Indonesian Muslims Protest French President

Thousands of people gathered at Indonesia’s French Embassy to protest French President Emmanuel Macron. Macron has a history of anti-Muslim rhetoric and recently defended the publication of caricatures depicting the Prophet Muhammad. 

Muslims in Indonesia. Lennon Ying-Dah Wong. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 

On Nov. 2, thousands of people gathered outside the French Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, to protest French President Emmanuel Macron. 

Macron defended the publication of cartoons that depict the Prophet Muhammad, which many have deemed inflammatory. The cartoons were originally published in the Charlie Hebdo magazine in 2015. They were republished in September to mark the opening of the trial for the 2015 attacks against the magazine’s staff, which were partially motivated by the publication of the cartoons. 

Last month, the cartoons were a topic of discussion in a Paris classroom during a lecture on freedom of expression. After the lecture, on Oct. 16, the teacher who led the class was beheaded by a student enraged by the cartoon being shown in class. In a separate incident on Oct. 29, three people were stabbed to death in the seaside town of Nice by a Tunisian man yelling “Allahu Akbar,” a commonly used phrase meaning “God is greatest.” Though it has an innocuous meaning and is used in a number of day-to-day situations, the phrase has been tarnished by an association with terrorist acts, such as the 2015 Charlie Hebdo attack.   

These recent incidents have reinvigorated anti-Muslim sentiment in France, and Macron has been criticized for his comments. Macron told the news site Al-Jazeera that he understands people’s concern over the cartoons, but said that he “will always defend in my country the freedom to speak, to write, to think, to draw.” He maintained his stance that the cartoons were protected under freedom of expression after the beheading of the teacher in October, and has been accused by some of spreading anti-Muslim sentiment in his statements. 

Macron has received criticism for his anti-Muslim rhetoric in the past. On Oct. 2, he called Islam a religion “in crisis” around the world and introduced a plan to push what he termed “Islamist radicalism” out of French education and the public sector. In the same speech, he announced the government’s intention to present a bill strengthening a 1905 law officially separating the church and state in France. 

In Indonesia, the French Embassy was heavily guarded and protected by barbed wire, but over 2,000 people stood outside chanting and holding signs. Protesters displayed banners that read “Macron is the real terrorist,” “Go to hell Macron,” and “Macron is devil” and called for a boycott of French goods. Some protesters stomped on Louis Vuitton bags to demonstrate their rejection of French products. Speakers at the protest demanded that Macron apologize and take back his anti-Muslim comments. They also called for the immediate removal of the French ambassador. 

On Oct. 31, Indonesian President Joko Widodo condemned the terrorist attacks in Paris and Nice while also speaking out against Macron’s defense of the cartoons. Widodo argued that freedom of expression that tarnishes the honor of religious symbols could not be justified and said that “linking religion with terrorist acts is a big mistake.” Muslims in France have repeatedly denounced the terrorist acts. 

Rachel Lynch

is a student at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, NY currently taking a semester off. She plans to study Writing and Child Development. Rachel loves to travel and is inspired by the places she’s been and everywhere she wants to go. She hopes to educate people on social justice issues and the history and culture of travel destinations through her writing.

What Makes Bhutan So Happy?

Meet the country which prioritizes the contentment of its citizens before everything else through its “Gross National Happiness” program.

Bhutanese children. r y _ _ _ _ . CC BY-NC 2.0

Imagine a country hidden away from the rest of the world. Tucked in between China and India, the world’s most populous countries, little Bhutan rests at the base of the Himalayan mountains. The rural country long ago made the decision to close off its borders to most tourism in hopes of preserving the nation’s unique Buddhist culture and the identity of its 740,000 people. In 1974 the country gradually reopened, though the Bhutanese monarchy was reluctant for the nation to be connected with the rapidly urbanizing world. Bhutan could not be completely isolated for long due to globalization, and in 1999 internet and Wi-Fi were quickly introduced. Being alone for so long, Bhutan was innovative in ways that made sense for its culture and ecosystem.

Dochula Pass. Göran Höglund (Kartläsarn). CC BY 2.0

Bhutan is unique in its location and recent connections to the outside world, but it’s the traditions and customs within Bhutan that really make it a sight to behold. Even during the age of colonization and imperialization, Bhutan was never colonized. The country’s official religion remains Vajrayana Buddhism, a deity-dense, merit-based and karma-focused faith implemented into everyday life and routines. 

Bhutan Buddhist monk sand art. John K. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Dance of the death god. jmhullot. CC BY-SA 2.0

Ecology is everything. Bhutan is the only carbon negative nation in the modern world, absorbing three times more carbon than it produces. In light of climate change, that feat is revolutionary. Its government has established laws that require Bhutan to always have its area 60% covered in forest lands. Keeping in mind its minimal carbon footprint, Bhutan is still vigilant about tourists who enter the country, always prioritizing  the preservation of the nation’s cohesive identity. The tourist industry is nationally regulated, making it expensive and difficult to travel to. Documents and visas are issued by state-appointed companies and provide visitors with everything, including hotels, insurance and most importantly a guide who must accompany travelers at all times. 

Ecology is everything. 360around. CC BY 2.0

Ecology and tourism are not the only things the government has taken to regulating. Bhutan is once again unique in national policy, measuring its nation’s happiness. Outsiders like to say that Bhutan is the “happiest country in the world” and the statistics given by Bhutan back up this claim. In 2015, the annual extensive survey that gauges the nation’s happiness concluded that 91% of its population was happy.” The Ministry of Happiness measures the contentment of its population with “Gross National Happiness” (GNH). 

King of Bhutan. Bhutan-360. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Ex-Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay defined it as “a developing philosophy that acknowledges that economic growth is important, but that growth must not be mindless, but sustainable.”

Much like a country’s gross domestic product, GNH is considered important. Established in 2008, the Gross National Happiness Commission was appointed to take into consideration and care the inner peace of Bhutan’s people. Broken down into four pillars, nine domains and 72 indicators, GNH is a difficult concept to comprehend. The country’s leaders take into account how happy its people are in every aspect of life: governance, health, education, living standards, culture, ecology, time use and psychological well-being. 

Tobgay breaks Bhutan’s complicated process down to three components: the key to happiness is security, identity and purpose. These things are not mutually exclusive; they reinforce one another in every direction, both on an individual and a national level. He says that, “The government has a responsibility to ensure the whole nation has individual pursuit of the keys to happiness.” 

