UNS — Covid-19 pandemic that forced university students to learn from home and went back to their hometown did not make Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta students’ spirit to serve the community falters. Team 40 of Student Community Service Program (KKN) UNS or the Thematic Integrative Nusantara KKN becomes proof of this high spirit. The team has eight members scattered over eight provinces in Indonesia.
These students serving their home provinces in Lampung, Batam (Kepulauan Riau), East Kalimantan, South Sulawesi, NTT, NTB, Ambon (Maluku), and West Papua. Distance does not get in between their will to put their service into a success.
“That is why we use KKN Nusantara as our name because we are located in various parts of Indonesia and tried to bring progress and benefit the community in our hometown based on our academic ability and capacity,” Bernadetha Lintang PH, as Team leader, explained on Friday (5/3/2021).
The grand theme promoted by Lintang’s team is Supporting Covid 19 Comprehension: Strengthening the New Normal Habit in the Community Through UNS Thematic Integrative KKN Program. The theme then broke down into eight programs implemented by each member.
The first three programs are the Socialization of Spices Benefits on Food Products (Batam), Creating Automatic Hand Sanitizer Dispenser and Contactless Thermometer using Arduino for Talang Sari People (Lampung), and Children Learning Assistance (Offline) and Tips to Work on Online Quizzes (Berau, East Kalimantan). Moving eastward, Socialization of 3M for the Community using Visual Assistance for Pandan Kasturi Community (Ambon), Foot Operated Washbasin Production (South Sulawesi), Installing New Normal Behavior Signs in Senggigi Tourism Destinations (NTB), Shoreline Cleaning Operation and Providing Cleaning Supplies in Labuan Bajo (NTT), and Covid-19 Prevention Socialization using Cashless Society System (West Papua).
“We discussed each program through Zoom weekly when preparing the proposal, we exchanged suggestions, but during the implementation, we did separately,” the student of Visual Communication Design Program Faculty of Art and Design (FSRD) explained.
Building Eastern Indonesia Amid and Post Pandemic
Besides the individual program, KKN Nusantara also has a leading program in collaboration with Team 39. The partnership conducted a webinar on “Recovering Post-Pandemic Tourism Sector in the Eastern Indonesia Region” on 19 February 2021 and “Improving Health and Welfare of Eastern Indonesia Region in the New Normal Era” on 20 February 2021.
The first-day webinar was coordinated by Team 39, raising the topic of tourism because Indonesia’s tourism industry was affected by the pandemic. The eastern Indonesian region was no exception. Through this topic, they hoped to assists the community in reviving the tourism sector amid the pandemic. The second day’s topic was selected because they consider the issue important, especially in the Eastern Indonesian Region, such as Maluku and Papua, which often experienced horizontal conflict.
“Added with the lack of community awareness to maintain health during the pandemic,” Lintang explained.
The attendees of both webinars have diverse backgrounds, eastern Indonesia people, institutions or community organizations, and academic community, including UNS. Regarding the challenges faced during the implementation, Lintang said that the distance among team members posed distinct challenges to communicate and coordinate. However, their programs can run smoothly, and each member had implemented each program successfully. Humas UNS
Reporter: Kaffa Hidayati
Editor: Dwi Hastuti
