Stories and gifts were the order of the day when recruitment consultants from Monroe Consulting Group Indonesia spent time with a number of seriously or terminally ill children at Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital (RSCM) hospital in Jakarta last weekend.
As part of an ongoing program to help children and their families from poor backgrounds in Indonesia, seven consultants from the executive search company joined Kampung Dongeng, a community-based organisation that alleviates suffering through storytelling, to share stories and distribute presents.
Kampung Dongeng works closely with Yayasan Mitra Anak Indonesia (Main), a non-profit, medical-led organisation that provides free care and comfort to poverty-stricken children who are sick or terminally ill. Monroe provides Main with ongoing financial support as part of its corporate social responsibility programme and Monroe’s staff continue to be closely involved with the organisation.
Monroe Managing Director Bagus Hendrayono said they were able to provide 20 children with a brief respite from the ordeals they had been confronted with, reading stories, playing games and distributing practical gifts such as food and toiletries. The company last year launched a drive to supply toys and games for RSCM, and is currently in the process of sourcing children’s books to establish a library in the hospital’s new paediatrics ward.
“Each occasion we visit is just as emotional as the first time we came here,” Bagus said. “The bravery of the children in the face of such adversity cannot be put into words. All we can pray for is that our support makes some small amount of difference, no matter how slight.”