This friend had been living in Bali for over 7 years andhad successfully built his medium sized operation before the never ending global financial crisis dragged his business into financial disaster that almost costhim his company and dignity. He turned to some banks and angle investors but they wouldn’thelp him, however, guess who was able to help him out?

LPD, which stands for Village Financial Institution, is an informal financial establishment that is developed by the villages to assist people who live in the area with one simple yet honourable mission of making sure everybody has a decent income and enhancing their standard of living.

The operation of this institution is based on trust and good faith and, remarkably, this type of institution has successfully grown into millions of dollars of capitalisation. With the never-ending global financial catastrophe, maybe this small but essential financial institution can be a good for the learning of others.

In this edition, we present you with information on Bali’s social structure and how this structure has assisted many people in achieving a better way of life but continues to maintain respect towards culture and the ancestors.

As usual, we include a lot of information about destinations, trips and places in and around Bali that you shouldn’t miss and all are well covered in this issue of Tropical Life

I hope you enjoy reading the simple yet useful information in this edition of Tropical Life!

Olaf Purvis

olaf@mixmedia.co.id