It wasn’t just adult men living here as they work on site, it was families. This has redefined the words poor and needy for me.

Suddenly the break ends and I find myself with a new sense of purpose. The afternoon gets a little bit easier for me to get through because if I am able to do anything at all to help these guys then I am going to do it. If carrying four bags up a flight of stairs at a time instead of three means that these families can get a little extra time off, then that is what needs to be done.

I have really appreciated the time I have had getting to know the other board members and now we all have one major thing that will bond us together…..Bangli.

Bill McCluskey

Softchoice Board Member and DWC Participant

Bali, April 2012

April 19: Learning the secret to happiness

I must say the team has done well this past two weeks. We have cold showers each day - something we have all come to appreciate - but honestly when we arrived most of us were grossed out by the conditions. Several toilets don't work - one leaks onto the floor! Our lodgings are functional but nothing to write home about but we have come to appreciate a safe bed to sleep in after a hard days work. But we chose this experience for a reason.

Eating rice and noodles, tempeh, fish or fried chicken - we realize that we are lucky compared to a big chunk of the population but if we are honest we are used to better.

So, here we sit. We expect better. But to see life from the vantage point we have gotten over the past few weeks is incredible. We live privileged lives in North America! To a person we have had our own moments of deep insight. We have become more grateful for our own situation in life.

But, we are taught by the people we meet - over and over again - that the secret to a happy life is not the physical surroundings we live in. We often feel lonely in North America but people here have a smile on their face - they know that life is not an individual sport - human connections give life meaning!

Funny how we learn things from two weeks of cold showers!

Nick Foster
Softchoice Employee and DWC Team Leader
Bali, April 2012

April 19: What's the measure of a good life?

How do you measure if you have a good life, or if you’re happy? If you asked most North American’s that question, their answers would be all across the board.  Perhaps it’s the ability to buy a new car, or graduate from high school or college.  Maybe it’s a new house or that boat you always dreamed of.

If you asked me that question, I would probably tell you that I want to make enough money to be comfortable, to go on a nice vacation once a year, and put my kids through college – just like my parents did for me.

Ask that same question to a girl from the Untal Untal orphanage and she would tell you something entirely different. I bet it’s not something materialistic like a new car or shiny boat. She’ll likely answer that it’s the ability to simply go to school and not have to live day to day, not knowing when or where her next meal will come from.

Getting to know Anita...

14 year old Anita is one of those girls. I was fortunate to get know Anita while at Untal Untal. Anita’s family lives north of Bali but couldn’t afford to send her to school.  Her parents did what they had to and put her in the orphanage so that she would have the chance of a better life. She loves school and wants to be a doctor or pastor one day.  She lights up immediately when I ask her if she likes it at the orphanage; she says yes, she has lots of friends.  I ask her if she gets to see her parents regularly but she says no and doesn’t know when she’ll get to see them again.

Bill Taylor sponsors several girls from the orphanage.  One girl he sponsors was so malnourished when they found her that they only gave her one month to live. Thankfully, she fully recovered because of the orphanage. She is now the star dancer and musician at Untal Untal.

My wife and I are going to sponsor a girl.  Yatti the Sponsor coordinator at Wiydya Asih was telling me about a girl whose father sold her to a hotel to work and she had been working there for almost two years when they found her.

I can’t imagine a life like that in North America… living away from my parents or making the decision as a parent to send my child off to a place where I may never see him or her again.  I can’t imagine finding a girl on the street who is about to die simply because she has no food.  I can’t imagine for a second, selling my child to a hotel because it was my only option to help my family to survive.

Every girl we have spoken to has a similar story, and more than willing to share. They speak of it merely as a normal part of life…which is seems to be in Bali. What impresses me the most about them, however, is how nice, outgoing and happy they are.  You can’t even tell the hard lives they live or rather the hard lives they once had.

Now, if you asked me what I think would make these girls happy – I believe they would simply want what any other 8-14 year old wants in Bali: the chance to survive and the chance to simply be a Teenager.

James Kessenich

Softchoice Employee and DWC Participant

Bali, April 2012

April 17: Teaching Word to Exel

Laptop deployment day at Blimbingsari - I learned the true meaning of potential. Sitting doing some typing lessons in Word with a boy named Exel (for real, he's the one in bright green in the photos on the rights), it took just once each, despite the language barrier, for this six year old to learn Caps Lock, Backspace, Enter, and changing the font. They were SO excited to explore these new tools, they could not look away - and yet, when we had to shut them down for the day, they gently closed the laptops, and said thank you. I wouldn't be surprised if Exel wrote his first bit of code this evening...

Nicole Elliott
Softchoice Employee and DWC Participant
Bali, April 2012

April 17: Helping Balinese kids...to be kids

Bali has a way of wowing you with the beautiful scenery and the facade that you’re exposed to traveling around the countryside. Not everyone seems poor. In fact, poverty is not as in your face as I expected. As we drove down the roads, we saw small, road-side family businesses, service shops for scooters, and stores selling building supplies and wood carvings.

