Mama Victoria: Also known as Rio, Victoria was one of the first to sell sarang semut in Timika.

For generations, people in Papua have been making a traditional drink from a local plant called sarang semut, which has antioxidants that some claim have huge health benefits.

'€œBelieve it or not, that'€™s the reality,'€ Sakrias Fobia, who has been living in Timika since 1992, said. '€œAt first, I was among those who did not believe it. However, because many people told me that their diseases had been cured after taking the herb, finally, I was also attracted to taking it.'€

Sakrias said that he started taking sarang semut when he declined to have surgery on a lump on the back of his neck.

'€œFinally, I tried taking some sliced sarang semut that had been boiled for almost a month,'€ the 48-year-old said. '€œThank God, I have been recovered until now, and there have been no more lumps in my neck.'€

Victoria Op, who is known as Rio, started selling sarang semut after buying the plants from some Komoro vendors who regularly passed by her house years ago. Some visiting Koreans saw the plant in front of her house and wanted to buy it, telling Rio of its health benefits.

'€œI became convinced that sarang semut was very efficacious,'€ Rio said. '€œMy husband and I started collecting sarang semut and began processing it without having any knowledge. Slowly, we began working and slicing it.'€

Another vendor, Maria Basna from Sorong, resells sarang semut processed by Rio and says that she can make up to Rp 400,000 (US$30) a day.

Sliced: Sarang semut after it has been sliced.

Erens Meokbun, the chief of the Timika City Health Agency, said that many local residents took sarang semut for health reasons. '€œEven a lot of people from Jakarta, Surabaya, Yogyakarta, Bandung and Makassar come to Timika to buy sarang semut in the form of large sacks of 25 kilograms'€, Erens said.

'€œThey buy sarang semut to be reprocessed in their cities,'€ he added. '€œSo do not be surprised that now many sarang semut products are packaged in sachets, like tea with a clear dose.'€

Rio said that sarang semut, an epiphytic plant like the orchid, is derived from tubers attached to the branches or stems of the dangling plants. Ants frequently make their home in the tuber, seeking an environment with a constant temperature, and thus giving the plant its name: sarang semut, or ant house.

'€œI believe sarang semut is a very potent herbal medicine and has been a great help to people whose diseases have been difficult to cure with medical drugs,'€ Rio said. '€œThose who consume sarang semut claim it can cure cancer, tumors, coronary heart disease, kidney, prostate, hypertension, uric acid, cholesterol, etc.

'€œSarang semut has been consumed by the people of Sorong, Biak, Jayapura, Manokwari, including Timika,'€ Rio said, adding that she also sold sarang semut to doctors to give to their patients.

Fanny Lolong, a public health officer of the local Malaria Control and Public Health Agency, said that sarang semut contained flavonoids and tannins.

'€œFlavonoids act as antioxidants that are believed to neutralize free radicals in the human body,'€ Fanny said. '€œIn addition, this compound acts as an anti-viral agent that can be used to fight viruses, including the herpes virus and HIV/AIDS.'€

Suparlan, 37, works for Rio and says that making sarang semut is not difficult.

'€œA portion of sarang semut that weighs up to 3 kg is sliced thin and small. Then, sheeting is spread. Slices are put on the sheeting, then dried in the sun. If the weather is sunny constantly, then three days is enough. The dried slices are then packaged in plastics. We can produce fifty kilograms a wee at least,'€ he says.

The price of a slice of sarang semut ranges from Rp 60,000 to Rp 350,000, depending on weight; while prices for powdered sarang semut range from Rp 75,000 to Rp 250,000.

For sale: Jars of sarang semut await sale at Rio'€™s kiosk.

'€” Photos by Markus Mardius