Work life

Sorry, it's a bit long :D

It's Thursday afternoon now, so I've almost finished the first week of work. The week went by extremely quickly because living together here is really cool!

The project I'm working on has three main areas:

1. In recent years, a part of the coral reef here has been destroyed (mostly by local fishermen, as they use crushed corals as facade). We are now trying to fill the gap between the surviving coral reefs. We build structures from cement, sand and calcium, which we then place in the sea to imitate a reef where corals can settle. And it has been successful. Since the project started here 2 years ago, the fish population and biodiversity have increased sixfold.

2. Since Bali doesn't have any kind of recycling and they don't even have a proper waste disposal system here, most things are simply burned, including plastic. That's why the founders have opened a small recycling factory here, where plastic is pressed into tiles that can be used, for example, as flooring. This project is also well received, and more and more locals bring their plastic here.

3. Since turtle eggs have almost no chance of survival on the beach, whenever people find the eggs, they bring them here. The eggs are kept in incubators, and when they hatch, we make sure that all turtles make it safely into the water.

The work is sometimes tiring, but nobody is killing themselves over it :D

The team consists of about 70% volunteers and 30% locals, and the mix is really pleasant.

Since there is another project on the premises that teaches English in local schools, there are often children here, adding some action.

A typical daily routine looks roughly like this:

7:00 If the conditions allow, snorkeling because the surviving coral reefs here are really beautiful.

8:00 Breakfast

9:00-11:00 Making cement, building structures, digging out structures, or whatever needs to be done in that area.

12:00 Lunch

14:00-16:00 Either helping with the structures or working at the recycling center.

19:30 Dinner

In between, there is time to chat, play cards, play volleyball, or just relax and read a book.

This week, we didn't go diving because the conditions were so bad, but usually we go diving once a week.

On Wednesday, the project celebrated its 2nd anniversary, and there was a big party with about 100 people and a live band. To celebrate, a pig was slaughtered and there was roasted suckling pig. As for drinks, there was a lot of beer and local alcohol. Arak is a homemade rice liquor and has an alcohol content between 40 and 60 percent, depending on the production (everything is brewed illegally here). It tastes okay, like a bad schnapps. Then there is Tuak, distilled from coconut, similar to wine. It tastes like a mix of rotten coconut, bad wine, and vinegar - definitely not for me :D

I don't know why, but somehow it's like magic alcohol because no matter how much you drink, you don't get a hangover the next day, so it's pretty cool :)

Since we haven't had electricity or water all day today, there wasn't much work to do, but we are going to do a beach cleanup now.

After dinner, we have been invited to a traditional ceremony on the beach, and then I have to quickly go to bed because at 2 in the morning, I'm going to a volcano to watch the sunrise :)

We have a lot planned for the weekend, so I'll keep you updated.

Martin