One of the big challenges that SEEDS faces is to make a sustainable contribution. International development projects may seem fruitful and effective, but the real acid test is when the outside resources, both funding and personnel, stop flowing. At this point it becomes clear whether there has been genuine empowerment and lasting transformation, or not. Ensuring that development partners are self-funding is an important part of the development process. This is why a new café in West Sumatra is such an exciting venture.

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The quiet and empty football fields across the capital city are a constant reminder of the pandemic’s ongoing impact on young people. 
The government’s pandemic restrictions over the past months have closed all schools nationwide and canceled all youth sports activities.  
It has been difficult for many people to see beyond obstacles to opportunities.

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Covid lockdown in Thailand meant for some people no work and income and therefore a lack of food. SEEDS workers wanted to help some needy families and communities by giving out food parcels with basic food items like rice, noodles, oil, fish sauce and fish cans. We contacted a community leader and asked him to give us a list of families in need at this time. He chose some villagers who are handicapped and others who lack income.

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The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted people of all economic levels and even in different generations. For many Indonesian children and their parents, the past year and a half of schooling has been a struggle due to the pandemic requirement of learning online at home. Many schools are ill equipped to teach in this manner, leaving parents to pick up the slack. In October 2020, national partners with a local non-profit foundation initiated a child literacy program to help alleviate the pressure this situation has put on families.

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What are you doing every Saturday morning? There are some people, including University students, professors and even children, who wake up at 6am and go to clean the beaches every Saturday, early in the morning.

Today, I would like to introduce to you a meaningful project called Trash Hero, which is developed by a professor who teaches at the Faculty of Rubber and Polymer Science Technology in the University. This project aims at creating sustainable and community-based projects that remove existing waste and reduce future waste by inspiring long-term behavior change.

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University classes in Sumatra have been online for three semesters now. Most students returned to their home villages and many who don’t have computers are joining Zoom discussions and doing assignments on their cell phones. The pandemic has disproportionally affected education for the lower classes who have less access to technology and who may lack good internet signals in remote areas.

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After several months of delays due to COVID-19, the end of March saw the start of several pilot football projects in south Thailand. We had been planning and surveying with local partners to identify the neediest areas in which to launch the projects. We hope for good beginnings of these projects and practical impact amongst children and youth (7 to 12 years old) from at-risk communities. With new local coaches, SEEDS workers can slowly begin to implement value-based coaching as we seek to improve physical fitness and develop the skills & characters of the children and youth we work with.

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2020 was a year of tremendous disruption for the world, and Indonesia was no exception. The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in school closures and the cancellation of all in-person teacher training and mentoring for SEEDS partner Yayasan Tunas Aksara and the Saya Suka Membaca (I Love Reading) program.

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Having been able to provide emergency food aid to coastal villages in West Sumatra during 2020, SEEDS partner the Perahu Nusantara Foundation has been back in one of those villages training young men with business skills.

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SEEDS was already a global organization. Years before COVID-19 united the world’s attention on a single topic, SEEDS had already united people on every inhabited continent through the common thread of hope for Southeast Asia. SEEDS networked professional, educational, medical, and financial resources from diverse nations around the globe to Southeast Asia’s communities.

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