But we soon realized it’s easy to be fooled. By looking a bit harder – and asking a few more questions, we found what many people don’t see behind the buildings on the strip. We saw dirt paths going through the fields to little shacks where the poorest of the poor live. There is no way to get here by car – only by walking or riding a bike. We noticed children walking out from the fields to the strip, holding platters of fruit to sell on the main road. They bathed in the dirty, field run-off that flows by their shack, and would wait at stop signs to beg for money from passing motorists. One particular image sticks in my mind most was of a little girl holding a baby at the side of the road while begging for money. This left a mark on me, and made me wonder why we were here and how we could ever help…

Last week as we sat at Untal Untal, scraping paint off the walls in the extreme heat, soaked with sweat and just counting down the minutes until we were finished, I heard the sounds of two little boys roaring with laughter while playing a game with Popsicle sticks. It was such a beautiful sound…that of kids just being kids…not having to beg for their next meal or work in the fields to support their family. It’s when I realized… this is why we are here…to help them. To support the amazing people and orphanages that are helping get these children out of their horrible situations. They’re giving them the chance to grow up as kids, to go to school and to make something of their lives.

Untal Untal, the other orphanages, and organizations like Developing World Connections are making a huge difference and we’re fortunate that we get to be a part of it.

Jason van Ravenswaay
Softchoice Employee and DWC Participant
Bali, April 2012

April 16: Delievering the gift of sight

If you had to prioritize your list of life’s concerns, where would you place your personal health on that list? For many, it’s most likely somewhere near the top. Unfortunately, for many of the Balinese people, life presents so many other concerns that health usually falls to the bottom.

We kept this in mind when we thought about coming to Bali.  In addition to the ”Future for 500” campaign, our hope was to reach out the local community in any way possible. Hearing that many of the people don’t have the means to keep their eye sight healthy, we brought with us, several tens of pairs of donated, used, eye glasses and eye charts, in the hopes of helping even just a few.

Angel – a girl from the Utal Utal orphanage – was one of those few we were so lucky to meet, and who was so amazed by our donation.  At 16 years old, she has never worn glasses in her life but clearly she needed them. She had difficulty reading from a distance, but like most of the people at Untal Untal, she doesn’t have the means to purchase glasses, even though her eyesight is deteriorating. I wondered how this girl was able to read the black board in the classroom every day.

After trying on many pairs and going through exercises to find the perfect pair, Angel’s eyes lit up. She smiled shyly as the glasses brought her eyes to 20/20 vision! And, even though it seems a bit awkward to be one of the few wearing glasses at the orphanage, she was so happy to be able to see clearly. I told her to make sure she wore them as much as possible. She nodded hurriedly and disappeared in to the hallway with a smile on her face and the glasses clutched firmly in her hand.

Angel wasn’t the only one though. Several of the women and girls went through the same exercises to try the glasses until they found a pair that met their needs. After finding their matches, the woman and girls were so grateful and happy, a couple of them excitedly dashed outside to grab their husbands – who work in the same orphanage – to show them how well they were now able to see!

We were so happy to experience how much happiness that these eye glasses brought to seven individuals at Untal Untal. But, it’s only one of the several more orphanages yet to visit, so we hope to find more “Angels” that need our help as we continue our efforts in reaching out to the local communities.

Hubert Sinniah
Softchoice Employee and DWC Participant
Bali, April 2012

April 13: Making memories with the Untal Untal girls

Wednesday night we went to Kuta – a main Bali tourist spot – for a going away dinner for Wayne from Developing World Connections. It was outstanding the difference between here and where we are staying near the orphanage Untal Untal. Immediately everything was more Westernized – lots of nice stores, bars and restaurants.  I now know why people who only see this side of Bali think it’s a resort island with noone living in poverty or in need of help. But the group and I quickly learned that the glitz rubs off quickly as you drive more inland to where we’re staying. There’s  poverty all around us. Right outside our walls are rice fields with workers sleeping in shantys. The streets are crowded, dirty and loud. There are small store fronts with very few products and garbage piles littering the streets.

The orphanage Untal Untal is a little haven from this world. Even though it is right off the street in the midst of motorcycle chaos, it has a calm created by the wonderful caring of director Tina. She welcomes us every day with a huge smile and her enthusiasm is infectious. These 72 girls are very fortunate to have her.

We have spent three full days working here painting, and things are starting to really look good! Each day we get to know the girls better and we have been learning about their situation and past. It is easy to see why these girls are flourishing at the orphanage. I can only imagine the rough life they would have endured if their families wouldn’t have given them up. Each one is striving to do well in school and be successful in life. I feel bad that they are no longer with their families but they are all so happy where they are now.

In the afternoon the girls had a Balinese dance class which we got to watch. I loved it! The artistry and fluid movement was captivating with complicated sequences and perfected hand placement. It looks like it’s taken the girls years of study to learn. The featured girl is sponsored by Bill Taylor, the head of The Bali Fund. When she first came to the orphanage a few years ago, they didn’t know if she would make it because she was so malnourished. Because of Bill and Widhya Asih Foundation she was given a chance. There are so many more stories like this and these girls just keep me in awe.

