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Key Achievements

The East Bali Poverty Project (EBPP) is a non-profit organisation established in 1998 by a British resident of Bali after an appeal for help by an isolated 7,200Ha mountain village, forgotten by time and progress. Participatory community surveys in 1998 with 1,056 of the 3,000 families in 19 sub-villages revealed thousands of people living in abject poverty without water, sanitation, roads, school

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1. Dirt road improvement facilitating access for over 3,500 families

More than 25 kilometres linking 19 previously totally isolated hamlets to the outside world, many high up steep mountain slopes.

2. Integrated & relevant education for previously illiterate children of illiterate parents

  • >1,200 children educated in 6 EBPP remote Schools : 440 have graduated primary school, 232 children graduated Junior high school and 104 children graduated senior high school. Each child get daily nutritious meal plus a glass of milk & multivitamin tablets since 1999.
  • Sponsored Secondary education for local children: 12 Desa Ban primary school graduates to junior & senior high school in Singaraja sponsored in 1999– because there was no high school in Ban village.
  • Sponsored Tertiary education:
  • 4 of the sponsored secondary girls continued to college/university, 3 graduated with teaching diplomas/degrees & one completed an Accounting diploma in Denpasar in 2007. All then worked for EBPP for minimum 3 years.
  • In 2011, we sponsored one male Cegi high school graduate for a Fine Arts degree in Ganesha University, North Bali, graduating in 2015 who then taught creative arts to EBPP students.
  • In 2016, 2 female graduates continued for sponsored Tourism Diplomas, graduating in 2019.
  • In 2017, 6 EBPP high school graduates, self-sponsored, enrolled in various colleges in Denpasar & Singaraja.
  • In 2018, 2 female graduates continue to University in Denpasar for Law and Accounting degrees respectively.
  • In 2020, we sponsored 9 high school graduates to various colleges/university in Denpasar.
  • In 2021, one female graduate got a full scholarship to study at Unikom (Indonesian Computer University) in Bandung, West Java, majoring in Visual Communication Design.
  • Libraries: Comprehensive community library in each of EBPP's 6 schools with access to more than 3,000 titles.

3. School buildings in each hamlets:

Six “Community Learning & Development Centres” built with 100% community participation and owned by the communities in Bunga, Cegi, Pengalusan, Manikaji, Jatituhu & Darmaji.
  • In 2021, we had to renovate Manikaji and Pengalusan schools that were damaged by the October 2021 earthquake.

4. EMpower: Youth Empowerment Extra-Curricular Courses, since July 2015

A series of youth empowerment programmes, sponsored by USA-based EMpower, The Emerging Markets Foundation, to empower our junior and senior high school students in all 6 EBPP schools to become ‘Agents of Change’ and develop additional skills in health outreach, nutrition, reproductive health, financial & computer literacy, bamboo handicrafts, leadership, critical thinking skills and entrepreneurship to lead their communities towards much healthier and more sustainable futures.​

  • Girls Empowerment project started in August 2020 for all our high school girls to Increase the self-esteem of the participants, boost girls’ bonds through group work and mentor relationships, improve girls’ communication skills and amplify girls’ voices in decision-making that impacts their lives and elevate girls’ sense of agency.

5. Micronutrient supplement provided 2001 to date

All children & mothers previously had iodine & vitamin A deficiencies for more than 4,450 mothers & 4,900 children; 1,290 vitamin A capsules distributed for children aged 0-5 at posyandu in 2019, 733 in 2020 and 949 in 2021.

6. Comprehensive Community Outreach health programmes benefiting >6,000 families in Ban & Tianyar villages since 1999

  • Initiated 48 Posyandu (monthly mother-infant community health posts) 2003-5 in Ban village and Tianyar with local cadres:

  • 1,400 mothers & 1,600 infants 0-5 benefit monthly. 14 local mothers proficiently and independently run monthly playgroup programmes in 7 posyandu with the most access constraint.

  • Monthly Nutritious food& 600ml Bottle of mineral water for 1,600 infants in all Posyandu since 2005. In 2021 we distributed 43,401 bottles of mineral water to infants and mothers in our villages

  • Cleft palate, cataract & eye operations, paralyzed kids treatment PLUS supporting all other serious illness including congenital heart disease, HIV+,Crania-facial surgeries: >90 children & adult beneficiaries; 1,500 children & 300 adults have their eyes examined & many remedial treatments of glasses, medicines etc.

