In Reply to: PLEASE HELP US - BALI PEACE PARK posted by VickiP on Monday, 31. May 2004 at 19:50 Bali Time:
You can't walk past the site without stopping and thinking, "Wow. This must never happen again."
And if the professional beggars with their hired children, and the ladies demanding that you be massaged leave you alone for a few seconds, it is already a perfect place to reflect and cry.
The ground looks as though nothing will ever grow there. I don't think I'd be comfortable walking there.
I feel for the kids (among others) who do badly need parks (though of course the beach isn't far away). But a 10 x 10 meter square surrounded by walls, next to a busy road in an area frequented by prostitutes, beggars and marijuana sellers doesn't sound like an ideal site to me.
And two million buckaroonies could go a long way towards a half-way house, an education centre (on gambling and litter problems, for starters), an orphanage, hospitals with subsidised medication, insect repellant, job skills training and the list goes on and on.
Peace is a state of mind, and it's free. It also makes a perfect gift on any occasion.