Recent government figures show the number of underprivileged Balinese has risen, leaving Bali with the second highest percentage of poor people in Indonesia, behind Jakarta.
Three hours away from Bali's holiday hotspots, the village of Ban, which lies on the slopes of Mount Agung and Mount Abang, is considered to be one of the most impoverished villages in Indonesia.
David Booth, a British engineer living in Bali, first visited the village of Ban in 1998, and says what he witnessed shocked him.
"It was far more dire than I could imagine and visualise and so after three months visiting till June, I realised it was the village that needed my help," he said.
"I just realised that I'd never seen anything so bad my whole life."
With the nearest hospital hours away, the child mortality rate in Ban was high, malnutrition was widespread and iodine deficiency, which is easily treatable throughout the rest of Indonesia, was rife.
Motivated by what he saw, Mr Booth set-up the East Bali Poverty Project.
Staff began educating residents about good nutrition and hygiene, medical checks were conducted, and medication was dispensed.
Soon enough, iodine deficiency and malnutrition were all but eliminated from the village and fewer children were dying.
But 14 years later, the area still lacks the most basic services.
Education impact
Education remained non-existent until a few years ago, even though primary school is compulsory for all Indonesian children.
With the support of international charities, the Poverty Project has built three schools and staff say literacy has now reached 100 percent.
Ketut Madir, a former student now turned teacher, says education is the key to development in Ban.
"This school is important so that the children here can learn to read and count," he said.
"I hope this village can progress and grow."
And education has already had an impact on living standards, with improved knowledge and better access to markets helping cattle farmers.
Village elder Komang Budiasih says they now sell the cows for 10-times what they used to.
"We distribute the money among the members of our collective and save it, so that hopefully we'll be able to see the money grow for the future," he said.
Tourist dollars
Bali's Governor, I Made Mangku Pastika, has previously slammed tourism to the popular holiday destination, calling it 'a disaster for the poor'.
Dharmaji village leader Nengah Tutup says the riches seen a few hours drive away just aren't trickling down to rural areas of Bali.
"The local and provincial governments still aren't providing what we need," he said.
"We need roads, electricity and running water."
East Bali Poverty Project founder David Booth says the divide between rich and poor is disturbing.
"The contrast between the wealthy part of Bali and the east of Bali made me feel very sad, exceedingly sad - basically it wasn't fair," he said.
"There's not a lot of wealthy return from tourism taxes in the east and unfortunately therefore the government focused on the western areas where there is great sights of interest, ricefields and this kind of thing."
Bali's Govenor has pledged to reduce poverty from the current 4.5 per cent of the population to just 1 per cent, adding that it's the government's role to address the social gap.
But with tourism a vital part of Bali's economy, the governor admits that balancing the needs of the industry with those of the poor will a challenging task.
Sourced: radioaustralia
