A shade of grief could still be seen on Rima’s face that afternoon (27/10) when she lined up at Mekarjaya Subdistrict Office, Depok. She was listed as one of the recipients of COVID-19 emergency response in the form of Cash Voucher Assistance (CVA) from Plan International Indonesia Foundation (Plan Indonesia) because she had just lost his husband, who passed away after he recovered from COVID-19.
“I still can’t believe it. My husband passed away suddenly, three weeks after he recovered (from COVID-19) last July. It happened so fast,” she said.
Rima said that her late husband was working in an underwear factory during the first year of the pandemic. She actually wanted to ask her late husband to reduce his activities, but at that time, her late husband was the only breadwinner in their family.
With a hoarse voice, Rima said she was worried she wouldn’t be able to carry the burden alone, especially since she has one daughter who is still in the second grade of elementary school. However, she firmly decided to continue with her life after she saw how her daughter recovered from sadness due to the loss of one of her parents. “My daughter cried for a bit, and she told me, ‘Dad is in another place now, Mom?’ and afterwards, she got all cheerful as usual,” explained Rima, with a brighter tone.
Rima, who usually wears glasses, made up her mind to start a new life. She then started a small online retail business.”I worked together with friends of my late husband. It’s small, but thank God everything is going well so far.”
The voucher she accepted was worth IDR 600,000, and she was grateful for it. “This is the first time for me to receive cash assistance like this. I plan to use it to buy rice, cooking oil, sugar, and other daily needs for my household,” she explained. The cash voucher has helped her recover from her loss and boosted her spirit to create a better future. “I want to support my daughter so she can fulfill her dreams,” Rima said.
As a response to the pandemic, Plan Indonesia has conducted a COVID-19 emergency response at Jabodetabek, focusing on meeting the needs of children and young people, especially girls. The humanitarian aid is targeted to reach 1000 children from the age of 0-18 years old, consisting of 500 marginalized girls and 500 marginalized boys living in Jabodetabek area. Through the COVID-19 emergency response, Plan Indonesia hopes to protect the children from the spread of COVID-19 and fulfill the children’s rights, especially for girls, children with disabilities, and marginalized families. (***)
Writer: Ciptanti Putri | Editor: Agus Haru
