Indonesia

HKI has had an active presence in Indonesia since the early 1970s, providing technical assistance to the Government of Indonesia’s (GOI) vitamin A program that began with an evaluation in 1973.

HKI-Indonesia has since continued to work in close collaboration with the GOI, and its activities include:

• Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) control >> more
• Opportunities for Vulnerable Children (OVC) >> more
• Tsunami relief >> more
• Earthquake relief >> more

HKI’s work in Indonesia has produced a significant body of scientific knowledge on vitamin A. This includes the landmark research in the 1970s, establishing the link between VAD and childhood morbidity and mortality, as well as more recent work on the lesser bioavailability of vitamin A from vegetables and fruits as compared to animal products. For a PDF Fact Sheet about vitamin A, please click here.

Since the early 1980’s, HKI has pioneered rehabilitation and education programs for students with visual impairments in Indonesia. HKI's model can be expanded and adapted to serve other disabled and disenfranchised populations. In 2003, HKI's Opportunities for Vulnerable Children (OVC ) program was developed to help increase the Government of Indonesia's capacity to serve children with visual impairments and other special needs. The program increases access to education for special needs children, and motivates policy makers to place a higher priority on students with special needs. The program helps community leaders identify visually-impaired children who are not in school, designs and implements teacher training, helps develop academic curricula, and provides facility enhancements to schools. Funding for the program is provided by USAID; to read an article about the program, please click here.

Since up to 25% of adolescent students need eyeglasses, HKI's OVC program also implements a school-based Primary Eye Care program. In partnership with the schools and the Indonesian Refractionist Association, HKI provides screening, refraction services and free eyeglasses within the school environment. Referrals, follow-up, and surgery are offered through the Jakarta Eye Center. For a PDF Fact Sheet about the OVC Program, please click here.

HKI provided assistance for the Tsunami Relief efforts in Aceh and North Sumatra. HKI distributed vitamin A and dispersible zinc tablets to children under five years of age through an initiative called Supplementation with Micronutrients (SUM). Micronutrients such as vitamin A and zinc constitute one of the most cost-effective ways to save lives and prevent disease in disaster situations. Children particularly are vulnerable to death and disease in the aftermath of disasters such as the tsunami. In addition to providing micronutrients to children, HKI distributed a monthly supply of multivitamins suitable for cooking or non-cooking conditions to enhance health. For a PDF Fact Sheet about Vitamin & Mineral Supplementation, please click here.

HKI also conducted a Rapid Emergency Assessment and Prioritization (REAP) to help coordinate relief efforts. HKI determined the conditions and coverage of basic assistance and recovery and collect data about diarrhea, pneumonia, malaria and nutrition to complement the distribution of micronutrients through SUM. The information that HKI gathered was shared with all groups involved in the relief and rebuilding efforts to assist in their collaboration.

As part of REAP, HKI also identified early signs of xerophthalmia among Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), and of blind and visually impaired children in IDP camps and among “hidden” IDPs, or those living in the broader community with families or outside the official IDP camps. HKI continues to provide eyeglasses to those who need them. For a PDF Fact Sheet about Primary Eye Care, please click here.

HKI's Yogyakarta and Central Java earthquake response program consisted of Supplementation with Micronutrients (SUM) to children and families living in the affected areas. HKI provided sprinkles (multi-micronutrient supplements) to 130,000 children (30 sachet per child) in partnership with UNICEF. HKI provided the technical inputs required to ensure that the optimal benefits of the sprinkles are experienced by the target population. HKI also provided iron-fortified soy sauce to 16,000 households (20 sachet per household) in collaboration with the distribution of food aid and other commodities by Church World Services. Finally, HKI provided vitamin A capsules and zinc tablets to the provincial health office of Yogyakarta for distribution.

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Donors and Program Partners

• Akzo Nobel Chemicals, Singapore
• Brother’s Brother Foundation
• CARE Indonesia PLAN Indonesia
• Church World Service (CWS)
• The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation
• Government of Indonesia
• H.J. Heinz Company Foundation
• International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness/VISION 2020: The Right to Sight
• Lavelle Fund for the Blind, Inc
• Mees Pierson Asia
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Netherlands
• NGO Affairs Committee of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ROC (Taiwan)
• Sight and Life Task Force
• Sight Savers International
• Standard Chartered Bank
• The Starr Foundation
• Sullivan & Cromwell
• SurfAid International
• Terre des Hommes Netherlands
• TOTAL E&P Indonesie
• USAID
• UNICEF

Key Staff

• John Palmer - Country Director
• David Spiro - Director of Education and Eye Care Programming
• Siti Halati - Field Operations & Data Management Director and Aceh Program Co-Director
• Elviyanti Martini - SEP Director and Aceh Program Co-Director
• Lily Natalia - Finance and Administration Director
• Hilda van't Riet - Technical Support Director