Life is Healthy

Petroglyph Alta is located at the northern tip of Norway near the Arctic Circle. Alta rock carvings is a collection of Petroglyph (rock art) that included to the most important prehistoric site from 4200-500 BC. This is one destination that you should go on holiday to Norway.

First discovered in 1967, 5000 rock carving site was designated a World Heritage Site in 1985. According to UNESCO, Petroglyph Alta is the most important part of the evidence supporting the existence of human activities in the north of the prehistoric period.

Rock art at Alta recorded around 4200-500 BC, has four main phases of work. Carvings and paintings on stones along the fjord from the Ice Age, works of art found at the height of the rocks are the oldest, while the Petroglyph near the sea surface is the latest.

Modern history of the Alta carvings started in 1967, when first discovered and studied. The artwork is then designated as a World Heritage Site in 1985. Following several years later by the opening of Alta Museum in June 1991.

Petroglyph in Alta has more than 5,000 paintings and engravings that are found in over 45 sites. The main site, which is now a museum contains about 3000 petroglyph Alta. Although this painting has been painted over by the investigators, but otherwise completely original.

The main site of Petroglyph is part of an open museum that also includes a very good indoor exhibition, including prehistoric rock art and the general history of the area. From the Alta museum, you can follow the marked path that leads to a sloping hill toward the fjord. Along the road you will find a 13 point stops to see rock art.

Petroglyph itself described the various forms of geometric symbols and animals such as bears and deer. There are also depictions of human activities such as hunting, fishing, navigation, and ritual. While agricultural activities with pets in the fence, appearing among the latest Petroglyph (near 500 BC).

When you decide to visit, the Alta museum is open daily. Starting from October to April open 9:00 to 16:00 o'clock local time, while May and September from 9:00 to 18:00 o'clock local time. Meanwhile, in June-August starting at 8:00 to 21:00 local time.

Charges will apply when visiting these sites during October-April for adults at 45 krona (about $7), while during May-September for adults 85 krona (about $13).

Rector of Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) Surabaya Prof. Ir Priyo Suprobo MS PhD, dispatches the Indonesia robot team "Mio rEi" from the Politeknik Elektronika Negeri Surabaya (PENS) - ITS to compete in the world robotic competition in Egypt in next 19 to 23 September.

The release of six members is marked by the use of a "Mio rEi" robot team shirts by the rector and witnessed by Research, Development and Operations Director of PT Semen Gresik Tbk, Ir Suharto MM, as the main sponsor of the team.

"The robots have been sent a month ago, while the robot team of six people will leave on 17 September, but was released today ahead of Eid holidays," said Director PENS - ITS, Dadet Pramadihanto.

In his report , he said the team of the PENS - ITS has followed 12 times of the robot contest at the national level and nine times at international level. "In the 12 times of the national robotic contest, PENS - ITS team always won, while nine times in the international contest once won a world champion in 2001 and the 'runner up' in India in 2008, " he said.

In 2004, PENS - ITS team won "Konawi Awards" and in 2005 won "Best Design". "For a robot contest in Egypt, the "Mio rEi" robot team has been doing modifications, so that the velocity increases," he said.

In his speech , Rector of ITS Prof. Priyo Suprobo targeting "Mio rEi" robot team become world champion in the next world robot contest in Egypt. "If in India has been able to be a runner up, then in Egypt we should be the world champion.

During this time, PENS - ITS has become a 'mecca' of robotics in Indonesia, because of that, PENS - ITS robot team must be the world champion, so it can also be a tradition" he said.

"Mio rEi" consists of six students, Bayu Sandi Martha, Muh Ali Anang Lubis, Rahardhita Widyatra Sudibyo, Zainul Arifin, Putus Dadar Gumilang, and Aditya Sarjono.

Antara News, Tuesday, June 15, 2010 03:43 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia will have difficulty achieving its MDG (Millennium Development Goals) targets because of the low commitment of its government and political institutions to prioritizing health and education, a developmental economist said.

"I am pessimistic about Indonesia`s ability to achieve its MDG targets by 2015," University of Indonesia (UI) economic development lecturer Mayling Oey Gardiner said in a speech to mark her appointment as a member of the Indonesian Academy of Sciences (AIPI) here Monday.

