| MISSION TEDDY BEARS: KLUNGKUNG
On the 25th of October 2003 the special 200
Victorian teddy bears each found their new home amongst
the welcoming cuddles of loving companions. The children
at the Klungkung children's orphanage were of all ages,
from toddlers to teens, and none could hide their anticipation
as we revealed the teddy bears! In their happiness,
I found the orphanage to be a very healthy society,
and very deserving of these marvelous gift bears.
 The
orphanage at Klungkung was officially opened on the
1st of March 1972 by Mr. and Mrs. Nyoman Gama. It had
begun merely as a small rented house with a few orphans
under the care of the Gama family, but over the last
two decades they have become quite a respected group
among the local society. The orphanage is most fortunate
to still run under the caring directorship of the Gama
family, and many positive changes have taken place regarding
expansion in the size of this little commununity.
To help satisfy the needs of the 215 children present,
there are 16 full time staff living on and around the
campus. Though these staff don't get high pay checks,
the ones we met seemed to be pleasantly willing to continue
contributing to this remarkable -- small but growing
-- community.
Apart from the full time staff, there is some active
community service coming from the church based there,
and from outside volunteers. One such church member
who serves as a nurse at a local hospital also runs
a daily health clinic on the campus to meet the basic
health needs of the children. Wonderful volunteers,
who care for this community and offer their help in
various ways, are greatly appreciated though often some
seem to fall short of time to actually accomplish their
diverse ideas. Yet with all these problems at hand,
the orphanage still functions well with the effort of
all the children and their guardians.
The orphanage in fact is actually not an orphanage
in the full sense; it is more of a dormitory that provides
shelter, food, education and training for children from
poor families. Though there are many orphans living
there, the vast majority of children have come from
nearby villages and islands to seek better education
and more pleasant future lives. Hence the numbers of
children that actually board through the night are 160,
and the rest attend from nearby homes.
 I
found the major success story of this community to be
the fact that the children themselves are involved in
realizing their stay as feasible. For example, over
the years the orphanage has accumulated a total of 3
properties within the Klungkung district. The children
are using this asset to the fullest by raising pigs,
ducks and fish, along with growing various vegetables
and fruits to meet their own basic requirements. The
latest addition to their agricultural accomplishments
has been the Tempe (fermented soybean cakes) and Tofu
farm, which they trust will be an impressive feature
yet. The directors showed great hope to use all of these
resources to the fullest to help financially in running
the orphanage, and the children there were working in
every way to help meet their crucial needs.
To successfully run such a community, any kind of help
is much appreciated. Though we spent only a few hours
with the children, some of whom were in their mid to
late teens, I had a wonderful day of silent appreciation
of the things I take for granted in my life. The teddy
bears proved to be yet another token of love and care
for the children, more than ever as we handed over the
bears after their tiring and hectic week of school and
work. The moment each child eagerly clasped their hands
around their bears, something told me that the bears
had found their deserving home at last... from friends
to friends.
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