Temple overlooking the Himalayas. Jean Marie Hullot. CC BY-SA 2.0

The Bhutanese are often misunderstood. Outsiders often believe that just because they have GNH, it automatically makes them the happiest country in comparison to all others. They have free health care, free education, clean air, a thriving environment and a strong sense of community. But Tobgay argues that the Bhutanese still struggle because that is what it means to be human. Bhutan is a “real country with real people, and real desires.” Although every person may suffer from inner turmoil for whatever reason, the Bhutanese should be happy knowing that they have been given the keys to happiness.

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Yuliana Rocio

Yuliana is currently a Literature/Writing major at the University of California San Diego. Yuliana likes to think of herself as a lover of words and a student of the world. She loves to read, swim, and paint in her free time. She spent her youth as part of a travel-loving family and has grown up seeking adventure. She hopes to develop her writing skills, creating work that reflects her voice and her fierce passion for activism.

Sri Lanka Strives Toward Gender Equality Through Economic Empowerment

Sri Lanka’s efforts to combat the gender gap allow women to support themselves and their communities. 

Women selling produce at a market in Sri Lanka. imke.sta. CC2.0

Nicknamed the “pearl of the Indian Ocean” and famous for its spices, unique culture and lush ecosystems, Sri Lanka is also known for its advances in gender equality. The island nation became in 1960 the first country in the world to elect a female prime minister, Sirimavo Bandaranaike. Sri Lanka has also long provided free and compulsory education for men and women up to the university level.

Even so, high levels of gender-based violence are present throughout the country and the unemployment rate of women is twice that of men. Most women occupy low-paying positions in agriculture and the garment industry with little chance of economic mobility. Although well-respected in the Asia-Pacific region, Sri Lanka’s educational system often enforces traditional ideological and cultural beliefs, which can perpetuate negative stereotypes about women.  A university-level education does not guarantee women positions of power, with large disparities between men and women in science, technology and political positions throughout the country. Additionally, a 26-year-long civil war (1983-2009) isolated Sri Lanka from the modern world, allowing traditional gender roles to thrive in war-affected areas.

Developing economic opportunities for women has the potential to overcome barriers to gender equality. Here are two organizations working to do just that:

Women receiving medical training provided by the Women’s Development Centre. Rajapaksa. CC2.0

The Women’s Development Center

This Sri Lanka-based nongovernmental organization has made incredible strides in supporting at-risk women, children and people with disabilities since its founding in 1986. With the goal of creating opportunities for marginalized groups, the group is on its way to “creating a just and secure society for women and children.” Although the organization has a multifaceted approach, social enterprises and economic empowerment remain its key goals. The social enterprise “Sthree”, meaning “woman” in Tamil and Sinhala, was founded in 2011 with the goal of empowering women and their local communities. The platform provides a market in Kandy for Sri Lankan women and disabled people to sell handmade products, such as saris, jewelry, decor, snacks and chutneys, recycled paper products and eco-friendly purses and handbags. Sthree also provides training and skill-building workshops for women and disabled individuals. Sthree is beginning to expand to an international clientele, even hosting an international exhibition and sale in Sweden in 2016.

A woman making brooms for a woman’s cooperative in Sri Lanka. Foley. CC2.0

Puthukkudiyiruppu Women Entrepreneurs’ Cooperative Society

The PTK Cooperative, initially founded by Krishnakumar Jeyaranjini and 14 other women in 2012, provides a platform for war-affected women to support themselves and their families economically. The business has expanded over the years, producing detergent, chili powder and rice flour. The organization has the backing of the International Labour Organization (ILO), which helps link it to buyers, markets and social enterprises. The organization enables collaboration between women from different ethnic groups and communities in Sri Lanka, helping to create social cohesion and tolerance. The organization continues to defy gender norms and stereotypes.  “Often the words ‘woman’ and ‘detergent’ bring out gendered images of a woman washing clothes at home, not of a woman owning or running a successful detergent-producing enterprise,” said Simrin Singh, director of the ILO country office for Sri Lanka. “It is stories of our work empowering women like Jeyaranjini, building block by block, that are the essential inspiration so many other women in this country could use to break the barriers to their empowerment.”

Although Sri Lanka has made considerable progress toward gender equality in the last 50 years, many obstacles remain. Empowering women at a grassroots level helps provide women more economic agency while ensuring the well-being of generations to come. 

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Megan Gürer

Megan is a Turkish-American student at Wellesley College in Massachusetts studying Biological Sciences. Passionate about environmental issues and learning about other cultures, she dreams of exploring the globe. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, singing, and composing music.

Following the Blast in Beirut, How Ready is Lebanon for Visitors?

The Aug. 4 blast in Beirut’s port devastated the city but also affected the entire country. Shock waves reverberated throughout the region, being felt as far away as Cyprus and Jordan. The cause was obscene negligence in the storage of ammonium nitrate, a component of many explosives, and the effect is 300,000 people left homeless, up to 220 dead, and parts of the city center in ruins. The scene harkens back to Lebanon’s tumultuous history of war and civil strife and effectively takes Beirut off the map in terms of international tourism.

This is all the more saddening given Lebanon’s storied history, vibrant culture and natural beauty. Lebanon has earned an unfortunate reputation as an unsafe travel destination due to its fraught political history and geographical proximity to war-torn nations such as Syria. Though a history of war still lives in the nation’s collective memory, most people view it as a piece of the past. Before the blast, Lebanon reported a record number of visitors, with just under 2 million travelers passing through in 2018 alone.

A cursory glance at the country reveals why. Though small, Lebanon’s landscape is astonishingly diverse. Its coastline holds balmy beaches and resorts, many started in the 1950s during the country’s first tourism boom. Farther inland, the Lebanon Mountains offer slopes for skiers of every skill level for a fraction of the cost compared to the Swiss Alps.

Hasroun, a village in northern Lebanon. Paul Saad. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Natural beauty is not the only wonder found in Lebanon. The Temple of Bacchus, one of the best preserved Roman ruins in the world, displays the full glory of Lebanon’s past, demonstrating the variety of influences it enjoyed due to its historical role as a Mediterranean trade hub. Arts events like the Cedars International Festival have drawn artists from around the world, including Shakira and Andrea Bocelli, with massive crowds in tow. Beirut’s nightlife alone was enough to draw thousands to its late-night parties with strobe lights, pulsing music and freely flowing liquor.

