At Jiwa Damai we are planting the seeds in our nursery in our especially prepared compost after the 18 day method which our portuguese volunteer Francisco took great long care to turn it over every two days . The result then allows for a wonder nourishment and growth of the seeds which, after germinating are then set into small pots made of leafs to continue to grow and then planted in the garden
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volunteer area
We've decided to provide our volunteers with a nice corner for themselves when they want to retreat. (If we don't have guests they are welcome to use the lounge., but when we have larger groups the lounge is used for workshop space.) We are building a cupboard, refining the floor space, building a sofa and hanging two hammocks. This is an area where one can relax and make a cup of coffee or keep and eat snacks from the small fridge.
more volunteer area
Butterfly shape garden
The field laid out in the shape of butterfly wing and border of each field is stable with coconut husk and the rest now being mulch with dry grass for later planting. Here you see our gardener Kadek and our italian long-term volunteer Luca. They both become best friends, the italian teaching Kadek english and Kadek teaching to the italian bahasa while working hand to hand.
student with laptop
student with can
Ni Wayan Eramita is one of our students in her third year of computer programming school. In exchange for working two hours a week at Jiwa Damai, she receives a full sponsorship through the Lagu Damai Foundation.
lumbung outside
lumbung inside
This is our Lumbung. This Balinese style housing is perfect for getting you in the right mindset to enjoy all that Jiwa Damai has to offer. The mosquito net allows the sounds of nature to come through but keeps the bugs out.
The Kubu (just finished this month) provides a nice retreat after a day of working in the garden. The cozy interior is a nice taste of home, but the beauty of the flowers, trees, and creatures of the garden are just outside the door (most of the time).
Kubu Room Outside
Kubu Room Inside
The Banyan room provides volunteers with a dormitory style living arrangement just off of the main office.
Banyon Room Outside
Banyon Room Inside
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The lily pond got a makeover recently. Volunteers and staff transplanted new lilies and gave the water a thorough cleaning, leaving us with a cleaner pond and lots of good organic matter for the gardens.
lily pads
Our fearless Italian volunteer, Luca, tried his hand at opening the outer shell of our coconuts. The nuts need to be opened, the inner shell cracked, the meat extracted and then grated to produce our wonderful organically certified cold pressed coconut oil, which is an incredible health food.
There were about three hundred to be opened, and Luca managed to open over 50 nuts on the first day. We were in awe.
Luca coconuts
more coconuts
Medicinal Garden
Mine Nur Akarsu spent a full month at Jiwa Damai. Her project was to research and improve our medicinal plant area in the garden. She spent some time with our head gardener Ketut Badung, who is very knowledgeable with the Balinese healing plants. She brought many plant cuttings from his garden and started a directory with the local and English names including the information about the healing qualities and growing requirements of the plants.
Mine
Mine and our experienced gardener Liz have been broadening the existing area, planting, and creating a healing and peaceful environment for our retreat center volunteers, workers, and guests. The written detail will be available for those who are interested in this research.
If you'd like to take a look around our new and improved Medicinal Garden, be sure to stop by as it is a part of garden tour which happens on Wednesday and Sunday mornings. These photos do not do Mother Earth's gifts any justice!
Liz
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Our tireless helpers, Anya, Autumn and Russell, and our faithful work-study Jordy from Sumba Island, were re-invigorating and bringing our Mandala Garden back into its wonderful design. All individual areas were covered with coconut shells (left from our coconut oil production) and the new plantings are emerging and peeking out from in between. Covering the soil with the shells, fewer weeds will grow. The coconut shells serve another very important purpose as well, slowly decomposing to become a great fertilizer and compost for the future plants. In addition, the coconut shells help reduce our water consumption by protecting the soil from the sun during the dry season and stop erosion of the soil from the heavy rain during the rainy season.
Autumn
In the tropics printed signs bleach in no time, due to the strength of the sun. Previously written signs on bamboo sticks faded and decomposed within a month. Based on these experiences, the current solution is to use plastic pipes and markers. Autumn is preparing the signs. At this point this method has proven to last much longer. The Mandala Garden, aside from being a symbolic design and a pleasure to the eyes, produces our fresh organic vegetables for our consumption.
There are several volunteers from every corner of the world working hard at Jiwa Damai to help maintain our beautiful permaculture garden and retreat center. In the spirit of community, we'd love to introduce you to a few of them!
