Current
Memo
Recent letter from the widows.
Memo #12. 19th. Feb 2004
You'll note the letter is initially to wish us happy Valentines day, made us a bit emotional, the support and thought we receive from the ladies is amazing, seeing it was initially us supporting them.
The letter, and I've left it in it's orig form....
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Dear Ibu and Bapak....
HAPPY VALENTINE DAY
did you received my email last week?????
is possible Ibu come to bali at April,....hopely no more problem, we always thinking about you.
Bali so quaiet now not much touris ,not much selling...,we are compused ..what must we do? We go to some hotels, try to meet the manager, we ask, can we put our brosur and product also?
I make brosur already, just waitting for translate in to english, we met Made's friends from NZ,and much talking with them, so they help us selling 35 bag there and promise try get order from NZ also. Last week, CATH from holland visit adopta, he told me, he know us from news paper, many people proud of us,
He stay at besakih hotel. I think is good idea if I go there to meet them, so i came with Made, we talk with the manager, explaine about us and he like to help, put some bag there, One day, I meet ROBERT + His wife Elizabet, holland tour leader, they would like to help selling our bag too, with new disain, The children picture with REMEMBER BALI DONT FORGET US.. did you see that bag??
They is very good, selling about 30 bag every day, and promise to try to other hotels in sanur.
Ibu, I am be leader now. I will do the best for adopta.....trust me, hopely we can together soon. give my best regard to bapak.
smile for life
NI LUH,
...........
i>Bali, September 15, 2003
To: Bapak and Ibu in Australia.
How are you………???
Our feeling, so long time without “hallo” from you! We miss you so much…..
We just thinking maybe you really busy and didn’t have time to do it. Hopely with this letter we will to meet you in right condition.
In this month, we get more busy in our job We must work more hard because we want to sell our product in “Kuta Karnival”. We already got stand there and one shop near by Sari Club, but only for one month.
We think that good time to make many people from anywhere know about AdoptA and our activity and you as well. From yesterday we can sell our bag and Tshirt in Kuta Beach, that very good, every day we sell some bag, get some money to be more better, because last time we feel so worry, if we thinks about next times……….
The tourists very little and we didn’t find market for selling, but know we are more happy
“We believe - slow but sure - we can beginning,
We are promise We will be BIGGEST” to make you proud of Adopta girls, we love you Ibu dan Bapak!
Please don’t close AdoptA although you can’t come back to Bali We need your support all the time, because of you we could survive. Please ring us if you have the time, to give us spirit…..!!
Bapak……(Niluh)
I must say, thank you very much… I got good sponsor, they are very good. I love them, they are to be my parent. Hopely they can help me really… I miss you.
With our love,
Niluh and another girls in AdoptA
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We and our close supporters know we have taken on a life long project, it's not short term, so please assist us, try to find an hour or so to pay a personal visit, buy a bag or T-shirt rather than offer a donation.
If you require a driver, to visit the Co-Op or for transport in general, please call the Co-Op driver, Made, on 081 2395 7296.
Ni luh now has an email address :-
erni_erniati@yahoo.com
Cheers,
David & Moira
Memo #11. 12th. May 2003
The Widows Press Release.
While we would like to see Amrozi dead for what he did to our husbands and fathers, no matter what happens to him, it will not change our circumstances.Our lives have been shattered. All of us have children to support, yet without donations we have no income. We have had to leave our homes. We cry everyday. Some of us have been told to leave the places we rent and have nowhere to go.
What will become of us. We might be a story today because of the Amrozi trial, but in weeks, months and years to come, we face such hardship that it is impossible to think about.
We know you want to know how we felt about seeing Amrozi. Nearly all of us wanted to see him in the flesh because we are so angry with what he has done. But seeing him was more then we could bear. We all cried, felt sick, and some of us fainted today.
We don’t want to see him again. We don’t like asking for help but what can we do now. Soon our welfare payments will stop. Until you are in a position like ours you have no idea how devastating are lives are. We have made these bags to try to support our lives, it is the only thing we know how to do now as a group. We have only just learnt how to do it as a mean of putting food on our table for our family.
Bali survivors help each other.
I Wayan Juniartha, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali May 11, 2003
The power of friendship and solidarity has helped four women who lost their husbands in the Bali terrorist attack on Oct. 12, 2002, to face life again. Luh Erniati, Warti, Ketut Jontri and Wayan Rastini, gathered in a dim room in a house in Pemogan subdistrict, Bali, on Saturday, said compassion and friendship from a number of Australians had helped them emerge from their nightmares.
"I first met him in Sari Club but lost him there too. I felt God had been unfair to me for taking such a lovely husband from me," Erniati, 32, said. Her husband, I Gede Badrawan, was the head waiter of the Sari Club, the popular nightclub targeted by the killers.
Erniati's charred and mutilated body was identified by DNA testing two months after the attack, which killed 202 people.
"After that I went back to my home village of Lemukih in Buleleng in despair. We have two little boys, aged nine and two. I struggled to meet their needs and cope with the loneliness and grief," she said.
The other widows nodded sympathetically and the room grew silent. They were all familiar with emptiness, loneliness and despair.
Warti, 24, had only been married for five short years.
"I remember him every day, all the time. Almost anything related to him can trigger my memory of him, from a football match on television -- his favorite sport -- to an ice cream vendor passing in front of our house." Her husband Faturrachman worked at an ice cream parlor in Kuta.
