Warm chicken-claw soup, fried tempeh with rice, followed by an orange to clean the palate. That was the menu for nine toddlers on the fourth day of Pos Gizi (nutrition post), a health-awareness activity for children, at community unit (RW) 8, Srengseng Kembangan, in West Jakarta.
While the lunch was being prepared by their mothers on the verandah of a house, four-year-old Ahmad and his friends danced and sang along with seven nutrition volunteers.
The menu that day cost Rp 2,460 (20 US cents) per child.
On day five, Friday, the menu read: Spinach, fried tofu and omelette, with bananas for dessert. The cost: Rp 2,085 per child. The menu was designed to replicate typical meals prepared in low-income households in the neighborhood.
The mothers said their children had become good friends with their fellow eaters and the volunteers.
Mohamad Thamrin, a volunteer councilor at Pos Gizi, said the program helped children develop social skills as well as learn about healthy eating.
During the program, they learned to sing and dance between meals, and even to enjoy the less desirable chores associated with eating. Dish-washing was livened up by hand-clapping and cheerful singing.
The nutrition camp at RW 8 was founded freely by volunteers, and not under obligation from the subdistrict health center, or Puskesmas.
The volunteers are also social workers at the local health clinic for senior citizens who have grandchildren, called a Posyandu.
Thamrin said the healthy eating program had proven easy to duplicate and was easy to adapt to various local needs and situations,
During the four-day session at RW 8, the mothers agreed to share expenses. However, Leni Zaeni, a resident in another part of the city, chose to host another event at her house. She said she had taken pity on the low-income families.
That was fi ne for most cases as long as the mothers and toddlers could benefi t from the program, Thamrin said.
He said while Leni's gesture had been appreciated, "the program was designed to promote selfsuffi ciency among low-income communities.
"But for certain families, bringing one egg to a cooking session could be a burden," he said. (iwp)