Luz, Argentina
Luz from Argentina
1 month at Jiwa Damai
It´s been a long time since Luz first came to Indonesia. For 16 months she’s been living in East Java, in Malang city, where she is an international lecturer in the communication department at the university. Often you can find Luz working in the garden, where she likes to learn about plants, but her main duty at JiwaDamai, because she studied Image and Sound design, is shooting a promotional video about our various on-site activities. In her free time, she likes to watch movies, read books, and cook. She wants to fulfill all her dreams and keep them real.
What is your life goal? To make people think, and to leave some inspiration in the people around me.
Favorite Quote “Life’s a journey, not a destination.”
Marina from Slovakia
Marína, Slovakia
6 weeks at Jiwa Damai
Marína came to Indonesia 17 months ago. She works together with Luz at the same university in Malang city, as a lecturer of Journalism. Before coming to Indonesia, she worked as journalist for more than ten years. She spent two years in Barcelona and now she is living out a big Indonesian adventure. You can find her watering the nursery in our garden or scrubbing floors, which she considers one of her favorite tasks. She is afraid of worms, spiders and snakes. She is responsible for our newsletter, so she spends the majority of her time writing articles and thinking about new, interesting topics. Marína is a huge fan of Crossfit, yoga, books, and swimming in the sea. She adores everything related to her dream country – Spain.
What is your life goal? I want to always be happy and satisfied with my actual work and the life I live. And I want to always be able to follow my dreams and to change my situation if I am not content.
What is your life dream? I would like to meet a nice guy, settle down and have my own family. I would like to feel the taste of the sea on my skin as often as I can get it.
Favorite Quote When a student is ready, a teacher will appear.
Calsae, California (USA)
Calsae from USA
1 month at JiwaDamai
Calsae arrived in Bali with her best friend Gloria two months ago. “We were traveling together all around the island. After that, we’re going all across Asia. We start in Indonesia, and hopefully we will see all of South East Asia: Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, all the way up to India and Nepal. After that I think we’re going to Eastern Europe. Maybe I’ll end up in Berlin and live there for a while. Or maybe I’ll go back to Netherlands and live there for a bit, because I have a lot of family on my Dad’s side there. And I’ll go back to California eventually. I don´t know,” she smiles carelessly, this highly optimistic girl who graduated in June with a degree in English literature. You can find her working on our new Chinampas project, struggling in the mud or cutting up heavy coconut leaves. Besides this she takes care of our marketing, contributes to the newsletter and gives morning yoga classes. She likes reading, writing, playing the guitar and banjo, cooking, baking, hiking, swimming, and practicing yoga.
What is your life goal? That´s what I am trying to figure out. I guess my life goal would just be to have a happy and fulfilling life.
What is your life dream? My life dream… That’s kind of what I am trying to figure out on this trip. I want to travel the world. I want to keep learning and growing and eventually I want move to a beautiful place close to the people I love. After that, I want live a happy life with my family.
Favourite quote "I saw that my life was a vast, glowing, empty page and I could do anything I wanted." - Jack Kerouac
Gloria from USA
Gloria, California (USA)
1 month at JiwaDamai
Gloria is Celsae´s best friend, but they’re really more like twins. Blonde, dreadlocked, and always smiling, Gloria majored in Environmental Studies in university, and is a perfect fit for the lush permaculture haven that is Jiwa Damai. Passionate about permaculture and the environment, Gloria is enjoying her time at Jiwa Damai, describing it as intensive labor with many opportunities to learn and meet new friends. Her favorite work here is using the machete to liberate trees from crawling jungle vines, and she has plans to design and build a medicinal herb spiral during her time here. After Jiwa Damai, Gloria´s travel plans are about the same as Celsae´s, as they are traveling together.
What is your life goal?
“I want to see the world, and learn about different cultures, ways of thinking and ways of doing things. I love adventure… and I don’t have a real job, so I’m free to wander! Her favorite place she has been so far are the hidden beaches on Bhukit peninsula, “secret spots,” she says laughing. Already an avid traveler, Gloria lived in South America for a year, during which she learned fluent Spanish, trekked Machu Picchu, and backpacked for six weeks through the wilderness of Patagonia. Her life goal is to have lots of wild adventures and make the world a brighter place, spreading positive energy and reconnecting humans with our Mother Earth. She like cooking, hiking, and surfing… or as she puts it “shredding the gnar.”
What is your life dream? To continue traveling and never stop meeting beautiful people.
Favourite quote? Be unique, just like everybody else.
Jiwa Damai is a hands-on, socially responsible organic garden and retreat center.
We are located amidst lush tropical vegetation in the heart of Bali (20 mins from Ubud).
