After visiting a number of schools in rural Bali to view first hand the lack of facilities and priorities of the adopted schools we headed off into the hinterland to check out the request by the village of Sudaji for an improved water supply.
When we arrived at Sudaji we were ushered into the village meeting pavilion where we expected to be presented with a detailed proposal and cost analysis of the project. This did not happen. The village elders explained that their water supply came through a 2 inch pipe and could only provide sufficient water to ¼ of the village at any one time. The 4 quarters of the village took turns having the water turned on for 12 hours – meaning that water was only available in each area for 12 out of 48 hours.
The village request was that we provide a 3 inch pipe and cement etc and they would provide the labour. (This seemed to be the proposition.) We thought that a 3 inch pipe would only be a stop gap solution and that a 4 inch supply would be of more long term benefit. After inspecting the community tap near the meeting pavilion with its meagre flow we set off to see the spring where the water originated.
Our driver, Ketut, skilfully negotiated his Bemo through narrow, steep, winding roads which turned sharp corners between houses and buildings. He had quite a number of instructions from his passengers which he completely ignored. At the end of the road we stopped and set out for the spring. We left the Bemo and walked up to the top of a small water diversion weir, along a path, down into the paddy fields and along the rocky edge of the river to our destination. The village elders had made their own way to the spring and explained again how the water is and how a bigger pipe would be of benefit to them. We then made our way back to our vehicle along the rocky and at times slippery path with promises to the villagers that we would consider the proposal when a detailed cost analysis was provided. It seemed that the village thought we would just cough up the money because they had asked. (We had one mishap when one member fell on a rock and had a nasty bruise for a couple of weeks.)
The ride back out of the mountains was just as exciting as it had been going up earlier. Much discussion regarding the request took place on the way back as we headed into Singaraja for a well earned lunch.
Chairperson’s note: This request was discussed at length at the August meeting and it was decided that the cost made it prohibitive for AAS to undertake this project, bearing in mind that our focus is education and cultural exchange. We voted to approach local Rotary Clubs for assistance. A reply from Rotary is pending.
