Pak Dodon and Natalia give a brief introduction about what brought them to working with bamboo - The course has mainly Indonesian participants and is being delivered in Bahasa Indonesia. We hope to share this knowledge locally and with other developing countries to help local people utilise bamboo as a sustainable building material. And also for non-natives to bamboo to learn to utilise and build with this fabulous resource which is gaining popularity around the world and being grown in many more countries.
The biggest barrier in Indonesia right now is the price and availability of borax/boric acid which is the main component of the modern treatment method which makes the bamboo last a long time as this substance prevents insect attack on the bamboo (which if left "untreated" usually gets demonlished by insects within 2-4 years and is the main reason bamboo is not more widely utilised in countries. Though people still have the skills and knowledge of how to work with this material - these skills are at risk of being lost as construction workers are some of the lowest-paid workers and there is no value or recognition given to these skills at present (though there are those who capitalise on this 'cheap' labour resource)... and many of the younger generation are abandoning theses skills for office/hospitality jobs and city living.
So we see that it's very important to retain these skills and knowledge and uplift the realm of bamboo skills to the forefront and include the people with the skills in the development of the industry to becoming sustainable and human-friendly. Not a source of "factory workers" and cheap labour but to actually admire the human skill and natural wonder at the knowledge and relationship humans have with this material - Spiders have silk and humans have bamboo. So many traditional skills and knowledge is lost in our own western culture and we are so dependant now on machines and 'cheap labour' that we forgot the satisfaction of creating like a spider creates its web - and also the sense of community around being immersed in this state of craetivity and co-operation between humans - and that's whether we're weaving a house or a basket....
We would like to bring this approach to our courses (which we will offer in English when foreigners can enter Indonesia/Bali again) and our course programs will work in tandem with local development of projects to increase knowledge and awareness of bamboo as a more permanent building material - in the local community and areas which can derive benefit and have direct involvement with the programs and areas of regenerative agriculture and wholistic economic development.
Follow us on Instagram: @bamboocreativebali
Facebook: www.facebook.com/lostinbamboo
www.bamboocreative.org/bali
