August 11, 2015 edition

Differently-abled children need special handling so they can become self-reliant. And they should never be excluded. "Their feelings should be considered," said Ignatius Dharta Ranu Wijaya, better known as Dharta. As a consultant on the Education and Behavior of Children with Special Needs, Dharta works at the Child Neuro Behavior Development Center of Melinda Hospital in Bandung, West Java.
He noted that one of the major problems of the diffabledaside from the physical factoris an ill-prepared educational system and an erroneous pattern of nurturing. Dharta, 43, began his career as a behavioral therapist for children with special needs in 1998. Today his expertise is in great demand by a number of well-known non-government organizations (NGOs), schools and universities.

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More Outreach articles in other editions

August 4, 2015 edition

Broker-'slaying' Community
People in 54 regions are now practicing logging in an environment-friendly way. Being financially independent through cooperatives, they were once sabotaged by timber financing backers.

THE plantation area at the foothills of Pekandangan village is very similar to a forest. Plots two or three hectares wide are filled with fruit-trees such as durian and jackfruit as well as with commodity shrubs such as coffee, cacao and pepper. The fecund green land stretches for three kilometers. Teakwood trees, mahogany, acacia, and the soaring jabon (Anthocephalus cadamba) rise amidst the plants. "Each trunk is our savings for medical treatment and our children's tuition," Margo Widodo said. This resident of Pekandangan accompanied Tempo English on a tour of the area three weeks ago. During the walk, he told Tempo how three years ago, he cut down several trees to finance his son's wedding.
Pekandangan is a village in the subdistrict of Pubian, Central Lampung Regency. A three-hour drive from Bandar Lampung, six years ago this area was not as green as it is now. Today the amount of its hardwood trees almost outnumber the coffee and cacao shrubs. "Actually, people have been planting acacia and teak for quite a while, but not as routinely as they do today," Margo said. In a month the residents here can plant 50-100 tree saplings. Each time they cut down one tree, they would replace it with 10 saplings.

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July 28, 2015 edition

Since 2010, the Forestry Ministry has prioritized forest honey as one of its five 'non-timber forest products'. "Forest honey is considered capable of promoting people's welfare without damaging forests," said Rio Bertoni, chairman of the Indonesian Forest Honey Network.
Forest honey is also believed to have a higher and more varied content of bioactive compounds than farmed honey because forest bees gather honey extracts from the natural environment. "But further research needs to be conducted on this matter," said Rio.

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July 14, 2015 edition

ADE Setiawan guided his brush with an agile hand, placing white clouds on his canvas: the last touches on the Arabic calligraphy innallah ma'asyabirin which he had drawn earlier. "It means 'God is truly with those who are patient'," he told Tempo at the Calligraphy Studio of Dar el-Qalam, Padang, West Sumatra, three weeks ago.
The calligraphy was drawn in the diwani jali style that came from the Ottoman Kingdom, 16th century Turkey. The Arabic letters painted in white and yellow seem to wind around each other against a dusky copper backdrop.

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July 10, 2015 edition

Broker-'Slaying' Community
People in 54 regions are now practicing logging in an environment-friendly way. Being financially independent through cooperatives, they were once sabotaged by timber financing backers.

THE plantation area at the foothills of Pekandangan village is very similar to a forest. Plots two or three hectares wide are filled with fruit-trees such as durian and jackfruit as well as with commodity shrubs such as coffee, cacao and pepper. The fecund green land stretches for three kilometers. Teakwood trees, mahogany, acacia, and the soaring jabon (Anthocephalus cadamba) rise amidst the plants. "Each trunk is our savings for medical treatment and our children's tuition," Margo Widodo said. This resident of Pekandangan accompanied Tempo English on a tour of the area three weeks ago. During the walk, he told Tempo how three years ago, he cut down several trees to finance his son's wedding.

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July 7, 2015 edition

The sound of a Kalimantan string instrument, or sampe, emerged from Shanty's smartphone. It sounded like an Indian sitar, only softer. "When I heard it, I felt like I was in the middle of a jungle," said the female entrepreneur from Samarinda, East Kalimantan. It was a few seconds until the sampe was joined by a full ensemble.

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June 30, 2015 edition

Seventeen street lights shine over Ped village's unpaved roads on Bali's Nusa Penida Island. At 6pm, they light up automatically. Two kilometers away, in Toya Pakeh, the streetlights also turn on, just as the sun begins to set.
Just a year ago, the village was bathed in darkness as dusk gave way to night. "Now, all the lamps in the two villages are powered by an Ocean Wave-Powered Electricity Generator (PLTAL)," one Toya Pakeh resident, Restu, told Tempo. The generator lights the way for about 12 hours a day.

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