How and why did the Helen Flavel Foundation start helping the Balinese children? I will try to give you a brief outline. I was approached by some Balinese friends in March 2004, who told me about 10 children who had been sponsored by a local business in Singaraja, due to hardship the business sponsor couldn't continue to help these children in the approaching school year of July 2004/2005, which meant these children would not be able to stay at school.

These children attended classes from grade one to grade six and as school starts at 7-30 am six days a week, the children have to leave home at 5am to walk to school to be there on time. I saw the children's homes, which were spread about 100 metres or so from each other and I was appalled by their poor living conditions.

Each house was made from mud and the branches from trees, dirt floors and it was very obvious that the families were indeed very poor. I had no hesitation in sponsoring the children for the new school year starting in July 2004.