East Nusa Tenggara is one of COVID-19 pandemic affected provinces in Indonesia with 105 confirmed cases by the first week of July 2020. The government of East Nusa Tenggara has been doing various COVID-19 pandemic preventive actions, one of them is by giving clean and healthy lifestyle socialization.
Yayasan Plan International Indonesia (Plan Indonesia) supports the East Nusa Tenggara provincial government in doing COVID-19 Pandemic preventive actions. Plan Indonesia has donated several personal hygiene kits, such as soaps, tooth brushes, tooth paste, nail cutters, towels, hand soaps, steps of hand washing with hand soap stickers, and also community-led total sanitation (CLTS) themed snakes and ladders board game.
In addition, East Nusa Tenggara provincial government has also released a policy to cancel the face-to-face learning process in class started in March. Because of that, elementary students must study at home. Jilda (10 years old) is one of those students. This girl, an elementary student, has been spending her time studying at home for four months. Unable to meet her teacher like usual, now Jilda only can rely on her books and her parents’ guidance.
Besides studying at home, Jilda also spent more of her time by helping her parents at home. “Now I can help my mom more at home, by cleaning the house, feeding live stocks, cooking, and also taking water”, said Jilda.
Even though Jilda was more diligent to do house chores, her mother and father did not forget to remind Jilda when her study time had come. Jilda’s parents who worked as farmers also helped Jilda to finish her homeworks which were given by her teacher.
Plan Indonesia collaborates with the central and regional government to make sure students, especially girls like Jilda, can always study although they are at home. One of which is by giving spaces for children from various regions in Indonesia to share their conditions and recommendations of long distance learning process to the Ministry of Education and Culture of Indonesia on June 2020
Plan Indonesia assures the children’s rights protection, especially girls, children with disabilities, and children in remote areas who have difficulties with access to logistics and infrastructures, particularly during this emergency response of COVID-19 pandemic.
By: Agus Haru and Hanna Vanya
