Tru-ly Giving Back - Bali Update

So we know that Christmas time is about giving back and that's great falalalala lala la la. BUT with the c-word and the travel restrictions that we've all been dealing with for well over a year now, our Tru brothers and sisters that rely on foreign tourism to live have been struggling!! A big example of this is our Tru Community over in Bali... and that is why here at Tru, we think it's really important to give back all year round!

So we thought that we'd give you an update on the things we've been doing for our giving back initiative in Bali over the past year or so.

So we know that Christmas time is about giving back and that's great falalalala lala la la. BUT with the c-word and the travel restrictions that we've all been dealing with for well over a year now, our Tru brothers and sisters that rely on foreign tourism to live have been struggling!! A big example of this is our Tru Community over in Bali... and that is why here at Tru, we think it's really important to give back all year round!

So we thought that we'd give you an update on the things we've been doing for our giving back initiative in Bali over the past year or so.

We've lucky that some of our TruCrew are still out there in Bali so they can help out the locals and take them supplies if necessary. Some of our TruCrew members, like Rianna, often drive out to East Bali with a team of local Balinese helpers. East Bali is known as a poorer area of Bali, and unfortunately, it's really dry so people can't grow food as well as they can in the West to support themselves. Not many tourists head to that part of the island either... even in "normal" times when tourists can flock to Bali, but with zero tourism allowed right now, it's been even quieter than normal. This means that there's not much money flowing through to support local businesses there, which really sucks. Many people also inherit their family home and land that has great sentimental value, so it's not really possible for them to move to more tourist areas and increase their chance of earning any big bucks! 

So, among other things, Ri and the rest of the team gave out about 50 care packages filled with eggs, noodles, rice and toiletries like soap and shampoo to those vulnerable people and families who haven't been able to work recently because of the pandemic. There are sooo many people who used to work at fancy resorts and hotels that have since shut because of a lack of tourists and tourism, and they have now become unemployed which is terrifying!!! Especially when tourism looks off the cards in Indonesia for another couple of months at least...

There are also many elderly couples in Bali who don't have kids and are unable or really struggle to go out and get food for themselves in these weird times. So, these packages that the TruCrew deliver really mean the world to them and makes their life a hell of a lot easier (and safer).

In order to combat the lack of tourism and to make some money within the local community, one family is currently selling Balinese offerings, which gives them about 2 USD a week to live off. 2 USD is obviously not a lot so these care packages really make a difference! Everyone that we delivered the donations to was suuuuuper grateful and was really happy and smiley in spite of how obviously difficult things have been recently.

So if you're going to do any giving back this Christmas, or at any time of year for that matter, consider taking a look at our Giving Back page and take a look at various initiatives we run and that you can donate to. If you want to spread Christmas cheer, support Ri and the Bali community, and give them a lil treat before Christmas, then you can read about our Tru Xmas Mission and donate here.

As much as we are using Christmas to spread the word and importance of our initiatives, remember that it really is an all year long problem at the moment, worsened by covid... so whenever you might be reading this, please check out our Giving Back page and help us make the lives of our Tru brothers and sisters out in Bali a little easier!!