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.

Thanksgiving: 10 Things We Are Grateful For This Year

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, we made a list to celebrate gratitude. We're in our 16th year in business and we're so blessed to be able to say, it's been an amazing journey! Here are 10 things we are grateful for this year:

1)We had the means to sponsor several animal charities 

We love nature and animals so we want to give back where we can. We got the opportunity to work with The Amanda Foundation and Orangutan Republic. If you know of any organizations or charity that we should work with, please point us to the right direction.

2) We were able to revamp our warehouse and corporate offices

We did a makeover of 1 World Sarongs Southern California location where we set up a new photo studio so we can explore our creativity and take better photos of all our collection

3) We cut out Palm Oil and we recycle within in our offices

Our mission is to assimilate the art of sustainability in our business practices and so we're trying to be more aware with our actions.

4) Family time

Where would I be without my wife and kids? Says owner Terry Sherry. We couldn't agree more. There's nothing more important than quality time with the people we love the most.

5) Faith in God and humanity

We maintain peace in our state of being and keep our core beliefs strong.

6) Great Customers both wholesale and retail

Loyal and supportive, nothing makes us happier than a happy customer! We are driven by what we do to bring happiness to all our customers. 

7) Support and synergy within 1 World Family Team 

More than just work colleagues, we are a family! We got a strong foundation of great people we work with both new and old.

8) Beautiful New Designs 

Thanks to our amazing team of artisans we work with in Bali, we launched a range of floral and colorful sarongs plus clothing. With fresh prints and patterns in our new arrivals, we take our passion for art seriously and hope to continue hand making beautiful designs inspired by Mother Nature and our travel adventures. We also launched a new line for kids sarongs, added more plus size and men sarong styles. 

9) We redesigned our e-store and launched our new website

That's right, we finally got a makeover after a long time and it was a big step for us! We needed to take it slow and made sure we worked out the kinks so we can continue to keep our customers happy. One of the common feedback from our customers when they shop with us at 1 World Sarongs is that they wanted better features and categorization for all our products so they can browse at ease. You can now have a great shopping experience on our updated website plus enjoy other features like product reviews and create wishlists. What else do you like about our new site?

10) Beautiful office locations in both South California and Bali

We get to work and live in two amazing destinations both California, USA and Bali, Indonesia. Living the dream!

Have you ever tried this little activity? It's great practice to remind ourselves about the simple things that matter and how important it is to be thankful in order to live a purposeful live. Through this list of gratitude, you get to take a step back and evaluate what you've accomplished for the year and continue to make the best out of the remaining days of 2016 and aspire for bigger dreams in 2017. It's an act of mindfulness to help with clarity of the mind and to allow ourselves to reconnect with the self and our surroundings. Here's what you need to do to create a 'gratitude list':

1) Free up a couple of hours and find a safe space. This could be anywhere, be it at home or at a park or by the beach. Wherever the location may be, it's important that you feel safe where you are.

2) You will need a paper and pen, maybe a diary or journal. Avoid using computers or phones, the idea is to unplug from distractions.

3) When you're ready, sit still and close your eyes. Take deep breaths and continue to breathe for 5 minutes. 

4) Once 5 minutes is up or whenever you feel at ease, open your eyes again and start writing. Every sentence should begin with - "I am thankful for........................"

5) Write from no.1 until no.10 whether you have less or more points, feel free to shorten or expand. What is key is that you continue to write without getting distracted and allow yourself to feel every memory and thought.

6) Take 30 minutes for this exercise. Take your time to write, do not force or rush the process. Once 30 minutes is up, take a step back. Then re-read your list again. You will be amazed by what you've written and you will start to think about the people in your life that you've given thanks to.

Try it out and tell us what you think! How did it feel? We would love to hear from you. Leave us a comment below.

Calling All Bloggers or Product Reviewers!

Hi friends and family,

How is your summer going? We've been busy laying by the beach and enjoying the warm summer breeze and working hard to get our new collection launched (keep a look out!). By the way, if you are a blogger or know of anyone who'd like to review our products, please help us by spreading the word to them. We're on a look out for bloggers to collaborate with and so we'd really appreciate your help. Thanks in advance!

Wishing you a beautiful summer ahead.

With love and peace,

1 World Family