Robin Masters, a member of the Bali Impact Trip, writes about her experience.

My desire to go on the Bali trip was motivated by a recent holiday to Bali, a place I hadn’t visited since 1983. Having never been on an impact trip before I didn’t know what to expect but was looking forward to spending time with the children in the orphanages in whatever capacity I was needed. I was richly rewarded by the children both young and older who are so grateful and gracious. At Blimbingsari, we did crafts with the young girls, kite making with the boys, sports with all of them and English lessons in small groups. We ate with them, played with them and watched with admiration as they performed for us at the end of the day, their traditional Balinese dancing and music. At Melaya and Singaraja , where the children are older, the format was similar, except that  myself and my older daughter, introduced jewellery making and were blown away by the creative talent that emerged from both the girls and boys. It was lovely to see them all wearing their pieces so proudly when they had finished. We also played a variety of board games which was loads of fun for all of us but the clear winner, there, was Bingo. Two of the ladies on the trip, Jill and Pam ran a very loud, extremely funny game and although it was very hot and humid, everyone got involved.  It was so good to be able to have so much fun with these kids even though we didn’t speak their language and their English was limited.

Part of the team at Melaya  spent a morning painting one of the buildings and were ably assisted by some of the older boys. The overwhelming response from the team at the end of the visit was just how much the kids appreciated us being there interacting with them and how much we learnt from being with them. It was very sad to say goodbye and tears were shed but memories live on.

Robin Masters