23/06/19 – Since the last 7 years, we have been working hand in hand with the Child Social Service from the Indonesian government to help and support hundreds of children and their families in need.

Some of the children in our care come from Sumbawa, an island on the East of Lombok. In Sumbawa, which is generally less developed than Lombok, poverty is obvious and widespread. Substance abuse often becomes an escape for many people and children from the harsh reality.

The children who live in Peduli Anak cannot live at home anymore because it is simply not safe for them. However, we always track and trace family members and do supervised family visits.

This month, we went on a special trip to Sumbawa. A government social worker, Arief Budi Saputera, also joined our team. We did the first two supervised family visits. We met with the parents of Aldy that just finished building their government-subsidized house after their house was destroyed by the Lombok & Sumbawa earthquakes last year. Then we visited the mother of Agus that suffers from mental illness.

Besides home visits, the main objective of our Sumbawa trip was to reunite the children who live in our care with their siblings who got separated and were now living in different orphanages. First, we went to a very poor orphanage in Sumbawa Besar to pick up Irwansyah’s older sister and grandmother. This was a very emotional reunion. Both sister and grandmother also had been neglected by their relatives so we invited them to come back with us to live at Peduli Anak.

Lastly, we went to an orphanage in Taliwang city to pickup Yuda, the oldest of 4 siblings who have already lived in Peduli Anak for 6 months. All children and grandmother are now reunited and settled in nicely in Peduli Anak.