Aucklander Kim Farr sold her floristry business in 2014 and moved to Bali with her son in search of a different pace of life.
She indeed found it, but not quite how she expected. Kim tells Verve about establishing Bali Street Mums Project, a safe house to shelter, care for, and educate local women and children.
Tell us about your journey to founding Bali Street Mums Project?
I moved to Bali 10 years ago with my son. We lived in a little house next to a rice paddy, and he went to the Green School. I tried to integrate into the expat way of life, but I would see little children begging on the streets and desperate mothers. It didn’t feel right. I volunteered at a street kid drop-in centre far from the expat areas – I’d drive my scooter in crazy traffic each day. Children would come off the streets every morning with their mothers and have school lessons. I was shocked no breakfast was provided for the children, so I brought baskets of food every morning. I taught the mothers how to make a nutritious breakfast and they taught me how to make ground sambal. Slowly, I learned to speak Balinese and Indonesian.
I learned that begging late at night on the streets was very dangerous for the children, and often they were abducted, assaulted by foreign paedophiles, and trafficked. The mothers would tell me they were desperate for work, but they had no education or skills. I set up a mothers’ workshop and we made beautiful glass beaded jewellery, dolls, and other items. We would take their crafts to the markets and sell them, and the mothers would receive all the income. The beautiful dolls are also sold at Buanu Satu on Karangahape Road, where Helen the owner is a huge supporter of the children and mothers.
After two years of working there, the street kid centre shut down, leaving the children with nowhere to go. I started working with a local social worker to find a safe house that could not only provide food and medical aid but serve as a refuge and home to children and mothers who had suffered assault. We found the perfect compound of little cottages right next to the slum area in Denpasar. I raised the money to rent the compound and fix it up on GoFundMe, and it was thanks to many people in New Zealand that I was able to open the safe house. The safe house has aided and supports over 125 children, 45 mothers, and 10 babies.
Any particularly memorable stories?
A passer-by messaged me on Instagram and told me he’d seen a little girl begging in Seminyak. He said her eye looked very infected and asked if we could find help her.
I went to the location he gave and found a 10-year-old girl walking through the traffic disorientated. Her right eye appeared to be popping out of its socket. Our social worker, Kadek, and I managed to sit her down in a cafe, bought her a cold drink and food. She told us that her eye had been damaged by a knife. She was brought to the streets by a gang, who picked up children in the impoverished villages, gave their parents $3 a day, and brought the children to sell tissues on the urban streets for 10 hours a day. Her father was paralysed, and she needed to work to find the money to support him. We managed to contact her father and asked permission to take her to the hospital. Her eye had to be removed as soon as possible because a tumour had grown behind it, causing her severe pain.
We took care of Wayan at the safe house and prepared her for surgery, which thanks to donations, we were able to fund. Wayan now lives at the safe house and attends school. She has a new false eye that makes her feel beautiful. We take her to visit her father every week and take food, supplies and money to him. He is happy his daughter is at school.
What you are doing is incredible, but how do you keep motivated when faced with such a sheer amount of people in need?
What keeps me motivated is seeing the change in a child’s face – a child who has been begging or selling tissues on a busy road, malnourished, exhausted, and dehydrated. They come in with large dark rings under their eyes, their little feet are blistered and dirty. They have coughs from the pollution on the roads. Some have lost their hair from dehydration. All suffer fear and anxiety. After just a few weeks at the Safe House, eating nutritious meals, receiving medical attention, care, learning to draw and dance, their dark circles and worry disappear. They become lively, happy children.
What is the best way for someone visiting Bali, or even someone here in Auckland, to help Bali Street Mums?
The best way to help is to go to our website and sponsor a child, or a mother and her children. We are struggling to provide support to the increasing numbers of children and mothers in need. Alternatively, buy one of the mothers’ beautiful crafts. If you are visiting Bali, we have a table at La Brisa Market in Canggu on Sundays – come and meet the mothers and children. Or visit Helen at Buanu Satu on Karangahape road and buy a beautiful doll made by the mothers.
To sponsor a mother and her children, visit balistreetmums.org
