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West Bali Bamboo Learning Center

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Wira's Dream

Born and raised in beautiful Yeh Embang village of West Bali, I Putu Wira Guna ("Wira"), enjoyed taking care of his little garden, growing fruits and vegetables and selling them at the village morning market, and reading books in the family grainery. He loved walking through the rice terraces, praying at the beautiful Rambut Siwi temple, and swimming in the nearby rivers. As a child, Wira became fascinated with architecture and had always dreamed about building traditional Balinese houses out of bamboo and living off of fruits and vegetables grown on the land. 

(pictured below: Wira of Wirausaha Bali at the three-hectare project site)


While living in Ubud, Wira met his business partner Dr. Alan James Yu and, together with seven other concerned global citizens, started up Wirausaha Bali with the intention of addressing the problem of income inequality in Bali. As Wira and Alan continued to envision new possibilities for helping the local Balinese communities, it occurred to Wira that this childhood dream of building traditional bamboo houses could be used to develop an educational resource in his home village on a three-hectare area of family-owned land. Wira had noticed that his uncles were busy working at jobs in the city and raising their families away from the village and the family land. The upkeeping of the land was left solely in the hands of Wira's grandfather. Concerned that the land might eventually be sold out of family hands, Wira approached his grandfather about using the land in a way that would bring benefit to both his family as well as the communities of West Bali. 

(pictured below: Alan James Yu, Ph.D., and I Putu Wira Guna  of Wirausaha Bali)


A Future Learning Center

Inspired by Wira's dream, Wirausaha Bali plans to develop a learning center in West Bali on the three hectares of family-owned land consisting of beautiful bamboo houses and learning spaces for both villagers and concerned global citizens from around the world interested in using their skills and abilities to help local communities. The area would also consist of healing plants and mandala gardens scattered throughout.

(pictured below: conceptualization of the bamboo learning center by I Putu Wira Guna)


(pictured below: Wira at the project site discussing the bamboo learning center project with Carlos of Tribe Wanted)


How We Will Develop Our Learning Center

Our project site contains a wealth of various agricultural products--bamboo, coconuts, cacao, cloves, mangoes, pineapples, rambutan, snakefruit, avocados, wild potatoes, and more. Our strategy to developing this area is not to destroy its agricultural abundance but to preserve the area's richness in such a way that visitors will have the opportunity to  live in the area, understand how food is nourished and cultivated, and be connected to and inspired by Mother Nature's work. 

Bamboo houses will be produced using the bamboo growing directly on the same plot of land. Wirausaha Bali is committed to hiring local workers to build our learning center and paying our workers at fair wages.

(pictured below: A community member climbing up a tall tree to gather coconuts .)



Benefits for the Global Community

Our learning center aims to bring people together in intercultural dialogue in order to generate new solutions and possibilities for West Bali and to facilitate meaningful personal growth experiences that enhance one's capacity for leadership and innovation. As a creative incubation space, the learning center will provide visitors to West Bali with the opportunity to learn Balinese art, philosophy, and collective decision-making practices and to apply their own skills and talents to help local communities to address contemporary issues such as poverty, loss of culture, and environmental degradation.

Members of the global community will have :

1. A place to stay while helping the local community.

2. The opportunity to use the learning center space to lead educational programs based on their skills and abilities.

3. A place to cultivate friendships with the Balinese by learning their art, culture, and philosophy.

(pictured below: Alan doing a videorecording on the project site land.)


Benefits for the Local Community

Local villagers will have the opportunity to go to our learning center to develop the skills that they need to organize new economic opportunities such as collectively owned and operated enterprises and small businesses, and to develop solidarity, creative synergies, and knowledge needed to protect and preserve communities, culture, and the environment.

Members of the local community will have :

1. A free space for education in English, health, nutrition, and local skill development.

2. A space to work with the global community to develop new products and economic opportunities. 

3. A space to learn, practice, and discuss permaculture and organic farming methods.

4. A place to cultivate lasting relationships with persons from other cultures.

(pictured below: Alan with the next generation of West Bali's leaders)


Our Commitment

We are committed to making the learning center into a beautiful sacred space where people will develop meaningful relationships and engage in conversations that matter. People will share deep and personal viewpoints and insights with one another. They will be gain invaluable experiences and friendships that will impact them for the rest of their lives

(pictured below: Wirausaha Bali and visitor from one of our cultural excursions with village children in West Bali.)


Why West Bali?

Jembrana Regency (West Bali) is primarily a quiet agricultural community that is largely unknown to foreign visitors to the island and the global community. Like other Balinese cultures, it has its own regional peculiarities such as the buffalo races (makepung), jegog music, and Balinese-Madurese style fishing boats.

Social and environmental problems such as poverty, unemployment, and lack of education have led to other man-made problems such as littering, deforestation and abrasions along its beautiful beaches as well as the loss of cultural bonds as families sell off ancestral lands to wealthy investors and as young people flock to Denpasar and other areas to find work. These actions threaten the region’s natural eco-system, physical and economic well-being of the people, and the viability of a culture that possesses abundant indigenous wisdom for all the world to learn.

(Pictured below: beautiful rice terraces in West Bali.)



About Wirausaha Bali


This project is being designed and developed by Wirausha Bali. Wirausaha Bali is a community development organization that aims to help local Balinese communities develop new business opportunities and, in this way, enable them to better protect their environment and culture. Our strategy is to employ a systems approach that addresses economic, social, environmental, educational, and cultural concerns of local communities in Bali. To learn more about our organization, please visit our Website at http://wubali.org

Organizer

Alan Yu
Organizer
Chula Vista, CA

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