White Hats

Murray · 04-05-2007, 06:25 AM

White Hats

Hello Fellow Supporters.

A donations fund has been set up by Rotary
to fix much needed water & sewerage problems
in the women’s area of Kerobokan Prison.

It’s called ‘White Hats’ and it started in the Corby support movement.
See http://www.spiritofschapelle.com/for...forum.php?f=13

Rotary are still finalizing things at this stage, but just to spread the word -

Briefly;
Rotary Club in Perth will receive the donations.
They are held until work on each project is contracted & ready to start.
Then, the Perth Rotary funds are transferred to Bali Rotary Club.

Rotary in Bali are located close to the Kerobokan Prison.
It is they who organize the actual work and payment for the work.
They are helping tremendously, and are stoked we are doing this.

The DFAT Consulate have been onside.
The Red Cross jumped in and supplied at least one water pump.
But much more needs to be done.
These Kerobokan projects continue whether Schapelle is transferred or not.

So far we are getting favorable responses from the prison authorities.

The Corby family have given White Hats their total thumbs up.

Perth Rotary have pledged to match all donations dollar for dollar.

So when it's running properly, the appropriate links and information
will go up on this thread. But we have to be patient.

admin · 04-05-2007, 09:44 AM

Ahh thats cool Murray. Keep us updated mate.

admin · 04-18-2007, 04:42 PM

cheers mate.

possum · 05-12-2007, 10:11 AM

For those who are interested in the White Hats campaign...

(this information has been copied over from another forum)

Quote:

Hi all!

For those of you who don't already know, I have been putting together an aid effort for some time now that has become known as the "White Hats".
(The name comes from the good-guys in old cowboy movies).

The purpose of this effort is to bring some improvement in the living conditions of the female inmates in Bali's Kerobokan prison. As they are a minority within the prison population, they suffer worse conditions than the male inmates, being confined to a very small area with no access to any of the recreational or exercise facilities the men have. There are also ongoing health problems, mainly due to the water supply.

To facilitate this effort, I have gotten the support of the international Rotary organisation. The Bali-Seminyak chapter, led by Patrick Scott, is overseeing the organisational side of things, negotiating with local businesses and with the prison authorities themselves. The Perth branch is looking after the financial aspects of the project. They were impressed with our plans, and have agreed to give us matching funding! This means that every dollar we raise, they will match, doubling the total! This amazing offer will allow us to accomplish some major things.

The project has been in the planning stages for about 6 months now. Patrick in Bali has been doing some very impressive negotiating on our behalf, and Ric Purvis in WA has organised an account for us to put the money into. This means that donors will have certainty that the money is in reliable hands, and they will be able to make use of the existing tax breaks that come with charitable donations. The White Hats itself will not take any money, it is acting as a fund-raising network.

The organisational side is all coming together beautifully, but the major hurdle was always going to be getting permission to do the work from the prison authorities themselves.

Well, after much patience and hard work, I have just received some awesome news! Patrick has sent me a very positive email entitled...

"In principle, the Prison agrees"!!!

Patrick and I have been negotiating a joining of forces between White Hats/Rotary and the Yayasan Sri Khandi organisation that does educational and reform programs the female prisoners. It looks like the alliance will go ahead. Our plans have been submitted to the prison, and they have given their provisional agreement.

We are now in the process of finalising things, which involves putting together an official "pledge" document stating our intentions, so that it can all go forward. The prison staff have an important and difficult job to do, and it's all about gaining their confidence and getting them familiar with us. The fact that YSK are already known to them and have all the (many) necessary permits is a major help in this!

As you can imagine, I am very excited. It looks like the White Hats project will be able to move forward in the very near future!

At this date, the plan is:

* To give substantial help towards funding the prison education "Ending
Offending" program run by the Balinese Yayasan Sri Khandi group.

* We will also be providing all of the prisoners with mattresses to sleep on. To avoid in-fighting between the prisoners, this would involve making up mattresses that fitted the entire "sleeping platform" in the cells (broken up into 1 meter wide sections to facilitate cleaning). So, the mattresses would become part of the cells themselves, rather than being owned by individual prisoners.

* Another element of the effort we hope to be able to accomplish will be
providing the women with a supply of free sanitary napkins - at present,
many of the female inmates cannot afford these, and have to improvise at
that time of the month, which contributes to the poor sanitation.

* Finally, our contacts in the prison have confirmed that there are still problems with the water supply. It is still very unreliable, and a significant cause of ill-health. It this point it looks as though the prison will allow us to fund improvements in that regard, although exactly what form these will take is still being worked out (filters, improving the pipes or well, or adding a water tank have all been discussed).

The total costs of all this are currently being worked out between Patrick and his local business contacts. I will let you know as soon as I hear from him. But it seems, hopefully, to be "in the ballpark" of what we were planning for earlier. [$7000 AU = $3,500 AU as Rotary are donating dollar for dollar]

Please, everyone, stay patient for a little while longer while we nut out the final details to everyone's satisfaction. We have come a long, long way on this project so far, and considering the challenges I am very impressed with our speed of progress. Patrick has done a wonderful job for us, and I am determined not to let him - or the female prisoners - down at the final hurdle!

