Mrs Susana began living in one of Wahana Visi Indonesia’s assisted villages in Southwest Sumba in 2020. She works as a nurse supporting community health post (Posyandu) activities. In 2024, her journey reached a significant milestone when she was appointed Acting Village Head—a role she continues to hold today.
Amid her duties as a civil servant and village leader, she has always been driven to engage more deeply in initiatives that positively impact children in her community. From the beginning of her work with Posyandu, she encountered recurring challenges: low attendance of toddlers and parents, limited administrative capacity, inadequate facilities, and insufficient infrastructure. Budget constraints further hindered efforts to improve services. Yet, these obstacles never discouraged her. For Mrs Susana, children are the future of the village, and giving up has never been an option.
During her leadership, solutions gradually emerged. She realised that village funds could be used to better support Posyandu services for all children—not just those classified as stunted. As a mother, she believed every child deserves equal attention.
With this conviction, she introduced supplementary feeding programmes (PMT) for all children attending Posyandu, aiming to encourage greater participation from parents. The initiative proved effective—bringing joy to the community and increasing attendance.
She also supported Posyandu services by providing essential equipment, such as tables, and planning for digital weighing scales. Despite budget limitations, she remained committed to making these improvements a reality.
Mrs Susana sees community health volunteers as the backbone of public health services. She continues to support and strengthen their role, ensuring they receive regular guidance from WVI, local partner Yayasan Harapan Sumba (YHS), and health centres. She also ensures they are fairly compensated through village funds.
For her, collaboration between local government, volunteers, health workers, and partners like WVI and YHS, is not just work—it is a genuine commitment to serve children and the wider community. As a result, participation in Posyandu has significantly improved.
Her efforts extend beyond health. Through the village-owned enterprise (BUMDes), she supports an egg-laying poultry initiative to improve children’s nutrition and provide income for families. She believes child health and household economy are closely linked and must be developed together.
Through compassion, dedication, and persistence, gradual change is taking shape in the village—paving the way for a healthier, stronger, and more hopeful future generation.
Author: Gita Susi Loru (Field staff from Yayasan Harapan Sumba)
Editor: Mariana Kurniawati (Communication Executive)