She said, in 2009, a total of 189 UN member countries had committed themselves to attaining the following eight goals : fighting poverty and hunger, making education available to all, encouraging gender equality and woman`s empowerment, reducing infant mortality, improving maternal health, combating HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other contagious diseases, ensuring preservation of the environment, and promoting global partnerships for development.

According Mayling, Indonesia managed to lower its poverty rate from 20.6 percent in 1990 to 16.6 percent in 2007, but the poor people were identified as those living on less than one US dollar per capita per day.

"But if the spending level was raised to two US dollars per capita per day, there would still be 49 percent of the population categorized as poor," she said.

In terms of realizing elementary education for all, if elementary education was defined as nine years of schooling, Indonesia`s target was still a long way off.

"In 2007 the pure participation rate in elementary education was 94 percent but the pure participation rate of children aged 13 to 15 years in secondary education was only 67 percent, and so far there had been no breakthrough to increase this figure," she said.

She regretted that the government was now enthusiastically subsidizing so-called international-standard schools with as much Rp500 million a year per school while there was no subsiidy at all to enable elementary school children in remote parts of the country to continue their studies at secondary schools as called for in the MDG program.

In the public health field, Mayling said, she had so far not heard a firm government commitment to prioritize the lowering of the maternal and infant mortality rate while its MDG target called for reduction of the current figure to 102 per 100,000 deliveries by 2015.

"A survey in 2007 put the maternal mortality rate at 228 per 100,000 deliveries. This was related to the fact that a high number of deliveries took place without the assistance of trained medical personnel, namely one-third of deliveries," she said.

The British International School have confirmed that two bodies, including one student, have been recovered after a school trek in the Puncak mountains on Tuesday.

BIS admissions director Lee Bretherick said authorities were still formally identifying the bodies and were preparing to release a public statement soon.

Antara are reporting that authorities have recovered the body of Arpan Palindungan Ade, 30, an outward bound instructor in the Cisadane river.

The state news agency also identified the missing student as a South Korean national.

Lee Bretherick, speaking to the Jakarta Globe earlier, said that a year 8 student enrolled with the school had disappeared during a trek in the Pancawati area in the foothills of the mountain range.

Lee said the school was still “not fully aware” of the details surrounding the disappearance but it appeared a “sudden rise in water levels caused the situation to arise.”

He said the school had the full cooperation of West Java authorities and a search was underway, which included the involvement of the Indonesian Military.

Other groups of students from the school had returned to Jakarta and were being offered counseling.

One parent who contacted the Jakarta Globe with news of the emergency said the school’s communication with parents had not been ideal.

Students in Surabaya getting a lesson on the female reproductive system. Sex itself is a taboo subject in class.  (Antara Photo/Eric Ireng)

For Jakarta housewife Rika Henria Ardanesworo, sex is one of the most difficult topics to discuss with her two daughters, and she wishes schools would play a bigger role in teaching students about the subject.

Rika said her daughters, Khesia and Archie, now both in their early 20s, learned the basics of sex from their peers. All she can do now is try to convince them to stay away from it.

“Communication is the key,” she said, adding that she had never formally prohibited her daughters from engaging in sex.

Instead, she tells them horror stories that could result from premarital sex, such as unwanted pregnancies, failed marriages and diseases.

“That is how I teach my kids and hopefully, they can learn from it,” Rika said.

The issue of teenagers engaging in sexual activity again became a hot topic recently after a survey conducted by the Indonesian Commission for Child Protection (KPAI) was leaked to the media.

The survey, which KPAI chairman Hadi Supeno said constituted preliminary research and was not meant to be published, showed that 32 of 100 teenagers claimed they had had full sexual intercourse.

Hadi quoted the teenagers, aged 14 to 18, who came from middle-upper-class families, as saying that they did not receive adequate attention from their parents, thus they were left at home with little supervision over what they accessed on the Internet or watched on television.

“Those teenagers had become curious, and without tight monitoring they could easily satisfy this [curiosity],” he said.

In response to the survey, Communication and Information Minister Tifatul Sembiring called for more stringent controls over the Inter net.

However, Hadi said that would not solve the problem.

“Let’s not be naive and just blame technology,” he said. “Like it or not, there is greater access to information these days.”

To address the issue, the KPAI is pushing for a program that would teach parents how to educate their children at home.

