Rotary Club of Bali Seminyak

A Weekly Update and Guest Speaker for Wednesday 20th April 2016

Rotary Bali

Our Lunch Meeting on 20th April features a wonderful guest speaker GILES RAYMOND “THE WATER BEARER”.  Giles has been living in Indonesia for approx. 12 years. was born in 1951 in the French province of Quebec and worked in the Administration for Development at a time when the de-centralization policy began in Canada.At his post, he learnt a great deal about how to make good use of the money being distributed at the province level.In 1999, he wished to make major changes in his life and started to look for a place to live and work in Asia. In 2001, he chose Flores.This was the time of de-centralization in Indonesia. Working in Ende and Ngada, together with the Kabupaten, he developed projects for water distribution, schooling, ware management, composting…Giles is our contact for: Global Grant #152739 The Otonomi Water Project in FloresRCBS is the host club of the GG with RC Sainte-Foy in Quebec as the International partners. The project of US$53,000 will give water to 10 villages in the Kabupaten of Nagda.”The mission is: “To provide clean water to as many villages as possible on the Island of Flores Indonesia.”The Ngada people in central Flores (eastern Indonesia) decided they were not going to wait for a handout from the government or big business. They were just going to figure out for themselves how to provide the basics such as water, food and shelter. Program Otonomi has its origins in the Water Bearer Program, an initiative of Gilles Raymond to bring drinking water to the villages of Flores, where women used to walk for over two hours a day through mountain trails in order to fill their plastic jugs.

Ketut Ariani Pendit  – AKASA Yayasan in Tabanan will also be doing a short presentation before lunch The Name “AKASA” is derived from Sanskrit and means SPACE…Their Mission is: “To provide direction or guidance in order to achieve children’s goals.”Akasa is a Community Learning Center, providing free education especially for underprivileged children andyouth after school. Is registered as a non-profit organizationand private initiative to help thee local, non “touristic” community in Tabanan, and is run by volunteers and themselves. 

Thank you to the extremely talented and EXTRAORDINARY Guest Presenter Last week, JASMINE OKOBO. Her short dance routine was amazing and for those of you who missed it, you will have another opportunity to see her on APRIL 22nd 5:00 pm at VILLA PANDAN HARUN In conjunction with “CONEXIÓN  x CONTRADICCIÓN” A Mixed media collage exhibition by Japanese collage artist Rie. The show runs from April 22nd – 22nd May 2016However Jasmine will only perform that opening night.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *