Bali is a paradise where all your worries just melt away, but the truth is, beneath all the tourist attractions, this is an island in need.
Unfortunately, Bali isn’t immune to global challenges, environmental problems, or humanitarian (and animal-tarian) issues. Poverty, land degradation, trash pollution, excessive stray animal populations – they are just few of the issues that Bali faces every day.
Don’t fret (too much) Bali lovers. There are numerous NGOs in Bali on the forefront of those issues.
All with their own mission, the amazing work of non-profit organisations and charities in Bali ensures that the pristine nature, generous locals, and majestic animals (that we adore sooo much) get all the support they need.
Amazing NGOs in Bali
To the rescue, Bali lovers! It’s time to give back to this magical island.
Check out those amazing NGOs and charities in Bali to see if you can help in their active fights to maintain the Bali bliss.
Plastic pollution is one of the most obvious issues Bali is fighting. Not only it is heart shattering to look at. It is killing the beloved land, sea and wildlife.
The main cause of the problem? No recycling centres and a poor waste management system.
Keep Bali Beautiful is an incredible charity, enchanted with the beauty of Bali and it does a BUUUNCH to ‘Keep Bali Beautiful’.
Focused on Bali’s rural areas, their mission is to provide the locals with village-based recycling systems and environmental education, as a way to solve this problem. So far, it manages to recycle or compost a whooping 90% of all the waste received!
Ocean lovers are really gonna love it as Keep Bali Beautiful funds a high tech project that reduces plastic pollution in Bali’s waters by a whooping 25%!
Bali is popular for its lush and vibrant flora. You probably didn’t know that the island struggles with land degradation.
On the eastern fronts of Bali you will find long patches of dry land. Sadly, it severely affects the local communities in the area.
Many charities in Bali protect Bali’s beauty, but this one goes an extra step.
Bali Regreen actively fights land degradation – one bamboo at a time. Each bamboo does more than just grow vegetation, it also empowers the locals.
The amazing humans behind Bali Regreen plant and nurture bamboo, and pass the benefits to the farmers that use the harvested crops to make profit. It’s a win-win-win situation.
Bumi Sehat Foundation International
This NGO in Bali will tug on your heartstrings.
‘Bumi’ means ‘earth’ and ‘sehat’ means ‘healthy’, naming this charity Healthy Earth. They take care of the small humans to come into this earth without everything they need.
Its mission is to reduce the high maternal and infant mortality rates in Indonesia. They believe that strong mums and healthy babies are crucial to development of communities. Bumi Sehat Foundation provides health services, emergency care, prenatal, postpartum and birth services to local mums in need.
They don’t stop at helping the babies though. It goes further than that to providing local youth with education and fighting plastic pollution.
Love a Bali brew? Kopernik is an organisation you will want to get on board with.
With a mission to address social and environmental challenges, Kopernik focuses on the disadvantaged people living at the far ends of Bali.
Namely, the areas where Bali’s heavenly cacao, or your favourite Balinese coffee, are cultivated.
They currently work on an array of projects that are super exciting, extremely innovative (tree mat that prevents the growth of weeds, anyone?), and most importantly beneficial for the beautiful people of Bali.
They experiment until they find a solution – a successful and sustainable one, that is.
Kopernik’s projects aim to make the farmer’s work easier and less labour intensive, improve air quality (and through that, health of the locals) and improve the island’s waste management system.
Bali Adoption & Rehabilitation Centre
All the animal lovers will want to support this NGO in Bali.
Homeless dogs are a growing problem in Bali. There are no sterilization requirements, no real animal welfare education and often financially struggling families dump their pets.
Luckily, BARC is doing their part to tackle the problem. Inside their small shelter located in Ubud, the homeless, stray dogs get the treatment they need and deserve. As well as helping with health concerns, they treat the animals with love and care.
And to help stop the influx of more unwanted dogs, they also run street sterilization projects.
Bali Animal Welfare Association - BAWA
Breathe a sigh of relief, animal lovers. It’s not just the dogs that are getting rescued in Bali.
Bali Animal Welfare Association takes care of all the furry (and scaly, or other textured) animals. From cats to snakes and even dolphins! As one of the most established NGOs in Bali, they really care about the lives of ALL animals.
BAWA save, protect, and improve animal’s lives by rescuing them, providing any required treatment and when possible finding them a new forever home.
BAWA also works with local communities, and have educated over 85,000 people on animal care and welfare!
Yayasan Kemanusiaan Ibu Pertiwi
Unfortunately, life in Bali isn’t full of bliss for everyone.
Poverty is widespread, and schooling is not always free. Many children end up having to skip school altogether because of money or health issues.
Yayasan Kemanusiaan Ibu Pertiwi is a non-profit organization that is passionate about helping the marginalized children of Bali. Those from underprivileged families, the orphans, the physically disabled, and those bright stars that have obstacles in the way of their education.
YKIP provides the wonderful young children of Bali with scholarships, and access to better education.
East Bali Poverty Project
East Bali Poverty Project is another of the great NGOs in Bali that helps to eradicate the bad effects of poverty on the island.
This incredible project helps thousands of Balinese people that live in poverty with basic needs like water, proper sanitation, electricity, road infrastructure, and health facilities.
EBPR is on the grounds of Bali’s most remote and disadvantaged communities to provide help with education, better healthcare, elimination of malnutrition and sustainable permaculture.
Their incredible sustainable community development projects have reached and empowered nearly 20 villages.
The Smile Foundation - Yayasan Senyum
Yayasan Senyum is a charity that does an amazing job at putting smiles on kid’s faces.
The charity funds life-changing operations and health care for people with craniofacial disabilities. From cleft lips to facial tumours or deformities, Yayasan Senyum wants to help those that cannot afford it otherwise.
The amazing network of partners and other charities in Bali, means that the help and support is above and beyond. They are able to assist with patient’s transport to and from surgery, and any surgery related appointments.
For the more severe cases, they will organise everything needed to head over to Australia to complete the surgery.
Bali Children's Project
Bali Children’s Project knows a thing or two about transforming lives of Balinese children and youth. What’s better than a good education?
BCP’s slogan is ‘escaping poverty through education’, and that is exactly what they achieve.
The charity sponsors education for children from underprivileged backgrounds. Thanks to their efforts and battalion of sponsors, 102 young students graduated from university, with 10-20 new students being sponsored every month.
If that isn’t enough, they also fund teacher trainings, and support preschools and kindergartens with renovations and buying supplies.
BaliLife Foundation
The NGOs in Bali do the most to look after the local children on the island.
BaliLife Foundation operates a children’s home that houses children that have been abandoned, rejected or are homeless on the streets. It provides them with safe shelter and physical, spiritual, and emotional support, as well as access to education and healthcare.
They do an amazing job at ensuring that children do not end up being homeless or begging in the streets. Their ‘Street Kids Center’ welcomes mothers and their children who would otherwise be making income by begging in the streets to join their workshops where they learn to make handicrafts and turn it into income.
Final Thoughts
There is so much for tourists in Bali. People travel to the island year round from all over the world to soak in the amazing culture, landscapes and stunning sights. The island gives so much, make sure you give a little bit back.
Many of the NGOs in Bali rely solely on donations to run their day to day operations and bigger projects.
Dig into that holiday budget a little and give back to one of the incredible charities.
Featured image: BaliLife Foundation
