Empowering Marginalized Women through Skills Education as a means to develop Sustainable Communities in Indonesia.

Interview With the Students at Home

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Due to the COVID-19, there are 14 Bali WISE vocational students working from home. How are they doing? Bali WISE interviewed a few of them and asked the following questions:

Where do you live and how do you continue the Bali WISE education?

All of the interviewed students live in their family homes in places like Kalimantan, Bali, Ambon, and Jakarta Area. Besides helping their family in their daily activities, they study daily English language and the theories of hospitality. That can be a lonely job sometimes, but they have learned not to be afraid to ask questions when something is not clear. They practice job interviews with their family members, which is a beautiful way of involving the family into their education.

What do you miss the most and what have you learned to appreciate?

They have learned to appreciate the time with their friends more than before. Most of them said that they are missing the time at Bali WISE the most. Friendship has grown between the students at Bali WISE, and they still have contact and encourage each other to be positive during this difficult time.

What’s giving you hope right now?

They all answered: family and friends, family is hope. By thinking of family, it gives them the motivation to be successful people and the desire to help their family. In this way, they are already planning for the future and working on the progress. And they are prepared to work hard for it.

What are you learning from this experience?

Summarized, the answer was to accept circumstances as they and make the best of it. The current situation cannot be changed and we have to live with it. But there are other things in life that are good and inspire gratitude. Use the past as something to learn from and become better in the future.

So, after returning to their hometown for an unknown period of time, the Bali Wise students still face the future with optimism. These times can be used for self-discovery and improvement. And have quality time with family and friends.

In next week’s interview, we will learn about the 2 Bali WISE students who stayed in the Bali WISE skills center during the COVID-19.

 

COVID-19 Update

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Acknowledging COVID-19 issue, Bali WISE started a lock-down from 1st April 2020. The Bali WISE staff started to work from home. Almost all the students were sent back home to continue their studies safely from home. The few that stayed at Bali WISE campus couldn’t go back to their families.

Students of intake 42 and 43

The students of intake 42 will not graduate anywhere soon due to the spread of COVID-19. The students of intake 43 should have their training this April. Unfortunately, we had to postpone I and we hope the training will be continued starting in June.

All students are safe

Before the lock-down, the students were given knowledge about how to prevent the transmission of viruses. Now they stay at home as much as possible, do regular cleaning, wash their hands for 20 seconds with soap, wear a mask when they go outside and keep social distancing. We are still in touch with all of them and they are all safe.

Their daily routine

All students report daily to us at 5 PM about the activities that day. It includes online learning of languages, coding, and hospitality. The students who are still living in Bali Wise Campus, are learning a new language such as Spanish, Russian, or Spanish. Twice a week, they get some tasks like creative painting, making bags from recycling clothes, or soap-upcycling.

Finding jobs for graduated students

The students who already graduated from Bali Wise are having a hard time finding a job. We are helping them apply for jobs, finding resources, preparing for the interview to encourage them to keep hope.

We stay positive

So, we stay informed about all the students, know what they are doing and how they are feeling, and we keep searching for new opportunities to help them. We are very proud of them, even though they are a bit worried, they stay positive and are patiently waiting for the moment they can pick up their lives again. We hope to see them return soon!

Bali WISE Awards Night 2020

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Celebrating the International Women’s Day, Bali WISE held their annual fundraising and awards night at The Apurva Kempinski Bali on Tuesday 10th March 2020. MC’d by Alistair Speirs with Guests of Honour Ms. Happy Salma and Ms. Anthea Griffin, thirteen extraordinary women were awarded within three categories, Environmental Conservation and Stewardship, Businesswoman of the Year and Inspiring Change Maker of the Year. With the theme “Daughters of the Earth”, the event highlighted the important link between educating women and environmental sustainability.

Accompanied by a four-course dinner and free flow wine sponsored by Plaga, guests and awardees enjoyed an evening full of entertainment in the name of a good cause, featuring an incredible performance by Lisa Soul and our very own Bali WISE students.

After a joyful night, the guests didn’t go home empty handed. Each guest received a bar of sweet and savoury chocolate from POD Chocolate, a delicious coffee from Island Coffee, and an environmental-themed clay dish made by our Bali WISE students.

With the support from all attendees and also those who joined our online auction, together BaliWISE raised Rp. 413,535,000 for the program to provide education and skills training to marginalized women!
We want to say thank you to everyone for their love and support. We hope to see you again at our next event!

Taekwondo Power!

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Taekwondo can help students in many important life lessons. One of the first things they will notice when starting Taekwondo is, the instructor will teach the students the necessity of showing respect to everyone, not only the instructor but also their classmates as well. In quality, they will rarely make other people boasting or showing off. They know better than to flaunt their skills and to make other people around them to feel small.

They understand that everyone has their strengths and weaknesses and they will cherish the differences. Thinking that Taekwondo instruction promotes violent behavior can be a reasonable assumption if your only experience with Taekwondo comes from television or movies. However, Taekwondo, as well as other martial arts, have many defensive styles that teach students peaceful, non-violent conflict resolution skills and emphasize the prudence of avoiding a physical altercation.

Taekwondo teaches students to have fun and exercise their self-control. As they finished the lesson, and they did a great job, it gives them a real boost to both their self-confidence and self-esteem.

Bali WISE Campus Kitchen Improvement

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In March 2020, Bali WISE has completed the purchase of several kitchen equipments needed for the students’ study on Food & Beverage. These items are not only needed for their study, but also for their training and to provide a more hygienic kitchen environment. The details of the items purchased can be seen on the following.

Stainless table sinks (a medium and a large size)

The kitchen is not only used for the students’ study, but also for their daily life since they live in dormitory. Currently, there is only one sink available in the campus. Therefore, the additional sinks are needed to make sure the students use clean and hygienic sinks for their activities.


Stove Oven and Gas Bottle

Bali WISE campus kitchen had already provided stove oven. However, the oven was non-functional and irreparable. To make sure the students get a proper training and practice on F&B study, the purchase of new stove oven is necessary. The gas bottles were also purchased to run the stove oven.

Baking and cooking utensils

On their Food & Beverage study, the students are frequently provided with baking and cooking class. Therefore, it is necessary to provide them with the proper utensils for the class, so the teacher does not need to bring their own utensils for the students’ cooking practice. The baking and cooking utensils purchased are bowls, rolling pins, digital scale, spatula, stock pots, stainless steel sifter, baking pan, and whisks.

Small knives / paring knives

Students are usually expected to provide their own knives during their Food and Beverage internships. These knives will be the property of Bali WISE and will be returned upon graduation.

Chef jacket and kitchen uniforms

The chef jacket is necessary for the safety of the students in the kitchen. The long sleeves and thick fabric protect them from hot cooking oil and other hazards. The hotels where students are doing their internships do not provide these. Jackets remain the property of Bali WISE and will be used for future Food and Beverage students.

The purchase of these items will allow a better learning experience for students at Bali WISE. The contribution of the Australian Consulate through the Direct Aid Program is gratefully acknowledged.

 

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