Today the children wanted to go for a swim so we all walked in the scorching sun for a few km’s only to find the pool EMPTY!!! LOL!!! Ice cream anyone!???

The children love swimming; we go for a 5km walk to the beach which has beautiful views of the mountains! (and obviously the ocean too lol) :D

Singaraja Home Update

So, since our last BTB trip in August 2009, the Singaraja home has said goodbye to Wahyu and Dina and have been blessed with some WONDERFUL new parents! Yunus & Anita, along with their 2yr old daughter Cara call the Singaraja Orphanage home. Firman has moved out of the home and back to Samatra with his older sister who also teaches in Samatra. Opa Sun and Oma Sun have moved out of the home into their own house near by. The children still get to see them each Sunday at church. Opa and Oma are very loved by the children.

Children excited to communicate with BTB team

All the children have spent most of the day today on my laptop writing messages to those who came on the Beyond the Box trip last August. I told them that they can write in bahasa indonesia and I will translate it for them using the internet. They were so excited to be able to communicate with the team!

Frans, Jimy and Anita are getting really good at their english! We often sit around with a translating dictionary and talk to each other. We've also been using the whiteboard to write the same phrase in both languages!

Selvi, Anita and Frans taught me how to make Sop Ayam today! (Chicken Soup)

Jimy's still going really well with playing the guitar! Since Kids Club gave them a guitar last August, he's accumulated another 3 lol! :) ...although they're all out of tune! We might have to buy them a guitar tuner! :)

5 days into the trip, all learning lots!

Hey all! :)

I'm here at an internet cafe in Singaraja with Meri! :) All the children are doing great! we've got a new child called Amanda who's 10yrs old.

I've brought Tant Pour Tant coffee with me and I think i've got the children hooked! :) haha, they love it! even the Hindu neighbour from next door! :) haha

The children have been teaching me how to cook Indonesian food, wash clothes by hand, and do dishes indo style! They love listening to Zions Hill music on my ipod, i can hardly find it! lol

Every night we sing songs and I've been teaching the children some songs in english on the whiteboards that we purchased last trip!

All our photo's are still up in the lounge room from the last trip, the children say hi to everyone who came last year!

Mercy Home Singaraja Here I Come

Hey there!

Two more days and I'll be back in the Singaraja orphanage with our friends in the beautiful hot weather of Bali!!!

Be sure to regularly check this space to hear up dates and photo's of the children!

Peace out!

Rebekah

Some Numbers with Scott

Selamat Datang! or Welcome from the Beyond The Box Team.Bali Sunrise - from a boat on the bay, just off Lovina

We all arrived back into Melbourne safely last week, and are planning a slide night and debrief for us all to get back together, with our families and discuss the trip, but don't worry, we will have plenty to show everyone very soon.

In the meantime I've compiled a quick list with some numbers about our awesome trip for you to enjoy!

----------The Bali Numbers----------

1 - Awesome trip
2 - Minivans that became our mobile homes
3 - Different variants of fried chicken we tried
4 - Plane trips to and from Indonesia
5 - Nights spent in beautiful Lovina
6 - Strings on a guitar we gave them, that made us all smile.
7 - Beautiful orphans that are now family to us.
8 - Willing participants for this pioneering trip, that were the best company you could imagine
9 - Nights away from home and our families
10 - Dodgem cars that were alot of fun
100 - Pairs of sunglasses offered for sale to us
1000 - Smiles from stranges right across the island
3400 - Photos Scott took
10,000 Rupee - 2 Bottles of Coke or about $1.20 Aus
100,000 Rupee - Enough Magnum and Cornetto icecreams to feed 23 people, (About $13.00 Aus)

-Posted by Scott-

The dirty dishes with Bek!

Woo hoo! washing dishes Indo style! Talk about a culture shock! No more filling the sink with nice hot soapy water! We washed and rinsed the dishes on the floor each meal time using cold soapy water from a small container to then rinse them off in a bucket which was balancing over an open drain leading out to the road! It was an awesome experience! I will definately miss hanging out with those beautiful children! They have enriched my life greatly! Sama Jumpa! See you all soon! Bek! :D

Four seasons in one day

Today was the day of four seasons. Not of weather, but of emotion, beauty, fun and challenges!

First stop was saying goodbye to our new family from the Mercy Home in Singaraja. After a few days with the orphans, we all have had a chance to share, help and watch them grow (especially in their english skills) as well as growing us by showing us just how capable we are at helping one another. There was barely a dry eye in the mini busses as we left Singaraja this morning.

Our good friend, Dmaker mission supervisor and motorcycle lover, Paul from Dmaker took us to see the volcanic and beautiful Mount Batur on our way back to Denparsar. As a photographer, this was a visual delight I just could not ignore!

After a quick stop at McDonalds for a late lunch, we hit the pool at our hotel and wound down after a long day of travels. Jesse, both Chris H&B as well as Jason provided diving as I waded into the pool with my camera!

Finally, we went to an all Indonesian style resteraunt, where fich was the speciality, including many varieties with the head still attached. The fish head is considered the most exotic part to eat by locals, so in the true spirit, Paul offered it to Chris B who after some persuading decided to eat it up!

