Promoting social awareness through community programs

Promoting social awareness through community programs

Debbie A. Lubis, Contributor, Jakarta

Several employees of a pharmaceutical company were astounded
when they visited a village near their factory in Cisalak, Depok,
West Java province.

The village had no garbage dump and mountains of rubbish
decorated some spots of the village, emitting an awful rotten
smell.

Many villagers suffered from contagious diseases, including
diarrhea, pneumonia, malaria, dengue fever, respiratory illnesses
and tuberculosis.

"We were conducting our base line survey to identify local
problems at that time," PT Roche Indonesia corporate
communications executive Lucia Erniawati recalled of the study
two years ago.

The company then launched a three-year program of empowering
the villagers to improve their environmental health, nutrition,
reproductive health and control of communicable diseases. The
program is called "towards a healthy village 2003".

Lucia said that a field program manager appointed by the
company would coordinate, monitor and report activities in the
field since the programs were held in cooperation with the
Faculty of Public Health at the University of Indonesia,
community organization (PKK), and several non-governmental
organizations (NGOs).

Roche has donated vitamin A to community health centers and
provided free medical examinations and health education programs
for the villagers through youth activities and Koran recital
sessions. "It is easier for us to inform the villagers about
reproductive health through a religious approach," Lucia said.

As the program enters its third year, the villagers have shown
their independence and initiative through establishing a garbage
dump and promoting a recycling system in every household. "They
designed the dump and determined the dump site. We just offer
financial and technical assistance. Our goal is to make them
self-sustaining and not to rely solely on charitable funding,"
Lucia said.

Roche is one of the companies in Indonesia that recognizes its
obligation to operate their business in an environmentally and
socially responsible way. Many leading companies from various
sectors such as banking, cigarette producers, transportation,
plantations, pulp and paper, retailers and the like have begun
establishing their community development programs since the late
1990s in a bid to support sustainable development.

However, their programs still focus on educational sectors
that come in various forms such as high-profile scholarship
awards, free education for school-age street children, non-formal
education for the drop outs, apprenticeship programs and skill
workshops.

Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) population research
center head Aswatini said the lack of guidance from the
government and coordination among businesspeople had meant many
company's community-based programs had failed to realize their
goals.

"Many companies still don't get the idea of empowering the
community. They just provide the funds for the programs but do
not teach and empower the people to be independent for the
future. So it is like a candy that disappears as soon as you
finish chewing it."

Aswatini added that such programs would be effective if
conducted in a two-way direction; empowering the community near
the company's site as well as supporting the company's business.

"There will be no conflicts between local people and
businesspeople that could threaten the company's existence," she
said.

PT Riau Andalan Pulp & Paper has proved such ideas by
introducing integrated farming systems to people near its plant
and industrial forest in the regencies of Pelalawan, Kuantan
Sengingi, Siak, and Rokan Hulu.

The company's head of the Riau Community Empowerment Program
(PPMR), Elyas, said the program aimed to encourage local people
to develop agribusiness and small-scale industry. He said the
company also educated local people through training and workshops
on some practical skills and self-development.

"We also assist them to use the natural resources wisely and
preserve the environment," Elyas said.

Meanwhile, 800 Citibank employees have joined Citibank Peka,
the Citibank community development program that upholds the
values of caring and creativity. By sharing just two hours of
their time every two months, the employees become volunteers in
the company's education and social programs.

"We want our people to get involved in the community, not just
offer money. The employees are also critical of the programs they
volunteer with so that we gain input to improve the programs,"
Ditta Amahorseya, Citibank Indonesia's vice president and head of
corporate affairs, said.

Begun in February 1999, Citibank Peka is run by Mitra Mandiri
Foundation (YMM), an affiliate of international NGO United Way
International. The foundation assists the implementation of
Citibank Peka programs, allocates the project funds to local NGO
partners, and evaluates, coordinates, and monitors the programs,
and maintains regular communication with them.

"We have performed a series of workshops to train our NGO
partners to achieve self-reliance in both financial management,
fund-raising and volunteerism so that when we leave after five-
years of assistance, they will be more independent," Ditta said.

The company also arranges four radio talk shows, aired every
two months, broadcasting details of its community programs. This
year, the company has allocated US$253,000 to fund its social and
educational projects.

Citibank Peka has provided funds and sent its volunteers to
teach street children in Ancol and Pedongkelan, North Jakarta. It
is organized by Bintang Pancasila Foundation. It also helps Usaha
Mulia Foundation educate dropouts from elementary school in
Cipulir and Jurangmangu. Most of their parents are unskilled
workers, street vendors and scavengers. The classes are from 8.
a.m. to 11 a.m., from Monday through Saturday.

Citibank Peka also supports micro credit lending for the poor
through Grameen Trust. In 1999, the first funding, given to
Bangun Karya Central Java Project in Surakarta, amounted to
US$44,000. In 2001, the Paluma Foundation received $32,500 from
Citibank through Grameen Bank to fund its micro credit project in
Jakarta.

Citibank Peka volunteers spend time inputting data for the
completion of electronic dictionary and voice recording for the
talking books (audio books) for the blind at Mitra Netra
Foundation. Since 1991, this foundation has served 213 blind
people in all levels of education, from grade school to
university.

The company also sponsors the production of Indonesia's first
Electronic Dictionary for the Blind as well as conducting a
workshop for using the dictionary.

Pustaka Kelana Foundation (the "wandering library") joined
Citibank to reach children and teenagers so they could take books
from its mobile library. The company provides funds for the
maintenance of the library car, sends volunteers to read books
with the kids at Jurangmangu stop and five other stop locations.

Citibank donates funds to build schools for street children
and child workers at Pasar Minggu and Kramat Jati, Jakarta that
are organized by Nanda Dian Nusantara. The education center
develops the children's morals, general knowledge and practical
skills.

"We are contemplating to have a program for high school
teachers this year. It is time for them now to show progressive
teaching-learning activities outside school hours," Ditta said.