In 2023, a SEEDS
worker engaged with a local healthcare training with other national partners.
One of the training modules involved checking basic eyesight, and giving an
assessment about presbyopia before providing reading glasses to the community. E
trainee got a set of tools for assessing basic eyesight to help the local community
provide basic eye tests.

Therefore
in 2024, a SEEDS worker, together with two national partners, provided an
eyesight checking service in one of the villages in Eastern Indonesia occasions. Volunteers helped with organizing the queue of waiting patients,
registration, and taking photos.

In total we
assessed the eyesight of about 50 village members (aged 40 or above who
required reading glasses), with the coordination by the Pak RT (village head).
This service was welcomed by the village members and the leaders, as after the
assessment, free reading glasses were provided to the village members according
to their degree of presbyopia. Some of the village members had never had their
eyesight checked before. This service allowed them to understand their basic
eye conditions, and have the opportunity to receive reading glasses. When they
received the new reading glasses, we saw the smile in their faces.

We felt that
this is a great way to help the community be aware of their needs to have basic
healthcare checkup such as eye tests, and to enable the community to be able to
read in their older age. The collaboration between SEEDS, national partners in
the healthcare setting and community leaders has proved to be a great benefit
to the public.

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“Only the healthy and prosperous mother, children, and family can create generation that have great quality, character, and personality, also care for others. [sic]”

– President Joko Widodo (Jokowi), at the 2016 International Conference on Family Planning (SetKab)

The above quote was recently used in the introductory session of the Batu Pertama parenting course. Batu Pertama means cornerstone (or founding/setting stone). In building terminology, it is “the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure.” (Wikipedia)

With that definition in mind, it is probably self-explanatory why Batu Pertama is the name of the course. The core principles of the course resonate with President Jokowi’s statement, as they are built on the premise that parents/guardians are a child’s first teacher. Hence the main aims are to affirm the importance of the family, and why it matters; as well as to strengthen the capacity of parents and guardians to fulfil their role in caring for their family matters.

The topics covered are: Building a Harmonious Family, Mother-Child Relationship, Developing Healthy Family Rhythms & Practices, Managing Emotions, Parenting in this Digital Age and so on. We refer to these as some of the foundational building blocks of any family. Ones, which can assist in hopefully providing the best start possible for our children.

Seeds workers in Jakarta are running this course as part of a new partnership with two kindergartens in West Jakarta. The core team facilitating the course includes 6 parent volunteers, 3 from each kindergarten. These volunteers are receiving in-course/ ‘on the job’ training (via what is modeled by Seeds workers, opportunities to be responsible for some elements, after session feedback etc.). They will also have the opportunity to attend a more focused training session once both courses are completed. The hope and the thinking behind this, is that in the future these volunteers will be able to facilitate the course without the assistance of Seeds workers. Thereby, doing our part -as it were- to ‘set a founding stone’ in their communities. As the skills, and knowledge that they will attain will remain, and be developed further within their local communities, and possibly even beyond.

We began with a quote from Indonesia’s President, and it feels fitting to also end with one:

“If families could nurture productive ways of thinking and behaviour, we will be able to produce Indonesia’s golden generation, a generation of winners, a smart generation, a creative generation, an innovative generation, a productive generation, and a visionary generation.”  – President Jokowi, National Family Day 2016 (Tempo)

The SEEDs partnership with local Indonesian organisation Yayasan Pendar Pagi includes the placement of professionals in a rural Riau region of Sumatra. Collaborating with a local builder, workers recently completed the rehabilitation of a home for an elderly widow in one village. Local experts recommended that the back portion of her traditional wooden stilted house should be removed due to substantial termite damage and replaced with a small brick extension connecting to the old section. The new building, which consists of a toilet, seating area and small room for sleeping, was funded by an external sponsor concerned about housing conditions of the poor in this area. After the building work was completed the family and neighbours came together for a traditional blessing and prayer event and it is now in use!