"It's just that the tourismn industry has been being developed for so long, and indeed it has produced many beneftis. We don't hate tourism. All we are trying to do is to broaden the focus to other fields which have yet to be explored in a professional sense by Balinese youth," he explains. For that reason, Bali Hati limits the recipients of its scholarships to those students studying courses other than tourism. These include Law, Technology, Computer Science, Agricultural Science, Environmental Science, Medicine and the health sciences, and Arts. The majority of Bali Hati's scholarship holders are studying for their Diploma 3 or Strata 1, while only one has reached strata 2. And in addition to attending to their studies, each student is obliged to undertake a self-devised social service project.

SOCIAL SERVICES

In the less than two years since its establishment Bali Hati has done much to help the communities that surround its head office in Jalan Raya Andong, Ubud. By and large, it attempts in this area are aimed at improving such communities' welfare. One of the ways in which the Foundation assists is to help relieve the local unemployment problem in Bali, even if, as the Foundation is eager to confess, its contribution is inevitably rather meager.

Here too, the kind of help Bali Hati provides is not only that of the material sort. As well as its regular distribution of food packages, the Foundation also offers assistance to illiterate people in need of legal advice. According to the Head of the Foundation, Wayan Arnaya, a great many villagers are very much in need of legal advice. All too often though, they don't know who to turn to for help. The establishment of Bali Hati's legal assistance program was an attempt to fill this need. "This program is passive in nature, which means we just wait here for people to come and ask for help. So up to now, few have benefited from it. And we haven't handled any big cases yet, except for one divorce case," explains Arnaya.

Another program the Foundation is readying to launch is the Crisis Intervention Hotline, which is to target people experiencing personal crises. Arnaya claims to have collected data showing that many young Balinese attempt suicide when they in the midst of such crises. "And there are many more cases of identity crises and crises of confidence that demand moral and spiritual attendance," he urges.

And there's more! Yet another of the projects currently on Bali Hati's drawing board is The Research Centre for Drug Users. Although still in the early planning stages, the project includes plans to provide medical facilities and moral guidance for young drug users - just another example of Bali Hati's concern for the island's future generation.

Over the two years since its establishment, the Foundation seems to have had an amazingly smooth run. Bali Hati, it seems, is yet to meet the challenge of a particularly curly problem, although admittedly its founders did endure a very long wait for the issuing of an organisational permit. Has its operation not been obstructed at all by 'local culture'? "There's never been any problems," recounts Frank, proudly. "We might be a non-profit organisation, but that doesn't mean we adhere to or are connected with a particular religion or anything like that. Bali Hati has no bias towards people of a certain ethnic origin or religion. Yet at the same time, Bali Hati also poses no threat to any religion or ethnic group, or any other group in society." Then, as if to acquiesce to a final query I have readied but am yet to actually pose, he continues: "Yes, you could say I am a follower of universal humanism."

Whatever the case, one thing is certain: Bali Hati promises much in the name of improving community welfare. The Foundation is, indeed, driven by little else than pure heart and soul. May it realise its goal and become Bali's true 'heart'.

photos by Arie Basuki

Above :
The Bali Hati team