As a side note, I'd just like to say this is the most rewarding assignment of my life. Joking about with the Singaraja orphans and photographing them was a real delight, from day 1 being a shy start, to photographing them all individually on the last morning where they smiled and posed for the camera, it was a real eye opener on how to deal with and learn to communicate with a different culture without language, just with smiles, clicks and an image on a screen to show them. Thank you all so much for allowing the team and I into your lives. Also to my family at home, Jess, Levi and Dyl, I'll be home to give you hugs really soon. - Scotty

Hey Guys, having an amazing experience over here in Bali. Been great to meet and hang out with the orphans. Friday night we took them to the dodgem cars, and it took a bit of convincing to get Mary (in the photo with me) to come along, but she loved it and went on twice once she started. It’s gonna be hard to say goodbye tomorrow, probably bring a tear to my eye, but I will keep in touch with them. Thanks for reading! Miss you all! - Candyce

Hi it’s Sally here, having a great time in Bali. Today spent some time with the girls who played with my hair, and decided to do wacky hairstyles. Loving the hot weather, and don’t want to come back home! Taking the orphans back to the Dream Zone- amusement arcade, to do the dodgem cars again, which they absolutely loved! Can’t wait!

Hey from Jesse

Hey it’s Jesse here, Really loving the food, really different to home. Having a great time, been doing some hard work but relaxing time makes up for it. Just chillin by the beach, hanging out with the Balinese people, it’s amazing. The culture is so different to ours. This is me asleep with my coconut, on the floor at the orphanage. It’s really, really hot here! See ya, when I get back.

All in a day.... and a night.

Chris 'The Machine' Billing, smashes weights, Indo style

Chris sharing on radio Mandiri in Singaraja with Ps Paul

Many hands make light work in the garden. Plants were brought, potting mix mixed and a garden started!

Big brother, Jason, and little broter, Jesse, shop for the orphans in a side street in Singaraja.

The Girls ready to attack Singaraja market

The boys follow suit.

Jason and Frace make their way through the market

The man on a motorcycle in a cage was the highlight of the market visit.

-Posted by Chris-

Towards the weekend in Singaraja

Another beautiful morning greeted the team here in Lovina, yesterday, before heading off on a day of work, great food, great fun and most importantly great people. The day had alot in store including a suprise change of plans.....

The orphans were quick to appreciate the guitar donated by Zions Hill's Kids Club, playing a variety of tunes that sounded great to all of us.

The BTB team worked hard through the heat of the day to finish painting the front fence in a blue and white color scheme, that got the thumbs up from all here with Dmaker

After a hard days work, we re-grouped before dinner to discuss our options that had been put to us. The original plan had us heading back to Sanur(Denpasar) on Saturday, but the offer was made for us to stay on in Singaraja until Monday, giving us more time with the orphans, as well as allowing us to plant their garden for them. The decision was made in favour for us to stay on, much to everyone's delight.

After dinner at the orphanage the BTB team along with Jakob, Paul and Rudi from Dmaker took us all for a drive around Singaraja, something the orphans rarely do as most people don't own cars, to a new mall, where we shared ice-cream as well as giving the orphans awesome memories of bumping around in bom-bom cars in their first trip to an amusement arcade.

Jason drove fast and hard

Candyce and her partner kept us on our toes

Bek showed why we weren't hiring scooters of our own to ride in Bali with her crazy driving display.

The fun we had with the orphans last night, really helped cement our positive relationship with them, and had us all realising, how a few dollars ($5 Australian books out the whole dodgem rink) can give so much pleasure to those here in need. Judging from everyones smiles, I'd say we'll be back at the amusement arcade with the orphans before we go.....

-Posted By Scott-

Off we go!

Off We Go.....

The Beyond The Box Team, set off from Launceston on Tuesday morning, with a handfull of friends, family and project supporters there at the airport to see them off. Ps Chris led the team onto the 10 am flight to Melbourne before our flight through to Denpasar, Bali.

After spending the night at Sanur, the team headed 3 hours north to Singaraja where they quickly met the orphans before retiring for the night, only to return on Wednesday morning with a lot of hard work including clearing the yard, painting and teaching music to the orphans was ready to be begun. Jesse got into the swing of things out back. Candyce get stuck into the painting and scraping of the old fence.Scott pointed his lens at Jason, who was making the most of the heat.The orphans loved the Owen Hughes books he kindly donated to help us show them where we are from.The elders made friends with each other quickly.

Jesse shares a meal with our Dmaker friends.

The orphans use Chris's guitar to sing some songs.

The Trip so far has been fast paced, but rewarding on many levels. The last of our full days with the Singaraja orphans is today, so expect to see the finished work up here very soon.

-Posted By Scott-

Triva Night Success

Zions Hill Church hosted the first ever Beyond the Box Trivia Night last Wednesday.

Members of the church, families and friends of the BTB program participants attended, and were put through their paces with 8 sections of trivia ranging from general knowledge to food.

Pastor Chris Billing speaks to the attendees

Supper was popular with everyone

Approximately 70 people attended on the night, with many more making donations in lieu of attending

6/8ths of the Pioneer team, L-R Jesse, Sally, Bek, Chris H, Jason and Chris B,
(Scott has the camera and Candyce was unable to attend on the night.)

Omar talks up the auction items.

Just over $2500, was raised on the night which will go towards our first Beyond the Box mission trip, departing in just under 2 weeks.
Thank you to all sponsors and attendees for your valuable support!


Here are more photos from the night for you to enjoy!