UGM Kirim Mahasiswa KKN untuk Tangani Gizi Buruk di Asmat
UGM Kirim Mahasiswa KKN untuk Tangani Gizi Buruk di Asmat
Universitas Gadjah Mada sends 12 students on community service programme to help address malnutrition and measles incident in Asmat, Papua. They have been selected from 45 students that had applied.
UGM Director for Community Service, Prof. Ir. Irfan Dwidya Prijambada, M.Eng., Ph.D., said this was an initial step to send the students in sustainable manner.
“We plan to send Student Community Service team for 3-5 years consecutively to Papua,” said Irfan to journalists after an event to release the students on Thursday (15/3) in the conference room of the Community Service Directorate.
According to Irfan, it was the first time for UGM to send students to Asmat. But the programme is not just for disaster mitigation but also community empowerment.
In the opinion of Irfan, the duties of the students in Asmat would not be easy to do because of the isolated areas and lack of transportation and facilities.
Field supervising lecturer, Fadli Kasim, ST, M.Sc., said there were three main programmes for the students, namely enhancing economic independence, socio-culture education, and health education for the local people. “Health issue becomes the main programme,” said the Engineering Physics lecturer.
Fadli added the students would help curative health treatment, motivating and mobilising paramedics and educators to give education and counselling on healthy lifestyle.
Fazlur Risyad Loochi, student coordinator, said he joined the programme to help the local people who were affected by the disaster. “I happened to be engaged in health discipline so the motivation to go to the site directly has been very big,” he said.
Pritania Hastari, another student, said she had prepared well to do the programme by joining various training. They had planned their activities to be done while in Agats, including to set up a smart hut to give health education to the children of Agats.
“We will give health education, nutrition education, vaccination, and economic empowerment of the local people,” she said.