  • Polio & measles vaccinations since 2005: facilitated by EBPP team for 1,200 infants 0-5 yrs.

  • TB assistance programmes : TB awareness & training to schools, cadres & “posyandu” to protect the populations from exposure to active TB supported by EBPP's TB brochure and TB awareness video, acted by our school children.

  • Maternal child health supports since 1999: pre-natal education, medical evaluation, nutritional standards/supplementation, birth planning, hygiene, sanitation, home/environmental safety. Pap smears for 302 women in remote hamlets of Ban village. In 2019, there were 191 babies born with zero mortality rate comparing to average 30% mortality rate before age 1 in 1999/2000 in Ban village.

  • Playgroup programmes started in 2006: designed and implemented monthly basic child development and early education programme in all 27 posyandu in Ban Village. More than 200 children and 100 mothers participate every year. There are 14 local mothers who completed basic training and now able to run playgroup programmes independently at 7 posyandu.

  • Dangerously & severely malnourished babies/infants& children: follow up & continue helping 86 (in 2017), 63 (in 2018), 29 (in 2019), 45 (2020) and 21 in 2021 moderately malnourished children & 37 severely malnourished children in 2017, 22 in 2018, 23 in 2019, 13 in 2020 and 16 in 2021 in 4 villages of which 39 of them were referred to a clinic, Puskesmas, hospital and other healthcare support. In 2020, we have conducted 481 home visits to support 83 malnourished children from Ban, Tianyar Timur, Tianyar Tengah and Tianyar Barat Villages (13 severely malnourished, 45 moderately malnourished and 25 stunted under the age of two). We educated the families and provided them with staple foods to improve their children’s nutritional status. We are delighted that in 2020, 32 children (39%) are now healthier and with normal nutritional status and in 2021, 40% of malnourished children we supported are healthier and established a balanced diet which affected the improvement of their nutritional status.

  • Stunting: 193 stunted children (32% rate) had been recorded & helped in 2018. We able to reduce stunting rate from 42.2% in 2015 to 32% in 2018. In 2020 we supported 25 stunted infants under 2 years old, distributed stunting outreach and height charts and educated the families about the importance of good nutrition to prevent stunting.

  • Paralysed/disabledchildren & adults: Since initiating posyandu in 2003-4, EBPP team identified and continue assisting paralysed/disabled children supported by specialist Bali foundation, YPK, who provide training to their parents on how to continue providing daily massage therapy at home. 40 weekly physiotherapy sessions in 2018, 39 children & adult in 2019 and 14 in 2020, that were conducted online since April due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2021 we distributed AFO shoes for 4 disabled children with foot deformities, home therapy guidebooks for 13 families with disabilities, socialization and distribution of healthy hearing flyers.

  • Weekly Physiotherapy Mobile Clinic: In 2021, in collaboration with Yayasan Peduli Kemanusiaan (YPK) Bali, we supported 13 children and 7 adults with disabilities through online service (January-June) with 70 trips to clients’ home to ensure they could continue their exercises at home and 13 sessions of direct physiotherapy (July-December) after the pandemic conditions in Indonesia improved. The reopening of the mobile physiotherapy clinic responds to the high needs of the community to receive therapy from the expert therapist. The implementation imposed strict health protocols to prevent covid transmission.

  • Immunisations: Facilitated and assisted Puskesmas midwives on providing monthly basic immunisation services for infants less than two years at posyandu until 2018. Range of children receiving monthly immunisation is: 40-70 children/month. Special immunizations programmes were implemented in 2018 from Indonesian Ministry of Health:

  • Japanese Encephalitis (JE) for 745 children at Posyandu & 104 children at EBPP’s schools

  • Measles & Rubella (MR) for 747 children at Posyandu & 144 children at EBPP’s schools

  • Health Referral Since 2004: for children with specific underlying health conditions. 7 children with medical problems were referred to hospitals for professional treatment. Cases treated: abscess, wound infection, hydrocephalus, cleft lip and disease due to severe malnutrition.

