September 15, 2015 edition

Harry's Promising Drug
A Chemistry Professor From Medan Has Invented A Natural Drug Believed To Have The Potential To Cure Diabetes. It Is Still Waiting For A Distribution License From The Drug And Food Supervising Agency (bpom).

FEW would guess that Jumingan, a healthy-looking, 60-year-old living in Medan, North Sumatra, was in a coma just two years ago. "I had grown thinner and weaker. I had to crawl to the bathroom, as I found it very difficult to move my legs," Jumingan said. "Many people thought my life would be cut short."
Jumingan has diabetes, a condition that causes gangrene, or the death of body tissue. Despite a series of expensive medical treatments, Jumingan's condition showed little improvement. The gangrene, meanwhile, almost claimed his fingers.

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More Outreach articles in other editions

September 8, 2015 edition

Pooling Resources
Educators have founded the Teachers' Credit Union on Adonara, a small island off the eastern coast of Flores. From just a few founding members, the cooperative now has more than 10,000 members.

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September 1, 2015 edition

Fractal Fabrics
Using a mathematical formula, two high school students have created digital renderings of Bali's nearly extinct gringsing motifs. Their efforts earned them a prestigious award in the US.

A 'PLUS' symbol appears on I Dewa Gede Ary Palguna's computer screen. The 18-year-old types out a long series of letters and numbers and then, in an instant, the symbols become bigger. This how the Bandung Institute of Technology freshman designs gringsing motifs.
He shows off a finished design of black diamonds. At the center lies a symbol of tapak dara, or 'young girl's footprint', which looks somewhat like a 'plus' sign. The motif represents natural equilibrium. "This is one of the seven motifs I created," he told Tempo two weeks ago.

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August 25, 2015 edition

THE rim of Lake Tempe glitters like a mirror during the day, reflecting the bright afternoon sun. Located in the village of Laelo in South Sulawesisome three hours drive from provincial capital Makassartourists flock to the lake to enjoy idyllic picnics.
Just five kilometers away, however, the glistening water disappears into a dense cluster of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes).

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August 17, 2015 edition

A WOODEN cart covered in white cloth sits parked at a field in front of a house in Lemosusu village, Polewali Mandar, West Sulawesi. Drawn by a tall, dark horse, its sewn-in patch pockets are filled with more than 60 books.

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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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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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