Colleagues in Indonesia have once again set a high standard for the quality of their community relations. Here’s a report for you which we think is worth reading in full.
The year 2020 has really been a learning experience for all of us, living in the pandemic era of Covid 19. We see things in different perspectives and learn to appreciate everyday activities that we often took for granted, like going to the office, school and restaurants. We are reminded of the simplest habit to wash our hands in order to survive and to keep others safe.
This is why Global Handwashing Day resonates differently to Rentokil Initial Indonesia this year. Living in a big country with such diversity, we had the privilege to celebrate Global Handwashing Day in two opposite situations.
On Monday morning of October 12, we virtually greeted first graders of Pembangunan Jaya Bintaro Primary School, Jakarta. Just like most students in the world today, they couldn’t go to school and had to study online from home. We played videos and presentations to show them how germs spread, how to maintain personal hygiene and wash hands properly.
That day around 100 students joined our session and they were divided into four groups. Each group were assisted by a classroom teacher and one Rentokil Initial colleague. Having never done this activity online, we were initially worried that these six year olds would easily get distracted and couldn’t focus on any of our presentation.
But much to our surprise, they amazed us with their enthusiasm and curiosity. They listened, they asked some good questions and they obediently repeated the hand washing demonstration that we saw in the video.
Meanwhile in Bogor, a city 60km south of the national Capital Jakarta, where the presidential palace is located, not every student had the luxury of a good internet connection and proper device to join online class from their house.
This raised concerns to the local Youth Organization. To make sure children in their area can still study well in this pandemic, they turned a house into a public place and provide wifi for free. These young people also dedicate their time and energy to help students with their lessons and homework. By doing so, they wish to lift some burden off of the parents who are struggling to homeschool their kids while making a living in this crisis.
Rentokil Initial Indonesia visited these 50 children on October 14. We equipped their facility with a hand soap dispenser and we gave hand sanitizer to each one of them. We also shared education about personal hygiene and washing hands, just like what we did in Jakarta. But this time we did it offline.
In both circumstances, we were deeply moved and inspired by the collective effort carried out by teachers, school principal, parents, and Youth Organization workers to ensure children in this country are educated despite the uncertainty of Covid 19.
Global Handwashing Day has never been a more relatable platform to advocate the importance of washing hands and personal hygiene. We were greatly honoured to take part in educating young children the very basic practice to protect themselves, their family and friends from viral transmission.
We believe that the good habits we ‘sowed’ today, we will cultivate as future generations take good care of themselves, other people and their environment.
Our team in Indonesia – an inspiration to us all!
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