In a small, enclosed courtyard surrounded by low-cost apartments in Cilincing, North Jakarta, eight women in pink uniforms are serving dozens of expectant mothers and children.

They regularly call out registration numbers before measuring and weighing the children, then recording the information in android smartphones as well as logbooks.

These women are local housewives who volunteer for the Cilincing integrated health post (Posyandu). On Wednesday, they held a monthly checkup with the assistance of doctors from the Cilincing subdistrict community health center (Puskesmas).

They also use the event to try the new Posyandu mobile application, which is funded by the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program of PT Bank HSBC Indonesia, to record the children’s data.

“We are not just inputting the data of the children and mothers into the app, but also writing it down manually, because the subdistrict administration and the community health center also require the data in hard copy,” said head of Cilincing Posyandu Entin Kartini.

Nearby, Posyandu officer Ema, 46, was in charge of preparing two large pots of mung bean porridge to be served to the dozens of children in attendance. As she scooped porridge into plastic cups she said that her grandson was expected to arrive for his check-up.

She said she had warned her daughter, Lusianti, that her 2-year-old son, Rama, was slightly underweight at 8.5 kilograms.

“He eats very little and I am very concerned about his growth. At his age, he should weigh more than 10 kilograms” she said.

Ema has worked with the Posyandu since 2008, learning about family planning, and basic maternal care and child-health issues, such as prenatal care, immunization and nutritional problems, which are identified and tackled at a community unit (RW) level.

Every month, the Posyandu organizes a free checkup for pregnant women, babies and toddlers, giving free vaccinations and healthcare education.

The housewives also volunteer as jumantik (mosquito monitoring officers) three times a week in the neighborhood.

Posyandu Anggrek 1 in Cilincing subdistrict monitors approximately 180 pregnant women, babies and toddlers under 5 years old in the area, and assists with other health-related issues.

“Sometimes people do not come for the checkup, so we go to them while also checking for mosquitoes [at their homes],” said Entin, adding that some women were reluctant to attend the monthly checkups, because they were not registered at the Jakarta Civil Registry.

Cilincing subdistrict Puskesmas said it had come across four undernourished children this year, two of whom were reported by Posyandu personnel.

Masliani Novaria, a nutritionist at the Puskesmas, said that cases of undernourished and abandoned children were rarely reported and, therefore, difficult to detect, which is why the Posyandu volunteers had been of great help.

Infant mortality in North Jakarta is the capital’s highest, with a 194 under-2 infant deaths recorded in 2015, followed by West Jakarta with 179 deaths, according to data from the Jakarta Health Agency. Jakarta’s infant mortality rate in 2015 reached 3.11 per 1,000 live births.

All municipalities in the capital had achieved 100 percent of universal child immunization program in 2014 and 2015, thanks in part to Posyandu’s active role in the campaign, according to the Health Ministry. Jakarta has a total of 2,361 Posyandu. (dis)

Sylvia Octaviani Tambunan, an intern with The Jakarta Post contributed to this story

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