Giving Back
Supporting the local community
Connect Group is pleased to support the following causes:
Yayasan Solemen Indonesia is a registered non-profit foundation, established in October 2010 and registered as charity in Indonesia in 2011, to raise awareness and funds to support various projects for the disadvantaged in Bali, in particular for the people who live in the most remote and poorest areas in Bali and are not helped by mainstream NGOs or government programmes. Government social and financial help resources are minimal in Indonesia and the poorest segment of the population is dependent on charity programmes to obtain life-saving or life-changing assistance. Solemen’s mobile Outreach team is composed of volunteer doctors, and salaried nurses and care staff who actively search for the people “who fall through the cracks” and target medical and help where it is most needed. They work alongside accredited agencies and projects to alleviate suffering caused by untreated acute and chronic illness, malnutrition and extreme poverty. Solemen funds its Outreach work through private and corporate donations and partnerships with small businesses and social organisations in Bali and Australia.
Solemen Founder, Robert Epstone, declared his intention to be barefoot until SOLEMEN have raised USD 1million. His reason for being barefoot is “to be in solidarity with all those who don’t have a choice to wear or not wear shoes”.
Solemen’s Outreach Programs benefit the poor, the disadvantaged, the ‘diffabled’, the homeless and the marginalised in Bali. The charity’s goal is to alleviate the misery of extreme poverty by bringing hope and sustainable solutions to those who remain hidden from public view and hence are separated from easy access to medical treatment. Solemen actively reaches people who fall through the cracks and are not helped by the existing network of charitable organisations and government programs.