Project 10: Pathways to Health - Indonesia

In partnership with Yapon Ministry, more than 300 pairs of protective shoes and nutritional food packs were distributed to more than 300 children residing in the slums of Jakarta. Now they have shoes to protect their feet from cuts and disease transmitted through soil parasites and can stay healthy with some food filled with goodness.

For some in this world, the essentials in life are hard to come by.  Fresh, clean water, adequate clothing, a nutritious meal or shelter are things the children in the slums of Jakarta regularly go without.  Families in the poorest areas of Indonesia's capital city may be living on as little as $1 per day- which is considered below the poverty line.  When so little comes in, there are times when they have to go without. Adequate footwear, clothing and nutritious food are considered a luxury for these families- not a necessity.

Children living in poor communities within the crowded capital of Indonesia- Jakarta, lack shoes, leaving them to walk unprotected in polluted slum streets and paths. This places them at high risk of exposure to parasitic organisms and diseases, such as hookworm. Hookworm larvae live in soil and can penetrate human skin. Walking barefoot exposes children to contaminated soil. Hookworm symptoms include abdominal pain, diarrhoea, loss of appetite, weight loss, fatigue and anaemia. Stings and bug bites that get infected are also common ailments children are exposed to when going without shoes.  But for less than a takeaway morning coffee, you can help by putting soles on a child's feet and some nutritious food in their bellies.