Gusti, The Child Rights Hero from Sambas
Gusti (13), the youngest of seven children, is the head of the Children's Forum in one of the villages in Sambas District. He is also very good at badminton, so he is often a champion at the village and sub-district levels. Besides going to school, Gusti often helps his parents and siblings at home and in the garden.
Being born into a simple family does not mean Gusti does not get whole love from his parents. Instead, his parents showed him a loving upbringing far from child abuse. Not surprisingly, Gusti grew up as a friendly, compassionate, and helpful child. It's no wonder the youth in his village entrusted Gusti to lead the Village Children's Forum for 2023-2024.
Being the head of the Village Children's Forum requires Gusti to pay more attention to children's issues in his village, especially when he and his friends found that there were still practices of parents who educate children about violence. At the same time, Gusti heard stories of his friends who lacked love from their families. Based on his observations of these conditions, Gusti took the initiative to create activities that could sensitize the people in his village about the dangers of child abuse.
Gusti and the other organizers of the Children's Forum have faced many challenges in fighting for children's rights in their village. "When we voice our rights to the community, we are always underestimated," Gusti said sadly. He continued, "People still don't understand the child protection law. But my friends and I are not discouraged and are even more challenged to fight for our rights as children."
They continue to carry out activities such as socializing children's rights, creating a reporting line for cases of violence against women and children, and distributing and sticking anti-violence against children stickers on every door in the village. They do this to make the community more aware of the importance of protecting children.
Gusti and her friends' relentless struggle paid off. Their voices and contributions were finally heard and recognized. The Village Head was encouraged to issue a Circular Letter on the Flow of Reporting Violence against Women and Children at the village level. The policy is believed to facilitate handling cases of violence against children. The Elimination of Violence Against Children Campaign, organized and supported by Wahana Visi Indonesia drew participation from various parties. Three hundred fifty participants attended the campaign held in February 2022. The participants comprised the community of 25 villages in the Teluk Keramat sub-district, the sub-district government, and the Sambas District Office of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection, Population Control, and Family Planning (P3AP2KB).
"The Regional Children's Forum is critical for us to empower, to echo. With this Children's Forum, children can contribute and channel their aspirations to fulfill children's rights and development planning in line with the government," explained Fatma Aghisni, Head of P3AP2KB. Gusti was very grateful for this achievement. According to him, good things will come to those who wait, but better things will come to those who go out to pursue them.
Writer : Yasika Amanda (Field Facilitator kantor operasional WVI area Sambas)
Editor : Mariana Kurniawati (Communication Executive)
