Gede, a baby boy living in Belong hamlet on the slopes of Mount Agung, faced life with numerous challenges. Born in December 2021 with very low birth weight, his parents divorced upon his birth, and his mother returned home, leaving him to be cared for by his grandparents, while his father worked away as a labourer.
In a large family consisting five brothers, three sisters, and his grandparents, who earned a living by crafting bamboo chicken coops. They produced three pairs of coops each day, sold at a price of Rp60,000 ($4) per pair. Additionally, the family engaged in dryland subsistence farming, generating around Rp1,000,000 ($66) per year as supplementary income.
The family's sustenance came from the garden surrounding their home, with daily meals consisting of rice and jackfruit vegetable stew seasoned with local spices. During the 4-5 months rainy season, their food variety increased, including vegetables from their garden and occasionally seafood purchased from roaming vendors. However, in the summer, food supplies dwindled, and they had to rely on cassava, rice, and bean sprouts.
Due to their challenging economic situation at Gede's birth, he continued suffering from acute malnutrition. The family was unaware of this due to their limited knowledge, until Gede's grandmother took him to a monthly health center (posyandu) facilitated by EBPP, when he was already 5 months old, that they understood his condition. The EBPP team immediately provided education on the dangers of malnutrition, followed by a home visit when they supplied formula milk, a baby bottle, a water filter, a thermos, a drinking cup, a thermometer, soap, shampoo and a toothbrush. After five months of home visits, Gede's nutritional status improved and normalized.
Despite facing challenges in providing nutritious food due to economic constraints, Gede's family endeavored to ensure he stayed well nourished. The family's future hope is for all families and communities in the vicinity to remain healthy, with no more children suffering from malnutrition. They express gratitude to donors and EBPP staff who aided them and provided education on the dangers of malnutrition. Gede, now 23 months old, is growing healthy and normal, thanks to his family’s perseverance and support.
Click the link to help us eradicate malnutrition for children in East Bali during GivingTuesday on 28 November, and GlobalGiving has $1,200,000 in Incentive Funds that will be distributed proportionately based on total funds raised by all the participating NGOs: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/eradicating-infant-malnutrition-in-east-bali/