New Year’s Resolution: Building Healthy Eating Habits Together

Begawan Learning Centre held a two-week Vacation Program in December 2021 with the theme “New Year, New Habits for a Better Future”. We invited guest speakers from three organisations whose work was related to the theme. The first was a team from Puskesmas (Community Health Centre) Payangan.

On 17 December, this team from Puskesmas Payangan consisting of a doctor, a nurse, and a nutritionist came to the Learning Centre to check the students’ eyes, ears, teeth and nutritional status. The students were initially afraid when they heard that a health team would come to the Learning Centre because they had just received the Covid-19 vaccination at school.

However, after seeing their friends get checked by the medical team and realising that medical checkups do not hurt, their excitement grew. Students were curious about the work of doctors and also helped with the health checks. After the checkups were complete, the nutritionist discussed nutrition and healthy food with the students. One of the parents said that after returning from the Learning Centre, her daughter ate vegetables and drank more water than was her usual habit.

We at Begawan believe that the provision of educational services must also include meeting the nutritional  and health needs of our students. Therefore, we began a healthy lunch program in October 2021 and continue to collaborate with parents and experts to ensure that this program continues. We believe that changing habits will take time and will be a long journey but we are confident that we can achieve it by working hand in hand with the students and advisory organisations. (Bonita Prasetyo)