The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Thu, 06/22/2006 1:13 PM | Life
Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post, Mojokerto, East Java
Every cloud has a silver lining: Wahid Isnandar, 69, spent decades fighting against illnesses that afflicted him and his family.
Eventually triumphing over the illnesses, he has made a success of his traditional herbal medicine business.
While speaking with The Jakarta Post at his medicinal plant garden in Sambilawang Dlanggu, Mojokerto, Wahid took from his pocket a waterproof box containing traditional herbal medicine in powder form.
""I regularly take this to maintain my health and stamina as I'm quite old now, especially as I used to have diabetes,"" he said.
His medicinal plant garden is about 11.5 hectares in area and contains some 650 plant species. Called Wisata Toga, (meaning ""a tour to see medicinal plants""), the garden is frequently visited by biology students and overseas researchers.
After taking the medicine that he had prepared himself, Wahid took off his sunglasses and related an unforgettable, sad story.
Several years ago, Wahid said, he suffered from diabetes. He had to be given insulin three to four times a day and went in and out of hospital.
At the same time, he also suffered from hypertension, and his cholesterol, triglyceride and uric acid levels were higher than normal. ""It was really hopeless. My doctor told me I had to have operations on both my heart and eyes. Meanwhile, my legs had blackened owing to diabetes and it seemed they also had to be amputated,"" he said. (None of these operations ultimately needed to be carried out.)
A short while later, Handiyanto, Wahid's eldest child, contracted asthma. Then, Popon Rosida, his wife, suffered from a combination of kidney failure, liver and heart trouble, hypertension and typhoid.
His wife, like him, went in and out of hospital and her condition went from bad to worse. She lost a lot of hair and weight.
Several years after his wife was cured of her illnesses, Dwi Astuti Rohajanti, their second child, had a stroke. Dwi recovered thanks to the traditional herbal medicine that had earlier cured Wahid, his first child, and his wife from their ailments.
Bad luck seemed to be stalking Wahid's family. His third child, Hartini Kiptijani, had ovary cancer. Again, she was cured thanks to the traditional herbal medicine that Wahid had concocted.
Eyang Murtolo, Wahid's grandmother, was also skilled at making traditional herbal medicine and once told him that all ailments could be cured using naturally available materials.
God made diseases and prepared the medicines from his own creation -- nature itself. If nature were damaged, God would be angry and send strange illnesses that were difficult to combat.
""Therefore when my family members got sick, I had to find rare medicinal plants,"" Wahid said.
Making use of the knowledge of concocting traditional herbal medicine passed on to him by his grandmother and learning from the bitter experiences of members of his family, Wahid began to collect medicinal plants to be grown in his family garden.
Thanks to his indefatigability to seek, collect and cultivate rare medicinal plants, Wahid received the ASEAN Executive Golden Award 2002, in the rare plant conservation category.
He received the Kehati Award 2001 for conservation and also was honored by the agriculture minister as a farmer distinguished by excellent achievement.
Relying on his own experiences and his success in collecting medicinal plants, Wahid began to devote himself to the traditional medicine business.
""I started with capital of only Rp 2.5 million, which I raised after selling my camera and a drawing table. I spent the money on a machine for making herbal medicines,"" he said.
Established in 2000, his business flourishes now. He started with only three employees but now has 105. He also has outlets that sell his traditional medicine products in other places, such as Bali, Lombok, Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Jakarta and several other cities.
His sales volume stands at millions of rupiah because he also exports traditional herbal medicine products to places like Saudi Arabia. In recognition of his success in this field, Wahid was given the ASEAN Best Economic Award in 2003.
At present he has produced hundreds of traditional herbal medicine products for a great variety of illnesses such as diabetes, kidney failure, tumor, high cholesterol levels, and so on. He also has products that are claimed to address the challenges of avian influenza and HIV/AIDS.
""I have an expert who examines the medicinal content of plants. Every month we come up with a new traditional herbal medicine formula. We will launch our products for avian influenza and HIV/AIDS next month,"" he said.
Despite his busy working day, Wahid also actively campaigns to promote awareness on medicinal plants.
""I often talk on the radio and on TV about how to grow medicinal plants. Audiences often ask to be given seedlings for particular medicinal plants and I give them away, free of charge,"" he said.
Wahid is so passionate about medicinal plants that they grow on both sides of the road leading to his garden. Similar plants can also be found at a public cemetery close by.
""At present, medicines and health treatment are costly. I don't want other people to go through what I went through before. I also often give out the formulas for my traditional herbal medicines free,"" he said.
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