Volunteering at Jiwa Damai

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We are very grateful for the work of our volunteers at Jiwa Damai, in Bali. We appreciate their help and we hope that they also enjoy the beauty and the peace of our place. Here are the thoughts of ZaneLeadley on the volunteer program. 

"I was a volunteer at Jiwa Damai for two months from September - October 2015. Jiwa Damai is a special place that fosters learning, creativity, and inner growth. In addition to working in the garden, teaching English, and promoting Jiwa Damai's internships, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to work on my own aquaponics project. I am very grateful for the opportunity. The food is delicious, the people are fantastic and the place is idyllic."

Grapes and Health

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Grapes are a natural source of beneficial antioxidants and other polyphenols. Current research suggests that grapes may help maintain a healthy heart, and may also help to defend your cells against a number of age-related illnesses. Scientists are also working to uncover more links between grapes and eye health, brain health, joint health, and more. At just 90 calories per 3/4 cup serving, grapes are a sensible, delicious snack with no fat or cholesterol

According to research from the University of Connecticut, funded by the California Table Grape Commission, eating grapes may help protect heart health in men with metabolic syndrome. In the study, men with metabolic syndrome who consumed grapes lowered their key risk factors for heart disease.

Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of conditions that occur together - high blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess abdominal fat and increased blood triglycerides - significantly increasing the risk for heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

Eating a variety of grapes may contribute to heart health by:

• Promoting healthy blood flow
• Reducing oxidative stress
• Improving blood lipids
• Decreasing inflammation

awan damai grapes

Benefits of the cold pressed coconut oil

In Asia the coconut trees are considered the tree of life. There are many healthy and healing ingredients found in the oil. It is gently processed at below 35 °C, with multiple filtering and without any use of preservatives. It is an ideal health food with many benefits and with a shelf life of over 3 years. It will turn into cream at below 25 °C. Use it on your skin or in your foods and drinks. Our virgin oil contains up to 57% of lauric acid, found in the mother milk enhancing physical health and boosting the immune system. The oil at Jiwa Damai is packaged in glass containers.

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Benefits for:

• Dry skin Treatments
• Weight loss Treatments
• Psoriasis Treatments
• Cholesterol Treatments
• Coronary heart disease Treatments
• Cardiovascular Disease
• Antimicrobial Properties
• The Lauric Acid in Coconut Oil Can Kill Bacteria, Viruses and Fungi, Helping to Stave Off Infections
• Coconut Oil Can Protect Hair Against Damage, Moisturize Skin and Function as Sunscreen
• The Fatty Acids in Coconut Oil Can Boost Brain Function in Alzheimer’s Patients
• It’s anti-inflammatory properties can help lessen arthritis
• Can reduce the itch of mosquito bites
• Can be rubbed into scalp daily to stimulate hair growth
• As a natural shave cream and after shave lotion
• Can boost circulation and help those who often feel cold
• Helps keep diabetes in check
• Thyroid-stimulating

Internship in Transpersonal Psychology

"Duringmysixweeks of internship with LaguDamai Foundation while staying at Jiwa Damai permaculture center,  I was working on a psychological self- exploration focusing on personal growth and self-development.

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My personal growth project included five main dimensions: the mental, the emotional, the physical, spiritual and nutrition. Through tools such as the daily HeartSelf-Intelligence meditation, yoga and garden work I was able to explore and experience myself in a very new way. I received excellent guidance and supervision throughout the whole time of myinternship. I am deeply satisfied with myinternship. I didn't expect such an in-depth personal growth process. I feel that this internship has been a wonderful opportunity to expand  my horizon on many levels and will be a huge benefit for my future.", Natalie our intern.

Find out more about our internship program here.

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Benefits of the coconut flour

The meat of coconut ground into a fine flour used for all baking and cooking purposes. No additives, just pure, fresh, coconut meat picked from one of our local trees. It is gluten free, hypoallergenic, and high in fiber and protein. at Jiwa Damai we offer many cooking suggestions on the back of the package.

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Benefits

• High with Indigestible Fiber
• Rich in Trace Minerals
• Low in Digestible Carbohydrates
• Gluten-Free and Hypoallergenic
• Moderate Effect on Blood Sugar
• Higher Protein and Healthy Fats
• Rich In Dietary Fiber
• Safe For Diabetics
• Low in sugar

coconut flour

Our very own Rosella Tea

The roselle or asam belanda (Hibiscus sabdariffa) is a species of  hibiscus, and in Malaysia it is often referred to as "Ribena plant" as roselle juice tastes similar to Ribena. It can grow up to 2–2.5 m tall with wide leaves that are deeply three to five-lobed. The leaves and young shoots can be used in cooking.

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The red calyx is harvested to make rosella juice, syrup or jam. We use if for making tea. Simply peel the calyx and remove the seed capsule and pour hot water on top of it.

