Nutrition awareness pilot project succeed in educating the poor

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sat, 11/22/2008 12:55 PM  

Residents in Kalibaru, North Jakarta, said a pilot nutrition and health awareness project aimed at abolishing malnutrition helped them understand how to live healthier lifestyles. 

"My family always washes their hands before eating, and I also learned to allocate my money to buy nutritious ingredients rather than spending it on snacks," a housewife, Uus, told The Jakarta Post Friday. 

She was one of the 2,500 Kalibaru residents taking part in the pilot project organized by the Indonesian Poor People's Union (SRMI) and the Directorate of Community Nutrition at The Health Ministry. They launched the project on Oct. 24. 

The pilot project ended Friday in Kalibaru with an event attended by Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari. 

SRMI executive Marlo Sitompul said the Rp 1 billion (US$83,000) pilot project targeted over 16,000 people in Jakarta's slum areas in 52 subdistricts.

The fund is being used to build communication posts to distribute free nutritious meals every Friday. The fund is also being used to administer one-day intensive training programs to canteen owners at the project's locations on how to properly prepare and cook nutritious meals. 

The trainers are all nutrition experts appointed by the Health Ministry. 

"After the training, I know how to prepare nutritious foods for my family and customers," a canteen owner, Sumini, said. 

Sumini said she learned the proper cooking and food processing methods, including how to make sure the water she used to steam rice was properly boiled. She also learned about balanced diets. 

Despite the positive impacts to the residents' lifestyles, the project experienced some setbacks. Some residents claimed that although their names were on the list of people eligible for free meals, they never received the promised packages. 

"My family never received a free meal, despite the fact that my kids were the first on the list," a resident, Dodo, said. 

She said she expected the project to implement a better distribution system in the future. They really should prioritize the poorer residents, she added. 

Other residents said they also needed free multi-vitamins, especially for babies, the elderly and pregnant women. 

Marlo said the SRMI had done its best to ensure that all listed residents received their free meals, but the project had a limited budget and supply. 

"In some cases, some five-member families only received two boxes of free meals. In such cases, we encouraged the parents to prioritize their children," he said. 

Despite the setbacks, SRMI coordinator Dika M.N. said he hoped that with the pilot project's current success, the Health Ministry would consider putting the project on its agenda and launch it not only in Jakarta, but also in other provinces. 

Five severe malnutrition cases are listed in Kalibaru, according to SRMI. Just last week, 400 toddlers were reported as severely malnourished in Depok, Greater Jakarta. 

In Indonesia, it is calculated that over 4 million children under the age of five were malnourished in 2007. Most malnutrition cases are caused by poverty and the families' inability to provide nutritious food for their children. 

The government has yet to list the actual number of malnourished children in 2008, but according to Ina Hernawati from the Health Ministry, approximately 4 to 5 percent of children under five are malnourished. (hdt)