A concert in Byblos. Hisham Assaad. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

No longer. The blast damaged 2,000 venues in Beirut, many of them deciding not to rebuild. Months prior to the blast, the COVID-19 pandemic decimated the service industry, and a prolonged economic crisis which has endangered the lower and middle classes strained the balance sheets of nightclub owners. The explosion further compounds their plight. 

Equally bleak are the prospects for recovery. Rebuilding the city is estimated to cost $15 billion, a quarter of Lebanon’s GDP in 2019, and talks with the International Monetary Fund for a $10 billion bailout have led nowhere. The prime minister, along with most of his cabinet, resigned shortly after the explosion, leaving Lebanon in both physical and economic ruin with no leadership. The Lebanese dollar has lost 80% of its value while inflation has reached 112%. This has left thousands of people struggling or unable to buy food. The situation, by any metric, is abysmal. 

Lebanon’s tourism prospects are about as dire as those for its economy. Clearly, it is unwise to travel in the midst of a global pandemic to a country whose hospitals are already full. While tourism would pump much-needed dollars into the economy, it would be difficult to find food and lodging in a country not far removed from famine. Before travelers begin to think of visiting Lebanon, the country must rebuild. Only time will tell how long that process will take.

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Michael McCarthy

Michael is an undergraduate student at Haverford College, dodging the pandemic by taking a gap year. He writes in a variety of genres, and his time in high school debate renders political writing an inevitable fascination. Writing at CATALYST and the Bi-Co News, a student-run newspaper, provides an outlet for this passion. In the future, he intends to keep writing in mediums both informative and creative.

VIDEO: Indonesia's Mentawai Tribe

To give Joshua Cowan’s film even deeper meaning, it’s important to understand context. Mentawai is an archipelago found off the west coast of Sumatra (Indonesia) consisting of approximately 70 islands and islets. The history of the people is often debated, but as early as 1954, under Indonesia’s goal of national unity and cultural adaptation, the National Government began introducing civilization programs designed to integrate the tribal groups into the social and cultural mainstream of the country. This, for native Mentawai, meant the eradication of Arat Sabulungan — the animist belief system that links the supernatural powers of ancestral spirits to the ecology of the rainforest — ; the forced surrender, burning and destruction of possessions used to facilitate cultural or ritual behavior; and their Sikerei (shamans) being disrobed, beaten, and forced into slave labor and imprisonment.

Under Pancasila — the official, foundational philosophical theory of Indonesia — the Indonesian state should be based on the Five Principles: Indonesian nationalism; Internationalism, or Humanism; Consent, or Democracy; Social prosperity; and Belief in One God. Based on the Indonesian notion ‘belief in one God’, there are officially only five religions recognized: Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Which, for the Mentawai Islands, resulted in an immediate influx of missionaries and an increase in violence and pressure on the people to adopt change. In the end many chose Christianity due to its flexible views on the possession and consumption of pigs, which play an integral role in Mentawai history and culture.

By the late 1980’s loggers had devastated the forests of Sipora, North and South Pagai. In 1980, WWF (World Wildlife Fund) published a report entitled ‘Saving Siberut’ which, along with the support of other organizations – primarily UNESCO and Survival International – and other additional international interest, helped persuade the Indonesian government to cancel logging concessions and declare the forests of Siberut a biosphere reserve. With this, the people in the Mentawai found that they were once again free to practice their native cultural activities – at least in areas away from the villages.

However, by this point, and as it remains today, the number of Indigenous people still actively practicing the cultural customs, rituals and ceremonies of Arat Sabulungan had already been limited to a very small population of clans primarily located around the Sarereiket and Sakuddei regions in the south of Siberut Island.

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Raeann Mason

Raeann is an avid traveler, digital storyteller and guide writer. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Comm & Media Studies from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Communication. Passionate about a/effective journalism and cultural exchange, she is an advocate of international solidarity and people's liberation. As the founder of ROAM + WRITE and EIC of Monarch Magazine, Raeann hopes to reshape the culture of travel and hospitality to be ethically sound and sustainable.

East Asia Braces Itself as the 2020 Typhoon Season Begins

Southeast Asia is known for its tropical climate and distinct rainy, or monsoon, season. This sort of climate brings about an annual typhoon season. Typhoons are mature, tropical cyclones that mostly occur in the Pacific Ocean. They carry with them heavy winds, rain and tornadoes that rip through villages and beaches. These storms have the potential to be devastating, a fact confirmed by history several times over.

Thailand

While Thailand is not hit with as much force as its southern neighbors, the typhoon season is still clear. From September through November, the country is prone to typhoons with the potential to change the country’s landscape and infrastructure. 

In 2006, Typhoon Xangsane made landfall in the Philippines and devastated its way across Laos, Vietnam and Thailand. It wiped out 810 square miles of farmland across Thailand and caused 47 deaths. The storm brought with it strong winds, landslides and torrential rain that wiped out villages and caused hundreds of families to become homeless. 

Fortunately for Thailand, most storms are not nearly as devastating as Xangsane. Monsoons can be counted on, though, to bring about tropical storms each year. 

Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia 

These three Southeast Asian countries feel the brunt of two different sets of cyclones. Typhoons move in from the northern Pacific, while tropical cyclones make landfall from the south. While safety measures are in place, such as shelters, help lines and emergency services, ultimately their geographic location leaves them vulnerable to Mother Nature’s worst.

In 2017, Vietnam experienced its deadliest typhoon since 2001. Dubbed Typhoon Damrey, the storm originated in the Philippines’ Visayan archipelago toward the end of the rainy season and killed at least 123 people and over 600 injured. The severe flooding and winds swept away anything that was not secured to the ground and left an estimated $1 billion in damages across Vietnam. Since then, the country has taken measures to ensure that it has a better communication system for its citizens to learn about the threat of storms as they arise. 

Korea 

Farther north, the Korean Peninsula sits in a spot not nearly as impacted by typhoon season as countries in Southeast Asia. While the peninsula experiences jangma, or the rainy season, its normal extent is heavy rains that inconvenience residents. This shows just how quickly tropical storms lose power as they move inland; they dissipate soon after doing so. 

A recent exception was Typhoon Hagupit, which made landfall in August. The Category 1 typhoon traveled north from the Philippines to China before impacting Korea as a subtropical storm. South Korea reported 15 deaths along with considerable property damage from the storm. 

The western Pacific typically sees more tropical storms than anywhere else in the world. About one-third of the world’s natural disasters occur in the region, and the numbers only seem to increase each year. These storms have caused countries to increase safety measures, focus on disaster communication, develop evacuation measures and create safe spots in public areas. The countries are well-known among visitors, but during the rainy season, the more experienced traveler might count these locations out.