“We have been recommending this program to the government and now it is being discussed together with the BKKBN,” Hadi said, referring to the national agency for family planning and population control.

The program, he said, would see health institutions from the city level down to those in villages providing lessons for parents in how to talk to their children about sex, a subject that is still widely seen as taboo.

So should schools also be involved? Wahyu Hartomo, an official at the State Ministry for Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection, said that ideally, sex education would be given to students as early as elementary school. “[Sex] education should start from about 12 years of age, ideally,” he said, adding that children should know how to protect themselves against sexual abuse.

The tricky part in the classroom, however, is to provide education without promoting sexual activity. Suparman, chairman of the Indonesian Independent Teachers Association, said teachers should know the boundaries when talking about sex in the classroom.

“Bearing in mind the culture here, it would be difficult not to feel awkward when talking about this,” he said. “If they don’t deliver the message in the right way, it will be seen as too vulgar.”

Suparman said that since we now live in the information age, teachers must find new ways to handle the topic.

“With globalization, teachers must find new methods of giving sex education,” he said.

Suparman added that teachers themselves should receive more lessons before broaching the subject, because sex education “cannot be regarded in the same way as other subjects.”

Religion also complicates the topic of sex education. Amidhan, the chairman of the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI), said that the lessons must be restricted to the scientific aspects of sex.

“It is permissible to teach children about the dangers of casual sex,” he said, “but do not give them ideas on how to have casual sex.”

He said the most important lesson to be taught in sex education classes was the matter of faith, since the stronger a child’s faith, the more aware he or she will be that premarital sex is a sin. “Faith is the basic lesson,” he said.

In Gorontalo, legislator Adnan Entengo said he felt there should be thorough research before introducing sex education classes in schools.

“We don’t want to steer children to sex instead of teaching them about it,” he told state news agency Antara.

Experts agreed there should not be a dedicated class for sex education because of the sensitivity of the subject. Suparman said sex education could instead be integrated into other subjects such as biology or religion.

“For example, there should be a greater focus on anatomy during biology,” he said.

Hadi said sex education could be incorporated into many subjects, including Indonesian and English lessons.

“Make the students read informative articles and books about sex,” he said.

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 04/22/2010 11:24 AM

The lack of information and knowledge about contraceptives has contributed to the common practice of unsafe sex among sexually active youth who live in poverty in Jakarta.

Many people who live in poverty have been said to believe that condom use decreases the experience of sexual activity.

Iqbal, 30, of Kampung Sepatan in Rorotan subdistrict, Cilincing, North Jakarta, said recently that many of the youth in the neighborhood had been in sexual relations and thought condom use could reduce a couple’s intimacy.

Kampung Sepatan is one of the urban slums in Jakarta and home to around 1,400 lower-income residents, many whose livelihood’s depend on trash picking, farming and fishing.

“Using a condom while having sex is not enjoyable,” Iqbal stated.

It was said that while young people there were aware of the dangers of practicing unsafe sex, there was a social propensity among them that championed unsafe sex as a way to cement a relationship.

“My ex-girlfriend insisted that we did not use condoms to hold me responsible if she became preg-nant,” Iqbal’s friend told the The Jakarta Post on condition of anonymity, adding that using condoms in a relationship also symbolized a lack of trust.

Sex education among the youth in the neighborhood appears to lack.

Reportedly many NGOs visiting the area are focused on providing young residents with more assistance with food, clothing and vocational training.

“No NGOs that have visited have provided sex education,” Adi, 20, said.

He said they received sex education from their schools in biology class, which consisted of information about their reproductive organs and function.

Similar to their counterparts in Kampung Sepatan, the young people living along Ciliwung riverbank of Bukit Duri and Kampung Pulo subdistricts, South Jakarta, also agreed that unprotected sex was a strategy to find love.

A young woman said, “I’d rather have sex without using condoms because it’s a symbol of intimacy and trust”.

Unprotected sex is a way in which a woman can ensure her boyfriend remains loyal, she said.

Zaky, 19, told the Post that they had better more informed and became aware of the dangers of unprotected sex after several NGOs recently visited their area to educate them about sex.

However, NGOs did not discuss the importance of using condoms, despite the fact that many young people there were sexually active.

“The NGOs explained the dangers of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections [STIs], but not about contraception in detail,” Zaky said.

