Balinese women promote herbal remedies

Rita A. Widiadana, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar

Ni Wayan Krinting's five-year-old son had a high fever. His temperature was 40 degrees Celsius. A dedicated mother of three, Krinting ran to the backyard and started picking some leaves from plants she had started to grow two years ago.

She picked several daluman (Cyclea barbata) leaves and boiled them with water and a block of palm sugar.

Her mother and grandmother had told her how to make a daluman brew to cure a high fever. The soft green jelly produced by squeezing the leaves is often used as a healing beverage to treat a sore throat.

As the people responsible for making banten (religious offerings) every day, Balinese women are familiar with a wide range of plants and flowers. Offerings are considered crucial to helping maintain the continual renewal of life in Bali.

Herbal remedies cheaper, too

"I rarely go to a doctor. Loloh, an infusion from plants boiled in water, and other plants, can rejuvenate me," Krinting said, adding that her family could not afford costly healthcare.

"Using herbal remedies saves a lot of money," she added. While Krinting still practices her handed-down expertise in producing herbal remedies, many women have abandoned the habit, preferring to use modern medicine instead.

"There is nothing wrong with using advanced medical treatments, but it would be pity if Balinese women left their tradition behind completely," observed Ida Ayu Rusmarini, an avid promoter of traditional medicinal plants.

"We have been blessed with an abundance of tropical plants. Why should we ignore them and choose chemical and harmful medical ingredients to cure diseases?" asked Rusmarini, who gained her masters degree at the school of agriculture at Udayana University in Denpasar.

Of all the tropical plant species in the world, an estimated 30,000, or 75 percent, can be found in Indonesia. According to the World Health Organization, plants and other natural products are still tapped for their medicinal value by about 70 percent of the world's 6.5 billion population today.

Together with her husband, I Wayan Damai, Rusmarini started to collect and grow rare plants on their one-hectare plot of land, now called Puri Damai, in banjar (traditional village community) Tunon, Mambal, some 20 kilometers north of Denpasar.

"That was seven years ago. Many people were not yet familiar with the back-to-nature movement so they called us a 'crazy odd couple'. That did not really discourage us," said Rusmarini, who now works as an expert in herbal plants at Bali Health Agency.

Puri Damai is now home to thousands of rare, herbal plants. The couple also developed organic paddy fields, eliminating all chemical substances, including the use of pesticide. The couple also made available alternative facilities for medical treatment, massage and spa therapy, employing housewives from banjar Tunon.

"We don't use chemicals. Herbal plants should be organic unless they lose their curative properties. Besides, it is high time for us to go back to nature and to free our world of hazardous substances," she maintained.

Women's role Born to a high-caste Brahmin family, 45-year-old mother of three Rusmarini was fully supported by her moderate and progressive parents. Her husband, Wayan, a civil engineer, is a grandson of a famous traditional healer.

"I left my business to dedicate myself to developing and promoting herbal plants," he added.

Since January 2004, Rusmarini established women's group Putri Toga Turus Lumbung whose activities include teaching village women about herbal plants, traditional herbal therapy and organic farming.

Despite paternalistic patterns of family life, Balinese women, she said, played a very significant role in keeping the family together and raising their children, and it was the women who could ensure the well-being of their husbands and children.

Ni Wayan Erawati, one of Puri Toga's 45 members, said she was now more knowledgeable. "I already knew about some plants but did not know that such plants were useful," Erawati said.

Since joining the group, Erawati has learned massage techniques, spa therapy, production of traditional ointments and scrubs, and how to cook meals using organic materials.

Earning money

"I really hope that they (the women) can earn money by acquiring the skills of traditional herbal therapy and by growing herbal plants," Rusmarini said.

Many women in the group have successfully processed a variety of plants into traditional scrubs, massage oils and shampoos.

Anak Agung Manik said she began producing dried leaves and sold them to Ibu Rusmarini. "I save the money for my children's education and for emergencies. In the past, I never thought I could earn my own money," Manik exclaimed.

Banjar Tunon is one of Rusmarini's pilot projects for the empowerment of village women.

With support from Bali Governor I Dewa Made Beratha, who recently received a Kalpataru environmental award, Rusmarini is currently busy traveling across Bali teaching and training rural women on the importance of growing and using herbal plants.

She also involves rural and urban women in a "Say no to plastic waste" campaign.

"Women should take more care about their own homes and neighborhoods to create better living conditions for all," she said.