Empowering Women in Kalimantan to Prevent Stunting

Dear friends,

Some of you might have heard the news that last November, an earthquake hit our working area of Cipanas, West Java. Many people suffered huge losses and many have lost their homes. Hundreds of families are still living in tents as they await for their homes to be rebuilt. Living conditions for these families are still far from favorable—barely enough clean water, and being so close to the ground poses great risk of bacterial infection. 

This is where the work that our women community leaders do for the community is nothing less than inspirational as it has become even more challenging due to these unfavorable living conditions that pregnant women and families with small children live in.

Recently, we met with Ibu D (not her real name) who has been a community leader for 9 months now. Here’s what Ibu D has to say about her experience:

“I was quite shocked and grateful at the same time when I was appointed to become one of the community leaders. Since I started, I have participated in all the training that Yayasan Usaha Mulia (YUM) provided: knowledge about stunting prevention, public speaking and leadership skills. I personally feel I have grown as a person, especially through public speaking—I have become more confident when speaking to a larger audience. The response I get from the people I meet is naturally good, and they understand the message clearly.

This has become an important provision for me in my life, especially since my work as a community leader requires me to meet a lot of people and deliver information around stunting prevention, such as how to live a healthy lifestyle. This is more important than ever, as many pregnant women and families with small children are still living in tents, and they need to know how to live healthily even in these conditions.

My hope is that the program for community leaders and other volunteer health workers will continue because there are so many who are still untrained, and I hope that they too can increase their knowledge like me.

What keeps me going is my fellow community leaders. Seeing their commitment and the work that they do is my inspiration to keep going and supporting the community in preventing stunting.“

Thank you for your continued generous support so that we can ensure more women are trained in stunting prevention!

NB: If you can, we would appreciate it if you could set up a monthly donation through GlobalGiving as this provides us with  a sustainable source of funds. New monthly donations (up to $200 per unique donor) will have their first donation matched at 100% after four (4) total payments.