Where Ni Nyoman Mariati’s Story Began:

A young woman in Bali, yearning for a better life than what was offered in her impoverished village, left her home at a young age and began her life as a laundry owner in a nearby town.  As she worked, she diligently saved her money and eventually joined her sister in Holland.  Although thousands of miles had been removed from her humble beginning, she never lost compassion for the children in the village, Petak, where she grew up.  In Holland, she joined with her sister and her sisters’ husband to form their first support group for poverty-striken children back home in Bali. Their vision was to inspire people in Holland to sponsor this cause in Petak, Bali.

Eventually, she left her sister’s family in Holland and returned to Bali in order to focus fully on caring for those very children she supported from miles away.  There, her life’s work sparked with innovation as she transitioned her love for those kids into an official establishment known as the Ginantri Foundation.  The word “Ginantri” is a composite and means love, care, and peace. It is a compilation of her mother’s name, Gina, and the word in Balinese for the third child, Tri, which is the same as Ni Nyoman. Hence – “Ginantri.”

The Ginantri Foundation’s motto is “One Child, One Future,” and is dedicated to enriching the educational, cultural, and spiritual lives of children influenced by poor villages in the Gianyar Regency of East Bali. The school is based out of the the village of Petak, and has become a place where disadvantaged children are provided with tools, opportunity, and guidance towards a reliable, independent future.