Fighting MS Archives - Multiple Sclerosis in Indonesia

Sirsak and Kasambi-Leaves

When I went out on the more rural-area of Waikabubak to do some walking this morning an older-man strolled over from a house around and asked me what disease I’d have.

“MS – Similar to a stroke”

I said which became kind of my standard-answer on that question. He looked at me quite long and intense. Then he said: “Oh, for that we use a sirsak- and kasambi-leaves-tea. No worries.”

I don’t know each of this plants. I tried sirsak as a juice once and it tasted good but a bit sour, it felt like there was a lot of Vitamin C in it. Not especially very delicious, but not bad and probably healthy.

But I never heard of Kasambi

I googled it of course and found rarely google-entries in english. Most of the results were in Bahasa Indonesia, but what i understood it seems to be what I call a “health-bomb” meanwhile. I don’t expect sensational healing of course, but it won’t harm me and I am can’t wait to brew that tea!

Meeting “the mysterious Man from Austria”

This morning I met “the man from Austria”.

He is living in Sumba since over 20 years now and I would definitely say he is more Indonesian than Austrian now. Needless to say that he is fluent in speaking Bahasa and even his thinking seems much more Indonesian than European in any way.

He has got his own small farm (11 dogs, 30 or 50 ducks, 550 pigeons and a lot of pigs) here and since “Deutsche Welle” changed their broadcasting-system from radio to internet, he is not listening to European news anymore at all.

So he’s blank and absolutely uninformed?

No. He seems to be very much informed and aware of what is going on in the world! He just doesn’t bother himself with the details anymore, which is very smart if you ask me.

Even though he is 71 years old already, he is aware about the influence of “the almighty internet” and regrets a bit not knowing or understanding it more. He’s not really ambitious to learn more about it though.

As he didn’t know Multiple Sclerosis as well, he seems a very remarkable person to me.

It doesn’t work pushing with full-force

I felt it earlier but only today I can see it clearly as a morning sun on the sky and realizing this almost makes me feel enlightened.

Trying to walk 5 km every day is wrong

Doing yoga for several hours a day is wrong, even meditating 5 hours every day might be wrong. Trying to adjust to such a far away and different culture within a month or even a year is wrong.

It won’t work

I have to do it constantly little by little. Maybe that could be a reason for my Multiple Sclerosis coming up too. Of course one has to build a house within a limited period, of course one has to fix the old broken-down family-car relatively soon or it will become unrepairable over time, but MS? Such a huge, widely mysterious disease with such a variety of symptoms?

Can MS be healed within some months or years?

I don’t think so or better “I am sure it can’t”. Its a constant effort with many struggles and trials and errors. Maybe constance is the key.

Constance gives us the progress

The progress we all are looking for and that we need so much. Its the baby-steps from meditating 2 minutes a day in the beginning, increasing it on some more minutes when you feel for it and more important “stay with it”. Starting yoga with 3 postures and adding more postures when I feel like it, but I have to constantly keep doing it. At some point we will start to improve.

Waikabubak and the mysterious “man from Austria”

Waikububak is remote. Even for Indonesian people living in Sumba its quite far off the path. But still there is a foreigner here – living here for some years already. He seems to have made “80% bad experiences” here, but he somehow managed to survive and having started the 20%. That is at least what Tadir, a guy that both of us know told me and that’s basically all I know.

I am still a Baby

I mentioned it quite some times already. I am pretty sure I already made big steps in changing my thinking and yes, I am proud on that. I try to think longer before answering, I try to reflect my actions and, maybe most important, I try to forgive and accept.

For a stubborn Bule like me, life in Indonesia offers many Options for that

But so far the theory. In real life I unfortunately struggle a lot with all this. Very often it is easier said than done and its freakin hard, because it means to give up everything, almost all I’ve ever been and many things I thought they were important.

I am still a baby and a beginner on my way.