When the women fell into almost total despair, David Wedd, an Australian philanthropist, handed them a rope to hang onto. He visited us regularly to give donations, such as daily needs, medicine, and clothes. Eventually, he decided to offer us the chance to work together, to heal together," Rastini, 31, said.
With the help of his Australian friends, Wedd refurbished a rented house, installed several sewing machines and established the AdoptA Garment factory. He recruited women widowed by the bomb attack to work in the factory for around Rp 600,000 each per month.
"He also helped our children obtain scholarships for their education," Rastini said.
Six widows are employed at the factory. Another 15 attend monthly gatherings or weekly exercise classes at the building.
The building had been transformed from a workplace into a sort of psychological catalyst for the widows, a place where they can share their burdens and encourage each other.
"We are always busy talking with each other here. Our favorite subject is our husbands, and there are also no secrets here. I, for instance, know for sure that Warti dated her late husband for only five months before they rushed into marriage," Erniati said as she poked Warti's arm.
They are quick to burst into laughter when they discussed private topics.
Their togetherness has helped the widows stand on their own, brushing aside the nightmare that almost crushed them.
The widows are a living testimony of people who refuse to succumb to an act of terrorism
Memo
#10: On the road, again. January 9, 2003
AdoptA make monthly visits to as many people as possible, primarily
to deliver food parcels. We also assess the needs of the people
we visit, making sure that they have enough cash for children's
schooling, we refer those that still require medical help to Bali
Hati, and generally, do whatever is necessary to assist the people.
At
the end of December, on a trip to the North Coast, we discovered
a young lad (Wayan) with a broken leg (multiple fractures) still
not healed after two months. He had a bit of rag holding two
bits of bamboo as a makeshift splint, and even tho I'm not medically
inclined, I realised that urgent treatment was required, or he risked
losing his leg.
We immediately contacted Bali Hati, who arranged for a Doctor to
journey to Singaraja on the next day to assess. Wayan was taken
to Singaraja hospital to have his leg x-rayed, and on Christmas
Eve, we picked him up from Singaraja and delivered him to a clinic
to have his bone reset. The update (8th Jan) is that he's doing
fine, and hopefully will make a full recovery.
As time moves on, our hearts are being warmed by the positive changes
in the people we visit. One sponsor asked us to purchase a sewing
machine for one lady (which initiated the Garment
Factory Co-op.) The
sponsor also asked us to take the family shopping for some clothes
an toys, the smiles on the kids' faces made our day.
Another
sponsor asked us to deliver a card and some gifts to a widow.
As
Moira was reading the letter to her, they both ended up in tears,
but they were tears of happiness, the people we visit are over the
moon with the knowledge that "someone out there cares for them."
We
still come across some distressing situations though; last week
we visited a young lad (four years old) orphaned by the blast. He's
in fairly squalid conditions, but we have linked him with a sponsor,
and plan to set up a special education fund for him so that he has
a chance of a productive life.
AdoptA,
on behalf of our generous sponsors, IS making a difference.
Thanks
to you all. We couldn't do it without you.
We
have uploaded a page to show some of "Our
Families" Feel
free to take a peek.
Memo
# 9: A Day on the Road. December 7, 2002
(An extract of a letter to a sponsor)
Hi
again P & F,
T his time better news, and this is definitely FEET ON THE GROUND
stuff.
Norman, myself and Verna from BIWA (Bali International women's Assoc.)
went on an adventure, only
managed to meet two families who lost a son, a husband or a brother,
but wow, what a day. We
visited the first family, with
one of the village leaders, Yudi, and they hosted us well, with
traditional
Bali Kopi and fried banana; we delivered a Care Pack, and while
talking, noticed a near
finished new house, obviously one that the lost son was proudly
building for his parents.
Through
the smiling faces, and even during laughter, we could see the pain
and confusion. We have asked Yudi to see what would be required
to put in a ceiling and paint the walls .
On the drive back via Singaraja we drove ten
kilometres up and down a side road road, along a goat track in the
mountains, through mini and some major landslides, with a few near
misses and knowing we would be returning on
this mountain goat track in the dark. I have to admit, we were all
wondering why we were out in the middle of nowhere, although
the scenery was spectacular, “breathtaking” would more aptly describe
it.
We
discovered why we were out there, as we eventually found the remote
village, met a beautiful young lady, her two children, her
mother in law and sister in law. She had lost her husband in the
attack, at the time of our visit, he was still missing.
I
immediately thought of a couple how would Adopt the family, knowing
they would be the perfect sponsors for her & the kids.
It was such an emotional scene, but beautiful, if you know what
I mean, so much so that Norman, while playing with the two
year old, said "Bugger the sponsors, I want to Adopt them."
Our Manager Wayan, also suggested that we could maybe employ the
wife in Pacung, I wrote to the sponsors, “I see it now, on your
next trip to Bali, having her serve our table, then
introduce you to her.”
That should give you an idea how much this meeting touched us. She
does need help for the older child's schooling, and we'll fix
that up next trip. We
plan to meet with the school, pay the fees, and suggest that
this remote school become the first Bali school to
link with an Australian school. “AdoptA School – School
Matters”
Already,
we have two schools that have donated funds to sponsor a family
in need, and are waiting excitedly to AdoptA primary school.
We left behind a pretty decent food parcel, some sheets, towels
etc that we have had donated and with
a promise that
we would be back soon, left feeling that though we lose the plot
occasionally, it really is a worthwhile project.
David.
PS:
Please check the Bank Details page
for the new instructions.
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