Indonesia Volunteer Locations: Gianyar

Travel to Teach's Bali volunteer programs are located just outside of the small city of Gianyar, which is the capital of Gianyar province. Although Gianyar province receives much of its money income from tourism and contains many of Bali's most popular locations the city of Gianyar itself feels very far removed from any tourist influence, making it an ideal place for volunteers to discover the real Bali. If you are walking through the city it can feel almost as if time has stopped with everything happening at a slower and more relaxed pace. Almost daily you'll find vibrant Hindu ceremonies and festivals in the streets and the city is surrounded by amazing beaches and huge and beautiful rice terraces with a backdrop of mountains and volcanoes.

The Travel to Teach dorm is located in the village of Medahan, around 3 kilometers outside of Gianyar city center. The famous artisan village of Ubud is only a 10 minute drive away, with Keramas beach around 15 minutes away whilst the main tourist district of Kuta and the Balinese capital Denpasar are only a short bemo ride away. Gianyar city contains all them main facilities you'd expect from city such as food markets, supermarkets, ATM's, internet cafes, laundry places and pharmacies.

Volunteer Programs in Gianyar

Travel to Teach volunteers work for 3 to 4 hours a day working at the SD Negreri school on Monday's and then at the nearby Yasan Penolong Orphanage from Tuesday to Friday. The standard of English in the tourist areas of Bali such as Kuta, Sanur and Ubud is generally good. However once you move away from these areas English is rarely spoken and the standard of English teaching is low, schools are badly equipped, English lessons are unorganized and the English level of most teachers is basic. Improving the level of English in villages such as Medan is very important if the students are to have a chance of a job in the tourism sector.

As well as English teaching we will be running restoration camps at the orphanage during school holidays and there are plenty of opportunities to organize activities such as sports with the kids. Due to the strict religious beliefs of the Balinese schools are often closed due to religious festivals/ceremonies.

SD Negeri 3 Medahan – Primary School
SD Negeri school is government located in the small village of Medahan, located close to the volunteer dorm in the village of Medahan. The school has 125 students aged between 6 and 11 years old. T2T volunteers teach at the school on Mondays. Volunteers lead the teaching and are responsible for lesson planning. The local English teacher will be at you side during the teaching to assist you and will also assist is choosing a topics for future lessons.

Yasan Penolong Pendidikan Anak Yatim & Misikin Orphanage

The Yappenatim Orphanage is a non Governmental foundation, which receives a little assistance from the government as well as donations from different donors. The orphanage is located a couple of minutes away from the volunteer house and houses and educates around 400 children aged between 6 and 18 and includes a primary and senior school. T2T volunteers teach at the school from Tuesday to Thursday in the Junior High School and at the English club of the High school.

Things here are less strict and more chaotic than in the Government schools, schedules change regularly so volunteers need to be flexible. In the classroom you are the leading teacher and responsible for lesson planning. Volunteers usually work with a local teacher, however the local teachers sometimes leave the class during lessons and occasionally to do not attend at all so volunteers are sometimes left alone at the front of the classroom.

General Gianyar Info

Accommodation
Travel to Teach's volunteer house is located in a small village around 3 km from the center of Gianyar. Facilities in the house are quite basic, with only cold water and an Asian style squat toilet although the views from the rooftop balcony are beautiful. The dorm has 3 bedrooms, a kitchen, living with TV and a DVD player.

Food
The volunteer dorm has a kitchen with basic cooking facilities that can be used to cook and store food. The city center is 3 km from the dorm and there are plenty of markets, restaurants, and food stalls. A typical Balinese meal costs from $1 - $3. Apart from Fried Chicken and a Dunkin Donuts there are no western restaurants in Gianyar but there are some in Ubud which is 8 km away.

Weather
Bali has two seasons, dry and wet, although temperatures remain consistently hot, averaging around 31°C throughout the year. The wet season runs from October to April with most of the rain coming between December and February. Rain is not uncommon outside of the wet season, although most of it comes at night or in the very early morning.

Activities
The volunteer dorm is around 10 - 15 minutes from black sand Keramas beech, where volunteers can surf or ride horses. Although Keramas and Gianyar are very un-touristic the volunteer dorm is only 20 minutes way from the famous artisan village of Ubud, with its night market, monkey temple and western shops and rest aunts. Bali's main tourist center, beeches and bars are in Kuta which is around 50 minutes away and volunteers can easily spend the weekend with guest houses for as little as 2 dollars.

Getting Around
The main form of transport for volunteers is bicycle, and the orphanage, schools and the city of Gianyar are within a 15 minute bike ride of the volunteer dorm. Some volunteers choose to rent motorbikes (around 2-3 Euros a day), however the roads of Bali can be chaotic and are a far from ideal place to learn to ride motorbike for the first time.

For travel further the main form of transport is bemo (mini van). These run from the center of Gianyar and from nearby Ubud to numerous places throughout the island. Volunteers can also hire a car with driver to collect them from the volunteer house and take them anywhere on the island for around 20 Euros a day. Travel to Teach can assist in organizing this.

How to get to Gianyar.
Volunteers will be met at the international airport in Denpasar. A number of international airlines fly either directly to Bali, or via Bangkok, Kuala Lumpar or Singapore. These include Singapore Airlines, Quantas, Air France, Thai Airways and Cathay Pacific. The Singapore based airline Air Asia also fly cheaply to Bali from Kuala Lumpar and Singapore. There are also a number of Indonesian based budget carriers, although some of these have less that impressive safety records so are probably best avoided.

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