Children face malnutrition in Cilincing

Children face malnutrition in Cilincing

Zakki Hakim
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta

Meet Yulianto. The two-year-old boy just lost his older brother,
Rifki, about 10 months ago. At that time, Rifki was three but he
only weighed eight kilograms.

Their mother, Dewi, was suffering from chronic tuberculosis,
but despite her illness she insisted on breast-feeding her
children as she could not afford to buy milk.

One day, Dewi was almost too weak to move and did not have any
food. She crawled to the house of her neighbor, who was also the
coordinator of the neighborhood family welfare movement, to get
food.

The neighbor gave them something to eat and decided to take
the family to the hospital the next morning as it was close to
midnight.

Unfortunately, it was too late. Rifki had died from
malnutrition and probable respiratory complications.

That very day, Dewi asked the neighbors to do something for
her family, assist her in getting help with her tuberculosis and
prevent the same thing from happening to Yulianto as had happened
to Rifki.

Now Dewi is 34 but she only weighs 39 kilograms. Still too
light, but at least she can move freely, and most importantly,
her tuberculosis disappeared after six months of treatment, she
told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

"Yulianto is now two and weights eight kilograms. He is quite
healthy, and improving all the time," she said happily.

Rifki's distressing story is only one of about 60 others
involving under-fives who live in neighborhood unit VII in
Kalibaru, Cilincing, North Jakarta.

The children were the focus of a three-day free health service
program run by the Ministry of National Education's Directorate
of Children's Early Education to commemorate National Children's
Day, which will fall on July 23. The ministry is jointly holding
the event with the Indonesian Child Welfare Foundation (YKAI).
The YKAI started the program in the area in 1999 .

Gutama, head of the directorate, told the Post that the event
would open state officials eyes to the reality of children's
lives in Jakarta.

"There is no point in providing education while the children
are dying from malnutrition," he said and promised that he would
coordinate with officials from other relevant ministries to take
action in the area.

The neighborhood chief, Sulthon Wahyudi, told the Post that
people in Cilincing were so poor that sometimes they could not
even buy food.

"People sometimes overlook poverty in Jakarta and give aid to
poor people in other provinces far away from here. It would be
better if they gave help here," he said.

The directorate will also hold a similar event in the Gagak
Rawa Complex in Kalideres, West Jakarta, on Monday, and in
neighborhood unit III in Kwitang, Central Jakarta, on Tuesday.