Corporate Responsibility
Community
Within this framework Robust's professional field workers partner with various Indonesian development organisations who carry expertise in particular sectors to ensure effective and quality community development outcomes. These partners in turn work collaboratively with the local government and key community representatives to ensure capacity strengthening in a variety of sectors such as labour, planning, agriculture and health.
Health
Robust partners with The Papuan Children's Health Foundation to implement a Community Health Program on Romang Island. The Community Health Program focuses on an array of initiatives such as Malaria control and The Mother and Child Health initiative. All these initiatives are approached with strategic collaboration and commitment to effect targeted education, raising awareness, research, training and demonstration for the improvement of the health sector. Malaria is a significant threat on Romang Island and causes unnecessary death due to lack of awareness and treatment. With The Malaria Control Program, the local community are educated from the first onset of the disease through to treatment, and through the Papuan Children's Health Foundation and District Health Office collaboration, are now able to attain adequate medical treatment at the local medical facility. The Mother and Child Health initiative educates mothers on health and nutritional value. The program, for mothers with children under the age of five, is aimed at basic health care, disease control and establishing health knowledge among the community. Education about water and sanitation, improved kitchen hygiene and cooking methods and the nutritional needs for adults and children are fundamental aspects of this initiative.Corrective Surgery
Cleft pallet problems affect 1 in 700 newborns. Robust Resources and Cleft Care Foundation Indonesia partner together to preform corrective surgery on local children born with cleft pallet. Communities are first educated in cleft pallet problems and how surgical intervention can improve the lives of these disadvantaged children. Affected children are identified, screened and go through a program of health improvement before corrective surgery is undertaken. It cannot be underestimated the change in quality of life that this initiative has for children. Social isolation, marginalisation from school and events can all be reversed by this simple surgical procedure.Agriculture
Robust believes in investing in the long term sustainability through substance and commercial enterprise such as the home garden and marketing program. Through a West Timorese agricultural development organisation, Robust Resources has partnered in a horticultural improvement project. The Home Garden Project involves educating the community on using the resources available on the Island for improvement in quality and quantity of vegetables. Training is provided to key community groups who then enter into a garden pilot project scheme to physically demonstrate to the wider community the benefits of improved horticultural practices. An extension of the success of the Home Garden Project is to market the excess vegetables which is supported through a Market Garden Micro-credit Scheme. The scheme aims to extend small amounts of credit to locals in tandem with education on how to prepare and market excess vegetable production. This gives the participating families the opportunity to increase their income and the possibility of increasing their enterprise.Infrastructure
Through Indonesian engineering development partners, Robust has assisted in the rehabilitation of water supply projects to provide clean water access to the vast majority of the local population. Within this framework, important improvements include;- The rehabilitation of water catchments
- The replacement of poor quality water pipes
- The building of distribution water tanks and;
- The provision of community water taps to ensure all have convenient access.