Overcoming the Impact of COVID-19 in the Densely Populated Area through “Taman Momong”

: The COVID-19 Pandemic in Indonesia attacked public health and disrupted child care, especially for those in dense settlements and classified as low-income households. This research aims to help densely populated communities provide care facilities to optimize children's playgrounds and learning spaces for free to optimize children's physical and psychological growth and development during the Pandemic. By using the Participatory Action Research (PAR) method, this study resulted in three “Taman Momong” facilities equipped with children's play facilities, a mini library for children, the implementation of various educational activities needed by the community in the form of parenting workshops, the importance of parenting based on the fulfillment of children's rights, training on the use of Moringa and aloe vera plants to improve family nutrition, fulfill children's nutrition and herbal medicines to maintain family health. Thus, “Taman Momong” as green space can be beneficial in improving the physical, and mental health of the community. Community activities at “Taman Momong” such as community parenting, gardening, recreation and learning together show that psychologically and sociologically Taman Momong is the answer in overcoming parenting problems during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study shows that other communities can also use the existing vacant land to build “Taman Momong” . The society collaborates with the government to facilitate the park as a public space to support optimal care for their children.


A. Introduction
COVID-19 has impacted not only public health but also disrupted child care. UNESCO estimated over 1.37 billion children drop out of school, and child care becomes a lack of access to communal activities, such as doing sports and playing at the playgrounds. Keeping the children busy and playing safely at home is a formidable challenge for most parents. This situation may generate profound implications. Parents find it very difficult to carry out parenting responsibilities to children during COVID-19, especially when they have to be home and their parents work from home. 1 Cluver, in his research, shows that violence and vulnerability among children increase during the health emergency of the COVID-19 Pandemic. 2 Parents and children live full of stress for an obscure period. The COVID-19 pandemic also impacts children's mental health and welfare, such as children witnessing domestic violence. Even victims will find it challenging to report and leave the house because of social restrictions. 3 And it gets worse for those who live within low-income families in heavily populated environments.
Child care in the pandemic era is more challenging in dense settlements. In that kind of settlement, the distance from one house to another is exceptionally close, so the children find it challenging to discover a space to play. The absence of the playground affected their daily playing pattern. The standard plays, such as riding bicycles, playing football, chasing one another, can hardly be enjoyed, so they play around residents' yards or even on highways and sidewalks. Sometimes the family who owns the yard around which the children play is objected to for being noisy that they chase them away. Therefore, they mostly turn to play around the open spaces, such as along the streets and sidewalks. Stefano mentions that few researchers still examine communal areas for child care, especially around densely populated settlements. 4 The lack of children's playgrounds promotes a negative impact on children as it reduces the opportunity to gain education and lessons about real-life directly from the natural surroundings through play experiences.
Childhood life is a crucial phase in human development. They have different psychological, educational, and physical needs from adults. 5 They are the nation's assets and investments for the future. Widyawati revealed that the quality of human resources as the first indicator of a nation's success in making development must start early. 6 The fact that minimal spaces are provided for children to play could affect their growth and development, leading to unexpected psychological behavior, such as being individualistic, closedminded, and selfish due to the low interaction. Playing will get opportunities and experiences to stimulate their development from religious, moral, cognitive, physical, motoric, linguistic, social, and emotional aspects and art and creativity. 7 The common objectives of the current research and service are: 1) societies are aware of the significance of maximum parenting from both families in the smallest social scope and the surrounding neighborhood by __________ protecting their rights, including the right to growth and development. They like to play, to learn, and to participate; 2) societies understand about parenting through parenting education so that the guidance by the neighborhood improves and lead to long term plan to prepare a high-quality generation to welcome golden Indonesia; and 3) societies can take advantage of the Momong Park (Child-Friendly Park) as a space for discussion to improve their abilities and skills.
This research and community service activity target the children around the crowded settlements to find opportunities and facilities to gather, play, learn, and get better care than they optimally develop physically and psychologically. They can reduce less valuable activities, such as playing with gadgets and turn to the more beneficial ones, such as interacting with peers, improving social life, and others. Besides, it targets parents, especially the young ones. Parents can build understanding and awareness about the importance of parenting by fulfilling children's rights. Furthermore, it also targets the community members to reduce spending on recreation because the playground and learning facilities are close to their area. All residents from different backgrounds, either the poor, the buskers, or the disabled, can inclusively use the facilities of the Momong park to function as a medium for education not only for children but also for parents. Lastly, the government will create additional values for urban villages and cities in realizing the Child-Friendly City program.