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Two year research on the coconut beetle

Here we have described in detail our research and holistic organic treatment to reduce the numbers of the damaging beetles in our trees. Oryctes Rhinoceros L. is an endemic pest of Asia that causes devastating damages to coconut palm tree plantations. What is the effective method to organically and naturally reduce the number of coconut beetles? We would like to share with you the results.

Please, see here the English version and here the version in Bahasa Indonesia. For consultation and treatments, please connect with us> jiwadamaibali@ gmail.com

Making Bokashi Balls for Our Pond

After removal of all and cleaning the pond, we began to make Bokashi balls. These would be placed under the big stones to allow the Effective Micro-organisms(EM) to settle into the stones.The Bokashi Balls are made of clay, rice bran and EM. We are happy to share with you our method of making this highly useful Bokashi balls.

bokasi

10 clay soil

1-2 rice bran

1-2 EM mixture with water

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Cleaning the pond

Jiwa Damai is surrounded by beautiful ponds teeming with life. However, due to the ash coming down with the rain from the last volcanic eruption on the neighboring island, our stones in the pond, which are full with algae were covered completely with the ash. The fish feed on these algae and all of a sudden there was no food left. The ash also prevented the algae to receive light and hence they did not grow anymore.

We had to search for means how to remove  the ash from the stones. A water vacuum machine we bought did not do the trick.

The only other way was to empty the pond and clean it out. This was sad, since the pool had developed its own micro climate with its various inhabitants, and we had to destroy this. The stones were also the seat of many micro organisms, especially EM. Having this micro climate surrounding the buildings of Jiwa Damai, prevented mosquito larvae from hatching and both large buildings were nearly mosquito free.

Pond at JIwa DAmai

These ponds are the pride of Jiwa Damai, teeming with life, surrounding our main building and giving it its unique charme. They have a concrete base and the large river stones were added later to provide hiding for the fish and our eel as well as many crabs and frogs. To keep the water clear we had added many bags of Geolite, a stone in ground down form, which draws dirt to itself. All these needed to be considered

1. Catch all the fish and other inhabitants and take to neighboring pool

2. Remove all the stones and clean from ash

3. Remove Geolite bags and clean

3. Clean the pond floor from the ash

A huge job awaited us!

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Yoga Teacher Volunteer at Jiwa Damai

Our lovely yoga teacher volunteer, Bee at Jiwa Damai is sharing some of her thoughts with you regarding her experience here. She has been our “busy bee” for the last couple of months helping us start the day with yoga in the morning and teaching our local team English. Originally from Austria, Bee has been traveling in order to find her path as a yoga instructor. We are very grateful for all the positive energy she has brought to this place.

You can find out more about our volunteer program here or just follow the stories from our volunteers on the Jiwa Damai blog. In the meantime, we invite you to discover the way Bee has experienced her stay at Jiwa Damai.

What made you chose Jiwa Damai? I was searching for a place to practice yoga and to teach, for a healthy environment. I believe that yoga is a lifestyle and in order to follow it, you have to select carefully your surroundings. At the same time, it is hard to find a place where you can start with teaching when you don’t have prior experience. I was reading that Jiwa Damai is looking for volunteers and that they offer yoga in the morning so I thought that I could start to teach and also learn more about yoga here. The beautiful part is that they offered me this chance! I’ve been at Jiwa Damai for almost two months now. And I am happy to say that I had my first yoga students here.

yoga at Jiwa Damai Bali

What are the things that you appreciated most in your experience at Jiwa Damai? At Jiwa Damai I liked the fact that I could get new experiences. Not only as a yoga instructor. Margret asked me if I can teach also English. When you are not very confident with speaking a language, you would not expect such an invitation. My English is not perfect but by preparing the lessons, I had the chance to improve it and share my knowledge with others. I could develop new skills in an area where I could not imagine that I would be able to do so.

I also appreciated the fact that I could eat food from the garden. At the same time, I worked in the garden and saw how the things are growing. I’ve cleaned the elephants and the stones. One does many things. But this is how one gets a feeling for plants, for the environment, for the nature. I think there is a lot to learn at Jiwa Damai and two months is not enough.

It is nice to see how the plants grow, how people grow, not only the volunteers but also the local team. Even after the first three weeks, you can see a difference.

What should a yoga teacher volunteer expect coming here? I think a yoga teacher volunteer should just be opened. If you want to learn something, there are so many things you can learn. It can be gardening, teaching, interacting with people with different cultural backgrounds. I believe everyone experiences Jiwa Damai in their own way.

On the one hand, you live here, you find new friends, you feel at home (when you are traveling you really need this), and on the other hand you are traveling in your days off and you can discover Bali and its rich culture.

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What do you think it is unique about the volunteer program at Jiwa Damai?

What I really like actually is that people get here their own projects and Margret lets them discover it by their own. People get here projects according to their interests and skills.  Cat did a wonderful research on the coconut beetles, Cedric is researching on cacao. I was developing teaching skills. So if you are curious, Margret gives you the space and the support to explore and create something nice on your own.

Bee (yoga teacher volunteer)