Learn how to break the cycle of poverty through ykip, in conjunction with inspirasia
International non-profit organisation Inspirasia was conceived after the 2002 Bali bombing tragedy in which young Annika Linden lost her life. The foundation, renamed last year from the Annika Linden Foundation, works to co-ordinate health and education services for the disadvantaged, and much of its work is concentrated in Bali, Thailand and India.
Inspirasia is a non-profit organisation that facilitates the collective pooling of resources, philanthropic and social entrepreneurs, experienced individuals and volunteers, providing assistance to the marginalised and neglected sections of society. Their aim is to share knowledge, experiences, resources and connections to everyone's benefit, and increase the collective ability to create lasting social change.
In Bali one of the yayasan, or non-profit agencies, that has benefitted from the creation of Inspirasia is YKIP. YKIP was originally established and recognised by the Governor of Bali to help manage the flow of aid that poured into Bali following the nightclub bombings of 2002. After the recovery period, during which it focused on providing immediate aid to victims and their families, YKIP made the transition to an educational scholarship enterprise providing the same assistance to families devastated not by bombings but by poverty and lack of opportunity.
Today YKIP supports the ongoing education of young Balinese students in a program they call Kembali. In Bali approximately sixty thousand students under 18 years old drop out of school every year for reasons of economic hardship. This education disadvantage feeds the vicious cycle of poverty, where each successive generation is disadvantaged in its ability to provide enough income to educate the next.
According to YKIP’s data, the annual education cost for a senior high school student is around US$650 while the average yearly income of the families that the Kembali program assists is only around a thousand dollars. Considering that there are normally four people in a typical Balinese family the amount of money left for education after essential expenditure is extremely limited.
YKIP works with outside organisations like the Bali International School (BIS) to create ongoing support and assistance. At BIS it is run through an in-school initiative called the Global Citizenship Program. In this program International School students create activities to raise awareness and funds for the children of YKIP and hold fundraising events to meet their financial commitment to the students they are putting through school.
In the school’s YKIP Music program, music lessons, conducted by school associated music specialists, are given to YKIP students. Each year these students perform at the school’s annual music event, Battle of the Bands, a fundraiser for YKIP and a perfect illustration of how a poverty cycle can be broken by a cycle of care. This cycle of care sees Inspirasia lend a hand to YKIP, which reaches out to individuals, who in turn inspire International students to understand more about the value of giving. Hence a cycle of hope is born.
YKIP – www.ykip.orgINSPIRASIA – www.inspirasia.org
Written by Katy Roberts
Category: Community | Issue: March 2013