7. EBPP Medic Mobile (MM) Malnutrition Monitoring Application:

We first communicated with Medic Mobile, a USA based NGO, in 2016 to discuss about e-health platform. A year after, MM helped us to design an Android smartphone app that can be used to monitor nutritional status of all children at posyandu. The idea was to help us and Puskesmas to collect weight and height data which is less time consuming and more efficient rather than using hand-writing. If any cases found, it would be easier to flag the issue and take-action. Since 2017, we have trained and monitored 54 nutrition cadres in 27 posyandu in Ban village & Puskesmas nutritionist to monitor infants’ nutritional status and flag any malnutrition issues (underweight, stunting and wasting) using the app and Analytics Dashboard. We terminated our Medic Mobile partnership in February 2021 because the Bali Government Health Department had their own digital health Android app.

8. Malnutrition study & intervention in collaboration with Udayana university (2019-2024)

Based on our 2016 malnutrition study, we found factors affecting malnutrition which is a complex issue in our community. By understanding the root causes, we are collaborating with a team of professionals from Medical Faculty, Udayana University, with a mission to eradicate malnutrition in Ban Village. The project title is “Developing family-model approach to eliminating malnutrition in Ban Village, Kubu, Karangasem”. The focus is no longer only to the children and the mothers, but also the extended family and multi-stakeholders.
  • Year 1, 2019: Starting in 2019, we collected data about health, nutrition and daily life to 245 respondents from three target groups: 157 mothers of children aged 0-2, 48 pregnant women, and 40 adolescent females in 2019. We facilitated 16 focus group discussions and 9 in-depth-interviews with multi-stakeholders and the communities. No field activities in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
  • Year 2, 2021: This year’s field study involved 174 participants, consisting of 80 families of children under 2 years old, 30 families of pregnant women, and 64 adolescent females, who all confirmed EBPP intervention had been significantly effective in increasing the knowledge, attitudes, and especially healthy eating behaviour of the participants.

9. Ear Nose & Throat [ENT] examinations

ENT examinations for children in 51 schools & their communities since 2011 for more than 10,661 children & adults.

10. Outreach dental health programme

> 31,300 children from 51 schools in 5 villages have been treated since 2001. Since 2006, provided annual dental/oral hygiene education & treatment annually to approximatively 4,000 children aged between 5 and 18 years old in 51 schools in 6 villages.

11. Providing Nazava water filters in 2013 for clean & safe drinking water for >7,500 children in 51 schools

183 units for 300 children in all 6 EBPP schools and more than 7,300 children in 45 government schools in 4 villages. Additional 61 units in 2018 and 45 in 2021 for malnourished children’s families.

12. Safe water supply & education for >2,000 families:

We provided safe water supply from 3 mountain springs and 3 artesian wells, benefiting 1,648 families. We also provided 800 appropriate technology : roof-rainwater collection reservoirs (cubang), benefiting 800 families in 12 hamlets.

13. Sanitation:

1,262 toilet/bathroom blocks built since 2010 for 1,515 families in 13 of the 19 Ban Village hamlets by April 2022. They were the first toilets in history in this village, built to minimize open defecation practice & improve hygiene by daily bathing and also enable families to do laundry daily in their inclusive bathrooms.

14. Organic vegetable & herb farming:

All EBPP school children & Over 500 families in 6 hamlets (2000-2015) can now grow a wide range of vegetables & herbs for daily meals on rehabilitated farmland – eventually able to sell the surplus

15. Vetiver (Chrysopogen Zizanioides) grass to stop erosion, conserve soil/water & facilitate organic farming & economic development, since 2000

Enabled organic vegetable gardens on steep erodible volcanic ash slopes, stabilised new access roads and mountain springs AND developed local business selling vetiver grass throughout Indonesia as well as consulting nationally and internationally. Millions were planted! David Booth, EBPP Founder, was appointed Coordinator of the Indonesian Vetiver Network (IDVN) in 2003 by The Vetiver Network International (TVNI)

16. Bamboo for reforestation, environmental protection & sustainable community economic development

Develop a sustainable Bamboo building, from local bamboo, as EBPP training centre and example for local communities, schools, local government, etc. of “grow your own house”, attributed to Ms Linda Garland of EBF. Bamboo reforestation of more than 167 Ha and 67,380 bamboo seedlings were planted, owned by the communities and designed to bring back ecosystems and sustainable community livelihoods; to develop an economically and environmentally sustainable agro-forestry system in an arid valley on the steep volcanic ash Mount Abang & Mount Agung slopes to improve livelihoods, health and nutritional status, rejuvenate the local eco-system and mitigate the effects of climate change, thus improving quality of life for this and future generations and serve as model to be scaled-up and replicated in other regions.

