January 13, 2015 edition
From Hunters and Gatherers to Organic Farmers
Thirty women in Papua's Oegenetan village changed their livelihoods as hunters and gatherers, turning to organic farming. They now earn a regular monthly income of about Rp600,000. Their success is having an impact on their husbands and other villagers, who are now willing to try organic farming.
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More Outreach articles in other editions
January 1, 1970 edition
Bali's Buleleng regency has produced grapes since colonial times. According to Nicolas Martin Delacressonniere, a French winemaker, Buleleng's dry coastal weather and sandy clay soil endow its grapes with a pleasant combination of sweet and sour tastes. "Vines need a longer dry season than wet season," said Delacressonniere, who won a gold medal at the 2010 Decanter World Wine Awards.
Lack of rain results in a meager crop while excessive rain can upset the sweet-sour balance. "In the fermentation process, the yeast would eat up the sugar and change it into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Therefore, the sweet taste is important," Delacressonniere said.
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December 23, 2014 edition
After 14 years in which it was left in disrepair, the Uma Mbakulu customary house in Praingu Lewa Paku village was reconstructed. Umbu Mbora, the raja of Lewa Kambera and the leader of Praingu Lewa Paku, a village on the island of Sumba in East Nusa Tenggara, had at last got back his throne. "It is in this place that I should live," he told Tempo two weeks ago.
Rebuilding the house was not easy because of the cost. Only after asking for help from Father Robert Ramone did Mbora find a solution. Thanks to the priest's lobbying, in June the village received Rp430 million in aid from the Education and Culture Ministry to renovate the house.
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December 16, 2014 edition
The sound of children's laughter wafted out of the house on Jalan Soekarno Hatta in East Alok subdistrict, Sikka regency. Twenty children were sitting around a large table. Katerina Dua Yovin, 16, straightened up and raised her hand. The other children fell silent.
Yovin, as she is known, began with a story about her neighborhood in Alok, where there were still many parents who beat their children for not doing their homework. "Have you experienced the same thing?" she asked. Alvira Novitasari raised her hand. "I did," she said. "The child is naughty, so he must be beaten."
Laura Maria Geane, another 16-year-old girl, asserted that parents should never beat a rebellious child. "Parents are bound to give a warning, but that should not necessarily be coupled with violence!" she exclaimed as the others applauded.
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January 1, 1970 edition
Fighting corruption is nothing new in Indonesia. But the battle fought by people in rural areas may be something that is little known by the general public. According to Zainal Arifin Mochtar, Director of the Center for Anti-Corruption Studies at Gadjah Mada University, efforts by villagers to fight corruption have to be considered significant, because so far, awareness about fighting it is mostly present amongst the middle classes in urban centers.
Urban communities are generally better informed and they are abetted by the many anti-corruption activists in towns. But when anti-corruption figures in the country's remote areas begin to emerge, it is a most important development.
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January 1, 1970 edition
Sulaeman does pretty well for himself. The 49-year-old employs four workers on his one-hectare oil palm estate in Sengeti village, about an hour-and-a-half's drive from his home in Tahtul Yaman village. Income from the harvests paid for his three children's college tuition, and for his motorbike.
Looking at the motorbike now, Sulaeman started to tear up. He never thought he would live this comfortably. Twenty years ago, he was no more than a skeleton. For almost a year he was bedridden, coughing up bloodstained phlegm. "I thought I was going to die," he said.
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November 18, 2014 edition
Clearing Oil Palm in Leuser
Efforts to restore forest in the Leuser Ecosystem Zone that had lasted for six years ran aground when the gubernatorial succession took place. An environment-loving community in Aceh Tamiang tried hard to mend the damage.
Bowing forward, Sudirman faced the giant Tasto 007 chainsaw. His left land grabbed the handle, his right yanked the starter. On the third try, the old machine roared to life, breaking the silence of the oil palm plantation in Tenggulun village, Aceh Tamiang regency, Aceh. "You have to test it before using it," he told Tempo a few weeks ago.
Efforts to restore forest in the Leuser Ecosystem Zone that had lasted for six years ran aground when the gubernatorial succession took place. An environment-loving community in Aceh Tamiang tried hard to mend the damage.