Earth Friendly Gifts: Empowering the 'Munti Gunung' Community

Journey to one of the driest parts of Bali, Indonesia

Living between Bali and California is truly a blessing where we get to enjoy the best of both worlds. Opening our eyes to different communities has only taught us to be humble and motivate our desire to give back to society. One of the latest project collaboration is one we are proud of because it echoes with our values and mission in supporting and empowering communities who needs it the most. 

1 World Family trekking with the locals for an excursion to Munti Gunung

We partnered up with the beautiful people of Munti Gunung after visiting their village tucked away in the North of Bali, Indonesia. These poor and malnourished families are working under a social enterprise that aims to 'create employment opportunities & improved quality of life for disadvantaged families, the program has also secured a clean & sustainable water supply, as well as access to healthcare & education'. We wanted to learn more about their project and so we signed up for a trek organized by the community themselves. This really helped us to understand their difficulty in getting access to water and seeing the harsh reality of an 8 months dry season. Can you imagine what life would be like without access to water?

A big lake tucked between the Balinese hills, the only source of water for the Munti Gunung community.

The legendary Mount Batur surroundings.

Seeing is believing and through the trekking experience, we learned how the women used to trek for 4-5 hours from their homes to the nearest Lake Batur to collect as much water as they can carry and then trek back the same path to get to their families. Thanks to the 'Future of Children' project they have managed to built water tanks to collect rain water to sustain themselves without having to travel a far and long time to attain water. With a quota of 25 liters per family per day, we trekked through the panoramic sights with our thoughtful minds, imagining what it's like to have to do this everyday not for leisure but for survival.

Our pathfinder aka. guide from the village. She woke up at 4am to get a head start of the trek in order to meet us at 6am. 

Serene sights of the hilly slopes of North Bali along the way giving us a tranquil mind to fully absorb the experience.

Our elderly guide walked on strong and calm, smiling at the younger ones as they struggled to keep up with her pace.

Needless to say, it was an empowering experience both physically and mentally. Upon arrival to the village, we were introduced to a lovely group of women who were hand weaving baskets with their adorable children cuddled in their arms and they fulfilled their motherly duties while hand making baskets in order to earn a living. Their genuine smiling faces melted our hearts and we were so happy to get to know the amazing artisans who would weave our gift baskets.

These women use to be prone to begging with their children on the streets in the urban side of Bali. They now have a means of income to feed their families.

With dedication and talent, the women were taught the art of weaving, spending a few hours in their day to fulfill their job responsibilities.

We learned so much from this expedition and we're glad that we get to share this story. You get the opportunity to help out in making a positive change with the simplest gesture. These gift packs are more than just a gift box, it transcends the stories of a group of women who survive on these jobs in order to sustain their everyday lives. Hand weaving 'lontar baskets' was one of the means of activities in generating income for these women. These organic gift boxes are made from naturally sourced local tall fan palms that is traditionally known for its high yielding and sustainable hard wood and sweet sap.

After drying the Lontar leaves, they use a compressor machine  to flatten the material.

Natural material ready to be stripped for weaving.

They use the thinner strips to start weaving into various shapes.

It's the most wonderful time of the year to give and we would like to encourage you to support our path towards a more sustainable focused life. Check out our beautiful hand woven gift boxes made by the wonderful people of Munti Gunung and know that with every purchase you can work with us towards helping others and creating hope for humanity.

The product outcome of the Munti Gunung hand weaving skills that are beautiful and practical, be it for gifts or storage.