Here at Yayasan Solemen Indonesia we’re on a mission to change the lives of the most disadvantaged, the ‘diffabled’, the homeless and the marginalised in Bali. It is not easy, but we are doing it. Every. Single. Day. Our “content” is most of the time disturbing and 75% of our potential donors admitting that our stories are too difficult to look at, and they’d rather sponsor a healthy child to help him/her go through school.

We do the work nobody wants to do here. Our founder Robert Epstone started this organisation in October 2011, when he saw that the disadvantaged in Bali struggled to get access to medical and palliative care. And here we are, 10 years, 2,800 patients and over a million dollar in donations later, still caring for those, who need our help the most. And, hey, looks like we are surviving this damn pandemic, with 90% of the funding gone…. We will survive.

We are celebrating our 10 year anniversary next month. It has been a tough year for us, but we are absolutely delighted about what’s coming soon. You are one of those people why we still exist.

Have a read about our latest Stories that Matter and feel free to share them with your friends and family.

Team Highlight

Meet Ayu, our Outreach Team Coordinator. Ayu has been with Solemen for 5 years and is an absolute rockstar when it comes to organising, reporting, and coordinating our Mental Health, General Health and Food Programs.

Ayu is from Tabanan, she loves cats and American music from the 80s and 90s. Her cats Smirnoff and Grace also work at Solemen as happiness officers cheering up the residents who are staying at our centre for treatment.

Thanks to Ayu our Outreach team has been able to make such a big impact, because she is the one who is organising literally everything: from collection of the food parcels, in-kind donations, accepting and onboarding new Solebuddies as well as reporting.

Ketut Jelih got a new home

Ketut Jelih, one of our Solebuddies, who has a mental health issues, was locked in a small room for many years with no water, toilet, or electricity.

Last month thanks to support of our partners and donors and persistence of our Outreach Team, especially Sarah Chapman, the Head of Outreach, who never gives up, Jelih got a new home and can finally sleep comfortably in his own bed.

Everyone deserves a decent place to live.

Watch the full story here

Update about Wayan

 

Remember our young artist, Wayan?

We shared his story with our community last month and one family from Australia bought his new masterpiece.

It took him 3 weeks to complete this piece and finally Wayan’s art arrived in Western Australia together with our Soleteddy and some of our best merchandise items.

Wayan’s artwork is now recognised on the international level! How cool is that!

Wishlist from our Solebuddies

Komang Gita

Komang is a 15-year-old boy who lives in Bangli. He has a rare genetic skin condition called Harlequins Ichthyosis which has caused him to become immobile due to limb contractures.

Despite his debilitating health condition, he attends school and loves to sing. He has been assessed and monitored by dermatologists.

We renovated his bathroom to include a bathtub, as soaking is a vital part of his skin regime.

Komang’s monthly support is IDR 1,500,000: which includes 2 tins of Ensure milk, QV Wash and Cream for sensitive skin, Bicarbonate of Soda and a food parcel.

Let us know if you want to become Komang’s long-term sponsor by replying to this email.

Donors of the month:
Sue and Greg Inglis and their family

Sue and Greg Inglis, who run Pelican Waters Golden Beach Kindergarten have been such a great support for us in 2021. They have been sending AUD 3,000 every month since the beginning of the year and we have managed to cover the costs to support our little Solebuddies. Sue is the sister of Tony Smith, the owner of Finn’s Beach Club (our biggest sponsor). We are so grateful for the fact that the part of the revenue from their kindergarden supports at least 10 kids, as well as their families.

Solemen’s Impact Report August

Here are some numbers representing Solemen’s Impact last month Outreach visits: 500 Food parcels distributed: 230 pcs Milk distributed: 150 boxes/tins Total families supported in July: 367 Number of SoleBuddies treated at the Solemen Center: 28 Inpatient/outpatient care: 8 visits

Partners Highlights

Partner of the Month

Fabelio is an Indonesian startup based out of Jakarta, focused on offering high quality and affordable furniture and homeware.

They have kindly offered to help us with our brand identity and we are really excited and looking forward to see our new Solemen’s brand playbook!

Indosole

Indosole, a sustainable footwear company sent us some really nice pairs of their flip-flops for the entire Outreach Team.

Our Captain, Robert Epstone is wearing his own pair of Indosoles every day as well!

Getting ready for our 10-year Anniversary

Time flies! We are celebrating our 10 year anniversary next month and would love to have some ideas about our anniversary campaign and fun activities. If you have some insights and suggestions, simply hit “reply” and let your creative juices flow!

Thank you for reading our stories! This means a lot to us. Enjoy your week, stay safe and keep shining! Yours truly, Team Yayasan Solemen Indonesia P.S. Want to join the conversation further? Follow us on our instagram @solemen.indonesia P.P.S We are having some super-cool upgrades in our team, which is going to propel us to the next level, so stay tuned for some big announcement next month! So exciting!

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