Thread: Adoption

I have read somewhere that the Indonesian government will not allow adoption of children.

Does anybody know if this is correct or is it just Bali?

I think I read the Balinese will not allow adoption because of religious up bringing etc but what about people living on Bali.

Heck i have plenty of kids, give me your address and I will ship a few!! but really, I am not an expert on this subject and prob. shouldnt be trying to answer but,, it seems all the kids are pretty well taken care of by a family member if something happens to one of the parents, I think there are more kids in Jakarta that have no parents or adult care,, the locals in Bali are very, very child orientated and it would be , I think very , very difficult to officially, legally adopt a child.. but on the other hand if you lived in Bali, it would be very , very easy to hire a woman with a child or children and you can help her and do like a mother&aunt combo thing if you know what I am saying??? Im sure you will be getting more answers on this thread shortly from some of the seasoned ex-pats or locals.. anyone??? My wife is leaving today and our pembantu cried all day, and she is insisting on going to the airport, she loves our kids, wish we could bring her back with us.... I heard the culture shock is out of this world for them, and they get really, really homesick,,, I can see why, I miss bali and the people very much already.. but I'll be back soon... Frog

Yes Bert I did mean that.

Frog

I have read on other forums that a lot of Australians take clothes, schoolbooks etc over for orphanges, people post that they visit orphanges.

Thats strange, they must hide it very well...After being there for awhile, I figured out the ladies I usually always see asking&begging for money with their kids on their waist looking all sad with a outreached hand , was just a rackett for tourist... They get picked up and spread out by some drivers and they are collected each day.. more of a business type situation... not saying the lady doesnt need money, just the way it set up is kinda fishy......I have never seen organized begging before!! is it the Bali begging mafia? will one begger get on another beggers turf?? seems like they have their areas down like a paper route,,!! Iknow the locals tend to keep children with imparments kinda out of site..but back to orphans- I wonder if most of them tend to be Javanese? girls come over to work get pregnant? I find it very hard to believe the balanise would leave a child or the child has no family member/ compound to live in??like I said I didnt see it,,, hell my pembantu cried, cried this morning at the airport , she would have raised all my children if I had left them,,.? hey, yea, wait a minute, turn that plane around!! its not like it cost a great deal of money to raise a child if you are a local,...or I wonder if clothing , food, education, seem like a large expense for them, I guess it depends on where they go to school, and what they wear.., hey sounds familiar, just that we are on a different scale.. How about adopting a nice fat American kid,, hell we have plenty, Prob. more than anyone,, its impossible here to adopt,, bullshit red tape,, and if they did make a profecient adoption process, then all the case workers would be out of jobs. Kinda like why engineers change parts on cars every year , hell they have to account for thier time somehow..so they(fix) things that dont need fixing. thus making it hard as hell for the average Joe to work on.. well rambled enough, hope someone with fist hand knowledge will post soon, anybody?? Hell, wheres Roy when you need him,, I miss his posting's- good or bad, Frog

I have been travelling to Bali since 1981 and I haven't seen any orphanges but then I couldn't speak the language and it probably just looked like a school.

As far as I know some beggers in Kuta are organised and work in teams but not all.

And I think it would cost a lot of money to raise a child in Bali especially when you have no income.

But I am no expert and these are just my opinions and observations.

I agree Frog I hope someone with first hand knowledge wll post soon. Maybe there aren't any currently posting on this forum that do have first hand knowledge.

Ohh there are plenty , they just havnt jumped in yet, Bert, Tin Tin, sanurian,,,

Hi Tina

...I have read somewhere that the Indonesian government will not allow adoption of children...

Unless the laws have changed fairly recently, I don't think that's the case. However, as you would probably imagine, the process is by no means an easy one (nor should it be). The following (brief) information is from the USA Embassy in Jakarta web-site at:

http://www.usembassyjakarta.org/consula ... TIONS.html

* Prospective adopters must be between the ages of 30 and 45.
* The couple must have been married for at least 5 years.
* The couple must be residents of Indonesia for a minimum of 2 years and have a permit issued by the local authorities (Rukun Tetangga, Rukun Warga, Kelurahan, Kecamatan), and a letter from their Embassy in Jakarta (statement of domicile).
* Couples can be either childless, have their own natural children, or have previously adopted an Indonesian child.
* The couple should believe in God.
* Both parents must be able to appear in Court.
* The adoptive child must be less than 5 years old.
* The adoptive child must be in the care of a registered and authorized social welfare organization

Recent legislation also stipulates that an adoptive child must be of the same religion as the adoptive parents. Where the religion of the child’s natural parents is not known, the child will be deemed to be Muslim.

The following link has lots of other useful links related to orphanages:

http://www.myadoptionlinks.com/Indonesia.html

And if that's not enough, here are a few more:

http://www.carryforkids.org/
http://www.filosbali.net/BaliOrphanages.htm
http://www.webpastor.com/balikids.htm
http://www.balihati.org/wedo.htm
http://www.bali.com/charities.html
http://www.yakee.de/orphanage/bali.php

Moving on a bit now, you state that:

...As far as I know some beggars in Kuta are organised and work in teams but not all...

Unfortunately, that is true (and not only around Kuta). For example, I have seen, on many occasions, Balinese groups from Kintamani plying traffic lights around Sanur and Nusa Dua only to be picked up at the end of the day in expensive-looking vehicles. And before you get me wrong here, I do not mean to suggest that all the "pretend/employed beggars" are from the Kintamani region. There is a whole other contingency of Javanese "beggars" originating from Kedonganan (Jimbaran), etc.

It doesn't surprise me at all that there are unscrupulous individuals making money out of these practices. How much the "beggars" actually get is anybody's guess. There are even some women who rent babies and put on acts, both at traffic lights and in front of bars/restaurants. Sad but true. And sometimes you can see some very well-dressed "beggars" who are quite obviously not as poor as they pretend. Even some local school-children occasionally get in to the act - put on some "rags" and "sad faces" and wait for hand-outs.

:shock:

Hi Tina, I also have been visiting Bali since the 80's but was young and partied then ha ha. There are plenty of orphanages there my social club here in Perth helps about 3 with food education clothing etc. The main one is called Giri asih in Negara and Venih Kasih in Singaraja. A lady called Rosa in Indonesia is contacted if any of our members go over there and she takes you to the orphanages and explains by email before you go what is needed where. We have photos at our club of the kids and the work thats being done there. We are sending some builders over in May to build a front shop kiosk for them to sell phone cards. The main aim is them becoming self sufficient.

Yes Tink I too partied the 80's and 90's Do you have a web site for your club. Sounds interesting.

Sanurian, thanks for links and information regarding adoption and beggars.

From the quote in your post I can tell why I have heard a couple of stories regarding adoption which while seemed different now makes some sense.