ISLAMABAD - Keeping its tradition alive of coming up with enlightening and interesting events, the Indonesia Women Association (IWA) on Tuesday hosted an event to underscore the importance of vegetables in a balance diet. It was meant to invoke people’s interest in growing vegetables even in their backyards and get into healthy activities like gardening.
Opening the discussion at the Embassy, Indonesian Ambassador Ishak Latuconsina said that the objective of the discussion was to promote awareness on preserving environment and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
The other objective, he explained, was to apprise the participants of the discussion about some of the Indonesian horticulture items and Embassy’s special efforts to promote them in Pakistan as a contribution to the environmental programs in Pakistan. He welcomed the collaboration between the Amateur Gardening Club and the Indonesian Women Association and appreciated their enthusiasm and dedication.
The Envoy also underlined the physical and emotional healing effects of gardening and said that it was widely recognized as a great way to reduce stress and improve the environment. The Ambassador also discussed the Embassy’s Trembesi-tree plantation drive and said that the results were quite encouraging and satisfactory.
On the occasion, Chairperson Indonesian Women Association Mrs. Butar Latuconsina made an elaborated presentation in which she introduced a number of Indonesian vegetables to the audience and highlighted their nutrients and vitamins properties. She also shared medicinal values of the vegetables and their use as herbal medicines to cure and treat common and chronic diseases.
Speaking on the occasion, she said that the vegetables play the main role in our dietary plan and help support normal function of our body systems. She said that the vegetables are the rich sources of vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, organic elements, essential oils and nutrients.
 However, she observed that not many people were aware about the health benefits of the vegetables and do not eat vegetables every day. At the same time, regular consumption of fresh vegetables improves our digestion and helps cleanse our body systems and lower the amounts of toxic elements in it, she added.
The event was specially attended by the members of the Amateur Gardeners Club. Besides, the ladies from different walks of life were also present at the discussion.
The vegetables focused upon in the presentation included Red Spinach, Water Spinach, Basil, Wrinkled Chili, Small Chili, Cucumber and long beans. The vegetables were chosen keeping in view their easy availability in Pakistan so that audience could also benefit optimally with their consumption.
Mrs. Butar Latuconsina also enlightened the audience about Indonesian gardening techniques and guided them on seed selection process as well as on fertilizers and pesticides preparation and its timely and effective use on the vegetables plants to get the good quality harvest.      
Moreover, the seeds packets of the Indonesian vegetables and booklets describing step-by-step plantation instructions of the vegetables were also provided to the guests. The booklets also contained useful information on use and ways to process herbal medicines for the cure of diseases like stroke, hypertension, cardiovascular problems, skin diseases, hair loss, high cholesterol, Insomnia, cancer etc. while food recipes were also made part of the booklet for the interest of the guests to try the vegetables at home in the Indonesian way. 
Earlier, Mrs. Rana Saeed on behalf of the Amateur Gardeners Club expressed her appreciation for the opportunity to learn about the Indonesian vegetables’ properties and said that the club looks forward to collaborate with the Indonesian Women Association to learn and share experiences in promoting awareness about the healthy environment and draw people interest towards the numerous advantages of making vegetables a daily part of the dietary plan.