Based on the framework in Figure 1, the researchers conclude that: 1) The COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia attacks Indonesian society's health and disrupts child care. 2). The parents and children, especially the urban lowincome families with limited space, are bored and stressed that violence against children becomes vulnerable. 3). The objectives of this community service are promoting social awareness on effective parenting and building Momong Park (Child-Friendly Park) as a space for parenting to overcome the impact of COVID-19.
The idea of child-friendly was initially derived from Kevin Lynch's research on "Children's Perception of the Environment" in 4 cities -Melbourne, Warsaw, Salta, andMexico City -in 1971-1975. UNICEF later developed the research results to determine child-friendly cities. According to UNICEF, a child-friendly city refers to the city that guarantees the rights of every child as a citizen. Some of their rights, according to UNICEF, are safely walking on the street to meet and play with friends. Besides, it provides green spaces for plants and animals. Also, it is a pollutionfree environment. Concerning UNICEF's statement, the Indonesian government, through the Regulation of the Minister of Women Empowerment and Child Protection No. 12, 2011 regarding Child-Friendly Regency/City Indicators, states that Kabupaten/Kota Layak Anak (Child Friendly Regency/City) in the future abbreviated as KLA promotes a child rights-based development system through the planned, systematic, comprehensive, and sustainable integration of government, community, and business commitments. Besides that, policies, programs, and activities resources ensure children's rights.
Furthermore, the regulation mentions five clusters to ensure children's rights: education, utilization of leisure time, and cultural activities. This cluster aims to ensure that children rest and use their free time to carry out various arts, cultures, sports, and other activities. The implementation provides facilities for playing, refreshing, and developing children's creativity. Park as a form of green space is a means for children to spend time for outdoor social activities, explore their imagination and creativity, and socialize with the surrounding environment. To realize a child-friendly park, a comfortable, safe, convenient, and healthy playground is the first and foremost requirement.
Several previous studies have shown difficulties in parenting during COVID-19 and the importance of green space for children's mental health during this pandemic. 8 James F. Salis, a health psychologist, said that regular physical activity such as walking, gymnastics, yoga, running, and other light sports can maintain quality of life. Physical activity improves various physiological systems, has a positive effect on immunity, can anticipate symptoms of anxiety, depression and can improve mood as an antidote to stress during a pandemic. 9 So that physical activity dramatically affects individual health both mentally and physically, especially during a pandemic, can protect against the severity of the covid-19 disease. Slater's research found that activities with nature and green open spaces positively impacted both physical health and mental health. 10 The results of other studies' results indicate the importance of prioritizing family needs to prevent long-term psychological impacts. The potential negative parent-child relationship and chronic stress during a pandemic may have long-term developmental consequences for children. 11 Dolapo's research also shows that the covid pandemic has a significant impact on the family economy, problems mental health of parents, and problems mental health of children such as anxiety, panic symptoms, somatic, worrying about death, school anxiety, and even causing panic. 12 However, there have been no previous researchers together with the community to create green open spaces as child-friendly spaces and support children's mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, this study 9 James F. Sallis and Michael Pratt, "Physical Activity Can be Helpful in the Coronavirus Pandemic," America Walks, April 20, 2020, https://americawalks.org/physical-activity-can-behelpful-in-the-coronavirus-pandemic/#:~:text=Fortunately%2C being physically active has,the stress of the pandemic. 10  uses participatory action research to build "Taman Momong." Taman Momong is a park built on empty land in the middle of a densely populated urban area in the Tunjungsekar village, Malang City, East Java. This Taman Momong involves various communities in the Tunjung Sekar neighborhood. It is hoped that through this Momong Park, the community can carry out various parenting activities to be aware of the importance of positive parenting for the children in their environment.
The current research also helps the community find parenting problems during the pandemic. In addition, we are also looking for solutions together in the community by optimizing the children's playground for free so that children's growth and development are maximized during the Pandemic period. And through joint reflection, it is necessary to meet the community's needs providing educational facilities for parents to provide more optimal care for children. Therefore, this service can reduce the high impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic, especially those related to child care. It is expected to educate the public in solving optimal parenting problems, both physically and psychologically, during the pandemic.
The current research employs Participatory Action Research (PAR) to transform the social life in the densely populated areas materially and morally; the recent study employs Participatory Action Research (PAR). This method aims to develop joint problem solving between the researcher and the communities. PAR makes it possible for the researchers and the community to solve the parenting problem during the pandemic for people around the densely populated area. It is also to increase public understanding of the importance of optimal parenting in protecting children's rights, so they know their weaknesses in parenting during the pandemic, to increase their urge to overcome the shortcomings and weaknesses.
