A Miracle Manifests in Bali 2007-2022

People always ask "how did this begin?" So it was like this:

Following the second Bali bombing in October 2005, Suzanne and I (Roger) had organised and managed a tour of 100 people, largely Americans to Bali for two weeks. It was the last tour group Bali saw for many months, with the western countries adding Bali as a “high risk” holiday destination resulting in the complete collapse of the local tourist industry, which being Bali’s greatest income earner, flowed into all aspects of Bali life.Following the tour, we stayed on in Ubud.

Daily we saw first-hand the impact of lack of business, restaurants were abandoned with staff standing ideal and taxi being polished with no mileage changing on the clock. We decided to explore an idea of helping these predominant young men and women to see beyond tourism, to gain knowledge of computers, email and the internet through the relatively new world-wide net extending their interest to life outside their old vision of what could be available to earn a living. They needed new skills and which we felt could offer.

At Toko’s small restaurant just across the street from where we were staying we found an unused internet café complete with a young computer teacher, Wayan Rustiasa. We asked, if we sponsored young Balinese would he teach them computer skills. And so it began, four students for six weeks at a time at $20 per student each.

Some months later we returned to Ubud, Bali and were invited into a lunch meeting with Toko and Wayan. Tourists were returning and our students, occupying the internet café needed to be relocated.

Highly supportive of our project, Toko gave us two options, he would remove his car from the garage and we could turn the space into a custom classroom, how much I asked, around $1,500 he said, or we could continue the approved but abandoned extension of two additional floors on top of the main building and have eight classrooms, a large meeting are, and supporting offices and have a real school. I laughed, and thanked Toko for his generosity when Toko said around $25,000US.

I returned to the workshop I was attending in the seminar room in the rice field, I popped into the loo and was chatting to another participant I did not know who asked me where I had lunch, I briefly shared the conversation and Toko’s offer to which he asked if that was something I would really like to do.Caught off guard, yet impulsively I said “Yes, I wanted to help these young people have a better life”… To which the Gene said, “Let’s go back at next break and tell Toko to get started” and he would pay for the construction of the school.

When I asked Wayan if he could make it work he told us his story. At nineteen he worked in an export office and was befriended by an American client who suggested that he take computer classes to be better able to develop his skills. At that time Wayan was supporting a sick brother and a family and had no surplus funds for education and could not leave his job for training, a very typical Balinese scenario. The American insisted and offered to pay both his salary and training costs to allow him the three years of opportunity. He was then offered work in the American sponsored college to set up and run a new English department. From there it was a natural progression to being offered the Directorship of the College.

All our dreams manifested, Wayan and his wife, Iluh, Suzanne and I, partnered together to be responsible for creating and managing our Bali school, now the NGO/ not-for-profit Karuna Bali Foundation birthing for Suzanne and I a long lasting relationship for us with two unique people.

Here we are –with a faculty team of vibrant young enthusiasts, hundreds of young students have passed through the doors and now also, responsible for developing Living Values Education throughout Indonesia... truly a miracle manifested.

Interesting that we are creating a great educational facility beyond just the physical building, a college with a personal development program where the young Balinese can embrace the world of the 21st century and engage it. In the process each of us involved from the beginning are the one being shown how to truly be in the moment and seeing the Holy Perfection of Loves outpouring.

Now the College is always in full use. The second floor OPEN HEART space plays host to events and seminars, the third floor classrooms are all in use, the forth floor library has become the adopted for the language classes.

Thank you to all who have helped bring about this wonderful miracle not only to the people of Bali bur impacting others throughout Indonesia.