IndonesiaIndonesia

Helping moms & babies in Indonesia

You are changing the lives of moms and babies. Here’s how.

Mom's & BabiesMom's & Babies
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The Need

Of the 5.2 million children who die around the world each year, 75 per cent die in the first year of life. Babies are at risk of death due to premature birth complications, complications during childbirth, infections, pneumonia and diarrhea. But this is preventable. With training and support, moms in poverty can be empowered to raise healthy and happy babies.

Our Response

Critical care
Your support helps secure access to pre- and postnatal care, skilled birth attendants and medical intervention when necessary.

Home-based care
Mothers are visited in their homes monthly by a Survival specialist, who offers education in prenatal care and early child-rearing as well as one-on-one biblical mentoring.

Group-based learning
At these church-based activities, moms learn skills to earn an income and gain vital knowledge including basic literacy, the importance of breastfeeding and how to prevent malnutrition and disease. These groups combat isolation through a supportive community of mothers who, together, learn about the God who loves them.

Indonesia Stats

Average number of children in household 2
Average age of first-time mothers 20
Births attended by skilled health personnel 64
Stunted growth from malnutrition 32

Activities

Group activities: Caregivers learned about the stages of childhood development, nutrition, hygiene and breastfeeding during lessons taught by staff. Moms participated in fun activities including exercise and fellowship and were able to share their parenting and life experiences with one another in a supportive and caring environment. Staff also distributed food and gifts, shared biblical teaching and prayed with the group.

Home visits: Staff provided personalized care for caregivers and their families during home visits. Moms were taught valuable lessons in family planning, identifying allergies, newborn and early child care, growth, stimulation and development, healthy parenting and the importance breastfeeding, among other topics. Staff prayed with families and listened to caregiver’s joys and challenges during each visit.

Physical health: Babies had their height and weight checked regularly and were examined for signs of illness and malnourishment by a pediatrician during routine checkups. Families received medical care and vitamins and medications if needed. Pregnant mothers received ultrasounds and were supported by staff and an obstetrician to help promote healthy pregnancies and birth.

Nutrition: Staff distributed food baskets to families containing items such as fruits, nuts, fish and meat. Caregivers joyfully accepted these items, knowing it would allow them to make a variety of nutritious meals for their families. Caregivers learned how to cook nutritious meals using local foods and were educated on the importance of a balanced diet for children and pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, too. Staff also taught moms how to prepare and when to introduce solid foods to their babies.

Early stimulation: Caregivers learned how to promote all areas of their children’s development through stimulating activities, exercises and games. Staff taught lessons on healthy growth and what to look for in terms of milestones and achievements. Moms also learned how to use what they have at home and at the centre to promote their children’s holistic development and develop a strong bond with their children.

Spiritual nurture: Implementers provided consistent spiritual support to caregivers through prayer, devotionals and biblical lessons. Moms learned how to raise their children using biblical principles and support their children’s spiritual development. Moms also prayed with one another, shared testimonies and built the confidence to lead the other caregivers—and even their church congregations—in praise and worship.

Project Stats

This intervention addressed:

Full-term births 21
Illness: Non-Communicable Diseases 3
Illness: Respiratory-Related Illness 2
Illness: Infections 1
Illness subc: Respiratory Tract Infection 2
Breastfeeding Moms 10
Malnourished Babies - Severely Underweight 5
Attended births 19
Malnourished Babies - Moderately Underweight 2
Normal birth weights 18
Low birth weights 3
Pastor Sevren, ID0102

ReportA message from a pastor

Shalom! By the grace of God, we have been trusted to run the Survival programming here. Our program is providing nutrition for each beneficiary according to their age. Right now, we assist 20 Survival beneficiaries. Every month, we distribute nuts, fruits, vitamins, fish, chicken meat or beef and vegetables. We support pregnant mothers from when their pregnancy is still at four months until their babies turn a year old.

Our Survival program fully supports the government’s program as our vision is to increase the level of maternal and child safety. As a part of our vision, our mission is to assist beneficiaries to the maximum. We have developed a program called Survival Alert where each pregnant caregiver is supported materially and immaterially. We provide an ultrasound fund, maternity fund and baby supplies. We give time to collect all bills properly so that they can be reported later.

Every month, we always do our best to anticipate every possibility as early as possible by assisting pregnant moms to see an obstetrician and undergo prenatal checkups including ultrasounds. We hold routine Survival group fellowships at the beginning of the month in beneficiary homes. In every fellowship, caregivers learn to lead praise and worship, pray and share their life experiences. They also learn to read the Word of God and read devotional articles for their group.

Our implementer visits every group once a month to educate caregivers about holistic-related matters that cover the four areas: spiritual, cognitive, socio-emotional and physical aspects. By having this four-area development program, we hope that all our beneficiaries will be healthy physically and spiritually so that they can be good examples and become role models, increasing maternal and child safety. Thus, the rate of maternal and child mortality will get smaller.

After monthly visits, our implementer holds a meeting in the Survival room at the end of the month and each primary caregiver also gets the opportunity to lead praise and worship. The presence of our Survival program has improved the impact our local church has on the community. Without any barriers, our local church can easily carry out interdenominational ministry to reach more people to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and accept Him as their Saviour personally.

As a person in charge of our child development centre and on the behalf of whole congregation, I would like to thank God for your support. We thank Compassion East Indonesia, which continues to collaborate with our local church. Let’s pray and hope that the Lord Jesus Christ always bestows His grace on all of us so that we can gain strength and enthusiasm to carry out this noble task.

May the Lord Jesus bless you. Emmanuel!

Regards,

Pastor Sevren, ID0102
Ayuni

ReportA message from those your gift helped

Shalom! I am the mother of our Survival baby named Felicya. My baby girl was born in July 2022 and she weighed 3.1 kilograms at birth. Her height was 47 centimetres. She is now four months old and is in good health.

By joining Survival programming, I have learned so many things from our implementers, especially about baby care, immunizations and so on. In addition to routine group activities, the implementer always visits each Survival participant every month.

We thank all the sponsors and donors for supporting us through the Survival program. Please pray for our family including our children Felicya, Given, Vhey and Evel to always be blessed and healthy.

We pray that God will continue to bless you and reward your kindness.

With love in Christ,

Ayuni
Masther

ReportA message from a partnership facilitator

My name is Masther and this is my fifth year as a partnership facilitator for Compassion. I am currently facilitating Compassion centres in the Bolaang Mongondow 3 area.

One of challenges we face is housing. Many Survival families do not have their own house and still live together with their parents or other family members who own the house. This often triggers conflicts among occupants. Each conflict, whether big or small, has an impact on our Survival participants. Moreover, most fathers don’t have permanent jobs, making them unable to meet their families’ needs because they have to share with their extended families. Likewise, families’ health is often poor due to our erratic and even extreme weather. This kind of weather causes diseases that affect our Survival participants.

To overcome these problems, our local church holds more frequent meetings with Survival families through home visits and group meetings. The objective is to motivate primary caregivers to maintain a healthy attitude and attend classes held by our Survival program more often so that they will be wiser and learn to avoid family conflicts.

To meet their family needs, we educate primary caregivers on how to increase their family income in simple ways and we continue to provide food packs for all Survival families to help them meet their children’s needs.

I thank you for your support and blessings. May God bless you abundantly.

Regards,

Masther