This research was carried out in Tunjungsekar Village, Malang City, precisely in the neighborhood association (RT) 01, RT 06, and RT 09 in the district neighborhood (RW) 01 area. The people who participated in this study were 132 people consisting of 20 people village officials, community leaders, and religious leaders, 30 people family welfare empowerment (PKK), 16 people youth organization, 10 children, and 45 local people in the district neighborhood (RW) 01 area Tunjungsekar Village. The action research method does not attempt to place the assisted society as an object but as a research subject. They should be the ones who understand, want, and solve the problems they are facing. The researchers play as a facilitator for achieving their dreams and providing solutions for their problems. They are also involved in the solution formulation and are expected to solve their problems.
The PAR method can facilitate and motivate the community to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the community, find the causes or root causes of the problem, develop the appropriate methods and strategies, and develop an action plan based on priorities and program sustainability to achieve the targets. The strategy employed to conduct the action research are as follows: 1) Planning. The planning is done after discovering the actual conditions in the community by using SWOT analysis by involving the local community. 2) Action. After planning, the community implements the plans facilitated by the researchers. 3) Observation. Observation is conducted to notice and analyze the successes, weaknesses, and shortcomings of the strategies and methods used in solving the problems. 4) Reflection. The efforts made in solving the issues of the community in Tunjungsekar are reflected and evaluated for the shortcomings, weaknesses, and success of the strategies and methods. This reflection and evaluation lead to planning to resolve the existing problems until they are prosperous.
The first stage of this research is planning. We created a PAR group, did a regional mapping, and made a preliminary analysis of cases in the community. This planning stage was carried out by a research team of 5 people and involved key actors, namely the village head and the head of the social and community empowerment division. At this stage, you will get an overview of the social problems encountered by the people of the Tunjung Sekar area during the COVID-19 pandemic. The second stage is action, researchers together with the head of the social division of community empowerment and the assisted communities as many as 20 people consisting of village officials, community leaders, and religious leaders. At this stage, the research team conducted FGDs using a method in mind mapping to find out the problems faced by the people of Tunjung Sekar and use a priority scale to determine fundamental issues that could be solved together. The third stage of this research is observing; observations are made by looking at changes in parenting patterns and Taman Momong as a place of care and community activities such as gardening with their children. The fourth stage is reflection. In this reflection section, the researcher and the community evaluate all the steps that have been carried out.
Data Collection and data analysis are carried out in the following way. Interviews and focus group discussions were conducted post-project. Researchers encouraged participants to share their reflections on the PAR process and their thoughts on how gardens can provide better parenting during the COVID-19 pandemic. Interviews were recorded and then transcribed and supplemented with field notes. The data collected through interviews, focused group discussions, and participant observation was coded manually using an inductive analytical approach and using initial and axial codes by the suggestion of Saldana. 13 As patterns emerge, the initial open coding method is simplified to selective thematic coding.

B. Overcoming the Impact of COVID-19 in the Densely Populated Area through "Taman Momong"
Based on the study results, several results were obtained as follows: three key themes emerged from the data. Those are Building "Taman Momong" to provide more optimal care for children, Parenting Training to help parents be aware of child rights and the benefit of "Taman Momong". To develop this "Taman Momong" the researchers took a Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach, which invited the community to create a plan to design and develop the concept of a Momong park based on the needs of children and the community in Tunjungsekar village. The community is involved with researchers to analyze the conditions experienced by children and parents during COVID-19. During COVID-19, they experience uncontrollable negative emotions, feelings of hopelessness appear and even stress, children show naughty behavior, children's motivation to learn decreases, parents, and children are bored with routines and need to share with others regarding child care. This finding is in line with research conducted by Levin that individuals, families, and communities experience feelings of hopelessness, profound grief, and a sense of loss of purpose due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 14 The problems about the children's behavior support Singhal's study, which reports that during the COVID-19 pandemic, children exhibited worsening psychological well-being, mental health, and behavior. 15 Based on the analysis of community involvement results, a place is needed as a vehicle for refreshing for people in densely populated urban areas and a place for children to play. Through community participation, the next step is to empower the use of vacant land owned by residents of the Tunjungsekar village.