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Elizabeth Misnick

Elizabeth is a Professional Writing and Rhetoric major at Baylor University. She grew up in a military family and lived in Europe for almost half her life, traveling and living in different countries. She hopes to continue writing professionally throughout her career and publish her writing in the future.

Women’s Rights Activists Celebrate the Abolishment of Bride Kidnapping in Indonesia

Kawin tangkap is a long-established, controversial practice that still occurs on the small island of Sumba in Indonesia. Kawin tangkap, or bride kidnapping, is carried out when members of the man’s family kidnap women who they have selected as their wives. The practice has long been argued against by women’s rights activists. After all, if the women leave the forced marriage they are ridiculed by their villages and told that they will never have a husband or children. On the other hand, if the women stay, they have no decision in the matter and remain in the marriage for the remainder of their lives. The issue came to light recently when a video of a kidnapping circulated online, sparking outrage and petitions for the abolishment of the practice.

Part of the Sumbese Culture? 

Regional leaders of Sumba have come forward, signing a declaration and stating that the well-known practice is not a part of their culture and traditions. Frans Wora Hebi, a Sumbese historian and elder, speculates that the shift from marriages to forcibly taking women has been “used by people wanting to force women to marry them without consequences.” The Indonesian government has responded by passing a law banning the practice, but the details and consequences have not yet been released. 

Women Who Have Shared their Stories

Some women have spoken about their experiences, saying that it “felt like I was dying” as they were led away “kicking and screaming.” Two women who came forward shared their stories, with one thinking she was walking into a work meeting and another nursing her 11-month-old son outside of her home. Both were able to walk away from the situation physically unscathed but have to carry the scars from the experience for the rest of their lives. Both have “forgiven” the perpetrators in order to preserve family relationships for the future. 

How Has It Continued?

In the last four years, seven cases have been documented, but it’s been speculated that many more have happened. While a “memorandum of understanding between the provincial East Nusa Tenggara government and the regional government of Sumba showing their commitment to ending the practice” has been signed, a local parliamentarian commented that they were “not convinced it can be entirely abolished.” The statement was made following the observations that the practice is seen mainly in isolated villages, the attacks are unexpected and many women do not come forward to file criminal cases. Instead, they stay with their new groom and family, which leaves police powerless to do anything about the issue. Part of the problem comes from the fact that there were formerly only social reprimands against the practice, with no long-term consequences. However, with the recent bill passed, the practice is now outlawed - a win for women who have been fighting against bride kidnapping for years. 

Elizabeth Misnick

is a Professional Writing and Rhetoric major at Baylor University. She grew up in a military family and lived in Europe for almost half her life, traveling and living in different countries. She hopes to continue writing professionally throughout her career and publish her writing in the future.

U.N. Drops Saudi Arabia-Led Coalition From Blacklist Despite Recent Killings of Children

With no evidence that children are safe, the U.N. decided to remove the Saudi Arabia-led coalition in Yemen off a blacklist for violations of children’s rights. 

Child in Yemen among the rubble. Carl’s eye. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

On June 17, the U.N. made the decision to remove the military coalition led by Saudi Arabia from one of its blacklists. The significance of this specific list, which focuses on children in armed conflict, is to shame groups that are guilty of violating the rights of children. Anyone can be placed on the list for a multitude of violations ranging from killing children to the recruitment of children for war. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated that the coalition’s removal was decided by efforts made to reduce the number of deaths and decrease the airstrikes that caused the killings over the previous three years.

However, there is a discrepancy in the decision. According to data released by the U.N., 222 children were hospitalized or killed as a result of these attacks last year. In addition, several hours after the U.N. announced its decision to remove the coalition, four children were killed in an attack in northwest Yemen.           

The war in Yemen can be traced back to 2011. Following the Arab Spring, there has been unrest due to a failed political transition that led to terrorist attacks, a separatist movement and corruption. However, in 2014 a rebel group known as the Houthis, backed by Iran, ousted the government. What started out as a civil war transitioned into a conflict with neighboring countries as the Saudi Arabia-led coalition stepped in, attempting to help restore the government and defeat the Houthis.  

Child of Yemen. Carl’s eye. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

As of March 2020, it is estimated that 7,700 civilians have died in the war, largely due to airstrikes from the coalition. However, these are only verified deaths. Some statistics estimate it to be as high as 100,000 fatalities. On top of the conflict, Yemen has been experiencing one of the worst famines it has seen in over 100 years. The country is considered the poorest Arab nation, and the war has ruined the economy to the extent that many people, especially children, are considered malnourished.                                                            

There has been backlash over the U.N.’s decision to remove the coalition from the blacklist. From a video posted by Al Jazeera, protests have taken to the streets outside of the U.N. headquarters in Yemen to speak of their disapproval. The main concern is that the removal could leave children vulnerable to future attacks, as voiced by groups like Save the Children. Observers are also questioning the integrity of the blacklist itself, including Iran which said that “the U.N. is giving a free pass.” Iran claims that the Houthis and the Yemeni government have been responsible for the same number of deaths yet only the Houthis remain on the list.

Guterres has said that U.N. would monitor the coalition’s activity over the next year. If there is an increase in children’s casualties, the coalition would be placed back on the list.

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Eva Ashbaugh

Eva is a Political Science and Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies double major at the University of Pittsburgh. As a political science major concentrating on International Relations, she is passionate about human rights, foreign policy, and fighting for equality. She hopes to one day travel and help educate people to make the world a better place.

Overpopulated Indonesia Fears Baby Boom Due to Coronavirus

After months of telling its citizens to stay at home, Indonesia is now facing fears of a potential baby boom.

Traffic in Bandung, Indonesia. Ikhsan Assidiqie. Licensed by Unsplash.

With the country under quarantine from COVID-19, many people have stopped going to clinics to get contraceptives out of fear of catching the virus. This projected increase in pregnancies comes after extensive efforts by the country to encourage smaller families, an action taken in order to fight against the concern of child malnutrition. This problem is so severe that government vehicles drove around the cities and pleaded with the public through loudspeakers: “You can have sex. You can get married. But don’t get pregnant. Dads, please control yourself. You can get married. You can have sex as long as you use contraception.”  

The National Population and Family Planning Board (BKKBN) is Indonesia’s government-backed family planning program tasked with helping married couples manage the creation of their families. BKKBN is widely successful and employs 24,000 counselors to help execute their mission, much of which includes distributing free contraceptives to the public. 

