In
Indonesia diseases such as Dung fever, typhus and diarrhea is normal, most
people I know in every socioeconomic level has experienced one of these
diseases themselves or have had a family member have it. It is the curse of
humanity that it learns to tolerate even the most horrible situations by habituation.
Many
sanitation related diseases happen in developing countries such as Indonesia,
especially in big metropolitan cities like Jakarta that has embraced modernity to
the fullest while depending on huge numbers of low wage labors who life in
conditions without sanitation facilities. These people then will be the ones
most prone to all sorts of diseases while having the least insurance to fall into
in case of sickness, making it incredibly difficult for them and their family
to get out of poverty. They are trapped in a cycle of evil.
I
believe that we must deal with the issue of global health as a system of
disease eradication by prevention, where emphasis must be put on building basic
infrastructure facilities to ensure that there is no spread of disease. But hard
physical infrastructure is not enough.
No
system can work without the people who benefit the most out of it understanding
its merit. Therefore the key to a well-designed global health program is community
education. With education the community can be part of the solution rather than
only as the subject of aid. It is important to treat them this way because in
turn it will create a sense of dignity and responsibility within the community,
making the built infrastructural system more likely to be sustainable.
A
well designed global health program must invest equal amount of time for both
physical infrastructural improvements and community education. This community empowerment
with emphasis on each individual’s personal empowerment is key to building a
sustainable structural empowerment. Personal empowerment must consist of
building the motivation, self-confidence, self-reliance, self-evaluation and creative
ability of the community[1], so
that the community can be their own agent of change.
After
all, nobody can help anybody unless they themselves want to help themselves. Therefore
rather than simply giving aid, changes that involves the community in the decision
making would, I believe, be more beneficial to the community. These little
tweaks of personal empowerment will then ripple through and ensure lasting
changes within the community.
[1] This is
an idea taken from Tri Mumpuni, the founder of IBEKA, a non-profit organization
dealing with the electrification of rural villages in Indonesia. I have met her
through the Global Leadership Program in 2014.