EAST MANGGARAI (January 25th, 2024) - The family of the late Rosalia Bombol, a resident of Pong Ruan Village, Kota Komba District, East Manggarai Regency who died after experiencing paralysis and vision problems for 15 years, were still surrounded by grief. The underprivileged condition of her family meant that Rosalia did not have time to be taken to hospital. Knowing this, the Ministry of Social Affairs (MoSA) through “Efata” Center in Kupang provided various supports such as psychosocial support for bereaved families, ATENSI assistance and compensation to ease the burden on Rosalia's family.

"Actually, Rosalia's family has received assistance from the Family Hope Program (PKH) and basic food assistance from MoSA. However, this assistance is only enough for daily living because their income is uncertain," said Silvanus Jeharum, a PKH Companion who accompanied the family of the late Rosalia.

Now, in the house of the late Rosalia, lives her husband named Selfus Tundur (58) and her daughter-in-law, Maria Goreto Oni with her two-year-old child. The house has walls cut from palm trees, the floor is made of earth and the roof is made of worn tin. To meet their daily needs, Maria Gareto becomes a casual farm worker whose wages are IDR 30,000 per day. Besides, Selfus relies on money sent from his son who is a palm oil plantation worker in Kalimantan.

Knowing the story of the late Rosalia and her husband, MoSA made a quick response. The team from “Efata” Center in Kupang went directly to the field to provide various assistance. Apart from psychosocial assistance, “Efata” Center in Kupang also handed over condolence money, ATENSI assistance in the form of basic materials and various daily needs for Selfus Tundur’s family.

When “Efata” Center in Kupang team met Selfus Tundur's family, it turned out that his family's data had not been changed and processed by the local village government. Thus, “Efata” Center in Kupang’s officers helped in coordination with the local government to make new family cards.

Silvanus explained that Selfus Tundur’s family is one of the families in extreme poverty in Pong Ruan Village, Kota Komba District, East Manggarai Regency. Poverty is difficult for Selfus Tundur’s family and other families to overcome because of the rough terrain to the village and very limited access to transportation. As a result, people's agricultural products are difficult to sell because transportation costs are very expensive. On the other hand, basic daily necessities imported from other regions become expensive due to high transportation costs.

Besides the difficult access, Pong Ruan Village also has difficulties with clean water. This difficulty is experienced by almost all village residents. To meet the need for clean water, residents have to walk about one kilometer and the water quality is not that good.

Seeing this condition, MoSA through “Efata” Center in Kupang will carry out observation and coordination with local village government officials regarding the needs of the community. This observation and coordination is important to overcome various problems faced by society. MoSA wants various problems faced by society to be resolved immediately and society's level of welfare to increase.

Public Relations Bureau
Indonesian Ministry of Social Affairs