We are Mahmud Abdul Halim and Ben Newcombe, founders of Widi Learning Centre.  We are excited to be starting a learning outreach centre utilizing Montessori philosophies that is accessible to local Indonesian families in South Bali.


Mahmud has been a school teacher for more than ten years. He started his career as an English teacher for children in the Language Center of Gorontalo State University. In 2012 he joined the Australia Indonesia Youth Exchange Program to have the experience of teaching in Hills Montessori School Adelaide, South Australia. Upon returning to Indonesia he joined the faculty at Montessori School Bali. In 2015 he completed his Montessori diploma from NAMC. This year he completed his master degree in educational research and evaluation.

 Just a few weeks ago, Mahmud resigned from his position as a teacher at Montessori School Bali to embark on the project of applying his knowledge and experience to work with local Indonesian students. These students are from low income families that live in the heavily touristic area of South Bali. These students need help with learning support to have a better education for their future.  As most Indonesians are bilingual, these children speak Bahasa Indonesia and Balinese.  Learning to speak English as a third language will be a huge asset to their future in education and beyond.

We are offering the Montessori tutoring program during their after-school time so they can explore their potential in areas such as math, science, and art, while simultaneously learning to speak English fluently and comprehensively. This program adopts the Montessori approach and pedagogy that is aligned with Indonesian education and Balinese culture.

It has been a huge, and brave step for Mahmud to leave the Montessori School Bali environment to venture out to pursue his own vision.  It has been an exciting opportunity for Ben to be able to support him in this ambitious endeavor, but we are certainly not alone, as we have support from many of our colleagues and friends.  We believe there will be generous people out there that are willing to contribute to help these young people to make their way in the modern, global and digital world.

About the Space

Mahmud spotted an ideal space in October, that provided a clean, safe room, with tons of  natural light.  We jumped in head first, and started fixing it up.  Patching walls, re-wiring electrical, and  installing an AC unit generously donated to us by his dear friend.  We have both pledged $2000 CAD to the project already, and by using recycled and salvaged materials, we have been able to stretch that money very far.  There is still a lot of upgrading that will have to happen in the coming months, but we now have a workable space.

The centre is located just south of the intersection of Jl. Marlboro (Teuku Umar Barat), and Jl. Merta Sari in central Kerobokan.

How you can help

Now that Mahmud has a space to work in, a whole new process is starting.  We will be setting up the business logistics, and starting promotions efforts. 

A simple donation of $5 to $10 will help us to print promotional materials that can be distributed to local schools, to inform families of students where we are, and what we have to offer.

Further upgrades to the space will still be necessary.  We will have to connect to the municipal water source, an eventually outfit the washroom to be better suited to the size of the little ones using it.

For younger children, aged 6 to 8, the Montessori philosophy provides a lot of focus on motor skills.  Many exercises take place in a kitchen setting, and we will be looking to build a child-accessible kitchen, which can be used for tactical play, and also for cleaning exercise and and a creative art hub for paint and modeling clay.

A donation of $20 to $100 can help us to build new fixtures for these elements of the learning space

Scholarships

A huge part of the philosophy of the Widi Learning Centre, is that it is available and affordable to local Indonesian, working class families.  Along with our tuition fees being extremely reasonable, by comparison to most private education providers,  we plan to offer scholarships and subsidies to families who may struggle financially.  

A donation of $25 will subsidize half the tuition of one student for a month.

A donation of $225 will subsidize half the tuition of one student for a full year.

A donation of $550 can provide a full scholarship to one student for a full year.

Any donations made with the intention of funding scholarships will have the option to receive photos and updates from the children they are helping.