17. Bamboo Field School:

Professional training for EBPP high school graduates and local farmers to learn every aspect of growing, maintaining, harvesting, treating and managing bamboo for sustainable social and economic development. By 1st December 2012, all 20 were certified and qualified to train others.

18. Bamboo musical instrument, bamboo furniture & bamboo house:

Two of EBPP bamboo team had 2 weeks training in the key skills for producing Bambajam music instrument and other techniques how to increase the value of bamboo to be competitive in the domestic and international markets. 8 days of bamboo training in November 2015 in West Java in making bamboo furnitures and bamboo buildings Sunda style.

19. Bamboo Bikes and Bamboo Hand crafted products Development as Social Enterprises

In 2016, EBPP launched “East Bali Bamboo Bikes” www.eastbalibamboobikes.com as a social enterprise to create a sustainable bamboo business for and by the local communities to create employment for our youth and promote sustainable social and economic development.

20. Solar Power Electricity

Solar panels used for remote regions of Desa Ban with no access to electric power grid (2007-2013). They were installed in 5 EBPP Schools, EBPP Bamboo Centre and the 8 most isolated posyandu, plus solar pumps in artesian wells

21. Remote hamlet women’s empowerment through literacy, health and safety education for all mothers, village educators and families:

New programme in 2012 to expand our health focus to preventable illness and injury in the children and families of Desa Ban, to bringing relief to children already afflicted with debilitating handicaps.

22. Women’s empowerment Cow Breeding cooperatives:

Established first ever women’s cow breeding coops in Cegi hamlet in 2012 & 2013.

23. Plastic waste management & recycling:

Pilot project starting with the schools in 2012 and working in partnership with Karangasem local government sanitation department and their pilot project to encourage plastic waste collection & recycling by small communities to central location for collection by government trucks, paid by the kilogramme. Funds raised by each school go into a fund for educational field trips. This project was halted in 2016 when the Karangasem provincial government ceased pickup and recycling.

24. EBPP natural disaster

  • Mount Agung Volcano Eruption Crisis Response: September 2017 – March 2018. As response to Mount Agung’s eruptions, EBPP successfully raised funds and a substantial number of essential supplies. Our field teams distributed essential supplies to 18,000 evacuees in 104 evacuation camps in 5 regencies of Bali, mostly in Buleleng regency, North Bali, where most of the people from our villages have evacuated to. We also built 20 units of temporary housing and 10 unit of WC/Bathhouse/laundry.
  • Lombok Earthquake response: August 2018. With emergency funds we raised, we built 127 temporary homes and 100 temporary kitchens for the families affected by the Lombok earthquake in our large east Bali mountain village where the updated figures showed that 127 were completely destroyed and another 300+ were badly damaged.
  • Covid-19 pandemic response
  • Monthly staple food supplement since May 2020 for all 170 students in EBPP’s 6 remote schools and their families due to hardships in East Bali resulting from this COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Collaborated with Ban Village Covid-19 Task Force in disinfectant spraying around the village by providing one of our 4WD double cab pickups and an EBPP driver.
  • Distributed Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to health workers in Puskesmas (Community Health Clinic) Kubu I, Puskesmas Kubu II, Pratama Hospital, local posyandu cadres, and all students at EBPP schools.
  • Delivered outreach and distributed posters about hand washing and usage of hand sanitizer to all 82 posyandu in Ban and Tianyar Villages and all 6 EBPP schools.
  • Distributed an outreach book about Covid-19 to all EBPP’s 171 students.
  • 16 October 2021 Desa Ban Earthquake response. Early morning at 4.18am on 16 October 2021 when most people still slept, a 4.8 Magnitude earthquake struck Bali. The epicentre of this shallow earthquake was right under our village, causing extreme damage: 363 houses totally destroyed, 762 light-medium damage and 123 temples damaged. EBPP quickly started fundraising to provide all the materials and technical support for the 363 families whose houses were destroyed, to buildbamboo A-frame housesas temporary shelters until the government can provide the resources for permanent houses. Up to July 2022 they completed all 363 shelters.

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