The Postgraduate Student Association of Universitas Gadjah Mada collaborated with the Directorate of Community Service to conduct the program work evaluation and village entertainment on Saturday, October 7.
The activity occurred in Mancasan Kleben and aimed to evaluate the implemented program work over the past four months since June 2023. This was not just to assess ongoing program work but also served as a farewell activity for the association’s 2022/2023 administration.
The event was attended by residents of Mancasan, including representatives from the village apparatus, members of the association secretariat, homemakers, and, notably, the Padang Bulan, the children of the hamlet who presented dance and acoustic performances.
Amar Noor Hidayat, the Head of the association’s Social Action Division, highlighted several completed program works such as hydroponic planting, collaborative painting with Padang Bulan, educating children’s behavior and emotions with the mothers, freshwater fish farming education, digital marketing training, compost making and sales, elderly visits, children’s creativity week, and more.
These programs were executed through strong collaboration with the village apparatus, including the local youth association, the village fisheries division, the village mothers, and the Padang Bulan group.
“We hope our future program works can provide significant and extraordinary benefits. Today’s event marks our farewell, but we hope our connection and work will continue,” Hidayat stated.
During the event, Gapong Maharya, the Head of Mancasan Kleben, delivered a speech expressing the benefits gained during the adopted village program. He hoped that the program would be sustainable and maximize all the potential present within the village.
“Even though this period has ended, we hope the next period’s administration will continue to maximize the village’s potential,” said Gapong Maharya.
“The presence of these students is different from regular community service. There’s a sustained development program and the pursuit of benefits, not just academic marks.”
Maharya also proposed the online profiling of the Mancasan Kleben Hamlet, for instance, maximizing barcodes to transform the hamlet into a tourist village.
This initiative would serve as a form of branding and promotion to increase recognition of the hamlet among the wider community. Besides, waste management became a primary focus that needs further exploration in the upcoming period, such as waste segregation educational programs.
“Establishing barcodes for the tourist village will help realize a branded profile and make it easy for visitors to recognize Mancasan. Educating people about waste segregation is also crucial. This seems to be a focus area for our next period,” Maharya concluded.
Author: Adelia Septiani Restanti Tania
Editor: Rifai-Satria