The Dafa Fund

The Dafa Fund ensures that no malnourished children fall through the cracks. The Dafa Fund is named after a 24-month-old boy in Waloka, outside Labuan Bajo, who was on the verge of dying from malnutrition. Fortunately, one of our colleagues brought us to his house, and we were able to assemble a team to address the situation and develop a plan to get him the care he needed to recover safely. The question remains: "Can we continue to ignore children who are left behind?" How do we achieve equity of outcomes in some of the poorest villages in Indonesia—the poorest provinces? The answer is the Dafa Fund.

When we're in the field—Flores, Komodo, Lombok Timor—we frequently encounter children with severe acute malnutrition. These children, for whatever reason, have fallen through the crack. Sometimes they are born to a mother too young. Sometimes the father has abandoned the family. Sometimes the children have undiagnosed tuberculosis. Whatever the reason, we can’t look away. We have to do something. The 1000 Days Fund fights for equity of access, and the Dafa Fund creates equity of outcomes.

The 1000 Days Fund has established the Dafa Fund to provide these children with the necessary care to get back on track. We have quality assurance officers on the ground in six districts in NTT who ensure that if a child is brought to us, we can prevent them from dying from malnutrition. Unfortunately, this still happens, and we never want it to happen again.