Many
people with disabilities in Bali become marginalised by society and
struggle to obtain treatment. Extreme poverty has meant many people
never receive the care they need. In Remote areas, many children and
adults have never seen a doctor, despite suffering serious ailments.
Solemen are here to help these people.
Established
in 2010, Solemen became a formalised non-profit organisation or
‘Yayasan’ (Yayasan Solemen Indonesia). Through the outreach work, they
are helping turn lives around for those who have disabilities and
disadvantages by providing medical care, therapy, treatment,
sponsorships and ongoing support for people that are in dire need of
help. Their main focus is on ensuring holistic care for individuals and
their families.
Carrying
a mission to reach out and change the lives of as many disadvantaged
people as possible within Bali and the surrounding areas, Solemen run a
programme to help needed families to earn a living and gain greater
nutritional value in their diets. They provide regular care and support
to these families by giving them the sustained care that they need. From
small beginnings, the charity has now become a driving force for
changing lives of those most in need in Bali.
Solemen
is completely self-funded with the income stream is mainly from
donations of individual donors and corporates in Bali, which a majority
of them are hotels and restaurants. They have a strong finance and
fundraising team that focuses on such areas. Their team consists of
people from different nationalities, mostly with a medical background,
from nurses to volunteer doctors and physiotherapists, all bringing
their own special skills sets to support the organisation.
In
2015, the Bali Governor, Mangku Pastika, selected Solemen as his
preferred charity in Bali and announced that he would act as Solemen’s
Guardian. Getting support by Bali’s key person and having Tamara
Bleszynski as their ambassador, Solemen hope that they will finally
break the cycle of poverty in Bali.
One
of the main challenges they face is gaining the trust of the families
and the communities they are trying to help. Many people are afraid of
hospitals and often do not have the necessary paperwork to access free
care. Being blessed to have full support of the local government,
hopefully would be the solution to overcome this situation.
One
of the plans they have is to expand their Outreach Programme by
dividing the current team into the areas in Bali – North, Central and
South. Each team will have the responsibility of helping individuals and
families in each area. This particular programme will give them the
ability to help more people, whilst maintaining their unique way of
providing holistic care for each and every person.
Currently
Solemen have one outreach car as transport to access people in need,
deliver donations and provide transport when needed for those who need
to travel for medical care. The car is a great asset to Solemen’s
current team. With the programme envisaged to grow larger, two new
modified ‘ambulances’ will be required to support each new area.
When
considering poverty in the developing world, the scale of poverty is
immense. In Bali many children and adults have life-threatening or
life-compromising medical conditions. Very few of those with the most
severe conditions have access to healthcare or the means for basic
living conditions. While poverty is indeed extreme and widespread, we
sometimes forget how powerful our pocket change can become when pooled
together. When giving to an effective charity like Solemen, the size of
your donation directly correlates with the number of people you are able
to help.
Yayasan Solemen Indonesia
Paradise Property Building 3rd floor,
Jalan Bypass Ngurah Rai, Siligita, South Kuta
www.solemen.org
Yayasan Solemen Indonesia
Paradise Property Building 3rd floor,
Jalan Bypass Ngurah Rai, Siligita, South Kuta
www.solemen.org
No comments:
Post a Comment