Staff's Story: Bringing Hiri Island as a Child-Friendly Island

Charles Albertho Welhelmus Frans (45 yo) has been dedicating his life to work in the 3T region with Wahana Visi Indonesia (WVI) since 1999. Indeed, 21 years is not a short time to have a devoted heart. From that time, Charles was able to bring Hiri Island in North Maluku to become the first Child-Friendly Island in Indonesia in 2018.

Hiri Island has become a WVI assisted area since 2008. Since almost 3 years of service in Ternate, Charles and the WVI Ternate Area Program team together with the government and the community have successfully declared Hiri Island as a Child-Friendly Island.

"People in Hiri Island are very receptive to WVI and its programs, but the seriousness of the Ternate City government to want to work with WVI and other partners in realizing child-friendly city, it needs to be given a thumbs up," said the Ternate Program Area Manager.

For Charles, the human values ??that are lived by WVI and the staff who support each other are the reasons why he continues to work as a humanitarian worker to this day. Being a humanitarian worker requires commitment and a calling. Moreover, when you have to be in a disadvantaged place and far from a big city, then it certainly will not be easy.

"Yes, there are still people who want to do the job like this," added the father of 3 children who are also members of the Ternate City Co-19 Task Force.

At present, Charles and the WVI Ternate Area Program team continue to focus on assisting the Ternate community in preventing Covid-19. Various activities such as providing personal protective equipment to various health facilities, providing food support and developing the economy of MSMEs, strengthening food security, and continue to work with religious leaders.

Written by: Putri ianne Barus, Communications Officer Wahana Visi Indonesia