Dreams

Regina's Dream

Bali may be best known for its crystal-clear waters, lush green hills and Hindu temples, but it's also home to a rich artistic tradition with deep cultural roots. Bali's many artisans are renowned for their craft, and Kiva's Field Partner is working to help them preserve their culture and share it with new audiences around the world.

The organization's regional director for Bali and Java, Regina Bimadona, is an artisan herself and helps her fellow artisans grow their businesses by teaching them more about quality control, efficiency and best practices.

One of the most common challenges she sees is that many of the artisans come from traditional arts, and don't necessarily have the business background to properly manage their inventory and materials. The result is that artists often aren't able to take advantage of the busiest seasons of the year, or they end up wasting materials.

So how do these artisans grow and thrive in an international marketplace? Read on to hear from 4 artisans and how they're realizing their dreams.

Buana

Buana is a gracious and hard-working silversmith, who crafts handmade jewelry in the cultural center of Bali. Though he now has a robust and growing workshop with 20 workers, it's also been a long journey to get here.

Regina commented, "in the beginning, his life was very difficult and very poor. He'd been struggling for a lot of his life." Buana echoed these sentiments and said, "maybe if I told you more in depth, you might cry at how poor I was — very poor." Yet he immediately added, "but I've been blessed."