Author: The Lembongan Traveller

In mid April this year it was becoming more and more apparent that it was not COVID-19 the virus, but the economic impact that is the greatest threat to the people of Bali & Lembongan. We felt compelled to rally our community of loyal Lembongan lovers to help assist families on Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan. With tourism and the local economy being brought to a stand still due to COVID-19, the locals have been severely impacted with wide spread loss of jobs & income.  The Lembongan Traveller partnered with Island Protect & Bali Children Foundation to launch the Food For Lembongan Families fundraiser campaign aimed to help as many families as possible.

It has been incredibly humbling to see the generosity of people, considering that no-one has been untouched by COVID-19, people have been digging deep during these difficult to support the Lembongan community. The Lembongan Traveller’s team of staff on the ground in Lembongan have co-ordinated the logistics and distribution, meeting with both Kepala Desa in Lembongan and Jungut Batu villages to ensure we reach the people who are in most need.

T H A N K  Y O U  to everyone who donated & supported our Food For Lembongan Families fundraiser.  Thanks to your generosity we toppled our initial target of $5000 and with the $14,000+ funds raised so far have been able to reach 600 families with packages.

which include – 10kg bag rice, noodles, eggs, oil & cloth masks.  The masks were made by woman in Bali and the supplies were purchased from over 20 different warungs on Lembongan.  Packages were delivered this week to families across 10 Banjars on Nusa Lembongan & Ceningan and included migrant/ non-local workers who do not have the support of family networks.

The locals have sent so many messages of  gratitude.  Together we made a difference and these photos are a true reminder of the gift of giving.  From our Lembongan family to yours THANK YOU again.

PS We are still accepting donations and will continue to deliver packages as funds are available.

DONATE HERE

As the owners of The Lembongan Traveller we felt compelled to rally our community of loyal supporters to help assist the families on Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan. We asked and you have responded with an overwhelming amount of support.  THANK YOU to everyone who has donated, showed support and sent messages.

This FOOD FOR LEMBONGAN FAMILIES fundraiser is aimed to reach as many families as possible by supplying rice, noodles and oil which makes up an integral part of their daily staples.  We will keep the fundraiser open so people can continue to make donations.

DONATE NOW

Below are updates regarding the campaign, also posted on the fundraiser platform.

From our family to yours we say THANK YOU xx

FOOD FOR LEMBONGAN FAMILIES

As the owners of The Lembongan Traveller we feel compelled to rally our community of loyal supporters to help assist the families on Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan and have created the Food for Lembongan Families fundraiser. With tourism and the local economy being brought to a stand still due to COVID-19, the locals have been severely impacted with wide spread loss of jobs & income.  The campaign is aimed to reach as many families as possible by supplying rice and oil which makes up an integral part of their daily staples. GIVE NOW

We understand that COVID-19 has touched everyone and we are all facing extremely difficult times, but if you can give any small amount from your family it will go a long way to helping a Lembongan family.  All donations are greatly appreciated.

We have partnered with Bali Children Foundation, who we successfully worked with to administer the money we raised after the Yellow Bridge collapse to the affected families and into the community via their environmental and educational programs.

Our team of staff based on the ground in Lembongan have helped us formulate this program, will administer the purchasing of supplies and oversee the distribution process.

We thank you all in advance, on behalf of the people of Nusa Lembongan & Ceningan for support the Food for Lembongan Families fundraiser… they can not wait to welcome you back to their island home once travel can resume.

Donations can be made via PayPal or Credit Credit card via the campaign link below, or  please email us on holiday@thelembongantraveller.com for either IDR or AUD bank account details and your donation will be added to the campaign as an offline contribution.

FOOD FOR LEMBONGAN FAMILIES FUNDRAISER

Credit photo ; @saltywings

How is COVID-19 impacting Lembongan locals?

COVID-19 is impacting everyone, no one is untouched, it is testing us all and the stresses of uncertainty, loss of work and how this will impact us into the future is difficult to process.  The people of Lembongan are no different, here is a personal account from our staff ( Nomi – Social Media Manager, Titis – Reservations Manager, Triana – Logistics Manager) and their perspective of the impact of COVID-19 on the people of Lembongan.  Their resilience, determination and Hindu faith give them hope and a path forward to tackling adversity.

“COVID-19 is the biggest plague of its impact for Nusa Lembongan because 80% local people lost their jobs and income.

Due to COVID-19 ceremony numbers have been restricted, only the head of ceremony, offering maker, and limited number people are allowed to attend. Prior to all ceremonies, the temple is sprayed with disinfectant. Normally we have ceremonies all day starting 8am until 6pm, now as a result of COVID-19 they can only happen from 8am-10am. The Bali government has asked us us to pray from home, all weddings and blessings cannot proceed.

