10 things you should do when a new NJR is elected
October 16, 2018
Some believe Christmas is the most anticipated time of the year. Truth be told, it’s always exciting to watch Mariah Carey officially announce the start of the Christmas season. But there is a season we consider even more jolly and happy, when we reunite with our friends and celebrate the happy occasions of the year. That’s right, it’s IJBC season!
IJBC is THE moment of the year to celebrate our past achievements and dream big for the future. It’s when we realize how big IJB is and how impactful we are in our local communities. It’s when we take the time to build global friendships together.
And what better way to celebrate our impact across the world than by doing a local impact initiative together?
IJBC 2026 was the first time we decided to act and support the hosting NA in planning an initiative. This way, participants would be able to understand the local realities and share a sense of purpose together while supporting the community.
“For an afternoon, IJBC participants and I had the opportunity to learn about the incredible organization, Bali Life Foundation, and contribute to their mission to support the underprivileged youth on the island,” writes Bella, the current junior NJR of the USA. “We learned about how their mission aligned closely with ours, as the NGO not only rebuilds infrastructure like schools and daycares, but also provides a curriculum that encourages students to dream big, make change, and believe in the future.”
Established with the mission of providing hope, dignity, and purpose, the foundation takes a holistic approach to community development by addressing not only immediate needs but also the longer-term challenges that contribute to poverty and social exclusion. Its work includes providing care, education, healthcare, and a safe home for vulnerable and orphaned children, as well as running programs for children living or working on the streets.
“Before Local Impact Day, each participant brought [from home] two childhood education books to donate to the school,” writes Marcus. He is also an NJR, from Hong Kong, and he also saw the amount of books that were piling on top of tables in the dining hall. All of them were to be donated to Bali Life Children’s Home library. Participants rushed to finish signing their book, leaving short greetings for the future owners, so that they could go back to the activity room and continue to hear more about Bali Life. “On the day itself, we assembled Fortune Packs containing necessities and amenities identified by the Local Impact Organisation. What made this particularly meaningful was knowing that our contributions were guided by the actual needs of the children, rather than our own assumptions.”
And it was true. Each JBer received a card with the information of one of the children under Bali Life’s programs whom they would be preparing a care package for. The packages included hygiene products as well as vitamins, which were specifically requested by the foundation. According to them, these are among their least frequently received supplies, but the ones families often need the most. Among the materials each JBer was collecting for their care package, there was one which stood out, and it was quite fun. It was a small colouring book filled with images of animals and superheroes for kids to express their art. A small book, but a great entertainment for many afternoons.
Putting together the care packages
Leaving a small greeting in the donated books
Writing a message for each child
Assembling the donated books
Now, it was time to leave a message for the children we were assembling the package for. Ella from CISV Sweden, shares about the message she left: “I remember the child I wrote to. I had so many things that I wanted to tell her, but I didn’t have space, so I tried to keep it to the most important things. I told her about my country and how it is different from hers. Told her about the world in general and how we can barely fathom how truly big it is, but most importantly, I told her to believe in herself. And to keep being energetic and curious, which were two of her attributes on the card that the NGO gave us. I think I told her that she could do anything that she wanted to do.” Ella writes that she left the message in three different languages to make sure the child was able to understand.
Marcus also shares his thoughts at the time when he was writing to the child he was assigned to. “Although I would probably never meet this child, I wanted my words to feel personal rather than ceremonial. It was humbling to realise that a few sentences from a stranger could cross borders and, hopefully, make someone feel remembered.”
Bella writes about Ni Luh Desi, a student who participated in the foundation’s learning center, and the information she learned about her. “The card shared that Desi has lived most of her life on the streets and dreams of building a brighter future. I found myself eager to write her a card to accompany her care kit, in which I shared how much I admired her courage and hope, and that I was proud of her for fighting every day. Despite not knowing what she looks like, much about her background, or even her age, I was grateful for the opportunity to get to know even just a little about Ni Luh Desi and the children that Bali Life has and continues to support.”
Leaving the activity, Bella, Marcus, and Ella reflected upon what they learned and described how they felt at the time. “Learning about the Bali Life Foundation reminded me, especially as a medical student, that meaningful service does not always come from grand gestures. Often, it is built through small, thoughtful actions that respond to what a community genuinely needs,” Marcus writes. Ella also adds, “I left the activity wanting to do more and believing that projects like these are the ones that truly spark the desire to make change or volunteer. I am so glad and lucky that I got the chance to be a part of all of this.”
Bella shares the need to bring back that experience to her own community. “Hearing reflections from my peers about the children they were writing to and their admiration for Bali Life's incredible work made me proud that we were able to contribute even just a portion of Bali Life's impact, and hopeful that we would carry these learnings back to our own countries and take action to support those who need it most in our communities.”
As the activity was coming to an end, our impact was still going to last and meet its destiny: the children’s home and the learning centers! The IJBC home staff team delivered 54 care packages to the Suwung Center, located within a landfill site, and 46 care packages to Bali Life’s Street Kids Center.
Care Packages
Care Packages
During their visit, the team was given a tour of the facilities, where they met many of the children and staff members, and learned about an on-site shop featuring handmade goods crafted by the children's mothers through the organization's workshop programs! The team also visited the Children’s Home, where they provided essential operational supplies requested by the organization to support their day-to-day needs.
Looking back, it’s exciting to imagine the reactions the children had when receiving the messages and the care packages. For the participants, it might have felt like a small gesture, but there was some kind of impact. This is why we can’t wait for next year’s local impact initiative, as this year was an exciting pilot for the future IJBC’s.
Home Staff Team visiting the Suwung Landfill, where the Suwung Center is located
Foundation's workers with the care packages containing body soap, toothpaste, biscuits, full cream milk, chicken nuggets, sausages, cooking oil, origami papers, correction tapes, pramuka socks, rice, books, stationery, snacks, shampoo, period products
Care packages containing soaps, shampoos, toothpastes, toothbrushes, period pads to period pain relievers, alcohol swabs, flu medicine, band-aids, anti-diarrhea medicines, iodine, vitamin C
