Our guest speaker today was John Hinnant who was (until he recently retired) an anthropologist at Michigan State University.  He is now re-locating to Bali.

The story starts in 1990 when two medical professors from Udayana University, Drs. Arhya and Winata,  were conducting a government survey of the distribution of goitre and dwarfism in North Bali.  When they got to the village of Bengkala, they found a high incidence (2.2%. or 47 people) of congenital recessive deafness, which interested them.  (Bengkala is about 12 Km east of Singaraja, about 3.5 Km south of the north coast road, and is not far from the road to Kintamani.)

This discovery led to a collaboration of academics in Bali with academics from Michigan State University.  Initially, there were only geneticists and then John was invited to join the research.

Future for children was founded in Switzerland in November 2004 with the purpose of financing projects to support sustainable development in destitute regions in Bali, with the main focus on Muntigunung.

In Bali,Munitigung cooperates with Yayasan Dian Desa, the most well reputated development organization in Indonesia as the local university.

The projects are worked out with the participation of the local population. Cultural, ecological and economic implications are taken well into consideration before starting the project.

Thanks to the support of caring people in Bali as well as in Switzerland, we have already come along way. We see the self-esteem of women grow as they have jobs that help them support their families.