Brigita's Here!

As a communication student and professional who has worked in a nonprofit setting for the last 5 years, the word impact means a lot to me. What are the impacts we plan to make through our programs? Are we sure our campaigns are having an impact on rural villages? How do we maintain our organization so that our programs are impactful? Those questions were constantly running through my mind. Therefore, when I read The New Reason to Work by Roshan Paul and Ilaina Rabat, it feels like home. So familiar, and I could not agree more with many things both have written. However, the most insight I have gotten so far (I have not finished the book yet) is about the importance of aligning who you are with what you do. Paul and Rabat present this idea in a simple graphic that helps me digest it. Three bubbles with a circle arrow are present. The first bubble represents the INNER SELF, with subtexts of body, heart, and mind. The second bubble is OUTER SELF with subtext: behavior. The third bubble is

Imagine you are faced with a critical challenge, but you have limited skill, competence, and support to overcome it. Are you sure you can combat that? You might be able to solve the obstacle, but are you sure it will obtain maximum outcomes? A similar analogy might be implied for one of the most critical health cases in Indonesia: stunting. Are you sure we can combat stunting if our resources have limited skill and competence, as well as an unsupported policy?  According to the Indonesia Nutritional Status Survey (2022), the province with the highest case of stunting is Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT). Stunting is more than a short stature. It has a strong connection to the long-term life of a human being. Theoretically, stunting is the impaired growth and development that children experience as a result of inadequate psychosocial stimulation, repeated infections, and poor nutrition. Some of those consequences include poor cognition and educational performance, low adult wages, lost produc

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines value as: (1) the monetary worth of something; (2) a fair return or equivalent in goods, services, or money for something exchanged; (3) relative worth, utility, or importance; (4) something (such as a principle or quality) intrinsically valuable or desirable; and (5) a numerical quantity that is assigned or is determined by calculation or measurement. In essence, value is defined as a paramount aspect. Furthermore, in the context of daily life, Bob Rue (2001) states that values are the essence of who we are as human beings. Our values get us out of bed every morning, help us select the work we do, the company we keep, the relationships we build, and ultimately, the groups and organizations that we lead. Moreover, our values influence every decision and move we make, even to the point of how we choose to make our decisions. How you define value? Photo credit to kozzi.com Therefore, when it comes to talking about personal values and workplace value

 This year, 2024, marks two decades since the founding of the massive social media platform Facebook, now known as Meta. This big tech was coming from a small objective: to build connections with classmates. Fast forward to 2020; the goal is bigger (and beyond). “My goal for the next decade isn’t to be liked but to be understood. In order to be trusted, people need to know what you stand for,” said Zuckerberg, the Facebook founder, while addressing investors on a 2020 conference call (Agnihotri and Bhattacharya, 2022:1). It is not solely huge; it becomes crazier. The fact that there are (still and counting) a lot of users supports this ambition. According to Statista (2024), Facebook users worldwide were forecast to continuously grow between 2023 and 2027, with a total of 391 million users (+14.36%). Facebook’s business model is focused entirely on increasing growth and user engagement. Its algorithms are extremely effective at doing so. However, the steps Facebook has taken, for insta

The Foundation for Mother and Child Health Indonesia (FMCHI) opened a huge chance for me to have a closer look at the health reality in my homeland, Nusa Tenggara Timur province, Indonesia. I worked with them for the last 2 years as a Media and Communications Officer. I interacted with many people; some of them are pregnant mothers who struggle with health access, malnourished children, and midwives who are still far from a prosperous life. I still remember vividly some midwives I met; I interviewed them in order to produce content. One of them is Bidan Eta. Bidan , in Indonesia, means midwife. In short, their name follows after the appellation. Bidan Eta is one of the assisted midwives of FMCHI, as well as their local partner in implementing programs in Fenun village. She has been a midwife, at least for the last 10 years. “This is not an easy path," she claimed. Fenun is one of the rural areas in Nusa Tenggara Timur that has a wild challenge in access. Bidan Eta served up to 1

Disclaimer: This article is written from the perspective of heterogeneous couples When it comes to postpartum depression, most people focus on moms and children. In fact, fathers are also the significant ones to talk to. Please meet Steven Gallegos . He is a new dad. He was over the moon, welcoming her son, Caleb. However, Steven, who had never suffered from anxiety or depression before, said he began to feel hopeless, overwhelmed, irritable, and, at times, dealt with suicidal thoughts. "There was just kind of like a fog of, 'I didn't know what to do.' Honestly, my mind was a complete jumble of confusion as I pondered, "What the hell is going on?" Like, how do I navigate this?" Steven remarked. Steven is not on his own. Studies say one in ten fathers experiences mental health difficulties in the first year of postpartum (Cookin et al., 2015). Furthermore, according to the study mentioned in Dad & Mental Health: A Parents & Verywell Mind Study (20