I had been asking the universe that I would meet a special driver who could share with us and help me in many ways, from seeing more of Bali to shopping for Global Birth Fair and beyond. In each location of the world, when I hold this intent, the right person appears and I can stay in touch and see them each time I am in that part of the world. Congtit appeared. He is from Nyuh Kuning and is friends with Ibu Robin. Congtit’s two sons, now ages 5 and 1, where both born at Bumi Sehat. In our short drive through Ubud I could feel his peaceful, gentle, wise presence. Little did I know how deep and perfect our connection would be. In addition to being my amazing driver for my time in Bali, Congtit became a friend and eventually shared his special Balinese, hand-crafted, wooden sculptures capturing the feelings, movement and emotions of pregnancy, labor and breastfeeding – please look at his amazing work on Global Birth Fair: Pregnant Woman Sculpture, Breastfeeding Woman Sculpture, Laboring Couple Sculpture, and Buddha Sculpture.

One day Congtit took us shop for silver jewelry at Gala Silver Jewelry. I was not sure I really wanted this stop, but seeing the man making the jewelry siting in a small shed outside his home, felt special. It was not just a shop, it was his workshop, where we could watch Cakra hand-making the jewelry. Cakra showed us how he made this small silver container for mothers to carry a piece of baby’s dried cord, so they always have that special connection with baby. Some people place baby’s first tooth or a lock of hair in the silver locket. Instantly I  knew I was meant to be here. I purchased several for Global Birth Fair, including: Silver Prayer Locket for inscription & to personalized,  Sterling Silver Design Prayer Locket, and  Gold & Silver Prayer Locket. I also purchased soothing Harmony Balls in Silver design and Silver Harmony Ball with Amber, intended to be worn low on abdomen so that baby can hear the chime when in utero and then after baby is born, shorten the length so the harmony ball is closer to the neck and chest for baby to listen or play with while breastfeeding. The women in the shop: Wayan, Nengah and Komarg were so helpful and smiled as I shared  how we would be sharing their jewelry. From the small town of Celuk to www.globalbirthfair.com it is an amazing journey as artists appear and are honored to share in our mission to improve awareness and care for Women, Men, Babies and Families.

Another day, we returned to Ibu Robin’s favorite sarong shop owned by the artist, Pudak, and his wife where they design and hand paint all their own sarongs. I had first visited the shop just a few days after arriving in Bali with Ibu Robin and Katherine when we shopped for hand-painted sarongs intended as gifts for the Eat Pray Doula workshop participants to use as Balinese Rebozos. Ibu Robin, Katherine, and I sat in a circle on the floor looking at the amazing colors, designs, and fabric – holding the soft cotton in our hands, feeling the smooth vibrant patterns was blissful for us all. My eye kept catching this beautiful wall hanging, a sarong illustrating a flowing woman with dolphins and colors around her. I asked if they could make her for me pregnant. They agreed and I ordered several of their beautiful sarongs to bring home for Global Birth Fair including the birth wall-hanging, the Starry Global Vulva Sarong, and a Large Birth Batik Sarong. 

On one of the last days, my eyes were getting heavy, but we still had our last stop for the day – the klung-kung market for traditional dress for me and my husband, Jimi. It was getting late and the stores were beginning to close. Congtit, moved us quickly to a building where inside there seemed like 100s of small booths with cloth, sarongs, gebeya (women’s traditional lace shirts) sashes, seput (outer clothes for men to go over their sarong) and udung traditional hat for men. Congtit helped me to negotiate and find two beautiful gebeya’s for me and a full outfit for Jimi. I was exhausted and happy… Soon we will be carrying the Balinese Traditional dress on Global Birth Fair.

Thank you Congtit! Finding Congtit reminded me that there are no coincidences – as Nalanti a nuturapthic physician for Bumi Sehat said:

only incidences for which we are destined….