The Tyas Family Home

Tyas built this temporary dwelling (picture below) on the site of his former home; a clearing around the banana trees in his garden... Can you see his ducks wandering in the foreground?

The picture below shows that Tyas has replaced much of the temporary walls of salvaged materials with "gedeg" ... though he still needs some tiles for his roof. The roof-frame for the main house is visible behind the modest "gedeg" one that he built using the donated sheets. As you can see, there is still much to be done to restore this home.

Tyas's garden or kebun is full of sensible and productive plants. Typically, women are the masters of a Javanese kebun or pekarangan… and they are characterised by biological diversity and a structure that mimics a natural forest, with huge trees serving as a canopy, and a variety of lower level shrubs, climbers and ground covers. The diversity means that there is always something to be found in the garden to supplement family meals.