HISTORY

Isolation and the lack of communication experienced by children since the COVID-19 pandemic hits make children’s emotions more difficult to channel. Without realizing it, the level of stress and anxiety experienced by children also increases. Busy families and the lack of sufficient knowledge related to the emotional wellbeing of children make them more likely to be left with gadgets as a source of entertainment. As a result, children are susceptible to emotional instability and dependent on external consumption, especially gadgets. This thus reduced children’s focus on learning and their ability to create a healthy relationship with their surroundings. This problem needs to be resolved due to the long term effects that could cause children harm as this affects the stages of children’s development to grow as a wholesome human being.

OBJECTIVE 

To answer those problems and provide a collaborative and supportive platform for our children to develop their mindfulness growth, Project Child Indonesia conducts the Mindfulness Program at our Gajah Wong, Winongo, and Code river schools with the help of our interns and volunteers. We aim to:

• Stimulate children’s emotional intelligence and positive well beings in managing different emotions.
• Promote attentive and mindful behaviors through participating in interactive activities with their peers.
• Facilitate a space where children get to gather with friends to increase self-confidence and healthy interaction.
• Foster volunteers’ emotional management and knowledge to be Mindfulness Facilitators through online and offline training programs with our team.
• Provide a space where volunteers can gather, connect, and undergo mindful activities with their peers and the children, and to spread awareness on mental health. 

ACTIVITY 

This program is carried out within 13 weeks of offline classes with different learning modules and activities. There are four big themes about emotions for these classes, such as Awareness and Acceptance (Week 1 – 3), Attention and Creativity (Week 4 – 8), Self Efficacy (Week 9 – 11), and Positive Well Being (Week 12 – 13)

IMPACTS

Weeks and weeks of learning human emotions won’t go to waste. We hope that this program will improve children’s well-being, such as:

• More peaceful and controlled state of well being. With a holistic approach in understanding human emotions, children will be able to manage their emotions better.
• Decreased sense of isolation and loneliness. Understanding our own emotions also comes in tact with understanding others’ emotions. Children will understand that they are not alone in what they are feeling, thus making them more open to their surroundings.
• Becoming better social beings. Increased social interactions from offline classes plus increased empathy and social awareness from the activities will hopefully result in better social beings.