Yayasan Widya Guna is a place where Balinese children can receive a good start in life. Orphans, the disabled and other children needing a helping hand are given the opportunity to obtain a good education, and become independent and responsible for their own future. As well as providing education, housing and regular food, a support net is also there for the children that require it.
In the beginning the Yayasan took care of 12 orphans and a few very poor children from the village of Bedulu. This has increased to its current size of 100+ due to the number of disadvantaged children living locally and the open arm philosophy that always has room for one more. The facilitates and aid have expanded to meet the demands in an incredibly inspirational fashion. The children go to the local school in the morning then come to the Yayasan in the afternoon. Since disabled children are not integrated into Balinese schooling, the Yayasan welcomes these children with a range of disabilities and offers them full education, therapy and support in a number of forms.
Vision & Mission
Vision
To be a self sufficient and transparent organization to accommodate the unprivileged children through a child sponsorship program.
Mission
Educate the unprivileged Balinese children to be independent and bring them a better future with their own knowledge, culture and skills.
Educational Programs
The objective of WINS is to teach the children to become self-sufficient and responsible for their own future. As well as ensuring that they receive their regular schooling, we offer additional lessons for the children after school that includes;
Special needs children program
We have 28 special needs children with various disabilities including autism, down syndrome and physical handicaps. Most of them cannot be accommodated in their local schools or in their community. We therefore welcome them in our learning center. They are in school from 10 am until 3 pm from Monday to Friday.The main goalsof the special needs program is to help them become independent people with some skills to be able to survive by themselves.
English classes
English is an international language. With English language skills, the child can communicate with their international sponsors and with visitors from abroad that come to visit Indonesia. Furthermore, this will give them an advantage in their future professional careers. The English lessons are from 2 pm until 4 pm, just after the children come back from their schools.
Organic farming
We are concerned about the health of all the children, especially the ones with special needs, who need a good nutritious diet. We have leased 2000 m2 of land for the organic farm which is a 5 minute walk from the school. We expect to be able to fulfill the daily nutritional needs of our children from what is grown in the garden.
Yoga classes
Yoga is healing for the body, soul and spirit. It teaches them discipline, patience and respect for their bodies. The kids have grown to love practicingit since some of the volunteers introduced it to them.We have started regular Yoga activities every Monday and Wednesday morning for the special needs children. For the orphans and poor children, Yoga practice is every Wednesday afternoon and is taught by local volunteer instructors. We welcome anyone who would love to shareyoga or other spiritual sessions with the children.
Recycle and Eco friendly program
The life philosophy of Bali is Tri Hita Karana–that is to keep harmony in spirituality, humanity and the environment.We are very concerned with keeping a safe environment by reducing use of plastics, reusing whatever is possible, and recyclingwhat is not. Every child has an obligation to do community project service to clean the environment byseparating the rubbish into organic, un-organic, and recyclable waste. They also planttrees to help offset carbon emissions and what is cut down on the island.By doing this, we expect the children will learn love and respect for their environment and will spread this in their community.
Art and cultural activities
Art and culturedefine a nation, especially in Bali that is famous in the world for their culture. To honor our cultural inheritance, we have cultural activities such as Balinese dancing and gamelan (traditional music) lessons. All the girls can learn the Balinese dances and to make traditional offerings, while all of the boys canlearn to play the Balinese gamelan.
Future prospective
Vocational education is important for our older children to help them determine and prepare for their future professions after graduation from senior high school. By giving such lessons, they will be better informed to choose professions that are right for them, depending on their talents and capabilities. We invite successful people to speak to the children who have had similar backgrounds as our children. They teach them that with determination and hard work they can reach their dreams and become successful.