When high-school students Samantha Hawes, Jongwoo Kim and Chiara Wahsono were first introduced to the John Fawcett Foundation and their work, they were inspired to be more active contributors in their local community. The foundation, with its multiple medical programmes and mobile eye clinics, is located in the heart of Sanur and recognised by the Indonesian government for their work.
In addition to their first formal group visit to discuss their future goals and objectives with John Fawcett and Gede Bingin, they documented the story of patient Wayan with the aid of Helmy on the 3rd of February, 2017.
“It wouldn’t be possible to be where we are right now without the support from the John Fawcett Foundation team, especially Pak Helmy and Pak Gede. We really owe it to them.”
According to Chiara, Samantha and Jongwoo, the British School Jakarta has recently become a member of Round Square, a network of schools from all over the world, held together by the shared values of the six IDEALS: Internationalism, Democracy, Environmentalism, Adventure, Leadership and Service. The John Fawcett Foundation has become the committee’s main service project.
“It wasn’t an easy choice for us to choose which charity group we wanted to approach and support. There are just so many! But what really stood out about the John Fawcett Foundation, in our opinion, was their direct – and free – eye cataract surgeries for economically disadvantaged Indonesians. We believe that direct action has a greater effect instead of giving money to the individuals in need of cataract surgeries. It isn’t guaranteed that the money we give them will be used for the operation itself. However, when the operation is done, the individual will be able to work again and support their family; in the case of children, they will be able to go to school and receive the education they deserve.”
After raising approximately $3000 last month, Jongwoo, Chiara and Samantha will continue their project with the hopes of fundraising $8000 to the John Fawcett Foundation prior to World Sight Day on October the 12th. They are also in the process of developing their own website called “Indonesia Unfolded” as well as raising social awareness in their school community.
If you would like to support them or have any enquiries about their project, you can contact Samantha, Jongwoo and Chiara through roundsquare@bsj.sch.id.