The Lamp Science Foundation (YPI), a grassroot organization active in promoting the awareness on HIV/AIDS, confirmed that its approaches to young people in lower-income urban areas had been proactive in educating them about reproductive health, STIs and HIV/AIDS prevention.

“We highlighted condom use as one way to reduce the risk of HIV infection,” YPI secretary Srisulistyurini said.

She said that premarital and unsafe sex was prevalent among the youth in shanty areas, and that sex education was the key to curbing the rapid spread of STIs and HIV/AIDS.

The YPI suggested that communities of slum areas in Jakarta should initiate workshops on sex education by requesting NGOs such as the YPI to visit their areas.

“It needs comprehensive participation from society because many NGOs don’t have the resources to map all the slum areas in the city whose young residents need sex education,” Srisulistyurini said.

According to the health agency, 3,863 AIDS cases were reported in 2009, with women and young people being the most prone to infection. (tsy)

Sex education among the youth in the neighborhood appears to lack.

Jakarta Globe, April 04, 2010

Pasuruan, East Java. The prospect of not being able to continue her education was too much for a junior high school student, who tried to kill herself by drinking a soda laced with pain relief medicine.

The girl, who lives with her parents and two younger siblings in a village in Pasuruan, East Java, was found unconscious on Saturday in her grandmother’s house, located in the same village.

A soft drink can and pain relief medication were found next to her. The girl was rushed to a clinic, where she was still being treated on Sunday.

The girl said she had tried to commit suicide after her parents told her she would not be able to go to high school because they could not afford it.

The girl’s parents acknowledged telling their daughter she had to drop out of school because of financial issues.

Her father said the family relied on financial aid from the government’s Future Family Program, but it covered only junior high school.

He said he earned Rp 20,000 ($2) a day as a bicycle mechanic and his wife was a stay-at-home mother who occasionally sold food, leaving them unable to finance their children’s education.

The girl’s parents said their daughter was bright and ranked second in her class during her second year of junior high school. They said she was also a talented painter and wanted to join the drum band in high school.

Antara

Antara News, Sunday, April 4, Amie Fenia Arimbi, 2010 03:14 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - It seemed to be an important day at Zinnia School in the Tebet area, South Jakarta. Students were marching around in the school compound waving small flags as if they were expecting an important guest.

Then, they do something else. They step on a stage placed in the middle of the school yard and begin to move their bodies like in a dance. Wearing white uniforms and long batik scarves, Nida (10) and seven other children enthusiastically shake their hips to the rhythm of a children`s song played on a radio tape.

At a glance, the Zinnia School pupils looked like common school children doing an outdoor activity. Actually they were not ordinary students because they were all deaf or otherwise physically disadvantaged. They made their dance movements by mimmicking their teacher who was guiding them from some distance.

Established since 1976, Zinnia foundation was initially a conventional kindergarten. But its owner, Imas Gunawan, in 1977 decided to change it into a shool for children with physical handicaps.

"We started by teaching 10 disabled students at the time. Now, Zinnia has 80 students of elementary and junior high school age," Imas said.

She said of the total of 76 students at Zinnia, half were deaf while the others were suffering from Down`s Syndrome. The school was teaching them abilities that would help them to manage on their own in their daily life.

Deaf students were taught to hear simple sounds such as those from a drum or gong in order to stimulate their reaction while Down Syndrome students were given simpler lessons such as how to pronounce daily words and differentiate colors.

"Using total communications, namely through sign language and lip movements, the teachers help the deaf students to listen to sound with the help of earing aids. We even teach them how to dance through a simple command system from a teacher backstage as performed today," Imas said.

Yayuk (45), teacher in the deaf students` class as well as the dance instructor said the students were very cooperative when attending class.

"Some hyperactive students need extra care while others are very slow in absorbing lessons so that the teacher needs to utter the same things repeatedly. But overall, I consider the obstacles as the risk of the job and I am pleased to be able to teach them" Yayuk said.

Meanwhile, Novika Prihartono (12), a street child from Sunter, North Jakarta, expressed his hope for a better life through education.

The fourth grade student in Elementary School 9 in Sunter said he used to help his mother to do the laundry or work at the nearest traditional market to earn money for his school fees.

