(Dili, 19/02/2026) –Timor-Leste many mothers will struggle to ensure their newborn babies with healthy health conditions, a mother in Dili transformed health concerns for children into a social mission for other mothers who face this problem.
In addition to the mission of donating breast milk to babies, entrepreneur Francelina de Jesus also started a business selling baby equipment, to help mothers who have breastfeeding problems, with breastfeeding hygiene transformation and ensure their children can have strong health from the first day of life.
According to Francelina de Jesus in her business place said with capital or money that is small she can start this business, with the story that she first sold books, clothes and children’s equipment. But through experience and inspiration from abroad, especially from Indonesia, entrepreneur Francelina began to focus on an area that is more important to promote exclusive breastfeeding and provide guidance to mothers.
“I started a business with a small capital, with one hundred and $100 US dollars. At that time I sold books, clothes and children’s equipment. But through experience and inspiration from abroad, especially from Indonesia, I began to focus on promoting exclusive breastfeeding and giving guidance to mothers so that children can have good health,” said francelina
He informed that a major problem in the community is that many mothers do not know how to protect their newborns properly, many babies get sick quickly because of poor hygiene, many bacteria in things and lack of knowledge about healthy nutrition.
“The principle of donating milk to others is that the baby must be healthy and not get various diseases. This starts from the mother’s milk with good quality,” he said.
He explained that exclusive breast milk has a great advantage over formula, because it contains iron and living elements that protect the baby from diseases such as diarrheal disease, and other infections.
In her daily work, Francelina meets many mothers who after giving birth do not have or less milk, especially those who give birth prematurely.
“For situations like this, I always give solutions through, recommend natural medicine to increase milk, guide on protein foods such as peanuts, teach the use of breast pumps in the right way, and in special cases, facilitate breast milk donation,” he said
She reinforces she now has a stock of pumped milk stored in the fridge, which can help babies in need.
“Breast milk is number 1 in the world. If a mother has a problem, we must find a way to keep the baby healthy breast milk,” he said.
He explained that bacteria can multiply quickly, in as little as two hours. Therefore, mothers should wash their hands before breastfeeding, and also do a good cleaning of bottles and equipment. For mothers who use formula, she suggests using BPA free bottles and undergoing laboratory testing, as unsafe bottles can carry bacteria to babies.
Francelina said inspiration from Indonesia, where hospitals have a system of maternal monitoring from pregnancy to postpartum.
“I want such a model to be applied in Timor-Leste, because now there are no doctors who prioritize the accompaniment of mothers after childbirth.
He also said, through promotion on social media such as TikTok, his business began to receive interest from many mothers, especially those who work and need a breast pump so that the baby can still get breast milk.
“In the future, I plan to provide training to pregnant mothers, reinforce baby health education, promote breast milk donation and improve services such as guidance centers for mothers,” she reported.
She hopes that the community and the media can continue to promote this information, because many mothers will need help.
“My message to mothers is, do not run out of milk. If there is a problem, we can find a solution. It is important that the baby gets breast milk,” he recomended.
On the other hand, beneficiary Auxiliadora Pereira argues that the help she received directly from entrepreneur Francelina de Jesus she feels very happy with the support she received when she herself was facing breastfeeding difficulties after childbirth.
“At first I was very happy when mrs. Francelina really wanted to help me. When I did not have milk, I felt very sad. But by the grace of God, Mrs. Francelina could come to donate milk to give to my child,” she said.
He stressed that he knew Francelina through social media, especially on TikTok, which always promotes how to pump milk and how to increase breast milk for newborns.
“I first got to know Mana through TikTok, where she always explained about breast pumps and ways to increase milk. When I needed help, she welcomed me very well,” she said.
He also stressed that the aid received does not have to be paid, but given with kindness.
“I didn’t pay anything, but Mrs. Francelina helped me with kindness. Now my child is very good and healthy,” she added.
In this opportunity, he hoped that in the future the government especially the Ministry of Health can pay more attention to pregnant women and new mothers, because they need continuous support.
“I hope in the future Mrs. Francelina can get help from the Ministry of Health to give priority to pregnant and new mothers. She has experience about the needs of babies, and this help is very important for new mothers to apply,” he said.
She also remembers that during childbirth, Francelina recommended her to use natural medicine to increase milk and teach using a breast pump in the right way, which really helped her baby’s health.
Journalist : Francisco Pereira / Serafin dos Reis Jeronimo (Intern)
Editor : Joenaca da Conceção
