International Journal of Indonesian Studies Volume 1, Issue 3 | Page 84

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INDONESIAN STUDIES
SPRING 2016
image shows the environmental health risks associated with the Ume kbubu. Smoke, ash
and dust were categorized as respiratory threats. The fire itself, and extreme heat from the
panggang process also constitutes an environmental health hazard.
The bottom image illustrates a floor plan of the ume kbubu: the stone wall, the firewood
storage, the fireplace, resting place and second fire for panggang.
Research method
The method utilized in this study involved collection of data through interviews at the
District level Centre of Health Intelligence, Dinas Kesehatan TTS. This process was followed
by interviews and the facilitation of discussion to fill in participatory matrices forms with
midwife staff and local community members regarding their experiences with the factors of
environmental health, the key factors affecting neonatal and maternal health and the
traditional use of the ume kbubu. This data was sorted into matrices (see appendix figures 5
and 6) to form a foundation of participatory statistics (Holland, 2013).
After the foundational data was collected over a couple of days, the next step was to
visit some of the village case studies. Nusa, Supul and Boti were selected for the purpose of
providing illustrative cases of villages with varying proximities to the core of TTS. Nusa, the
first village chosen was the closest to Soe; Supul was a medium distance to Soe but still
easily connected to a main road. Finally, Boti was chosen as an indicative example of a more
remote village. More importantly, Boti is a village renowned for its strong adherence to
traditional customs or adat. As a result, the use of panggang and the ume kbubu are still
widespread and the effects of expansive modernization have been limited by remoteness.
Within these villages a mixture of participatory matrices and mapping was used in small
focus groups. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups served as the main method of
gathering information. Conversational approaches were supplemented with questionnaire
like structures.
In the field, perspectives and experience were gathered from three expert staff from
the Dinas Kesehatan TTS. Two midwife staff working in local village health clinics were also
interviewed. Six mothers who had experienced giving birth in the ume kbubu as well as the
process of Panggang. Perspectives from a small farmers group were also gathered from two
members who were both born in the ume kbubu. Small focus groups in each of the three
villages provided additional insights into environmental health conditions into these villages.
Through comparative study, wider conclusions indicative of the wider TTS were also drawn.
Limitations to this study’s method include the small size of the sample which was
limited to just 3 villages. In particular, the sample of 6 mothers who participated in semistructured interviews and the 3 small focus groups in each of the three villages may not
provide enough participatory statistics to be representative of each of these villages
individually. Furthermore, the results from the limited volume of respondents in these
samples may not provide enough data to be sufficient for generalization across wider TTS.
84 | P a g e