Experience Transforming Power at Peace Place – Join us!

Mandala from participant training,march 2022. Interfaith youth

With nonviolent power, we can heal; with healing, we can grow; with growth, we can have peace.
With healing, growth, and peace, we can learn and have a healthy, regenerative future.
~ Peace Place Pati motto

Peace Place Pati in Central Java, Indonesia implemented a Permaculture site plan over the past five years. The grounds are now a place where people feel alive and refreshed. The restorative beauty of the buildings and gardens is enhanced by a living example of how peace with the Earth is an integral foundation for peace with each other. This brings to life Permaculture principles integrated into the community training center as well as Joglo Preschool and parenting program.

Peace Place Pati welcomes everyone who shares the goal of creating a just, peaceful world. We bring together families, community members, and young leaders from a range of age and religious and ethnic backgrounds. Please join us!

2024 Peace Place Calendar

20 Feb-29 Feb Personal and Social Transformation
21-25 March Training for Facilitators
25-28 April Personal Transformation: AVP Basic and Trauma

28 June-6 July Personal and Social Transformation
14-17 September Training for Facilitators
17–20 October Personal Transformation: AVP Basic and Trauma
14-17 November Social Transformation: AVP Advanced and Liberation

Personal and Social Transformation may be taken separately (in sequence) or together. These workshops support a growing team of Indonesian Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) facilitators. Workshops are opportunities for facilitators to apprentice, who also organize Power of Goodness events and workshops in their own home areas.

The Friends Guest House can accommodate six people in two rooms. A semi-open bedroom can accommodate 8-10 people. A dining room and kitchen are left open for guests to use at their leisure. You may also select a comfortable spot in the gardens. The training hall is open-air (9×7 m), comfortable for training up to 36 people.

The grounds are planted with various types of local fruit trees including mango, water apple, durian, passion fruit, duku, banana, and papaya as well as various ornamental plants and vegetables. All plants are nurtured using organic compost and liquid fertilizer made from waste found in the Peace Place environment. During the rainy season, water is gathered by digging absorption holes, as well as creating rainwater reservoirs for use in nature play areas for children and for watering plants.

Ruwaidah, an alumni of international training at Peace Place Pati January 2019, said: “I love Peace Place Pati because the atmosphere invites me to engage and connect with nature and leaves me with lots to think about after visiting. When I first came there in 2019, I felt like I had returned to my parents’ house. I could sit and enjoy lunch under a water apple tree, exactly the same as my memories with my father. I was impressed by the many mango trees and flowers. They grow well and become a natural source of knowledge for visitors to Peace Place.

In the middle of the year, I came back to practice with interfaith youth. The Peace Place had grown. The permaculture system was applied. Again, I learned something new. We learned to sort organic and non-organic waste, collect rainwater, understand that dry leaves are beneficial for nature, and not burn rubbish. For the first time I stayed in the Guest House with a desk and internet facilities. The room was comfortable; not too warm or too cool. In the morning we could feel the sunlight shining through the windows. By 2020, the cool open-air hall was available for active learning among children and adults. This facility is very supportive for developmental play activities that require movement in the open air. By 2021-2023 Peace Place had a library and outdoor work space. In between training sessions, we can do yoga on the grassy lawn or on the second floor in the open work space.”

Reflection.Regional Peace Training at Peace Place Pati on 28 June 2022. Photo by Nanik

Ayu, alumnus of the interfaith youth training in January 2023, says, “Peace Place Pati is a place to practice living nonviolence.” She returned to study early childhood education at Joglo Preschool. Ayu learned about developing an atmosphere that’s inclusive of varied social backgrounds, stages of physical and psychological development, and religions. She notes, “Children and families learn and practice together in this place. I rarely find this method. … Instilling and practicing nonviolent actions, helping each other, respecting each other, and certainly not using violence in any form increases children’s learning abilities. They develop a critical spirit from an early age and their creativity grows. I feel proud after visiting this place several times. Besides feeling comfortable, I have the opportunity to learn many things here. I realized that in what I saw at Joglo Preschool and Peace Place Pati there was a calling to bring this approach to my home in East Nusa Tenggara. I would like to say many thanks to Ruwaidah, Petrus, Nanik, and other friends. The comfortable Peace Place Pati is the dream home that I want to make come true in my future place.”

A donation of US$200 supports one young person to attend Personal Transformation, Social Transformation, and Training for Trainers. Each donation boosts the capability of interfaith youth leadership in Indonesia. Send your check to: Friends Peace Teams 1001 Park Ave. St. Louis, MO 63104, Memo: AWP-Peace Place. Contact Petrus .

Training Schedules

Personal Transformation: AVP Basic and Trauma Resiliency
Day 1: Affirmation
Day 2: Safety, Transforming Power
Day 3: Communication, Cooperation
Day 4: Remembering, Reconnection

Social Transformation: AVP Advanced and Liberation from Oppression
Day 1 : Community Building and Confidence
Day 2 : Conviction and Liberation
Day 3 : Transformation and Feedback
Day 4 : Consensus and Reflection (Wrap-up)

Series Personal Transformation & Social Transformation
Day 0: Team building and early arrivals
Day 1: Arrive at the Peace Place / mid-day: Affirmation
Day 2: Resiliency & Transforming Power
Day 3: Communication & Cooperation
Day 4: Remembering & Reconnection (brief evening reflection on Part I)
Day 5: Community Visit
Day 6: Confidence & Conviction
Day 7: Liberation & Transformation
Day 8: Feedback & Consensus (of Conscience)
Day 10: Reflection and Closing / afternoon: Depart from Peace Place Pati.