Would you stand up and walk out on me?

Lend me your ears and I’ll sing you a song

And I’ll try not to sing out of key…“

(With a little help from my friends- The Beatles)

This certain section of the song kept playing in my head as I was uploading this song on the blog.

A whole more than a year ago, we attempted to make this recording as a gift for all our friends on the Christmas of 2009. We did not suceed then, but we had to this year. With much lack of practice, being a wee bit out of tune, but with a whole lotta love, and soul, the kids of Belang Singapadu belt out their rendition of a free spirited version of John Lennon’s contemplative Christmas hit- Happy Xmas (War is Over).

Please click on the link below, and download this gift we have sung for you:

Happy Xmas (War is Over)

We did try not to sing out of key, but then again, in a way, we didn’t! Thank you for lending your ears!

To all our dear friends, THANK YOU ALL! and have a MERRY, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

This does not mean that our activities have ceased. Our dance program will go on, at least till our funds have dried up.

But we will endeavour to keep this blog alive as long as we can by feeding her “old” material. That shouldn’t be too difficult, for in the past 2 years, we have collected much photos and memories of the kids we hold dear.

This category- “Untuk Anak-anak SD Belang Singapadu” (For the kids of Belang Elementary School in Singapadu) is created for posts related to the kids we taught in Belang.

We hope that in years to come, when the kids of SD Belang have become web savvy, an occasion would arise, whilst gleaning through every “added” one else’s trifling ( but life changing?) statements on his/her facebook in a village warnet,  that a nostalgic nudge from not too distant history would prompt them to google “Banjar Saraswati”.

We hope that our blog will be for them a small repository of childhood memories.

Adrian: “Bertiga teman baik ya?”

Kadek, Nur dan Utami: “Ya…”

Adrian: “Teman baik harus foto bersama ya?”

Kadek, Nur dan Utami: “YA…!!”

Yang di depan (kiri ke kanan):

Toni, Agua Adi, Yudik, Bisma, Adi (kelihatan rambut saja), Wira, Bima, Serayu, Putu Eri

Yang di tengah (kiri ke kanan):

Tedi, Riko, Nata, Agus, Toyip, Riski, Lelut

Yang di atas (kiri ke kanan):

Dek Gus, Dode, Made Cat (Guru tari cowok), Diva Adi Darma (anaknya Guru tari), Teja, Dolar, Ogik

Yang di depan (dari kiri ke kanan):

Kirani, Harmoni, Vina, Varisna, Yosi, Dewa Ayu, Gusti Ayu, Putu Rahayu (Guru Tari cewek), Diva Adi Darma (anaknya Guru Tari), Nia, Rani, Lelut, Epit, Dewik, Aik, Gek Yuni.

Yang di belakang (dari kiri ke kanan):

Sintiya Dewi, Atik, Oki, Febri, Yumi, Ris, Tunik, Ana, Dewi, Putu Martina, Kadek Griasih, Meri, Komang Dewi, Mia, Nur, Liani, Gek Kris, Pebi, Koming, Anggreni, Tika, Sovi

Collecting is one hurdle, the next stride would be to bring it over to Bali. 2 wonderful people have heeded our plea and taxed their holiday-geared souls to lug bagfuls of donated clothes for us to sell here. Chee Meng and Asma, Bless you Both (in a secular way)!

Chee Meng with the little male dancers of the village Saba in Bali

I thank my mum also, who packed and posted the rest of the donated clothes over. Thanks mum, it’s arrived! Here it is flanked by our good friend, our landlord, our Banjar Saraswati dance teacher- Made Cat, and his lovely 2 year old son- Diva Adi Darma-

Finally, a big THANK YOU to an amazing lady, Putu (also our Banjar Saraswati’s dance teacher), who sorted the clothes, priced them, and sold them. Had we done without her aid, the bags of clothes could not have metamorphosized into funds!

Putu Rahayu, Friend and Dance Teacher for Banjar Saraswati.

So this is how, till now, our funds are constantly replenished. With gratitude and the consideration that we’re using money belonging to a cause, we’ll continue to strive to put the funds into good use.