Nutrition Gardens Help Us Survive During The Pandemic

#BersamaMelawanCovid19 - Covid-19 pandemic has spread throughout the world, also Indonesia. Many aspects of people's lives have been affected, especially in terms of education, health, and the economy. This negative impact does not only occur in big cities, but also in remote villages. One of the vulnerable groups affected by this pandemic is the toddler age group.

Meragun Village, Sekadau Regency, West Kalimantan also felt the negative impact of the pandemic. Ling-ling (35 yo) a mother of a toddler in Meragun Village knows very well how the Covid-19 pandemic affected her family.

"Corona has a negative impact on us, the people of Meragun Village. The government has imposed social restrictions. Vegetable sellers are now rarely coming to the village because people are also increasingly afraid of buying vegetables from mobile vendors. That makes it difficult for many people to meet their daily kitchen needs. The nutritional needs of children, especially toddlers, are also disturbed by this," she said.

In January 2020, Wahana Visi Indonesia in collaboration with the Meragun Village Field Extension Agricultural Trainers conducted a Nutrition Garden training for mothers of children under five. Participants are trained to grow organic vegetables to meet the nutritional needs of children under five.

The existence of this nutritional garden is very helpful for mothers in the village of Meragun during the Covid-19 pandemic. They can still meet the needs of vegetables for their families even though sellers of vegetables seldom visit the village.

"This nutritional garden is very beneficial for our family, especially children. We can survive in this pandemic by managing the nutrition garden that we have built together," Ling-Ling added.

According to her, the people of Meragun Village could feel the harvest once a week with two types of vegetables.

"We don't need to be tired of thinking about the availability of vegetables for our daily meals. Our children's nutrition can still be fulfilled," said the head of the nutrition garden group.

To ensure the sustainability of the nutrition garden, each group member is asked to provide a contribution of Rp 2,000 to buy vegetable seeds that can be replanted when the seeds are finished. Ling-ling hopes that cooperation in the nutrition garden group will continue.

"Nutrition garden is very important for families, especially children. We already feel the benefits now and want this to continue going forward. Hopefully, this pandemic will end soon so that the community and children can resume normal activities. For this reason, the community needs to comply with government appeals such as washing hands with soap and using masks," concluded a mother of three.

Written by: Heri Riyanto, Field Facilitator Sekadau Area Program Wahana Visi Indonesia