Since 2022, Yakoreni Snae Ndolu (42), who is familiarly known as Mama Reni, has been a member of the Healthy Village Cadre (KDS) team which was formed through collaboration between the TLM Foundation and Helebeik Village Government.
KDS was formed to assist the service of Maternal and Child Health programs in YTLM assisted villages. 2 years after becoming a cadre member, Mama Reni who is known to be active and caring towards others was chosen as the coordinator of the KDS team. Mama Reni was chosen by KDS members because she was considered a good example for women's groups, especially mothers in Helebeik.
Mama Reni is seen as a figure who carries out her role as a good wife and mother to her 5 children.
Mama Reni diligently performs her duties as part of the KDS Team. She always reminds pregnant mothers in Helebeik about the Posyandu (Integrated Health Service Post) schedule, visits pregnant mothers who need help, assists YTLM staff to distribute seeds and plant seedlings for pregnant women and distributes vegetables harvested from her “healthy kitchen” garden for those in need.
"I think to be a leader you have to be able to give a good example first. If we haven't shown anything good, how will other people listen to what we say?"
"That's why when I received vegetable seed support, I was very diligent in planting and caring for it. I wanted the results to be good so that when people saw it, they would have the intention to plant it too. Yesterday, my harvest was quite large, I even shared the vegetables with my relatives and neighbors."
Mama Reni also shared how the training she had attended related to maternal and child health enabled her to dispel village community beliefs about certain health conditions.
“Recently, my pregnant niece had convulsions, her family thought she was possessed. I said that her blood pressure was high, let's just take her to the hospital. They didn't want to, they wanted to call a psychic to pray. I insisted that it wasn't because she was possessed. We fought and I kept insisting that it was because her blood pressure was high, finally they agreed to take her to the hospital. She (my niece) has given birth, her child is healthy. Luckily we handled it quickly.”
Mama Reni is grateful for the knowledge she gained from the training related to maternal and child health that she attended. He said that being a healthy village cadre is a very meaningful role for him.
“I used to be a posyandu cadre, I liked it when I took care of mothers and children in the village. Cooking PMT for them, measuring their height and weighing them, so when I became a healthy village cadre I found joy in assisting them through simple tasks like these. The knowledge gained from posyandu training and TLM helped me care for my own children, witnessing their good health brought me joy. I hope the mothers in Helebeik can do the same. I really want to set a good example for other moms as much as I can”.
Reni serves as an example of a woman, especially in her role as a mother, empowering other women through her simple caring actions. She embraces her position as a healthy village cadre, guiding mothers in Helebeik to enhance their understanding of their essential responsibilities toward their children.