Active Agent Protecting Her Community!

Mrs. Meta* is very active in her community within the teeming city of Jakarta. Aside from serving as a female community leader, she is also a preschool and Qu’ran studies teacher and an active member of her organization, Dasawisma (Dasawisma is a women’s association in rural and urban communities in Indonesia). Despite all this  engagement  in her community, she was largely indifferent to children’s issues until she met a social worker from Teman Baik. 

Intrigued by what she learned, she willingly underwent online and offline training and certification as a ChildSafe Agent in both 2020 and 2021. After which, she set out to actively work to protect children during the COVID-19 period by teaching hand washing and how to wear masks. In addition, she provided guidance to parents whose children have behavioral issues.

After being trained in child protection, she talks with children during her classes every chance she gets to raise their awareness of how to protect themselves and to make sure they’re not facing any risky situations at home or in their neighborhoods. 

Mrs. Meta also tries to help parents as much as she can, and they often come to her to share their problems. For example, recently she has helped a mother who suffered from debilitating poverty. On top of her financial hardships, her child was hyperactive and suffered from attention deficit disorder to the point of disrupting relationships with her neighbors. The mother admitted that she had wanted to commit suicide together with her child, because the economic pressure was so heavy. However, after talking with Mrs. Meta, she was able to overcome those thoughts.

Mrs. Meta feels happy when she assists parents and their children. She confessed, “I feel satisfied by being able to make a bad situation better.” She feels that Teman Baik has helped the residents of her community, especially the children. She thinks that knowledge about children’s issues and child protection needs to be continuously disseminated, and she is glad that her role as a ChildSafe Community Agent enables her to do this for her community.

*name changed for privacy