Long before the Balinese starting popping Panadol and antibiotics, they had been dosing themselves with traditional herbal remedies from their fields and forests. They knew that turmeric and neem had natural antiseptic properties, cloves could be chewed for toothache or to kill intestinal parasites, gota kola leaves were good for fevers, headaches, memory and skin ailments, and unripe guava fruit for diarrhea.
Obat Asli Bali, or the healing herbs of Bali, has been mostly an oral tradition. For hundreds of years, healers and herbalists passed down information by word of mouth to their children and students. But in the last couple of generations there have been fewer and fewer young people interested in mastering this body of traditional knowledge. The same is true in many other parts of Indonesia, where knowledge and understanding of traditional plants is dying out as quickly as the plants themselves are disappearing in the face of rampant development.
Many of the potent medicines the West takes for granted were developed from herbs. Lymphatic cancer is treated with a derivative of the Madagascar periwinkle. Opium poppies give us morphine, still the drug of choice for pain control. Digitalis is derived from foxgloves, aspirin from willow bark - the list goes on for pages. And yet the healing potential of most of the world's plants is still largely unexplored. Who knows whether Bali's herbs may contain magic bullets for cancer, heart disease and other ills?
A young couple near Ubud have committed themselves to help keep the tradition of Obat Asli Bali alive. Westi and Lilir met at a guiding course about four years ago and quickly discovered that they had a garden of things in common. Lilir's mother and father were, among other things, healers and herbalists and relied heavily on traditional remedies for their brood of 11 children. Westi's parents were farmers who remembered how much healthier the soil was before chemical farming became widespread. They were both inspired to use their position as guides to help preserve Bali's unique indigenous heritage. They felt that one way of doing this was to teach tourists about local medicines and plants.
After they met, Westi often spent his evenings poring over books on herbs, deeply involved in qualifying himself to teach others about Bali's living pharmacy. He asked endless questions, picked specimens for identification by elders, and researched the Balinese, Latin, Indonesian and English names of healing plants.
" I became deeply interested in herbal remedies," he says now. "My father thought I was crazy at the time - he couldn't see the value in it. But he was quite knowledgeable about herbs and I spent some time learning from him before he died. Now I study with three traditional healers, but they are also very old. There is a real danger that this wisdom will die out if it is not recorded."
Together with local Yaysan Anak Bahagia, Lilir and Westi helped to write an illustrated manuscript on Balinese healing herbs which is now almost complete. They hope it will be published this year.
About 12 years ago Lilir was working as a pembantu with Melanie Templar, who has lived in Bali for 14 years. Melanie became fascinated with herbs, and started to work with D'ayu Suci, Lilir and other friends to develop products from them. In 1997 Utama Spice was established to bring herbal products rooted in Asian tradition to the world.
Utama Spice has now grown into a company that works with other local producers and herbal businesses such as Bali Asli to develop new products. The company directly employs 15 staff and about 15 others indirectly. Westi is one of these, making herbal aromatic candles for Utama Spice. His family help supply the company with organic herbs.
" Utama Spice is a fair trade company," says Melanie. "This means living and working together harmoniously by caring for each other, our planet and its resources. We've done a great deal of research in developing our products, which contain no chemical additives. Most producers of 'natural' products in Bali are using synthetics in natural packaging. There are actually very few people doing pure, natural herbal products in Bali."
Utama Spice is proud to be among these. The first product was a massage oil made according to traditional Balinese methods. They then experimented with a formula for a natural incense without sandalwood, which is endangered. They have also come up with a unique glue to hold the herb powder to the incense stick. "Now our range includes a natural insect repellent, candles made from coconut wax and tree resins, bath and massage salts based on sea salt with plant extracts, body scrubs made with local healing tubers and many more products for home and spa."
All but 5% of the ingredients are sourced in Indonesia, and it is the company's long-term vision to grow all the herbs it needs through local farmers' cooperatives. The goal is to be as organic as possible, "But it's hard to be organic when the subak upstream is using chemicals," Melanie sighs.
Lilir and Westi, now both qualified guides, offer 'Herb Walks in Bali', a 3-4 hour journey of exploration through Ubud's rice terraces and ravines which Melanie helped them develop. Along the way, walkers are introduced to the wealth of natural herbal remedies that grow in the fields, and refreshed by traditional Balinese snacks. Westi is also learning Japanese in order to broaden the scope of their clientele.
" Foreigners can play a valuable role in strengthening human resources in Bali so that people can develop the skills needed to manage their own businesses," Melanie points out. Lilir is now director of Utama Spice, and Westi proudly produces organic herbs and continues to research his book, proving that entrepreneurship can mix very comfortably with tradition.
For more information on Herb Walks in Bali or to place an order for 'Healing Herbs of Bali', please contact Westi or Lilir at (0361) 975051 /081 2393 0408 or by email at herbwalk@astaga.com
For information on Utama Spice (PT Supa Dupa Spice) products, call (0361) 975051 between 9 - 5 or email supadupa@dps.centrin.net.id
If you are interested in taking part in trials of an herbal anti-flea / mite oil for pets, ask to speak to Melanie at the above number between 2 - 5 pm or contact her through supadupa@dps.centrin.net.id
