OUR PRINCIPLES
At Chance International, we believe in making a meaningful difference by immersing ourselves in the communities we serve. By being part the fabric of these neighborhoods, we aim to swiftly identify their needs and respond effectively. Our approach focuses on empowering the local community, building their skills and capabilities to create sustainable change from within. Through closely monitoring the impact of our programs, we ensure that our efforts are making a real and lasting difference in the lives of the children of Aceh. This grassroots approach allows us to foster genuine connections, understand the unique challenges faced by each community, and work hand in hand towards a brighter future. Our guiding principle is accountability to our beneficiaries a well as our donors.
Supporting Chance International represents a unique opportunity to ensure that donations reach the people who need it, undiluted. All the money we raise goes directly to the charity’s beneficiaries. No salaries or expenses are paid to administrators of the charity and only local salaries are paid to Indonesian staff.
Chance International’s Education Support, Child Welfare and Community Programs are fully integrated. We strongly believe that a healthy family environment allows our children to grasp the opportunity to pull themselves and their families out of the poverty cycle through education. In this way we aim to help create better communities for the future.
Chance International’s mission is to assist vulnerable communities in Indonesia generate an infrastructure within which to achieve sustainable development and create opportunities and a future for themselves. We operate at a grass roots level by being part of the communities, as our staff are from the villages, in which we work in order to identify their needs. Our guiding principle is accountability to our beneficiaries.
Chance International is running very successful Education Support, Health, Child Welfare and Community Support Programs in Aceh Besar.
Educational support
Our Educational support Programs aim to provide critical access to much needed educational classes to supplement such government run schooling as is available and fill the gap where this is not available. We provide access to educational facilities and workshops which aid pupils in secondary school and higher education to access materials and learn skills which augment their educational and vocational opportunities. Please click here to read about our Educational Support Program.
Health
Our Health program enables access to and training in health care, dental hygiene and nutrition and facilitating operations.
Child Welfare
Our Child Welfare Program assists and monitors child welfare within the family unit, facilitating family reunification and preventing separation.
Community Support
Our Community Support Program aims to provide access to equipment, facilities and skills with a view to facilitating participants to earn an income and creating a sense of community spirit.
MISSION
FOUNDER
Chance International was founded by Natascha Barrymore, her family and friends. Natascha has been heavily involved in relief and aid efforts in Aceh since she first travelled independently to Indonesia just after news of the tsunami broke in 2004.
Faced with the choice of making little difference to the welfare of many and a great difference to the welfare of a few, Natascha determined to provide a hands-on approach to aid and eventually set up Chance International, beginning by meeting the immediate needs of the 400 inhabitants of the village of Lam Asan.
Natascha was one of the only westerners to travel to the conflict areas in early months of 2005, which was how she met the people of Lam Asan where she then lived for 5 years. Her personal achievements leading up to the foundation of Chance International include:
Setting Up A Child Heart And Brain Treatment Program: Natascha was approached to help a child with severe hydrocephalous who was receiving no help as her condition was not a result of the tsunami. She organised funding for the operation and transport of the little girl, Suci, to Jakarta with her father, and was inundated with similar requests within 24 hours. Metro TV, a large media group in Jakarta, agreed to fund the operations and a system was set up that any child found with heart or head conditions could be sent to a Jakarta or Medan hospital for treatment.
Facilitating Surgical Operations in Tsunami Stricken Areas: an Hungarian medical team approached Natascha complaining that they were placed in a camp treating minor ailments when they were actually a full surgical team. Natascha arranged for them to go to an island that had lost its surgeon in the tsunami and had a huge waiting list of patients in desperate need of operations. The following day they were operating.
Coordinating Medical Teams to reach the tsunami survivors who had fled to the rebel controlled mountainous areas.
Bringing Aid and Educational Supplies to tsunami survivors in rebel camps which were off limits to NGO’s.