The agency recently determined that there had been a significant decrease in the use of contraception between March and April of 2020 and that about 10 million couples in the country no longer had access to a form of birth control. An increase in pregnancy rates is deeply concerning for the Indonesian government because the country is struggling to manage the current population size given its available space and resources. In order to try and alleviate some of these effects, the government has openly discouraged people from having large families for years and freely provided various forms of birth control. About half of those who use contraceptives receive monthly or trimonthly hormone injections, 20% use birth control pills and many use IUDs. Condoms remain unpopular, though, across the country. It is worth noting that abortion in Indonesia is only permitted if it is “to save the woman’s life.” There are many possible contributors to the drop in contraceptive use during this quarantine period, such as a fear of leaving the house to acquire contraceptives (especially from hospitals), closed contraception clinics and other closed health care providers. 

One significant consequence of Indonesia’s population struggles is child malnutrition, a problem that Indonesian President Joko Widodo promised to alleviate within 4 to 5 years. More severe cases of child malnutrition (especially when paired with poor hygiene) can result in child stunting, a condition where the child is more than two standard deviations below the median of child growth standards as determined by the World Health Organization. If children are experiencing stunting then they are more susceptible to pneumonia, diarrhea and a weakened immune system. Given that COVID-19 is known to be more fatal for those with compromised immune systems, this is an especially pertinent concern. Long-term effects include an increased chance of experiencing chronic diseases such as hypertension and a lowered IQ. According to the organization 1,000 Days Fund, a group dedicated to the elimination of stunting, children with stunting can miss about a year of school because of the sickness. While Widodo has found some success in lowering the number of child stunting cases in the past few years, this period of quarantining may prove to be a major setback.

BKKBN announced that Indonesia should expect about 420,000 more babies than the average 4.8 million in the upcoming year. One demography expert at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Dr. Augustina Situmorang, believes pregnancy spikes are most likely to occur in low-income families who relied on the previously-accessible birth control provided by BKKBN in addition to young women who lost their jobs, had to return to their hometowns, and then had to get married due to social pressures. 

Indonesia’s health care system is already working overtime and has suffered considerably from COVID-19, registering more than 33,000 cases and over 1,900 deaths. Nevertheless, the government is attempting some preventive measures to combat more potential pregnancies. This includes allowing access to multiple months of birth control pills at a time, making door-to-door deliveries of contraceptives along with emergency supplies, and hoping to distribute contraceptives to 1 million people on June 29, dubbed “National Family Day.” Going forward, the Indonesian government will have to move efficiently if it wants to limit the burden felt by the Indonesian health care system with future generations.

Phoebe Jacoby

is a Media Studies major and Studio Art minor at Vassar College who believes in the importance of sharing stories with others. Phoebe likes to spend her free time reading, drawing, and writing letters. She hopes to continue developing her skills as a writer and create work that will have a positive outward effect.

Bloom: Japan

In April this year, director Julian Lucas went on holiday to Japan - his camera came with him.

The result is the film Bloom.

He discovered a peculiar sense of quiet, desolation, and loneliness among the people.
In a country so packed with lights and trains and crowds and experiences, from the theatrical to the serene to patently bizarre, Bloom captures this lovely dichotomy between the people and the cities they inhabit. Inside the noise and the chaos, Julian captures people alone, wandering the streets, buried in telephones - a dull, menacing and peaceful nothingness below the surface.

What’s most inspiring about the footage is the way that it doesn’t struggle or form its way into any kind of narrative - Julian just lets the film be exactly what it is. But in that loose process, which is unlikely an accident, there’s this dizzying repetition that tells us something quite profound about Japanese culture. The score, too, by Matt Hadley, dances with the vision. At times intense and jarring, edited cleverly to interplay with the captured audio. At times serene and beautiful, with layered synths and string lines that dance softly up and down the keyboard.

“I wanted the soundtrack to be it's own character,” says Julian. “I wanted the viewer to be as audibly stimulated as they are visually. And I wanted sounds from the real world to contribute to the rhythm and pacing of the piece.”

Gender Matters in Coastal Livelihood Programs in Indonesia

Significant investments have been made in improving the well-being of Indonesian coastal communities in recent decades. However, most of these programs have not tackled gender inequalities.

Projects based on comprehensive understanding of gender norms in coastal communities will contribute to improved community wellbeing. www.shutterstock.com

Our team studied 20 coastal livelihood programs implemented across the Indonesian archipelago from 1998 to 2017. Our aim was to see how gender issues were considered in project design and implementation.

The Indonesian government, international governments, international development and lending agencies and non-government conservation organisations funded these projects.

Most projects included women in activities to enhance or introduce new livelihoods. However, 40% of the projects were gender-blind with respect to the design and impact of their activities. This means that activities may have further entrenched processes that disadvantage women by limiting their ability to pursue their own livelihood goals.

Only two projects (10%) used an approach that sought to challenge entrenched gender norms and truly empower women.

We recommend future projects be developed with a comprehensive understanding of gender norms within coastal communities. Participatory approaches that address and challenge these norms should be implemented. This will more effectively contribute to improvements in community well-being.

What we found

Our study, which assessed livelihood programs from various regions throughout Indonesia – including Bali, Sulawesi and West Papua – found 95% of programs had directly or indirectly included women. They did so through activities such as providing training and equipment to support alternative sources of income – e.g. making fish or mangrove-based food products.

Only three of the 20 projects provided gender awareness training for staff members and community facilitators. Only one provided similar training at the community level. In addition, two projects included a gender quota for community facilitators (30-50% female).

However, we found most projects applied either a “gender reinforcing” approach – reinforcing the existing gender norms and relations that underlie social and economic inequalities between men and women – or a “gender accommodating” approach – recognising these norms and relations but making no attempt to challenge them.

For example, many projects included separate “women’s activities”, such as handicrafts manufacture, or sought to increase household income by engaging women in income-generating enterprise groups. However, there was little consideration of how women would balance these activities with traditional caring and household roles, or of other ways women contributed to the household economy.

What we can do

Based on our findings, we recommend a “gender transformative” approach. Firstly, this approach involves mainstreaming gender issues across entire project cycles. Secondly, it involves working with coastal communities to identify and, where appropriate, challenge existing gender norms and social relations.

A core component of these projects is gender analysis. This is a process that identifies:

• men’s and women’s activities within the home and community

• differences in men’s and women’s access to, control over and use of livelihood resources

• differences in participation in processes that govern management of natural resources

• the gender norms and relations governing these differences

• their impact on men’s and women’s livelihood opportunities.