Building "Taman Momong" Provide more Optimal Care for Children
There are three plots of land in the district neighborhood (RW) 01, Tunjungsekar Village, Malang City, to build the botanical garden as the "Taman Momong". They are located in RT 01, RT 06, and RT 09. We created a gazebo, mini library, and garden containing vegetables and catfish ponds in the land. The plants selected by the residents can improve the health of residents. The chosen plants are Moringa and aloe vera. The land used to create the green space called "Taman Momong" was formerly a neglected empty land. Now it has become beneficial for community gatherings and other social activities. One of the key informants said: "Previously, the land was empty, neglected. The landowner voluntarily allows for joint activities such as sports and gatherings. This park (place) is often visited by residents of the district neighborhood (RW) 1 from different RT. Because there is rarely empty land." 16 Another critical informant told about the name of "Taman Momong" because people often use this place to take care of children. She said: "It is called Momong Park because here, people often gather for discussing, exercising or playing with children. " 17 In addition to the materials for the parents, there were also activities, such as coloring, drawing, storytelling, and public speaking competitions for the children. They were also invited to read together in the mini library. The activities were also completed with the performance of the talent and interest of the children. The observations and interviews with the community found that the residents had used Momong park for various educational parenting

Parenting Training To Help Parents to be Aware of Child Right
The second activity is capacity building through Training Activities. There are two kinds of parenting training given to society: children's right-based parenting and Training for preventing stunting. The material provided was child rights-based parenting during the pandemic. It aimed to increase the capacity of parenting to optimize children's potential according to their developmental tasks. One form of parenting training given to parents was the mindful parenting approach. Mindful parenting taught them to focus on understanding before responding to children's behavior and emotions to build positive communication. 18 The model of mindful parenting is characterized into five dimensions, which are: 1) listening attentively and speaking with empathy, 2) understanding and accepting, not judging, 3) emotional regulation or patience, 4) wise self-regulation patterns, and 5) compassion. 19 The first dimension is listening attentively and speaking with empathy, showing how parents communicate effectively with children in every condition, whether happy or sad. The second dimension is understanding and accepting the children without judgment, even when making mistakes. It leads to the ability of parents to understand more what the child is feeling. The third dimension is the ability of parents to regulate emotions and be patient in dealing with children, so they become calmer and imitate the parent's patience. The fourth dimension is good self-regulation, leading them to be more disciplined and independent. The fifth is compassion, which provides a model of loving parenting and accepting any condition of the children.
The mindful parenting concept conveyed in the Training invites parents to be fully involved in formulating a parenting model appropriate to the child's developmental tasks and the child's psychological condition. Through mindful parenting training, parents can develop positive parenting strategies by __________ adjusting their children's psychological health. This has an impact on optimizing the potential of children and their growth.
The second material for parenting was about stunting. The provision of material on stunting is based on the consideration that Tunjungsekar is a subdistrict that is not yet free from stunting. Stunting is a national and even international problem; therefore, several countries have policies to increase the knowledge and ability of mothers to provide good care for their children from pregnancy to 1000 days. 20 This increase in knowledge and skills is significant because previous studies have shown that food availability, access to food, and health services are insufficient to produce optimal child health. 21 This Training was attended by 45 people consisting of 16 teenagers ready to get married, 15 mothers of toddlers, and the rest are posyandu cadres. The event was held in a spacious urban village with more than 100 people to maintain social distancing by adhering to strict health protocols. Then opportunities are opened for online guidance and consultation to minimize crowds and physical contact. Previous research has stated that remote health services (e.g., Tele counseling) are appropriate, recommended, acceptable for all populations with adequate internet coverage, and provide practical and direct services to people in need during a pandemic. 22 Participants appreciated the Training as it helps mothers to raise children by the need of their physical and mental development.
It is beneficial because, in the Training of parenting, mothers are taught how to treat children according to their age and, most importantly, share and get solutions for the child's growth and development. 23 When asked about the benefit of the Training, one of the activists said: In the reflection session of health, the cadre commented on the material given and on the event. It is said that this event is suitable for the mothers of toddlers. They feel that the community care for them.
The material is advantageous to add insight to mothers of toddlers. The training event also make the mothers of toddlers feel cared for. 25 The Training attended by mothers of toddlers, health cadres, and village activists has brought many benefits. The material provided and the activity itself had a good impact on the people of Tunjungsekar.

