Barack Obama Appreciates the Indonesian Startup that Helps People

The 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama, gave his appreciation to a crowd funding startup from Indonesia, WeCare.id, for its efforts to help the community fight Covid-19. This appreciation was conveyed by Obama through The Leaders Forum: Asia Pacific Cohort which was held virtually, recently.

Barack Obama appreciated Wecare.id’s efforts to raise assistance to provide personal protective equipment (PPE) for medical personnel who are at the forefront of the fight against Covid-19.

“I am proud that you rely on each other and learn from each other, when your organization has to meet the needs of the community. Whether it’s AHA! Learning Center going digital, or WeCare.id turning its office into a PPE distribution center,” said Barack Obama via broadcast. press, Tuesday (15/12/2020).

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, WeCare.id has transformed its office into a center for receiving and distributing PPE. The company is also building an initiative campaign titled #APDUntukNegeri.

Distribute 400 thousand PPE

In this campaign, WeCare.id has distributed donations with a total value of more than Rp. 40 billion for the provision of PPE collected from thousands of donors and partners. As of Wednesday, 9 December 2020, WeCare.id has distributed more than 400,000 PPE to 2,336 Hospitals and Community Health Centers throughout Indonesia.

In December 2020, the Singapore Government supported WeCare.id to distribute 160 tonnes of PPE donations, such as masks and hand sanitizers, to people affected by COVID-19 in Indonesia. WeCare.id CEO and Co-Founder, Gigih Septianto, is one of the young leaders in Indonesia who is included in The Obama Foundation Leaders: Asia-Pacific program.

The program is a cross-sectoral global forum that invites around 200 new leaders from 33 countries from various backgrounds, be they public, private, or non-profit, to represent work on issues such as education, environment, communications, and entrepreneurship.

To The Obama Foundation, Gigih explained that there are still many medical personnel who lack PPE and are forced to use makeshift devices. As a medical crowdfunding startup, WeCare.id realizes the importance of using PPE to control and prevent the transmission of coronavirus infection. Therefore, WeCare.id took the initiative to go to the field and take real action for the community.

Last April, Wecare.id Collected PPE Donations for Medical Workers

The health fundraising platform, Wecare.id, stated that it has managed to raise more than IDR 8 billion from donations for the provision of personal protective equipment (PPE) for health workers.

However, dr. Mesty Ariotedjo, one of the founders of WeCare.id, said that the funds needed to meet the minimum PPE needs that his party sent were still far from sufficient, namely around IDR 50 million for PPE needs at least in 2,000 health facilities for each delivery.

Until now, through the application and website, Wecare.id has received reports from more than 1,700 hospitals and health facilities that lack PPE. Currently, there are still many medical personnel in Indonesia who have not received proper and complete PPE.

“The high mortality rate for medical personnel in handling Covid-19 in Indonesia is mainly due to the lack of PPE. Of course, this is far from enough. We continue to strive so that PPE can be obtained and immediately distributed evenly, appropriately and right on target. So that it is beneficial for health workers who are on duty in an emergency against Covid-19,” said Mesty in an official statement, Thursday (16/4/2020).

Mesty said that fundraising with the community is still being carried out, including cooperation assistance with more than 50 Wecare.id partners in the #APDuntukNegeri program such as; Tokopedia, PT Paragon Technology and Innovation, The Body Shop, SiCepat, Indika Foundation, Kitabisa.com, Sayur Box, Ycab Foundation.

“Wecare.id knows that there is still a long way to go, therefore we continue to invite participation from all communities. Let us step up and take concrete action to fight for the protection of medical personnel who are working to protect public health,” he said.