Kids at the Orphanage
Charitable acts of kindness are the best way to invite love in to your life.
I spent a large part of my life being a “taker.” This meant that I always came before you. I believed that this was the mentality that I needed to get ahead in life for a long time. It wasn’t until my life was flipped upside down and I was forced to ask for help myself that I realized the importance of giving back.
There are many people in the world who seem to have been born with a unique nature to give. If you are anything like me, it was a learned behavior.
I spent a lot of my life taking care of my own selfish needs placing them before even the ones I loved and cared about. After countless times of banging my head against the wall wondering why I continuously lacked the ability to be grateful for what I had and trying to figure out what my problem was, I found that the answer was in giving back to those in need.
Charity can mean so many things. You can give money, you can donate your time, or you can spread awareness that is usually a combination of both. With so many different non-profit organizations and people in need all around the world there is no shortage of folks in serious need of our time, money, and education.
Personally, I donate 10% of my total income to charitable organizations every year. I don’t blindly give the money away to anyone until I have done vast research in to the organization to make sure that the money actually makes its way to where it is supposed to go. On top of just handing money over I make it a point to donate my time for the different causes I support, especially when traveling outside of the U.S.
In the upcoming weeks, I am going to be doing a series of blog posts raising awareness and telling stories of some of the different charities and non-profit organizations that I am affiliated with and or that I support.
Remember that no matter how bad you think you have it, there is always someone in the world who has it substantially worse off than you do, and as long as I have an able body, ½ a brain and roof over my head with some food to eat, I am in a position to help.
Don’t feel you need to donate $10,000 to make a difference, I have spent less than 100 dollars buying basic needs or participating in Micro-Loan programs that have drastically changed the lives and direction of the people who that money and or time has touched. Remember that!
Last week in Bali Indonesia, we decided to go to an orphanage called Widhya Asih. (http://www.putribaliorphanage.org). They have 7 orphanages all over Indonesia and were started by a Christian church even though most of the children in the orphanage are Balinese Hindu, or Muslim. It is important to me that any orphanage I support is non-denominational meaning they are there to help regardless of what religious denomination the children, or their families are a part of. The Indonesian government also subsidizes Widhya Asih. This always makes me happy to see that the country itself is willing to give back especially since there are a lot of Government Organizations that do not serve the best interests of the people they are trying to help.
Hanging with the Kids at the Bali Orphanage
When we arrived, we were greeted by Agustina Tri Udiartini S. or “Tina” as we called her (Head of the Orphanage). She allowed us to tour the facility and told us the story about what they do there.
This specific orphanage has almost all girls ages 14-22 and one young boy. I was a little upset about that because most of the gifts that I brought were things that young boys would want like a soccer ball and batman flip-flops. Either way it worked out because I was with 4 of my friends that were all women; three who came to Bali with me and one who lives in Bali full-time.
Tina was a great director because she had grown up in that same orphanage. She had also met her husband there too who helps run things as well. It leaves me with a really good feeling knowing that the person in charge has a real understanding of what the kids need because she used to be one of them.
We spent a couple of hours with the kids giving them presents asking them questions and buying some of the hand-made jewelry that they make as a vocational skill. The orphanage also gets the children through school and prepares them for university.
All in all this was one of the nicest most well run facilities that I have ever visited in South East Asia. I am happy to be a part of it and give money and time to the organization.
If you want to learn more about the Widhya Asih orphanages, please visit their website or email Agustina to find out how you can get involved.
Web: http://www.Putribaliorphanage.org
Email: [email protected]
And if you are interested in hearing more about my journeys with organizations like these, please subscribe to blog or add the RSS feed here. (feed://stevenewolf.com/?feed=rss2)
I will be posting much more about this topic in the upcoming weeks.
-Steve