Welcome

 

The Piara Foundation, founded in 2002, operates in South-Sulawesi, Indonesia. The main goal of the foundation is to raise funds which are used to enable under-privileged children to go to school. Better education gives them a chance for a better future and improves their conditions of live.

 

Piara mainly works with volunteers from the region ensuring projects to be developed and carried out in appropriate and culturally sensitive manners. One of the volunteers, Geertje Berveling, actually lives in the region and closly works together with the locals to achieve the goals of Piara.

 

Sampela, a village built on stilts, lies between Hoga and Kaledupa on the beautiful coralreefs of Wakatobi marine park. The Bajau or Sea Gypsies are an indigenous ethnic group living all over Asia. First they lived just on their small wooden sailing boats however the government forced them into more modern houses. That is when they built their houses on stilts. The Bajau are a suppressed group in Indonesia and therefore insufficiently supported by the government.

 

The major of Sampela has asked Piara for help on several matters. Currently Piara runs several projects in the village.