For example, the Coastal Field School program included participatory activities that documented men’s and women’s daily activities. This activity highlighted the time women spent on caring and household duties and unpaid supportive contributions to “men’s activities”.

When undertaken in a participatory manner, this analysis helps communities to identify local, and broader structural, barriers to gender equality. They can then identify options and potential actions for overcoming these barriers. This creates a more equitable social and economic environment.

Summary of the characteristics of approaches to gender in development programs (based on Lawless et al. 2017), with examples of typical project activities drawn from our. study. Stacey et al (2019).

This process must be sensitively facilitated because it may confront traditional power hierarchies within communities. It also takes time, which must be factored into project cycles.

The use of gender-transformative approaches can improve the well-being of coastal communities by identifying and reducing barriers to equitable participation in social and economic life. This increases the ability of men and women to pursue enhanced or alternative livelihood opportunities.

Finally, recognising women’s contributions, building women’s confidence and giving women voice to participate in local community planning processes creates greater opportunities for issues of concern to women to be included in the development agenda.

Natasha Stacey is a Associate Professor, Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, College of Engineering, IT and Environment, Charles Darwin University

Emily Gibson is a PhD Candidate, Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University

THIS ARTICLE WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON THE CONVERSATION

During Floods, Floating Schools Bring the Classroom to Students

Each year, over one-fifth of Bangladesh suffers from flooding. And when water overtakes already struggling roads, much of life is put on hold—including kids’ education. But if children can’t travel to the classroom, architect and entrepreneur Mohammed Rezwan thought, why not have it travel to them? Welcome aboard the Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha floating school—a network of boats that’s both school bus and schoolhouse for students ages six to ten in Northern Bangladesh.

Fighting to End Child Marriage in Lebanon

Ghassan Idriss knows firsthand the harmful effects of child marriage on society. Having married at a young age to a woman even younger than himself, Idriss and his wife faced struggles that so many other couples in his home country of Lebanon grapple with. Now, with three daughters of his own, Idriss is doing everything he can to educate those around him about the dangers of this antiquated institution. By hosting talks, he’s using his voice to spark change within his community.

This Surgeon Has Restored Sight to 130,000 of Nepal’s Blind

Dr. Sanduk Ruit is an ophthalmologist on a mission to restore sight to Nepal’s blind. He is the executive director of the nonprofit Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology in Kathmandu, Nepal, and has operated on more than 130,000 patients. He has adopted innovative surgical techniques for cataracts and often travels to perform operations, walking up to seven days hauling surgical equipment to reach patients who live in Nepal’s most remote villages. Why does Dr. Ruit do this? He lost family to treatable diseases and knows what it’s like not to have access to healthcare.

Palestinians Protest Puma

Palestinian activists, organized by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBL), protested and boycotted German athletics company Puma the weekend of June 15. They targeted stores in 15 different countries as a way of spreading information about the boycott. As of last year, Puma began sponsoring the Israeli Football Association (IFA). The IFA hosts games in Israeli settlements held on traditional Palestinian land. This is in violation of both international law and FIFA (football’s governing body) rules. The protesters feel that Puma is profiting off this situation, as well as normalizing it for the rest of the world.

Six teams play in this section of the West Bank. In 2018, Puma began sponsoring the IFA as part of a 4-year deal to provide equipment, including kits, for Israel’s national football teams. Adidas had been the IFA’s sponsor for the last 10 years, until they ended their sponsorship over a similar boycott campaign in July 2018.

In December 2016, the UN Security Council reaffirmed the position that Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories are a violation of international law. In 1961, FIFA suspended apartheid-laden South Africa, but has said little about Israel and Palestine’s current problem. The Palestinian Football Association (PFA) called for a vote on Israel’s FIFA membership in 2014 and 2015, but ultimately backed down both times. In June 2019, FIFA’s Ethics Committee launched an investigation in PFA President Jibril Rajoub regarding statements and actions against Israel.

PACBL appealed to both Puma and Adidas on the basis of social justice. Puma launched a social justice campaign called #REFORM last year, inspired by American sprinter Tommie Smith, who raised his fist at the 1968 Olympic games in protest of racism. However, according to the Palestinian protesters, this hypocrisy in regards to justice shows that money is still the ultimate factor with sports sponsorships. There is always an element of calculation as to how beneficial the social justice commitment will be.

Ultimately, Puma’s decision—regardless of the protests—will come down to reputation. Meanwhile, the protests and boycott against Puma are supported by over 200 Palestinian sports associations and clubs, as well as prominent Palestinian athletes such as Aya Khattab, who is on the women’s national football team.

Mahmoud Sarsk, a Palestinian footballer who used to play on the national team, said, “Endless restrictions on freedom of movement, access to resources and fundamental civil liberties make engaging in sport a constant struggle for Palestinians—these violations of rights are totally incompatible with the principle of sport being accessible to all,” according to Aljazeera. Sarsk was imprisoned for three years by Israeli authorities without charges or a trial. This ended his career as a professional player.

In a statement last year, Adidas said they ended their sponsorship of the IFA for political reasons, as they upheld human rights and agreed with FIFA that a decision needed to be made regarding the state of the settlements. The protest included complaints from over 130 Palestinian football clubs, according to the Palestine Chronicle. Regardless, it was claimed afterwards that Adidas ended the sponsorship for non-political reasons, particularly since the sponsorship term was ending

The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement (BCD) is a Palestinian-led organization with a larger sports component, which is what the Puma boycott is part of. The sports component has been steadily growing since 2011.

The international response has also been growing. According to Mondoweiss, in February 2017 six NFL players withdrew from a PR trip to Israel, which serves as a prominent win for the BDS movement. Argentina also called off a friendly match with an Israeli team in Jerusalem last June. 

FIFA’s response has been lacking, but the international disdain has made it clear that Israel may soon start to run out of sponsors for its sports teams if something is not done about the settlements held on Palestinian land that violate International Law.

NOEMI ARELLANO-SUMMER is a journalist and writer living in Boston, MA. She is a voracious reader and has a fondness for history and art. She is currently at work on her first novel and wants to eventually take a trip across Europe.

Modern Shamans: Financial Managers, Political Pundits and Others Who Help Tame Life’s Uncertainty

Aka Manai explains that there are two kinds of people in the world: simata and sikerei.

I am a simata. He is a sikerei. Sikerei have undergone transformative experiences and emerged with new abilities: They alone can see spirits.

