FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
What is Damara?
Damara Bali is a non-profit foundation support a beer life for the children from poor farming families in
Bali. Damara Bali Foundation was established in 2015 and registered as a non-profit Indonesia Foundation
(Yayasan) with the Indonesia Ministry of Law and Human Rights Indonesia No AHU – 0006690.AH 2015.
Who runs Damara?
Damara was founded by I Nengah Swikrama, who grew up in an orphanage and received education thanks to
the support of other people’s generosity. He has worked for over 30 years to assist children living in
orphanages. For the last 8 years before starting Damara he was the Director of Widhya Asih, managing an
organisation that provides homes and education to over 500 children and helps with many community
projects.
How does Damara help?
Our main aims are:
- Direct sponsorship of children who have dropped out/or are at risk of dropping out of school because
their parents are too poor to provide the cost of books, basic school supplies and uniforms.
- Help poor farmers to have sustainable capability for generating income to provide for their children
and send them to school.
How is Villa Bugis associated with Damara?
Villa Bugis proudly supports Damara as its primary charity. Damara started with generous contribution from
Villa Bugis, a villa management company in Seminyak, Bali (www.villabugis.com). Villa Bugis have committed to
continue with annual donations and also with coverage of the cost of all administration of the charity to
ensure 100% of donations go directly to those that benefit most.
How many children are currently supported
Damara supports nearly 100 children for the school year 2019-2020, all living in extremely poor villages in
north and east Bali. All these children had already dropped out of school.
How much does it cost to sponsor a child?
The cost is quite small – IDR1,500,000 per year per child – or about AUD$150 per year
How is the donation money managed
Damara works with trusted school administrators who identify the children in need of help. No money is given
directly to the families, but is used for paying for direct expenses for the children to send school. Damara
representative visits regularly to monitor how the children are doing and receive school reports.
How are we matched with the children we sponsor?
Sponsorship is made to those most vulnerable, and in most need, as identified by their school, who’s staff
work very closely with Damara and the community. If you have children, we often try and match those with
similar gender and age group, for reliability.
Are we able to visit the children that we will be sponsoring?
Yes, this is possible after sponsorship has been made – it is a full day trip to and from the rural areas that the
children are living.
What do we receive after sponsorship?
You will receive photos and bio’s of the child you sponsor, it is also possible to communicate via written (and
translated) leers if you wish – as well as 6 monthly school reports and a quarterly newsletter
How do we make a payment?
Please visit www.damara-bali.org/donate-here – all Damara Overheads Finance and Admin services are provided by Villa Bugis. Direct payments can be made into the Damara account, but this is usually costly with fees from overseas, from both ends, not making it worthwhile.
How do we renew each year?
Each year we will contact you to renew your assistance and commitment, and you can then choose to renew the same way as initial payment was made.
DAMARA is a non-profit foundation supporting a better life for the children from poor farming families in Bali.
Damara Bali Foundation was established in 2015 and registered as a non profit Indonesia Foundation (Yayasan) with the Indonesia Ministry of Law and Human Rights No …AHU – 0006690.AH 2015
A 7 night stay at this amazing villa, we didn’t want to leave! The villa is enormous with plenty of space – we were a large group of 13 and didn’t feel cramped at all. The location was fantastic, a 5 min stroll to the Bintang Supermarket, shopping and great restaurants.
It’s also the staff that really make this place incredible – nothing was ever too much trouble. The breakfast team came in everyday and cooked up a storm, took care of all the cleaning up and barely made a sound! All the staff were so lovely, always smiling and so friendly! The rooms, pool, gardens and living areas are kept to such a high standard – everything was immaculate.
We arranged massages, pedi and mani treatments through our villa manager – he had experienced people there within the hour! An hour long full body massage without having to leave the villa for $13! Highly recommended!
I would recommend this villa to any larger groups of family and friends who love having extra space. This is our second stay through Villa Bugis and they are a dream to deal with. The villa is also excellent value for money, you get so much for your hard earned dollars and total privacy – an average of $80 per person per night – amazing value!!
Thankyou Villa Bugis – we will be back in 2016!!
Stayed July 2015, traveled with family
A fantastic villa, very large rooms and beds, large grounds with plenty of living spaces and grassed areas. Perfect for a large group of friends or families and children.
Staff are amazing, rooms and kept clean and the daily breakfast is good.
The only negative would be the noise from the lane way as this kept us awake and woke us most nights. Location is average as its a long walk to the beach but nice and close to Bintang supermarket.
Expensive villa but enjoyed our stay.
Stayed June 2015, traveled with family
The management staff were fantastic in replying to many emails regarding our stay. They were always happy to meet our requirements. We holidayed in a large group, of 8 adults and 7 young children, and found Villa Mahkota to fullfill a great family holiday. Location was perfect, with a short walk to many restaurants and shops/markets. The housekeeping and grounds staff were extremely friendly and accommodating, and went out of their way to ensure we enjoyed our time there. The BBQ menu options were fantastic and a must if you stay.
This was our 4th booking with Villa Bugis and first stay at Villa Mahkota with two families, 4 adults and 4 kids.
