Dinner in Belandingan

My name is Dewald Haynes, but my friends simply call me “Dee” – and all friends of Cempaka Putih Foundation I consider to be friends of mine!

Seven years ago, I came to Bali the first time. Being much younger then, I explored what the island had to offer from the view point of a tourist, resulting in fun filled days at beaches, pools, restaurant, and meeting lots of people. It was during this time that I met Gede (the founder of CPF) and Zoray (the CPF Web Manager) and became close friends.

Back in South Africa, my home country, I realized that it was really the Balinese people who left the deepest impression on me.  The dilemma of the day was; “How could I learn more about this fascinating and alluring cultural identity within the overwhelming cosmopolitan arena of Bali?”

Volunteering for the Cempaka Putih Foundation seemed the perfect opportunity to fulfill my dreams of returning to Bali while learning more about the people who inhabit this popular, and enticingly cultural, tropical tourist destination.

I cannot claim to be an activist, a medical doctor, a political pioneer, a moral authority, or religiously enlightened in any way! If I was indeed any of these things, I would already have my hands full with all these issues in South Africa! I am just your average Joe.

I feel that it is naïve and defeatist to think that you simply can’t make a difference, and totally arrogant to think that you could change the world single-handedly. In the grey area between these two extremes, I hope to create a cobble-stoned pathway to get more people involved in this innovative brain child of Gede’s by reporting on villages, people, and projects of the Cempaka Putih Foundation, and all the experiences and lessons in humanity I am bound to have in the coming months.

If you are reading this, and in Bali, please consider joining us in our weekly excursions into the remote villages where Cempaka Putih Foundation hopes to make the most difference. Please contact us for more information on our weekly Off The Beaten Track Tours.

I hope that you will find my updates on the site insightful and informative in the quest to help the people affected by poverty. In my next post I will be reporting on the ceremonies and dances in Songan Village, and in Belandingan, where I had my first lessons in Hindu protocol and procedures!

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