I’ve experienced a lot since that night in Indonesia when Aka Manai told me this. I was there when an initiate first saw spirits, when he and the other sikerei wept as they saw their dead fathers swirling around them. I’ve attended seven healing ceremonies, witnessing the slaughter of dozens of pigs to accompany nights of dancing. But that chat with kind-faced Aka Manai, more than any other experience, grounded my understanding of sikerei in particular and shamanism more generally.

A sikerei treats an initiate’s eyes so he, too, can see spirits. Manvir Singh, CC BY-ND

I’m a cognitive anthropologist who studies why societies everywhere develop complex yet strikingly similar traditions, ranging from dance songs to justice to shamanism. And though trancing witch doctors may sound exotic to a Western reader, I argue that the same social and psychological pressures that give rise to healers like Aka Manai produce shaman-analogues in the contemporary, industrialized West.

What is a shaman?

Shamans, including the sikerei I’ve known in Indonesia, are service providers. They specialize in healing and divination, and their services can range from ending a drought to growing a business. Like all magical specialists, they rely on spells and occult gizmos, but what makes shamans special is that they use trance.

Trance is any foreign psychological state in which a practitioner is said to engage with the supernatural. Some trances involve complete immobilization; others appear as tongue-lolling convulsions. In some South American groups, shamans enter trance by snorting a hallucinogenic powder, transforming themselves into crawling, unintelligible spirit-beings.

Being a shaman often carries benefits, both because they get paid and because their special position grants them prestige and influence.

But these advantages are offset by the ordeals involved. In many societies, a wannabe initiate lacks credibility until he (and it’s usually a he) undergoes a near-death experience or a long bout of asceticism.

One aboriginal Australian shaman told ethnographers that, as a novice, he was killed by an older shaman who then replaced his organs with a new, magical set. When he woke up from the surgery and asked the old shaman if he was lost, the old man replied, “No, you are not lost; I killed you a long time ago.”

A long time ago, a short time ago, here, there – wherever you look, there are shamans. Manifesting as mediums, channelers, witch doctors and the prophets of religious movements, shamans have appeared in most human societies, including nearly all documented hunter-gatherers. They characterized the religious lives of ancestral humans and are often said to be the “first profession.”

Why are there shamans?

Why is it that when we lanky primates get together for long enough, our societies reliably give rise to trance-dancing healers?

According to anthropologist Michael Winkelman, the answer is wisdom. Drugs and drumming, he’s argued, link up brain regions that don’t normally communicate. This connection yields new insights, allowing shamans to do things like heal sickness and locate animals. By specializing in trance, shamans uncover solutions inaccessible to normal brains.

Based on my fieldwork, I’ve argued against Winkelman’s account. Rather than all integrating people’s psychologies, trance states are wildly diverse. Chanting, sipping psychoactive brews such as ayahuasca, dancing to the point of exhaustion, even smoking extreme quantities of tobacco – these methods produce profoundly different states. Some are arousing, others calming; some expand awareness, others induce repetitive thinking. In fact, the only element shared among these states is their exoticness – that once altered, the shaman’s experience stands apart from those of his onlookers.

As part of his anthropological fieldwork, author Manvir Singh speaks with an Indonesian shaman. Luke Glowacki, CC BY-ND

Not only are shamans’ experiences exotic, their very beings are, too. As Aka Manai emphasized to me, people understand shamans to be different kinds of entities, made “other” by their ordeals. The Mentawai word for a non-shaman, simata, also describes uncooked food or unripe fruit; it implies immaturity. The word for shaman, in contrast, means a person who has undergone a process: one who has been kerei’d and come out the other side a sikerei.

This otherness is crucial. Convinced that shamans diverge from normal people, communities accept that they have superhuman abilities. Like Superman’s alien origins and the X-Men’s genetic mutations, shamans’ transformations assure people that they deviate from normal humanness, making their claims of supernatural engagement more believable.

And once people trust that a specialist engages with gods and spirits, they go to them when they need to influence uncertainty. A sick child’s parent or a farmer desperate for rain prefers to nudge the forces responsible for their hardship – and a shaman provides a compelling conduit for doing so.

This, I suggest, is why shamans recur around the world and across time. As specialists compete in markets for magic, they fuel the evolution of practices that hack people’s intuitions about magic and special abilities, convincing the rest of us that they can control uncertainty. Shamans are the culmination of this evolution. They use trance and initiations to transcend humanness, assuring their clients that they can commune with the invisible beings who oversee uncertain events.

Who are the shamans of the industrialized West?

Most people assume that shamanism has disappeared in the industrialized West – that it’s an ancient tradition of long-lost tribes, at most resurrected and corrupted by New Age xenophiles and overeager mystics.

To some extent, these people are right. Far fewer Westerners visit trance-practitioners to heal illness or call rain than people have elsewhere in the world or throughout history. But they’re also wrong. Like people everywhere, contemporary Westerners look to experts to achieve the impossible – to heal incurable illnesses, to forecast unknowable futures – and the experts, in turn, compete among themselves, performing to convince people of their special abilities.

So who are these modern shamans?

A specialist you can turn to for help divining the mysterious forces at work in financial markets. Matej Kastelic/Shutterstock.com

According to the cognitive scientist Samuel Johnson, financial money managers are likely candidates. Money managers fail to outperform the market – in fact, they even fail to systematically outperform each other – yet customers continue to pay them to divine future stock prices.

This faith might come from a belief of their fundamental otherness. Johnson points out that money managers emphasize their differences from clients, exhibiting extreme charisma and enduring superhuman work schedules. Managers also adorn themselves with advanced mathematical degrees and use complicated statistical models to predict the market. Although money managers don’t enter trance, their degrees and models assure clients that the specialists can peer into otherwise opaque forces.

Of course, money managers aren’t the only experts to specialize in the impossible. Psychics, sports analysts, political pundits, economic forecasters, esoteric healers and even an octopus similarly sate people’s desires to tame the uncertain. Like shamans and money managers, they decorate themselves with badges of credibility – an association with the White House, for example, or a familiarity with ancient Tibetan medicine – that persuade customers of their special abilities.

As long as hidden forces shape our fates, people will try to control them. And as long as it’s profitable, pseudo-experts will compete for desperate clients, dressing in the most credible and compelling costumes. Shamanism is not some arcane tradition restricted to an ancient past or New Age circles. It’s a near-inevitable consequence of our human intuitions about special abilities and our desire to control the uncertain, and elements of it appear everywhere.