I hope you are as excited as we are!!! The whole project is looking very do-able and will make a real difference to the lives of all the inmates!

Cheers,

Chris D.

preludefan · 06-04-2007, 07:32 PM

sounds like good plan murray

possum · 06-23-2007, 12:38 PM

For those who are interested in the White Hats campaign...

(this information is copied from an email)

Quote:

Ladies and Gentlemen, after battling through some last-minute bureaucratic obstacles, and getting the last few signatures on forms that I need, I hereby declare the White Hats open for business!

Here is what Patrick, Susana and I have put together:

Firstly, we will be doing that all-important work on the women’s water supply. We will make it reliable, and clean. That is our core mission.

We will be providing bedding for the women, so that the poorer inmates do not have to sleep on hard concrete, which is both unhealthy and very painful!

We will be funding a prison education program aimed at “ending offending”. The program is run by the local Yayasan Sri Kandhi group. It encompasses vocational training and life-skills, such as proper sanitation, baby nutrition, and so on. It’s all stuff the women need to raise their expectations in life, and avoid further prison sentences!

If money permits, we will also be looking at other issues, such as general upkeep of the cells, health and sanitation.

How much will all this cost? A safe estimate is about twelve thousand dollars. Scary?

But wait!

Our equal-funding deal with Rotary means that we only have to find $6000 of that!

But wait! It gets better!

I have already sourced over $3000 from various generous donors! So, we only have to find about $2,500!

So if we can raise just two and a half grand, we get a twelve thousand dollar project!!!!

People… we can do this! $2,500 is 25 of us giving $100. It’s fifty of us giving $50. It’s 250 of us giving just $20! THIS CAN BE DONE!

I’ve lost count of how many times someone coming to one of these sites has asked “what can I do to help?” Well, THIS is what you can do! This is IT people – there won’t be a better deal for giving humanitarian assistance to the women of Kerobokan. This has the support of the Prison authorities, the Australian Consulate in Bali, the Yayasan Sri Kandhi group, and the international Rotary Club. Rotary will be looking after all funds, so donors can have complete confidence that they will not be lost or misused.

Think of how little $100 is. To put it in perspective, I took a friend out to dinner last night, and spent about that much. Alternatively, $100 is just three DVDs. And you don’t have to pay it all at once – you could spread it over two pay packets, for example. It’s EASY!!!!

If you can’t give $100, give $50, or even $20. Any donation is warmly appreciated, and all will be confidential. It all goes towards the total! And every dollar you give, Rotary will equal! And if by chance we manage to over-shoot the target amount, the money will be kept in a fund for the prisoners, to be spent as things come up (such as repairs to the toilets, for example). Nothing will be wasted!

How do you donate? Simply post a cheque to:

Rotary “White Hats” Campaign
Third floor
110 William Street
Perth 6000

Make out the cheque to:

Brearley Custodians Pty Ltd ATF
The Sir Norman Brearley Trust

Remember to write WHITE HATS on the reverse of the cheque, or on a cover note, so they will know what it is for! This is very important!!!

Lastly, remember to put a return address on the envelope. This will enable Rotary to post you a receipt, which your tax man can use to give you a nice REFUND at the end of the financial year (which is rapidly approaching, people!).

This is it, everyone. After all the work Patrick and his fellow Rotarians, and Yayasan Sri Kandhi have put in, are we going to let them down? Are we going to let the women themselves down?

NO!

Let’s make ourselves proud.

Chris D.

admin · 06-24-2007, 08:57 AM

Yeah well as I have never even heard of these people I wouldn't encourage anyone to donate a cent. I find it almost comical that, despite the limited number of supporter sites these people (whoever they are) couldn't even take the time to make a post here in person.

possum · 06-24-2007, 10:28 AM

I've searched online for a website link and have come up with nothing... and I've even been into the Rotary site itself but found nothing... have also asked the person who sent me the email to provide more information...

I am still working on it though...

While the "White Hats" intentions sound pretty good, I'd have to agree with admin and be a bit wary of any organisation that asks for money.

The moral of this story... do your research and make sure the organisation and their intentions are 100% legitimate before you hand over money to ANYONE.

Ted · 07-01-2007, 08:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by possum

I've searched online for a website link and have come up with nothing... and I've even been into the Rotary site itself but found nothing... have also asked the person who sent me the email to provide more information...

I am still working on it though...

While the "White Hats" intentions sound pretty good, I'd have to agree with admin and be a bit wary of any organisation that asks for money.

The moral of this story... do your research and make sure the organisation and their intentions are 100% legitimate before you hand over money to ANYONE.

that is so bloody true possum. i got sucked in at that dontshooschapelle.com site. now i read they are not even linked to the corby family

possum · 07-01-2007, 09:32 PM

Ahhhh yes dontshootschapelle.com...

Unfortunately they sucked in quite a few people.

That site is claiming that the family will pay back all the donations made... interesting.

Check the lamo's out

Don't Shoot Schapelle

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