As Mahkota is a large compound around 1000m2 it enabled us to spread out and have our own space when needed. The villa has great areas to eat, drink and rest, all surrounding a large central pool. It is a great place to relax and have space but also be in reach of family and friends.
The bedrooms are all generous and as they are individual allows for privacy and peace and quite. The TV room was great for the kids to go and chill out after a big day down the beach. The main living area is terrific, though we found ourselves living outside for most of the stay. The kitchen is handy though needs a bit of a tidy up. Our favorite spaces were the outdoor eating area where meals were prepared for us, the bar (with super cold bar fridge) and pool side lounge areas.
We found one of the best ways to enjoy the villa was to get the boys to race off to one of their favorite Warungs and bring us back a meal of Nasi/Mi Goreng etc. and then get back into the pool.
The villa is in a good location and a short walk to the Bintang Market and Jalan Raya Seminyak. We find it best to have scooters on hand in order to get to the beach as it is quite a walk and certainly not direct with the little narrow lane ways. The lanes make it difficult for larger transport vehicles and taxis to navigate, a walk out to Jl. Raya seems to be the way to go. The narrow lanes are not such a bad thing as it reduces traffic and are seemingly quiet.
All in all Mahkota is a great villa in a good location, the staff go out of there way to help you and are always smiling and friendly.
We had a fantastic stay. Everything was great. The staff were fantastic they couldn’t do enough for you. We hope to come back next year.
The only comment is the kitchen needs a clean after every meal. Cupboard doors need cleaning as well
2nd time using Villa Bugis properties, this time with a family group. Stayed in Villa Mango (3 bedrooms) and was fantastic. Property offered room to move, great pool/spa, all appointments one would want from this style of property. Close to Seminyak road, supermarket and any number of restaurants. Cannot speak highly enough of Staff, nothing was too much trouble ofr them to organize be it, transport, massages, restaurant bookings or making sure there was a fridge full of chilled bintangs on arrival. Whilst there are now thousands of these types of properties available, this group of villas will be my choice
All the staff for Villa Bugis’s properties was really first rate. Kind and helpful and they really want to make sure you have a great stay. The property pictures and description don’t do it justice, it’s really so beautiful and serene – but less than a 5 minute walk to a major grocery store and all the action on the main street in Seminyak. Our booking came with daily breakfast (delicious) and the villa was cleaned daily – they even arranged for massage and pedicures on site – we felt so pampered. 4 Master Suites with air conditioning, a TV room, plenty of outdoor lounge space, the pool was very large and the grounds and sculptures were beautiful. If you’re headed to Bali, with a group or large family, this is an excellent choice.
The villa and staff were all absolutely wonderful. From the extremely serene and peaceful gardens to the massive and beautifully lit pool, the outside king size sunbed to enjoy lovely massages on or a nice afternoon nap. The staff went to all lengths to keep us happy and provided us with anything we required. Breakfast everyday was beautiful and plentiful and we also had the staff cook dinner for us one night. To call it a smorgasbord just wouldn’t do it justice. Nothing I can really fault about the villa at all. The rooms were all beautiful and wonderfully furnished and overall we had a wonderful holiday staying here. Thank you to all the wonderful staff that made our trip memorable.
Villa Mahkota is an exceptional place to stay. Kadek and his trusty team are extremely helpful and accommodating and I found the facilities to be up to date and all in perfect working order. After staying in Bali several times in different locations, I will never stay anywhere else now! Absolutely loved it! Thank you!
We stayed in the Villa in mid January and loved it. The staff were very accomodating and nothing was too much trouble.
Having our own villas within the complex and sharing a common pool and eating area was great. Being able to swim in the pool late at night was also a bonus. The villas are well equiped and they even supplied the mosiquto spray. The mosquitoes were probably the only downside. Perhaps a regular spray by ground staff would be a good idea.
We were very close to restuarants and the shops.
Well worth looking at staying in these villas if you are travelling to Bali.
The air conditioners have all been replaced over the last 12 months and the mosquito nets have just been replaced.
Villa mahkota. Very good,love staying here will write good review for trip advisor
Kadek and his staff were very accommodating, cooking yummy breakfast and providing great service. Mahkota villa was generally clean a few of the mosquito nets needed replacing.
The water in one bathroom was smelly but thankfully Kadek and his team addressed it straight away.
Overall the staff were friendly, helpful made our stay pleasant , carefree, and most enjoyable’ Thanks
PS. we were disappointed with the pool fence, the cost was way too much, and it wasnt secure enough.
Amazing stay..staff looked after us so well.pictures do not do the villa justice — unbelievable! Love our stay
The place is beautiful,facilities are satisfactory..
Improvement required for newer appliances suchas A.C. and TV overall experience is great..
We had a great time while staying at our gorgeous villa . Would recommend it to all our friends in australia..all the staff and komang our head man was lovely and very helpful..
nice villa to stay in….. wish it could be a little better. Main room should have air conditioner since it’s very hot nowadays, and some rooms the air condition aren’t very cold. other than that, good villa to stay in.