Bali is known around the world for beauty, healing, and escape. But behind postcard beaches and luxury villas, another reality exists, one rarely seen by visitors.

In hidden rooms, makeshift cells, and isolated corners of family homes, people living with untreated mental illness can be restrained, abandoned, or locked away for years. Not because they are unloved, but because families facing poverty, stigma, and a lack of medical support often see no other option. Some wait years for help. Some never receive it.

Sole Family Bali is working to change that reality, one life, one family, and one community at a time.

In this conversation, Sarah Chapman shares the human stories behind the crisis, the miracles she has witnessed, and why a sustainable funding model could help transform lives in Bali and beyond.

If this story moves you, you can help restore dignity and freedom today: 

https://www.solefamilyfund.com/

Can you share the moment or experience that first opened your eyes to the mental health crisis in Bali, and why it stayed with you so deeply that you felt compelled to act?

Robert and I were already working with impoverished communities, but nothing prepared us for the inhumane conditions some people were enduring because of untreated medical illnesses. I remember meeting Pak Made. He was lying naked on a dirt floor in a barren cell attached to his home. There was no water, no electricity, and no toilet. The stench was beyond belief.

He was being “cared for” by his two teenage sons, both of whom had been bullied because of their father’s condition. Kadek, the younger son, began spiralling. I took him under my maternal wing. He is now married, has a toddler, and recently told me that without his second mum’s guidance, his life could have gone very differently.

Today, both sons hold steady jobs.

Pak Made now lives freely and happily, taking labouring work and surrounded by the love of his family, including his frail, elderly mother. That transformation never leaves you.

For readers who may never have seen this reality, what does life often look like for individuals and families living with untreated mental illness in Bali?

For many individuals, life is reduced to a space the size of a box. It is a silent struggle hidden behind the smiles and luxury that tourists see. Some live in dungeons or cells, often shackled, a practice known as Pasung.

But the suffering never stops with one person.

Entire families become trapped, too. They lose the ability to work. They live under constant stress. They care for a loved one they do not fully understand, with little or no support.

Many people would struggle to imagine that isolation or restraint still happens today. Why does this occur, and what does it say about the absence of care and support?

One of the biggest challenges is access to ongoing help.

Poverty, limited understanding, and historically weak healthcare systems all play a role, though there have been important recent improvements. Then there are the emotional barriers, stigma, and shame.

Families often hide loved ones because they fear judgment. In doing so, those individuals become even further removed from the care they desperately need.

Is there one story of a person or family that has stayed with you, and that captures why this work is important to you?

Komang’s story remains deeply with me.

He was a teenage boy with an intellectual disability who spent his days isolated in a dark room. Without proper support, he became aggressive and would run away, sometimes stealing from local shops or wandering to the beach. With structure, patience, and care, everything changed.

We took regular beach walks. He wore his lifejacket and held my hand. He began attending a special school where he was loved and accepted.

He moved from isolation into community.

Tragically, Komang later drowned while under his father’s care. It was heartbreaking.

His story reminds me every day that vulnerable people need consistent support, especially in places surrounded by wealth where basic care can still be absent.

What is it like to witness someone begin to heal once they receive the right medication and support, especially after years of suffering or isolation?

It feels like witnessing a miracle.

You go from scenes of pain and despair to smiles, bright eyes, laughter, and gratitude. To hear thank you from someone who had been trapped in suffering, or to see a person peacefully sitting on their porch again, is grace in motion. It is dignity returning.

In your experience, how does helping one person also begin to heal a family, restore dignity, and change the atmosphere of an entire community?

When one person is treated and freed, the whole family is liberated too.

They are released from constant guard duties. They can work again. They can rejoin community life. Fear and shame begin to give way to acceptance.

When a local shopkeeper or neighbour welcomes back someone once rejected, generations of stigma start to dissolve.

Sole Family is building more than short-term relief. What makes the endowment model a lasting and sustainable solution for future generations?

For too long, we have lived hand to mouth. Robert’s legacy deserves better.

A US$10 million endowment, conservatively invested, could generate approximately US$400,000 to US$500,000 every year in perpetuity. That would provide essential medication to thousands of people annually without touching the principal. It turns one donation into a permanent bridge to mental healthcare for Bali.

Why do you believe this model could become meaningful not only for Bali but for other communities facing similar hidden struggles around the world?

Mental illness is a hidden global crisis.

The same issues, restraint, stigma, and lack of medication access, exist across Southeast Asia, Brazil, and parts of Africa. We are using Bali as a proof of concept.

Once the model is measurable and scalable here, it can be replicated elsewhere to reach communities facing the same solvable tragedies.

For family offices, philanthropists, and values-led investors reading this, why is this such a rare opportunity to create measurable impact while changing lives at a deeply human level?

Investors understand the value of targeted interventions. This is a biological problem with a US$75 solution.

We can track exactly how many people are treated and freed for every dollar invested. 

For Australians especially, Bali has long been a sanctuary for healing and joy. Now there is a chance to help heal Bali in return.

When you imagine the Sole Family five years from now, what kind of change do you hope families in Bali will be able to feel and see in their daily lives?

Our dream is to reduce Pasung in Bali by 25 per cent and establish new outreach centres across the island.

That means shorter travel times, faster care, and support reaching remote communities directly.

I hope families no longer have to choose between food and medicine.

If someone finishes reading this interview and remembers only one thing, what truth or message would you hope stays with them long after they close the page?

No human being belongs in chains.

Mental illness is devastating, but it is highly solvable.

With compassion in action, we can end the shackles and restore dignity to the forgotten.

Please join our family and help make this permanent.

Support a proven model restoring freedom, dignity, and mental healthcare access in Bali. Learn how philanthropy can create measurable and lasting change.

Donate now:

https://www.solefamilyfund.com/