Wihelmi's Happy Smile Seeing Her Baby Come Out of the Hospital

PADANG SIDEMPUAN CITY (January 30th, 2024) – Wilhelmi Nasution (39) could smile happily. Her youngest child, Satria Elgatra, who was born on January 3rd, 2024, was able to go home with her after she couldn’t take him home previously due to problems in paying off the hospital fees.

Satria is the seventh child of Wilhelmi and Slamat Harahap (44), residents of South Padangsidimpuan District, Padang Sidempuan City, North Sumatra. Satria was born at a clinic in Padang Sidempuan on January 3rd, 2024 with a normal body weight of 3.5 kilogram.

When he was born, he didn't cry. His body was blue. His heart was beating, but he had difficulty breathing. Then, Satria was referred to a hospital in Padang Sidempuan so that his treatment could be better. However, when he was allowed to leave the hospital, Satria's parents did not have the money to pay for the treatment costs, so the baby was stuck in the hospital.

“Satria was born on January 3rd at the clinic. As he didn’t cry thirty minutes after he was born, we took him to the hospital. As his condition had improved, he was allowed to go home on January 7th. But, due to financial constraints, we were able to take him home from the hospital on January 10th," said Wilhelmi.

Satria was able to leave the hospital on January 10, after receiving donations from the Burangir Foundation and the community around where he lived. Meanwhile, the remaining hospital arrears were paid off by the Acting Mayor of Padang Sidempuan.

After Satria received treatment at home, the Ministry of Social Affairs (MoSA), through the Directorate of Child Social Rehabilitation and "Insyaf" Center in Medan, took various follow-up steps to respond the case, such as coordinating with Padang Sidempuan City Population and Civil Registry Service (Disdukcapil) to arrange for a new family card and birth certificates of Satria and his older brother, Elfikri.

Furthermore, MoSA coordinated with the Social Service so that Satria and Elfikri's names were immediately included in the Integrated Social Welfare Data (DTKS) and proposed to receive assistance from the Family Hope Program (PKH). The team also coordinated with Padang Sidempuan City Health Service to create a BPJS Contribution Assistance Recipient (PBI) for Wilhelmi's family and prioritize it to be active on February 2nd, 2024.

During the time, Wilhelmi’s family lived in a rented house with a rental fee of IDR 250,000 per month without any facilities so they slept on mats. Clean water was also difficult to obtain and the water used daily was murky, so Wilhelmi asked neighbors who have drilled wells for water.

Currently, Wilhelmi works as a tire repairman and costs Rp8 million per year to rent the place, even though her income is low as few consumers use her services. She was forced to run a business that was identical to man's job because Wilhelmi's husband left her in July 2023. Meanwhile, her first child has worked as a clerk in a supermarket in Pekanbaru since 2021.

"Because of that, to increase our family's income, we sell balloons," said her. However, selling balloons, including balloons for birthday celebrations, is not very popular because the income is only around IDR 30,000 – IDR 40,000 per day.

To help Wilhelmi family's economy, "Insyaf" Center in Medan provided entrepreneurial assistance for the development of the tire repair business, such as a set of compressors, motorbike inner tubes, tube tools, a set of ring wrenches, screwdrivers, tire rubber and pliers.

Meanwhile, the team from the Directorate of Child Social Rehabilitation provided assistance to Satria in the form of baby necessities, baby bathing equipment, diapers, baby sleeping equipment, blankets, mosquito nets and cupboards. The team also provided assistance to Satria during follow-up control at Padang Sidempuan Regional Hospital on January 16th.

Furthermore, MoSA together with related agencies in Padang Sidempuan would continue to monitor the development of the workshop business, Satria's health, as well as monitor the BPJS administration process and PKH assistance for Wilhelmi's family.

Public Relations Bureau
Indonesian Ministry of Social Affairs