Special delivery: reaching pregnant women with health care in Papua

by Andy Brown

Neli with her daughter and newborn boy in their communal home
© UNICEF Indonesia/2014/Andy Brown

JAYAWIJAYA, Indonesia, June 2014 - Neli Kogoya, 23, sits on the floor of a communal house that she shares with two other families. She cradles a two-week old baby wrapped in a blanket on her lap, while a nurse checks her blood pressure. It is election season and convoys of trucks pass by outside, broadcasting campaign messages through megaphones.

The house is in Sapalek village in Jayawijaya, a remote mountainous region of Papua. Neli works here as a caterer, while her husband is away studying. She has two children – a girl Yosiana, who is nearly two years old, and baby boy Eliup, who was born just two weeks ago.