From Chanaya to Rumah Damai: A Journey of Care, Connection, and Peace

Thank you so much to everyone who read the previous 3 articles to the end. This will be the 4th update article from Indonesia, and it promise to always be interesting to read. You can follow the developments happening in IofC Indonesia. 

After the arrival of the Judamo Exchanges Team to Rumah Damai, we held a meeting with Clarine, a young enterpreneur and owner of Chanaya Resort and Village in Dgo, Bandung. YOu can google it and see the beauty of that place, it is a resort built with suncerity and care for the surrounding community. 

Huda and I held a meeting there, went on a resort tour, and even had the change to join a workshop making Jamu (traditional herbal medicine) in one of the pavilions, the "Spice House." From the gate to the Spice House, we took a train that goes up and down the hill. It was truly thrilling, and we were amazed by this whole experience-it was like being Switzerland! LOL. 

(Joining Herbal Workshop with Clarine and Natalie)

We got acquainted and discussed many things about natre, the future, humanity, and care. How Clarine explined everything left me deeplu moved. Finally, all my pessimism and prejudice about entrepreneurs, business people and conglomerates who like to destroy, are greedy, and arrogant, crumbled. Clarine is very different, she cares deeply about humans, her employess, nature, and sustainability. 

She even has an idea to creaye an Employee lunch, where once a month she wants to have lunch with all the Chanaya staff, and she herself will serve them. She wants to appreciate every staff member there as a human being, not just a waitress or gardeners, because they are as valuable as we are. They need to be appreciated and cared for. Not only that, Clarine created a very good ecosystem so that all her employees also feel like a part Chanaya, not just workers. So, she wants to ask IofC Indonesia for help to provide a session during the Employee lunch so they can bond and get to know each other on a deeper level. 

She has also thought zbout many things, but we want to start from the simple things. She called it the "lowest hanging fruit." Indeed, Oxford graduates are different. right? hehe. She was very inspired by her professorduring her studies at Oxford, to the pooint that one of the pavilions at Chanaya was designed exactly like her professors's house. She then named the pavilion "Rumah Baca" (Reading house). It serves as a library where all visitors can come. read, or write a letter tp themselves, telling who they are in the letter, and the the letter is posted in the library. 

Her name is Natalia, an IofC friend. She is an Indonesian living and working in Melbourne, Australia. Later, she joined the Life Matters program at Armagh, and she has lived there until today. We met her in 2015 when Huda, Bintang, and I did outreach tp Australia, and we have kept communicating ever since. 

(Natalia, Huda and Nenden at Chanaya Resort)

She introduced IofC Indonesia to one of her colleaugues, Mr. Jim, who is also an Indonesian living in Australia and owns the company PT Jodamo Exchanges, who visited Rumah Damai last week. From 2022-2024 consecutively, this company invited IofC Indonesiato provide training for their employees, and this year it will be done again. It was in this year that Natalia also introduced us to Clarine. This is an extraordinary privillege. Natalia wants to help IofC Indonesia and those entrepreneurs to get a special experience with IofC Indonesia. Thank you so much Natalia!

That night, after the meeting with Clarine at Chanaya, we held a welcome dinner for the CoP Australia team as part of the CoPEX Indonesia-Australia collaboration program. They came to Indonesia to conducta circle of peace in Bandung and Yogyakarta. After being pickedup by Etun in Jakarta, departing to Bandung using a travel shuttle, and resting, We then had dinner and orientation about IofC Indonesia at Rumah Damai. We got to know the CoP Indonesiateam and shared stories. Before we even started properly, we were already sharing stories about life that were very moving and deep. That how it is when woman gather. Huda didnt forget to give a welcome speech and orientation. 

Welcome Zohra, Judy, Kush, and Rozita, we are very happy you came. 

The peace circle of Peace was held at a villa near Rumah Damai with 17 participants and facilitators. During the event, Huda helped make and prepare lunch and dinner. A lot happened during the circle. One, of them, Kush, said, "I didnt expect that the visit and circle here would be so energetic and entertaining." Yes that is how we are, we can laugh out of happiness but also cry out of loss. That is life, everything must be faced and lived through. So, we rae very lucky to have a space to share stories in CoP. For details about CoP, Ninis (one of the participants and part of the IofC Indonesia team)will write an article and report on the website. Stay tuned!

Before the CoP team continued their journey to Yogyakarta, we had dinner togather at Rumah Damai, eating on banana leaves. 

During this visit, the CoP Australia team bought our IofC products ranging from cards, pins, and t-shirts. They even ordered t0shirts to take back tp Australia. Well, this is where women are very different, we love shopping! So i was very happy working with these ladies. 

(Rozita, CoP Australia, helping organize the sale of CoP T-shirts in Australia)

Donation also came in the form of cash, because during the circle we also talked about the sustainability of Rumah Damai and the rent money that must be paid immediately next month! around 3 million rupiah was collected from product purchases and cash, WOW!

That's all for the update from me. The CoP team continues to Yogyakarta because i want to tidy up and clean Rumah Damai to welcome Ramadhan. On Saturday-Sunday, the whole team will go to Jakarta for the Saturday Gathering with those 4 cool Australian ladies, and it will close at the National Consultation which will also be attended by Inayah Wahid, our friend, the daughter of President Wahid! Super Excited!

Welcome Ramadan. 

Hopefully, this Ramadhan brings peace to this increasinglybnoisy world! Let's pray a lot that God turns the hearts of greedy people to become calm and be given a sense of sufficiency

Writer : Nenden Prawira

Editor and TRanslator : Ari Budi S

Proofreader : Peter Heyes