Community Activities in Taman Momong
The community activities in Taman Momong can be seen in Table 1. From Table 1, we can see that there are at least five kinds of benefits of Taman Momong for the residents of Tunjungsekar. This place can be used to study, play, and relieve boredom for children. This finding follows Naomi, who found that green space can escape from isolation. 26 Furthermore, the community also uses Taman Momong to carry out activities for weighing toddlers during the pandemic. Due to regulations not allowing actions that lead to crowds, the Integrated Healthcare Center activities usually held at the district neighborhood (RW) hall have been shifted to the green space or Taman Momong. The expert suggests the existence of green space is essential to connect people in an open space to create a sense of connectedness in society during this pandemic. Taman Momong can be a place to be together outside the house in an open area that minimizes the transmission of  The finding of this study related __________ 24 Triyana, personal communication. 25 Irawati, personal communication. 26 A. Sachs Naomi, "Access to Nature Has Always Been Important;With Covid-19, It Is Essential," Health Environments Research andDesign Journal 13, no. 4 (2020): 242-44, https://doi.org/10.1177/1937586720949792. 27  to urban Farming and food security follows the conclusion of Anggrayni, who states that Urban Farming is a strategy to improve food access in urban areas. 28 The mentoring activity shows that the community has experienced many difficulties providing care for their children during this pandemic. It is in line with Garbe's research finding that school closures and parenting closures pose parenting problems for millions of families. 29 The community needs parenting facilities to optimize the children's playgrounds for free for the maximum child development and provide educational facilities for parents to provide more optimal care for children. The impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on child care is related to four aspects, which are parental stress due to the absence of social support in child care, child boredom due to the limitations of children's social movements, impact on children's physical and mental health, and the need for open spaces and green areas for family health. Research by Chung denoted that the COVID-19 Pandemic has created stress on parents, resulting in poor parenting. 30 Through an online survey with 258 parents in Singapore, he found that pressure impacted harsh parenting. Besides, school closures and home restrictions cause adverse effects on children's physical and mental health. 31 This research has supported the community in two ways physically and mentally. Physical support builds the "Momong Park," and the mental support is manifested into training activities. Momong Park has become the community need for child care, children's playground, and educational facilities. This finding is supported by Slater's research, which emphasizes the importance of parks and green spaces to help limit the impact of health disasters. 32 The Training focuses on several soft skills to take care of children by emphasizing children's rights through the mindful parenting concept development. Mindful parenting concerns the process of raising children with full awareness. It is a parenting model that can build a safe, happy, and comfortable relationship between parents and children. 33

__________
In addition to the benefits and positive sides of the program, in this reflection session, several criticisms also emerged. From evaluation and observation in the previous stage recommended some activities that can generate strategies to solve the above problems. It promotes several programs: 1) to create good coordination, the companion team maximizes stakeholder leaders to bridge the communication to the whole community; 2) to make the park design following the needs of the community, it is necessary to consult the expert on environmental management; 3) to communicate effectively and actively, it is necessary to involve the community in the training process according to their needs and goals. Coordination and follow-up training can be done through virtual coordination by using WhatsApp Groups to facilitate coordination and discussion with them; 4) to optimize the management of Momong Park, it is recommended to create an organizational structure for the management of Momong Park. Taman Momong is managed by one chairperson and three divisions, namely the Division of Planting and Gardening, the Division of Utilization of Garden Products, and the Division of Education for Children and Toddlers. The Planting and Gardening Division is in charge of making a schedule for planting and maintaining the garden, reminding, evaluating, and reporting to the chairman. The division for utilization of garden products is in charge of utilizing plant and fish products. So far, there have been sales of vegetables and ornamental plants. Meanwhile, the Child and Toddler Education division is in charge of planning, implementing, and evaluating the use of the Momong Park for children's education.
The practical implications of this community support are increasing the quality of child care awareness. In addition, it can also support the building of a child-friendly environment and advance an environmentally friendly culture. This study can contribute to parenting and community education to overcome the impact of COVID-19. It shows broader implications for research activities under a gender and child perspective.

C. Conclusion
fulfills the family's nutrition, especially for children. This research denotes that parents can be parenting in a small family and the community by building Momong Park as a children's playground and reviving it with various educational activities.
This research is intended to find solutions to the problem of child care during the COVID-19 pandemic together between the research team and the community in densely populated urban slum areas. With the participatory action research method, the community and the team can work together, starting from designing activities that are considered solutions to problems, implementing them together, and evaluating them together. This togetherness creates an egalitarian relationship between researchers and the community and makes sense of mutually reinforcing one another.
The limitations of this research are, among others, that it uses participatory action research methods in general and does not specifically use feminist participatory action research. We found patriarchal practices in society that should be reported from the research process in the study. Therefore, it is recommended that further researchers interested in developing a similar topic use Feminist Participatory Action Research to ensure better access, participation, control, and benefits from any development process for women. This study will be helpful for academics and activists in the field of parenting in developing a model for finding parenting solutions during a pandemic. "Taman Momong" can be replicated in other areas, especially in dense settlements with vacant land. Collaboration between local communities, government, universities, and other stakeholders can support the implementation of the "Taman Momong" as a public facility for child care. [s]