REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA — The number of orphans recorded in Indonesia in 2023 reached 4 million. The number of unrecorded ones is certainly much greater, especially if coupled with the number of poor, the burden on the state is considerable to help them live, according to Article 34 paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution mandates that poor poor and displaced children be maintained by the state.

As a vulnerable group, orphans and duafa have been a concern of Muhammadiyah since its inception. Muhammadiyah has so far built at least 1,012 orphanages or LKSA (Child Social Welfare Institute) throughout the country.

The significant contribution of the Brotherhood to this vulnerable group, according to the Chairman of the Social Welfare Training Assembly (MPKS) of the Muhammadiyah Central Leadership Council, Mariman Darto, is quite remarkable. He estimated that Muhammadiyah has spent about Rp 1.6 trillion annually.

During the launch of the Comma (Collaborative Muhammadiyah) program in Jakarta on Saturday (9/12), Mariman drew calculations from her visit to 35 orphanages. From these visits, it was found that the proportion of orphanage residents on average 20 percent were orphans and 80 percent dhuafa.