Last night after diner, we went back to Untal Untal and had a very rousing night of singing and laughing with the girls. They serenaded us with lots of songs and the Softchoice Cares Board even got up and sang some John Denver…the girls were nice enough to applaud! We realized we need more songs in our back pocket though - we are nothing compared to these girls. It was an uplifting night to be able to hang out and goof around with all of them. They are truly just like girls everywhere else; lots of giggling and with the sweetest personalities. They are so curious and ask all types of questions. I showed them some pictures of me skiing and they were enthralled with all the snow and couldn’t believe people actually play in it! It is definitely something they don’t see in Bali. Afterwards we came home completely energized with big smiles on our face. I can’t wait to go back tomorrow and see them again! It is moments like these that I know this trip was the right decision and we are definitely making a difference.

Karly Pierce
Softchoice Employee and DWC Participant
Bali, April 2012

April 9: Bridging the digital gap begins today!

After an orientation session this morning the group got rolling on our technology project. The two HP servers were cracked open and the process of creating virtual machines was underway. Kevin O'Neal led the way with Bill McCluskey getting some real world practice.

Tim Taylor and Candice Garner set off to buy some cable and power bars and it ended up taking all afternoon because the van they were driving in had a flat tire. The spare was also flat so the process was a little slower than it should have been. In any case the objective was met so we can begin manufacturing some cable lengths tomorrow.

Eric Gardiner started his project of making a 10 minute video by interviewing Wayne McRann the President of Developing World Connections (DWC). DWC has been our partner on projects ranging from Sri Lanka to Rwanda. Eric is planning on telling the story of why our project is needed at all. Eric and James Kessenich ventured out in to a rice harvest to get some great shots and some perspective on regular working folks.

The rest of the Softchoice crew (Tima Rocha, Catharine Brar, Hubert Siniah, Jason Van Ravensway, Nicole Elliott, Karly Pierce) unpacked the fabulous donations that our coworkers and friends sent with us here and sorted it into the right boxes so that they could be delivered to the right orphanage location. There are seven locations and the children at each are different ages and academic stages. Some of our friends back home have us money and the team went out to buy shampoo, soap and school supplies to supplement the packages.

Kan Choi worked with the office workers gathering requirements for what the database attributes will be so that our beneficiary tracking system has all the right information.

So, a great first day! We are under way representing more than 1100 people at Softchoice and we couldn't be prouder to do so!

Nick Foster

DWC Team Leader

Bali, April 2012

April 2012: Softchoice Cares 2012 Mission

When the idea of heading to Bali on a philanthropy mission first came up, most of us balked. As members of the Softchoice Cares Board, we represent Softchoice employees in every decision we make. Telling the company we were going to spend two weeks ‘giving back’ in a tropical paradise sounded like a PR nightmare.

So we did what any other responsible board would do, we looked at other projects in other places – in the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Kenya. To be truly scientific, we created criteria and weightings and put every option through a formal review process. We looked at the relevance of the mission to our purpose of bridging the digital divide, charitable impact, safety and, yes, the optics of the location. And when all the analysis was done, there it was again: Bali.

Even the most clinical process imaginable can’t remove the emotion inherent in a decision like this. But the more we talked and the more research we did, the more confident we were that Bali was the right mission for Softchoice Cares.

Here’s why.

At an emotional level, we came to appreciate that Bali really is a victim of its own image. Beyond the resorts and the glossy brochures, what most people don’t know is that 60 percent of the population lives in poverty. Getting an education – the one sure way to break the cycle – requires tuition fees which forces poor families with more than one child to make a decision most of us can’t imagine: choosing which child to send to school. As we learned, if you’re a girl, odds are it won’t be you. In the worst case scenarios, girls as young as 12 end up being sold off as second or third wives or even more tragically, into the sex trade.

But the biggest reason for choosing Bali was impact. The Widhya Asih Foundation (WAF) – the focus of our efforts – is an organization that supports roughly 500 orphaned children across seven different locations. They manage their operations, including all government-mandated reporting and record keeping, without any IT infrastructure whatsoever. We saw the potential to drive transformative change by providing a server and database software that will allow WAF to centralize their records management processes. Beyond the efficiencies this will create, it will also serve as a valuable training ground as local staff acquaint themselves with the basics of data entry.

The second project will be to set up a new computer training facility to enrich the educational experience for the 500 children WAF supports. The impact here is significant. High school graduates who are computer literate can earn good salaries, or go on to higher education. That’s how you break the cycle of poverty. And that’s the goal of this mission: to use technology to create a better future for 500 children.

With so much need in the world, choosing a mission like this or even which charity to support can be a political and emotional mine-field. But more than any QFD, RFP or voting process you might put in place, being clear on your purpose and how you can make the biggest impact possible is the most important thing. For Softchoice that’s all about technology. And for our 2012 mission, Bali is the place where we’ll make the biggest difference.

Eric Gardiner
Softchoice Employee and DWC Participant 

Bali, April 2012