The Colorful Joy of Children in Amagais Village, Papua

"I love to draw," said Matthew with his distinctive accent.

In the other corner, there are children facing each other. In front of them, there is a colourful congklak board. The sound of congklak seeds was heard along with the enthusiastic laughter of the children.

The village atmosphere which is usually not as busy as this makes the children excited to fill the village hall. They were gathered with full of curiosity to do something.

It is the children in Amagais Village, Asmat Regency, South Papua Province who are enjoying their time playing and having fun with the team from the Ministry of Social Affairs. They felt this joy as part of the series of National Children's Day (HAN 2022) initiated by the Ministry of Social Affairs.

The series of activities starts from July 29, 2022 to August 1, 2022, beginning with an assessment of the children in Amagais Village.

There are many activities that involve children, including learning to draw and colour, making woven mats from pandan leaves, and playing congklak. The children also made a volleyball court together.

Besides, the team also provided education about personal hygiene.

"Earlier, Mama said, we have to take a shower every morning and evening using soap, wash our hair with shampoo, brush our teeth with toothpaste," Matthew said, imitating the words of the social worker he heard earlier.

Children are also taught to keep the environment clean. Together with the team, the children did community service cutting the grass, cleaning the gutters, and taking out the trash.

In addition, children are also taught how to prevent diseases, such as tuberculosis. They also received health checks conducted by the Asmat District Health Office.

The head of the ‘Inten Soeweno’ Integrated Center in Cibinong, Royani said the team from the Ministry of Social Affairs had distributed various assistance in Amagais Village.

"The Ministry of Social Affairs handed over fishing nets for 55 families, packages for fulfilling a decent life, such as nutrition, food and clothing for 300 children, as well as school supplies packages for 85 children," explained Royani.

The assistance, he continued, was the result of an assessment that had been carried out by the team. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Social Affairs team assigned to Amagais Village are the Integrated Center ‘Inten Soeweno’ in Cibinong, the Secretariat of the Directorate General of Social Rehabilitation, the Directorate of Remote Indigenous Communities, the Directorate of PSDS and the Social Service of the Asmat Regency.

Royani revealed that the culmination of the 2022 HAN series was held on August 1, 2022 in East Lombok, and children in Amagais also took part in the event online.

Public Relations Bureau

RI Ministry of Social Affairs