Village crafts future through art, education.

from THE JAKARTA POST -- WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 2009 -- PAGE 9 A decade ago, Desa Ban village in Karangasem, Bali, had literacy rate of only 15 percent, with most residents untouched by education or modern healthcare. Yet the young people in what has been named Indonesia's poorest region are now up-and-coming artists and craftspeople.

Students from six schools, established by the UNESCO-endorsed East Bali Poverty Project (EBPP) across Desa Ban, were in Ubud on Sunday for their first exhibition, "Mountain Villages in Black-and-White Ink", aimed at raising awareness of their desolate region and raising art development funds.

Arts and entrepreneurial skills have given Desa …