Smart charts are a key tool for stunting education and prevention. Installed in the homes of pregnant women and women with children under 2, the smart charts serve as a colorful, daily reminder to make better decisions regarding the health and well being of your child. Inspired by a Gates Foundation study in Zambia, which concluded that growth charts on the walls of homes slashes stunting by 22%, the 1000 Days Fund developed an Indonesian version of the growth chart. With an eye on constantly improving the model, we are on our 17th iteration of the smart chart. As a tool for awareness and education, they serve as an easy-to-use module that covers everything from iron and folic acid intake to the advantages of exclusive breastfeeding over instant formula, height measurement, and the dangers of stunting. However, there has been incredible variation in the numbers of smart charts installed by different district health offices when deployed at scale, and the smart charts until now have been historically hard to track and trace, with large numbers sometimes remaining on the shelves in local health facilities, instead of in homes, where they are meant to be.

All this is changing. The 1000 Days team is now using unique QR codes to track and trace smart charts, creating a third party validation system, much like what is used to track a parcel or package. More specifically, the 1000 Days Fund can track and trace smart charts supported by specific donors. In the case of Priscilla Hall Memorial Foundation, the 1000 Days Fund will track 5,000 smart charts over the next year.

The PHMF heat map will show smart charts across a handful of islands including, Java, Kalimantan, Flores and West Papua.

The 1000 Days Fund continues to innovate and evolve. As an organization that prides itself on the ability to reach the last mile, the team is also focused on producing videos and content to train community health workers during the pandemic. With limited connection to the Internet, there are obvious shortfalls, but with the alternative being idleness and indolence, we forge ahead. After all, there’s no innovation without failure. We test early and learn fast.