The mission of Volunteer Programs Forever is to empower and support underprivileged communities around the world. We do this by frameworks that we have created to reach our goals and to increase the impact on the people we support.
Through our Forever Projects we set up targeted projects worldwide that respond to specific challenges for underprivileged communities. With the Forever Label we provide local job employment opportunities and with our Forever Learning Centers we increase access to knowledge and education.
If you have been following us the past year you know that we had to close our educational project in Bali, Indonesia due to the pandemic. We have been very busy the past year to keep supporting our Balinese community. Read more about that here.
Besides immediate support during the crisis, we have been working hard to find solutions on the long term by developing the plans of the Forever Learning Center VP Bali. Read all about that in our blog here.
Now, early 2021, we are focusing hard to find the necessary funds to start building. But in the meantime, we feel the urge and the need from the kids to start learning again. Indonesian schools have been closed since March 2020 and the children are desperate to learn in a creative environment, to be surrounded by friends and to be inspired by educational materials.
Forever Project – Bali
Since we can’t offer them classes yet in our center, we got together with the local village leaders and we came up with a plan to provide the children with English classes in the local village building.
Starting something like this is not easy, the process is long as we have to deal with local authorities and it is very important to VP Forever to always work in line with the local regulations, local traditions and culture. After some discussions and meetings with several village leaders, we got a YES and we are allowed to use the community building for weekly English classes!
We will run monthly programs where the kids can rotate so we can ensure that everyone gets to join. We can’t take big classes yet as we have to keep the safety and health restrictions in mind in terms of distancing, hygiene etc.
Unfortunately, COVID-19 cases have spiked enormously in Bali since early January, so at the moment it is not safe nor responsible to start the classes. As soon as the local authorities allow us to start, we will as we already have a full class of confirmed applications. The kids (and parents!) can’t wait!
By running these classes, we are not only providing education to the kids. We also want to create job opportunities for local teachers who have been out of a job since the crisis.
We will soon share more with you about how we will train local teachers to use our curriculum, how we will implement creative learning and how we will support them on a structural basis.
