Kupastuntas.co, Bandar Lampung - The Tresna Werdha Social Home for the Elderly in Muara Putih Village, Natar District, South Lampung (Lamsel), regularly receives funds from the regional revenue and expenditure budget (APBD) of the Lampung Provincial Government worth IDR 1.4 billion per year. The funds are used for operations and providing food for 73 elderly citizens who are now being accommodated in orphanages.

Tresna Werdha Social Home was founded in 1980 under the auspices of the Ministry of Social Affairs. Starting in 2000, this orphanage was under the auspices of the Social Service (Dinsos) of the Lampung Province, and routinely received funds from the Lampung Provincial Government's APBD every year.

Head of Tresna Werdha Natar Elderly Social Services, Zufrianto Ali Sahroni said the orphanage he manages occupies a land area of more than 10,000 square meters or around 1 hectare.

"Currently there are 73 people in this nursing home. This year we have a quota of 85 elderly people," said Zufrianto, Monday (26/6/23).

The residents of the orphanage are not only from Lampung Province, but also from outside the area such as Palembang, Padang, Jakarta and other areas. There are no fees charged to the residents of the orphanage. All residents get free services including meals.

"Most of the residents of the orphanage here no longer have families, only a few still have their families. There are no special procedures for caring for the elderly at this nursing home," he said.

Zufrianto revealed that some of the residents who entered the Tresna Werdha Home received recommendations from the regional Social Service and the police, and the elderly were neglected or not cared for by their families. "However, there are also elderly people who are directly brought here by their families," he said.

He explained that operational costs and feeding the elderly at the Tresna Werdha Home come from the Lampung Provincial Government's budget through the Social Service.

"We receive a budget from the Lampung Provincial Government through the Social Service of IDR 1.4 billion per year. However, we don't just rely on this budget. We also receive assistance from several stakeholders in the South Lampung region such as Mall Chandra and some PTs in this area," he explained.

According to him, if you only rely on the budget provided by the Provincial Government of Lampung, it will not be able to maximize the services and infrastructure at the orphanage.

"We always try our best to provide the best service. We serve residents in this orphanage as if they were our own parents. But speaking of whether it is enough or not, it can be said that it is far from enough," he said.

Zufrianto explained, the government only gave a budget for the care of the orphans who died, 1 person per month. Meanwhile, every month sometimes more than one resident of the orphanage dies.

In fact, he continued, when he entered the orphanage in one month, 5 residents had died. “So if the budget in one month is only to take care of the burial of one occupant, then where will the rest of the funds come from? Finally, we are trying to find debt first," he explained.

He continued, funeral budgets for residents of orphanages are usually used to buy land for burial sites. In fact, for residents of non-Muslim orphanages, the cost of buying coffins and the cremation process is still added.

Zufrianto explained, since January until now, a total of 9 people in the orphanage have died.

He revealed that the obstacles that are often faced by orphanage managers are social jealousy between one occupant and another, and very sensitive behavior.

According to him, caring for the elderly is like caring for a baby. The older he is, the behavior will return to how it was when the children used to be. So it takes extra attention and patience.

Tresna Werdha Natar Social Institution Madya Functional Officer, Gatot Irawan Gunadi added that every resident of the orphanage is given daily food rations with a changing menu.

"Every day we feed it 3 times, with different and scheduled side dishes. For example, today eggs, chicken and fish, then tomorrow can be vegetables and meat and other side dishes. Apart from providing food, we also provide soy milk and porridge. green beans on a scheduled basis," said Gatot.

Gatot said the residents of the orphanage also carried out scheduled daily activities. Among them, Monday there are recitations for Muslim residents, Wednesday there are artistic activities such as singing together, Thursday there are other activities, and Saturday religious activities for non-Muslim residents.

Mbah Tatang, an elderly resident of the orphanage, said that he had been at the Tresna Werdha Social Institution for 5 years. "Thank God it's comfortable here, comfortable, everything is ready. I'm taken care of here," he said. (*)

This news has been published in the Kupas Tuntas daily newspaper edition of Tuesday, 27 June 2023 with the title "Accommodating 73 Elderly Citizens, Receives 1.4 Billion Budget"