Everything has changed here, normally the roads are busy with cars & scooters, and now it’s very quiet. Normally the streets are busy until night around 11pm but now by 8pm it is very quiet. 85% restaurants & meal houses are closed, almost 95% hotels closed too. Only small warungs or grocery stores remain open for food and other essential items that we need.

All boats are closed, except for the transportation of food to the island.

It has touched everyone; company man, captains of boats and small business owners have no job or income at the moment.  We feel lucky that our island is surrounded by the ocean, so we can go fishing, spearfishing and net fishing. Those who have gardens and crops will use these fruit and vegetables for cooking at home.  We are have started planting gardens and will take all vegetables & fruits that we have there to cook in our home. Now we all trying to plant spices, spinach etc in our gardens at home.

COVID-19 now means that Balinese women, who were usually busy with work and used to buy pre-made offerings and also take away meals are now home and will make offerings, do the cooking and cleaning for the household.  It has changed how we are currenty accustom to living.

We feel this is going to have a huge effect on our economy, much more than Mount Agung eruption in 2018 and the Bali Bombings 1 & 2.  However, we can also see a positive from this, there is reduced pollution, we are forced to become more thrifty, our life is cleaner & simpler, and families are now spending a lot more time together at home.

We are very thankful to government who have offered to help us with 25 kg of rice / families.  You may ask “why only rice?”, because we have ocean and garden to get fish and vegetables.

We believe we can get through this together, as we have previously with the Bali Bombings, we keep supporting each other, we are grateful each day, take care of our health and pray for this to end soon.”

Written by Nomi, Titis & Triana

Ogoh-ogoh 2020, Nusa Lembongan

This morning the Balinese government announced that due to COVID-19 and the risks involved of having large gatherings that Ogoh Ogoh parades will be cancelled.  This decision is in the best interest for the health and safety of everyone in Bali and Lembongan. However, it comes with an emotional cost to the Hindu people who consider the Ogoh Ogoh “New Years Eve” parades as one of the most significant celebrations on their calendar.

We write this blog with particular respect and thoughts for everyone who has contributed to this year’s Ogoh Ogoh.  One of our staff members has been heavily involved with her Banjar Ogoh Ogoh preparations, which began 3 months ago, involved endless hours and also considerable financial contributions by everyone within the Banjar community.

The preparations have included making of the enormous paper mâché monsters, practicing & preparing gamelan music & dances to accompany the Ogoh Ogoh, plus designing and producing T-shirts for the parade participants to wear.

They were notified of an emergency meeting at midnight last night to be held at 10am today, when the decision to cancel the parades was announced.  It was with mixed emotions and a heavy heart that she then had to pass on the news to her team which is proudly made of up of a large number of teenagers who have gathered after school everyday and into the evening to work on the preparations.

They have for now wrapped the Ogoh Ogoh in plastic and hoping they can be retained and used for next year.

She is an extremely wise young lady, and as a Hindu, holds great pride for her religious beliefs and the significance of the Ogoh Ogoh parade. For these reasons we wanted to share her thoughts with you as it has been an emotional day for her as COVID-19 continues its impact across the globe, no-one is untouched by it.

In her words, ” I understand it has to be cancelled to stop the spread of COVID-19, I am so grateful that when I told all the teenagers in our Banjar they too were so understanding.  We need to look after the health of our family and friends”.

The Ogoh Ogoh parades are a truly immersive experience, symbolising evil creatures and are demonstrative to scare off the evil spirits prior to the start of the  New Year.  Ogoh Ogoh are large giant monster dolls, made by the local younger generation of Banjar members, carried on bamboo platforms.   They are shaken, loud music & drums are played,  young children walk in front of the large paper mâché creatures holding torches / candles, women follow performing dances and men playing loud drums & cymbals.  The parade ends with bonfires when these laboriously designed monsters are set a light and fall to ashes,  the final act of purification before heralding in the New Year  (Nyepi) the next day.

To our valued travellers, colleagues and Lembongan family 

  We would like to address the current COVID-19 situation, although it is hard to keep up at the rapid pace it is evolving.  We extend our support & prayers to all who have been impacted by the virus. 

We are here to assist all our valued TLT customers with their holiday plans, and understand the concern and uncertainty surrounding travelling at the moment.   Our team are working tirelessly to ensure the best possible outcome for our guests and will continue to be available 7 days a week via phone or email.   

We support the measures being taken by countries with  travel bans, self-isolation, social distancing and encouraging healthy hygiene practices.   If we are ALL diligent the sooner our travelling community will be back on its feet and in the air. 

 When things do settle, PLEASE put Nusa Lembongan on your list, our Lembongan family, who rely on tourism for their livelihoods, are feeling the brunt of COVID-19.  Their open arms & warm hearts are ready to welcome you back island side as soon as the new “normal” is set and we can once again enjoy travelling to Bali and beyond.

Thank you for support and loyalty, it is this, which will enable small businesses like TLT to get through this wild ride.

Stay well, take care of each other & give kindness.