Empowering Women in Kalimantan to Prevent Stunting

Dear friends,

Last month, Indonesia recorded its biggest daily increase in coronavirus infections with over 54,000 cases on July 14th (the highest in the world on that day). The government has mandated strict public restrictions especially for the regions most affected by the increase in cases. Though these restrictions make it more difficult for our staff to work on the ground, we continue our interventions, focusing on stunting prevention and ensuring pregnant mothers deliver healthy babies.

This time our report comes from Central Kalimantan. The YUM team is working with 37 women volunteer health workers in Bukit Batu district. These women volunteers are the frontline workers who follow the progress of the pregnant women and babies in the area. Our first priority was to build the knowledge and capacity around stunting and stunting prevention. Several workshops were organised, focusing on two topics: 1) stunting and its prevention, and 2) nutrition for pregnant women. 

The workshop used various tools such as presentations, videos, and flip charts. At the end of the workshop, 95% of the participants were able to explain what stunting is, and 88% understood the impact of stunting. With the knowledge they received in the workshop, these women were now able to provide the necessary information to the pregnant women living in the sub-district.

The stunting prevention program in Kalimantan works in 6 villages in Bukit Batu. A total of 105 pregnant women are enrolled in this program. Because of the pandemic, the health check-ups of pregnant women, babies and toddlers that are conducted in a monthly event called Integrated Health Post (Posyandu) have been cancelled. Due to this, the volunteer health workers and YUM staff have to visit each pregnant mother at their homes. During the visit, information is provided about stunting, its prevention, and the importance of breastfeeding for the healthy growth and development of their baby. 

Besides this information, the pregnant mother is also asked to confirm her participation in the intervention by signing an agreement, in which she agrees to get checked at the clinic at least 4 times during her pregnancy, fill in her health card during each check up and agree to consume the healthy and varied food packages that are provided by YUM every month. After discussions with the pregnant women, we discovered that each one has different needs in terms of nutrition: some have difficulty in obtaining milk, while others have difficulty in obtaining vegetables or fruits. So, instead of assuming what every pregnant mother needs, each woman gets to choose from three different kinds of packages every month: fruits, vegetables & groceries, and milk. This way, each of them can get the nutrition they need most but don’t have access to.

As you can read, stunting prevention requires working together with various stakeholders and an understanding of various issues such as nutrition and sanitation and of course, an awareness of stunting itself. Thank you so much for your amazing support to this project so that we can help ensure babies are born healthy!

In other news: YUM’s 2020 Annual Report has been published! Find out more about all our activities by going to YUM 2020 Annual Report

Also, this year YUM is celebrating its 45th anniversary. Mrs. Ismana Haryono, a member of our Board of Supervisors, has been with us for more than 40 years. She shares her memories about the beginnings of YUM and her wish for YUM’s future. Please take a few minutes to watch the video at Reminiscing YUM's Beginnings: How it all started and the challenges faced

Last but not least, out of 400+ entries, YUM has been selected as a Finalist for the 2021 GlobalGiving Photo Contest!! Voting starts TODAY, Monday, August 16th, 2021 until Friday, August 20th. Please go and vote for our photo so we can get a chance to win up to $1,000 in support of our COVID-19 relief program. You can see our photo here: https://www.globalgiving.org/poll/vote/?pollOptionId=1534

It has been more than a year since the first Covid-19 case outbreak in Indonesia. The conditions are slowly improving and vaccines are being distributed to the elderly, however for many families in rural areas, life is still far from what it used to be before. For many, the decrease, or even worse, the loss of income has affected their ability to meet their basic needs, such as food.

After a short survey of households in Bukit Batu, Central Kalimantan to find out what support families needed most, a program distributing subsidized home garden materials was introduced. The materials include chicken manure, raw husks, seeds, agricultural lime, and polybags. The project aims to help families grow their own vegetables and be able to fulfill their food needs independently.  Our hope is for families to be able to nourish themselves as well as reduce the spread of the virus by avoiding going to the public market where the spread of the virus was very high. 

Today, there are 211 families in Bukit Batu who are benefiting from the food security program and 94% of them are women. Our team on the ground actively monitors the growth and the yield of vegetables. The participants who have the means to use WhatsApp are included in the "food security-home garden" group, while those who do not, are visited by our trainer to their homes. 

"My name is Lilies, and I am a housewife. I have always liked gardening because it is a fun activity. I happily agreed to participate in the YUM Home Garden program. I get so many benefits such as reducing my expenses on shopping for vegetables in the market. The vegetables that are harvested in my garden are healthier for my family’s consumption and I can sell the surplus to my neighbors and receive an income from the sale."

YUM hopes to reach at least another 100 families so they too may benefit from growing their own vegetables, which not only reduces their daily expenses but also keeps them healthy during this pandemic.