Our association helps children in Lombok, Indonesia.

In Germany and Switzerland we collect goods and monetary donations. The Association President Nadja Groelly lives in Lombok where she co-ordinates the teaching and care of the children on site. At the moment the association has approximately 130 voluntary members.

Lombok

Lombok (Bahasa Indonesian for Chili) is an island in Indonesia. it is part of the Lesser Sunda Isles and it belongs to the province of Nusa Tenggara Barat, which has an area of ca. 4,600 km² and 2.7 million inhabitants; the capital city is Mataram. On Lombok people speak high Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia)and various versions of the Sasak dialect. Many of the people living here are poor, including naturally many children.

Our Association President, Nadja Groelly and her partner Günter Michels have lived since March 2005 in a small village in the west of the isalnd. The islanders live mainly in huts or very simple houses. Almost all of them sleep upon the ground, possibly upon mats. Somtimes it is so cold during the night that they all freeze and because of this the children are repeatedly sick. Many of the men earn their living through fishing; if the women are "lucky" they find work as domestic servants. Some work in Tourism, but unfortunately there are not enough tourists who come to this beautiful island. The average wage is barely sufficient to feed a family, let alone to provide any extras.

What is being done about this ?

Nadja and Günter try to achieve as much as they can for the children. In May 2008 they established a Children's Reading Circle. Currently 140 children take part; they listen to stories and afterwards each child can borrow a book. (On Lombok the schools have no library. On other days the children attend in groups of eight, naturally in turns, when they play games like "Memory" or "Solche Strolche", they learn handicrafts like painting, weaving and sewing. The parents unfortunately don't have these possibilities, as on the one side they don't have the money and on the other they lack the inclination or knowledge. Generous friends have sponsored sewing machines and now 24 girls are being shown the secrets of sewing. Those who enjoy it and show talent can afterwards attend a "Sewing School" and perhaps afterwards find work or become independent.

What can we do ?

The initiator of our work in Germany is Renate Hoffmann. At first she sent parcels of children's clothing, blankets and toys. As it's much more sensible to invest the monies on sitewe wish to make possible vocational training , especially for the older girls so that later they are able to support themselves and their families. This, of course, requires money as a course of training costs between Eur 200 und Eur 400.

We wish also to assist the young adults on the principle of helping to help themselves , in the form of Micro credits.

We guarantee:

Monetary donations are used for Training and to buy books and materials in Lombok. We also have plans for a building to be a venue for weekly meetings, which is partly "in process".

Neither our assocation nor our projects incur administrative costs. All members are voluntary workers

All income is applied "one to one" for the good of the children !

What can you do ?

* If you're interested in our activities and projects, or if you'd be able to assist us in some way, please don't hesitate to contact us. à Contact
    
* You'd like more Information ? à Downloads
  
* You'd like to see photographs showing our work ? à Photographs
    
* You'd like to make a donation or learn more about our activites to raise funds for the children ? à Donations
  
* You'd like to join our association ? à Donations

Where can you find us ?

* On the Bazaars and markets of the region. In the near future we'll publish a list of planned events.
  
* On wer-kennt-wen.de under the group of the same name.
  
* Homepage created by Nadja Groelly and Günter Michels.
  
* Homepage translated into English by Tom Graham.



Thank you for your time and interest. Please look back in the future.

Membership

* Membership Fees Individual 8.00 Eur per annum