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MANVIR SINGH is a PhD Candidate in Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University.

THIS ARTICLE WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON THE CONVERSATION

The Eerie History and Uncertain Future of Japan’s Rabbit Island

Ōkunoshima and its imperiled bunny population remind us that wildlife and tourism don’t always mix.

A cluster of bunnies on Rabbit Island. Cindy Pepper. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

From its many “cat islands,” which boast more feline than human residents, to Jigokudani Monkey Park, where visitors can observe macaques bathing in the naturally occurring hot springs, Japan seems to overflow with fantastical wildlife enclaves. Perhaps the most adorable of all is Ōkunoshima, or “Rabbit Island”—but the cotton-tailed denizens for which this island is known belie its sinister past and ambiguous future.

While Ōkunoshima, located in the Hiroshima Prefecture, is a popular tourist destination for those looking to get their kawaii fix, it was once hidden from maps due to its clandestine status as a World War II military location. Production of chemical weapons in the island’s poison gas factory began in 1929, and apart from factory workers and army higher-ups, few citizens were aware of its existence.

Ōkunoshima was chosen for its location: discreet enough for goings-on there to remain under the radar, and far enough from densely populated cities like Tokyo to prevent mass casualties in case of an accident. The factory there eventually produced more than 6,000 tons of gas—primarily mustard gas and the irritant lewisite—before its closure at the end of the war. Chemicals wereould be shipped to Kitakyushu in the Fukuoka Prefecture to be weaponized, eventually resulting in more than 80,000 casualties (including and more than 6,000 deaths) among Chinese soldiers and civilians.

Despite the fact that Japan was a signatory to the 1929 Geneva Convention banning the use of chemical weapons, none of the country’s citizens were prosecuted for employing poison gas. After Japan’s defeat in the war, most of the Ōkunoshima factory was destroyed, but laboratory buildings, the shell of a power plant, an army barracks, and a few other edifices remain. In 1988, local governmental entities and citizens opened the Poison Gas Museum to pay tribute to this dark and little-known facet of Japanese history. Displays include the ineffective protective gear worn by workers at the factory, which left them vulnerable to exposure and subsequent illness, as well as equipment used to manufacture the gases.

So where did the bunnies enter the equation? We know that a colony of rabbits was brought to the factory during its operational years to test the effects of poisons, but beyond that, theories diverge. Some suggest that the original crop of rabbits was destroyed along with the factory, while others claim that workers set the bunnies free after the war. Another theory asserts that schoolchildren brought eight rabbits to the island in 1971, where they bred until they reached their current population of approximately 1,000.

Tadanoumi Port viewed from the ferry to Ōkunoshima. Brian Shamblen. CC 2.0

Today, Ōkunoshima is easily accessible via a 15-minute ferry, and embodies peace, rest, and relaxation for tourists and locals alike. Visitors can easily explore it on foot (the island is less than 2.5 miles in circumference), collect souvenirs, dine, play tennis, swim in the ocean, and bathe in the hot spring—apart from communing with the wildlife, of course. Rabbit Island’s website describes it as a place to seek good fortune for your own family’s fertility, and advertises whipped ice cream and “original rabbit items” for sale, as well as octopus kelp rolls, a local delicacy known to pair well with sake.

Yet even the island’s thriving tourist industry and booming bunny population has a more sinister flip side. The wild rabbits depend on visitors for their food and water, but tourists often come bearing snacks that are harmful to the creatures’ delicate digestive systems—such as cabbage or vegetable peelings, which can cause fatal bloating. And while visitors are keen to share photos of their new fluffy friends online, social media has played a key role in destabilizing the rabbit population: Viral videos and articles have led to a vast influx of tourists in the past decade, and the resultant avalanche of snacks and treats has contributed to a breeding boom that the island’s ecosystem is unable to handle. These factors have combined to lower the bunnies’ life expectancy to only two years, compared to the three-to-five-year lifespan of the average wild rabbit.

The plight of the Ōkunoshima rabbits is just one example of the widespread harm social media has inflicted on wildlife populations across the globe: For instance, viral YouTube videos of slow lorises, wide-eyed nocturnal primates native to Southeast Asia, have led to people taking home lorises from the wild to keep as their own. Unfortunately, captivity is unhealthy for the animals, and they often end up relegated to props in tourist photos—or worse, sold into the illegal pet trade, and possibly slaughtered for use in cuisine or medicinals.

A curious bunny on Ōkunoshima seems to have mistaken the camera for a snack. Brian Shamblen. CC 2.0

Ultimately, bunny lovers need not be deterred from visiting Ōkunoshima, but following the rules is essential in order to treat the creatures kindly and foster their health and wellness. The Rabbit Island website lays out guidelines for responsible rabbit enthusiasts—including “refill water pans” and “check under your car,” as curious bunnies might hide underneath to escape the hot sun—and travelers can use their visit as an opportunity to educate friends and family about the unique perils posed to wildlife in the digital age. Approaching this mystical island mindfully is a small yet important step in helping the myriad diverse populations of the animal kingdom survive and thrive for many years to come.

TALYA PHELPS hails from the wilds of upstate New York, but dreams of exploring the globe. As former editor-in-chief at the student newspaper of her alma mater, Vassar College, and the daughter of a journalist, she hopes to follow her passion for writing and editing for many years to come. Contact her if you're looking for a spirited debate on the merits of the em dash vs. the hyphen.

VIDEO: Nepal Times

James Baker took this video to portray his adventures in the mystical land of Nepal. The video shows a cross-section through jungle, city, and mountains in Nepal.

In Japan, Repairing Buildings Without a Single Nail

In the past, making and developing metal was too costly for carpenters in Japan. So instead of using nails, carpenters called “miyadaiku” developed unique methods for interlocking pieces of wood together, similar to a giant 3D puzzle. Takahiro Matsumoto has been a miyadaiku carpenter for over 40 years. He runs his company in Kamakura, Japan, where he assesses and repairs damage sustained by the many ancient temples in his city. Using ancient techniques, he ensures that these spiritual structures stay standing for generations to come.

Cultivating Japan’s Rare White Strawberry

In Japan, there's a specialty fruit craze sweeping the nation, from square watermelons to grapes the size of Ping-Pong balls. Still, the crown jewel of the luxury fruit basket is the white strawberry, bred to be a whole lot bigger and a whole lot sweeter than its classic red counterpart. We took a tour of Yasuhito Teshima's farm in Karatsu, Japan, to find out why so many people are spending a pretty penny for a taste of these famous white berries.