MIPA Green Village Team Present in Sukawangi Village, Helping Residents Develop Sanitation and Literacy Facilities

A total of 69 students from the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Indonesia (FMIPA UI) who were members of the MIPA Green Village 8 action visited Sukawangi Village, Sukamakmur District, Bogor Regency, West Java, on December 3-4, 2022 to January 14-22, 2023 to carry out community development activities, which focused on the development of sanitation and literacy facilities.

This activity is a team response to various issues that have developed in the area related to water quality and distribution, gadget addiction in early childhood, the existence of an abandoned library in one of the State Elementary Schools, namely SDN Sirnabakti, which has resulted in a decrease in students' reading activities in the library, to the cessation of main activities in Early Childhood Education institutions which has an impact on reducing educational activities for early childhood.

Under the guidance of Dr. Retno Lestari, M.Sc., a lecturer at the Department of Biology, FMIPA UI, the MIPA Green Village 8 team then took intervention steps, including on sanitation issues, namely the creation of water reservoirs, water tanks, and water filtration. Meanwhile, on the issue of literacy, the team held a seminar on limiting the use of gadgets in early childhood, teaching activities, improving the SDN Sirnabakti library, and creating a Learning Park.

Team leader Shafy Urfa Haidar (Geology 2021) said that from the results of the team's identification during the survey, the team found several water problems in Sukawangi Village. Among them are problems with the quantity, quality and distribution of water, so that the MIPA Green Village 8 Research and Development team together with the Expert team carried out an intervention consisting of 3 parts, namely the construction of a new reservoir because the land used for the old reservoir will be used by its owner at any time, the construction of a 2000 L capacity reservoir for the people of Sukawangi Village whose houses are located below, and the construction of water filtration which is used to filter water in the MIPA Green Village water reservoir the previous year. This activity was carried out on January 16-21, 2023.

"The results of the intervention are that the discharge and quality of water obtained by families that are fed from water reservoirs and filtration have a greater discharge and the quality of the flowing water becomes clearer and the mud deposits in the water are reduced," said Shafy to the FMIPA UI public relations team.

The next intervention step, the team held a village seminar on the theme of limiting gadget use in children, by presenting the Psychologist of Hermina Hospital, Yusnita Katagori, M.Psi. and involving 84 local residents on Sunday (4/12/2022). The main agenda of this Village Seminar was to provide education to the people of Sukawangi Village, especially parents, regarding the importance of limiting screen time in children and how to use devices wisely.

The intervention steps then continued with the improvement of the library at SDN Sirnabakti. This library has a lot of potential in terms of building area and a fairly diverse collection of books. Unfortunately, due to the absence of administrators and the dirty room, the SDN Sirnabakti library is less suitable as a place for students to study.

"Therefore, we are improving this library by utilizing existing items and adding some new items. We are also creating a better book lending system so that existing books are not lost," said Shafy.

This activity was carried out on December 3-4, 2022 and then continued on January 14-15, 2023.

The team's steps then received appreciation from the school and students, one of whom was Meisyha, a 6th grade student who was also happy that the library at her school had improved again.

"The library is now nice, comfortable for studying," said Meisyha to the team.

To complement the literacy development activities, the team held teaching activities at SDN Sirnabakti targeting students in grades 3-6. The teaching activities were carried out for 3 effective days on January 17-19, 2023 by a total of 18 teachers and involving 210 students. The teaching activities on the first day were filled with arts and culture materials, while on the second day the students were given basic mathematics materials, and on the third day the materials were in the form of simple experiments that were quite interesting.

"I am very happy that UI students are serving at SDN Sirnabakti. Hopefully this can be a motivation for the children of SDN Sirnabakti to study harder and more diligently," said Mr. Acep S.Pd., MM.Pd, Principal of SDN Sirnabakti.

In order to strive to increase literacy interest in Sukawangi Village sustainably, the MIPA Green Village 8 team created a learning facility, namely the "Learning Park" which was built next to a food stall owned by one of the Sukawangi Village residents. This learning park contains writing and drawing tools, toys puzzle, dan juga tersedia buku-buku yang telah diklasifikasikan berdasarkan usia, mulai dari anak-anak, remaja, hingga orang dewasa.

"The construction of this learning park is also a response to one of the PAUDs in Sukawangi Village that has stopped operating. Therefore, the Learning Park was created so that children can remain productive and enthusiastic in learning," said Shafy while closing his interview with the FMIPA UI public relations team.

MIPA Green Village (MGV) is a work program of the Social and Environmental Department of BEM FMIPA UI since 2016, which aims to increase awareness and social concern of FMIPA UI residents towards underdeveloped villages, as well as being a participatory forum in carrying out community service activities as a manifestation of the Tri Dharma values ​​of Higher Education.

News source : https://sci.ui.ac.id/