Non-profit Ignite

We empower children in Bali and India with quality education, family support, and health care to break the cycle of poverty.

India
Bali

The Alpha Montessori School was founded to provide high quality education to low-income children and provide them the skills to move beyond the rigid limitations of social class. It is located in Mandawali, an impoverished community in East Delhi, India. Without such an education, these children would be condemned to living and working in the same low wage, back-breaking jobs of their parents.

We presently educate children ages 3 to 14 using the Montessori Method, an exceptionally effective system to educate children of this community. The children engage quickly and deeply in their studies and develop citizenship skills at a level rarely seen in any school. In addition, we conduct parent-teacher meetings and provide students annual medical check-ups with health professionals. Our years with this educational work has shown us positive results. There is no other group conducting this kind of work in community.

Ignite potential and transform lives!

Your contributions will enable us to meet our goals.

Our Mission

  • Bring high quality education, appropriately suited to the needs of the children and their culture, so they can become valued and useful members of society.

  • Transform the lives of the children and families, of Mandawali through education that teaches clear and creative thinking for intelligent informed choices.

  • Instill respect for self and others, develop leadership skills, that supports individual responsibility to society.

There is a need for schools in poor communities of India to provide high quality education.

With the increase of the middle class, children of low-income families face difficulty competing with students receiving the higher level of education provided in private schools that the middle class and wealthier families can afford.

Government sponsored and funded public schools, though free, are inadequate in educating their students and reversing the downward spiral of their class and living conditions. These schools depend heavily on rote memorization and teaching to the tests.

The Alpha Montessori School seeks to lift the lives and futures of socially low and impoverished children through education, enrichment and opportunity.
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Delivering Hope to Bali's Most Vulnerable

When We See We Are One, The Path Becomes Clear

Supporting isolated Balinese families who have fallen through the cracks with essential food packages and human connection.

THE CRISIS

Poverty Hidden in Paradise

While Bali's beaches and resorts have largely recovered from the pandemic years, a hidden crisis persists in the island's remote mountains and forgotten corners.Thousands of Bali's most vulnerable people—elderly without family support, those with disabilities, isolated individuals damaged by life's hardships—continue to live in extreme poverty, far from the tourist areas and traditional village structures that might offer help.These are people living in makeshift shanties hours from the nearest town, surviving on less than a dollar a day, often going without meals. They exist outside the traditional family compound system that forms Bali's social safety net. Without extended family nearby, without village support, without government resources reaching them, they have fallen through every crack.

The reality

  • Elderly people living alone in mountain huts, cooking single servings of rice water
  • Families so remote that no aid organizations know they exist
  • People choosing between medicine and food, between soap and rice
  • Children whose only shoes are broken flip-flops, if they have any at all

What began as an emergency response to COVID-19 in 2021 has revealed a deeper, ongoing need—one that existed before the pandemic and continues long after tourism returned. These forgotten Balinese have always been invisible to the outside world. Now, we see them, and we cannot look away.

OUR RESPONSE

Direct Relief, Human to Human

We deliver comprehensive relief packages directly to Bali's most isolated and vulnerable people. Each package contains:

  • 22 pounds of rice - the foundation of life
  • 30 eggs - essential protein
  • 2 liters cooking oil
  • 10 instant noodle packages
  • Daily vitamins & masks
  • Life essentials as needed: matches for cook fires, soap, sleeping mats, blankets, reading glasses, flip-flops

Cost per 100 packages: $2,000 That's just $20 to sustain a person for weeks

OUR APPROACH

100% Volunteer-Powered, 100% Heart-Driven

  • No paid staff - Every dollar goes directly to relief
  • Balinese helping Balinese - Local volunteers who know the terrain and culture
  • Person to person - Hand-delivered with care, not institutional distribution
  • No promises, no expectations - We act from love, not obligationDaily action - Our team works every day to reach those in need

THE TEAM

Heroes of Compassion

Our dedicated volunteers—young Balinese men led by Tony, a master photographer and healer—drive hours daily on back roads, ride motorbikes on mountain paths, and hike jungle trails in tropical heat to reach the forgotten.

"We had no idea these circumstances existed on our island. Now we see how fortunate we are, and we cannot stop helping."

- Team volunteer

They brave floods, car breakdowns, and extreme heat. They get lost on unmarked mountain tracks. And still they return, day after day, because they've discovered a Bali they never knew existed, and in serving others, they've transformed themselves.

IMPACT BY THE NUMBERS

Since 2021

1,000+

Packages delivered

22,000

Pounds of rice distributed

30,000

Eggs provided

Countless

Lives touched with hope

Impact photo

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

In May 2021, a friend who lost his restaurant job sent two photos: a garden snail from a rice field and a banana tree shoot. The caption read simply: 'Dinner.' That's when we knew we had to act.

WHY THIS MATTERS

Are We Not One?

  • When we recognize our fundamental connection to each other, action becomes natural. These aren't "them"—they are us, in different circumstances. Their dignity, determination, and gratitude in the face of extreme hardship reminds us of our shared humanity.

  • In their faces, you see the extremes of human emotion: deep sadness and hopelessness, dignity and joy, determination and gratitude, confusion and hope. There is such beauty in each face.

  • Every package delivered is an act of balance—returning the generosity the Balinese people have shown the world for generations.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Three Ways to Make a Difference

  1. Fund 100 Packages - $2,000 Sponsor a complete distribution cycle reaching 100 families
  2. Contribute Any Amount Every dollar helps - $20 feeds one person for weeks
  3. Share Our Story Help us reach others who want to make a difference

All donations are tax-deductible through Ignite: A Foundation for Learning, a registered 501(c)(3) charity.

CONTACT US

Email: balireliefproject@igniteafl.org

Mailing Address: Bali Relief Project c/o Ignite: A Foundation for Learning

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