"I used to do many jobs to help my parents providing daily needs for our family while paying my school fees. Fortunately, a friend in school told me to go to Aulia foundation for street and poor children. The foundation gives me a scholarship and allows me to attend some extra courses held in their building in Danau Sunter housing complex," he said.

Edi Hidajat, the founder of Aulia foundation, said street children also had the right to get education. The former successful entrepreneur argued street children or those coming from very poor families were often unable to get school education as a consequence of their activity in helping their parents to make money.

"We used to conduct an approach to the parent first, then the child. We give those children a motivation to continue their education. Some of our alumni have now become hotel managers and entrepreneurs. They have high motivation to get a better life," he said.

Now, Aulia foundation also provide health examination and micro finance training for housewives in the Sunter area.

Obstacle

Contrast with the disabled and street children`s spirit to get education, the Zinnia school and Aulia Foundation as the shelter for the children are having obstacle in funding their activity. As a private foundations, both Zinnia and Aulia fully rely on donations from foreign or private parties.

In 2003, when the Zinnia school building almost collapsed, the foundation received a donation from the Japanese Embassy in Indonesia worth US$81,000. The funds were used to rebuild the school purchase hearing aids for deaf students and basic needs for teaching activity such as cabinets and chairs.

"The donation is still not enough for the maintenance of school building and teaching equipments. However, we always try to make use of the funds to help the students to learn more," Imas, chairperson of Zinnia foundation, said.

The same story happened to Aulia foundation. The institution had received donations from the Netherlands, Sumitomo Bank, Jakarta-Japan Network and other private parties.

In 2001, Aulia foundation received US$68,000 from Japan`s Embassy in Indonesia to rebuild a four-story house in Sunter area which functioned as the center of the foundation`s activity.

Govt`s Attention

Minister of National Education, Mohammad Nuh, said the government was planning to increase the salaries of teachers at special schools to Rp4 million in 2011. The minister added apart from the salaries, the teachers could gain more from the incentive and other life support fees given by the government.

The minister added disabled schools would also get special incentives aimed to increase the quality of education given to students there.

As to the street children, the Ministry of People`s Welfare has committed to give a conditional grant in the form of savings to 6,000 street children in 10 provinces in Indonesia in 2010. Some of the provinces are Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Lampung, West Java and South Sulawesi.

In distributing the funds, the government will be assisted by several social institutions across Indonesia.

"The amount of the grants ranges from Rp900,000 to Rp1,8 million per child depending on the social worker`s estimation over the need of each sreet children," Director for Children`s Social Service at the Ministry of People`s Welfare, Raden Harry Hikmat, said.

He explained the program was aimed to help the street children to get access to health and education. The aid was also expected to help supporting the family and social institution to fulfill the basic needs of the street children.

"We had implemented the same program in five provinces in 2009. The result was quiet good, about 70-80 percent of street children were reuniting with their family again or continuing their formal education," he said.

Dina Indrasafitri, The Jakarta Post | Wed, 03/31/2010 9:11 PM

Curbing gender disparity and increasing awareness among Indonesian women of their reproductive rights could help save them from HIV and AIDS, Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Minister Linda Amalia Sari Gumelar said Wednesday.

"We are aware that the number of women with HIV is increasing. Women in committed relationships are vulnerable to contracting HIV if their partners also have it," Linda said in Jakarta during the launching of the Report of HIV Transmission of Intimate Partner Relationships in Asia.

The report, published by UNAIDS, revealed that in 2006 there was a substantial increase in the number of women over 15 years old living with HIV in Indonesia as compared to the figure in 2002.

Indonesian women are among 50 million people in Asia at risk of being infected with HIV from long-term sexual partners.

"Currently it is necessary to increase programs targeting at strengthening women's reproductive rights and the bargaining power so that they can refuse high-risk sex," Linda said.

Irwanto, a professor from the Atmajaya University, said that it was only recently that the threat of long-term intimate relationships as possible HIV infection sources was realized.

He said a few years ago the focus had been on IDU (injection drug users). It was only recently realized that drug users were recognized to have girlfriends, wives and families, who are at high risk of contracting the disease.

Nafsiah Mboi,secretary for the National AIDS Commission, said that despite the successful campaigns on IDUs and drug use in relations the HIV, the efforts to prevent sexual transmission of HIV in the country had been much less successful.