As reported on the official website of Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY), the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia is becoming increasingly alarming, especially considering the Indonesian government’s perceived lack of responsiveness and excessive use of political narratives to address the ongoing crisis. As a result, many sectors have not been adequately addressed, such as providing education to the public about the importance of self-care during the pandemic. This has prompted Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta, as an educational institution, to be involved and take action in providing education, guidance, and examples to the community through the COVID-19 Volunteer Community Service (KKN) program, which was officially launched on Saturday, September 19th, at the Ground Floor of the KH. Ahmad Dahlan Mosque, UMY Integrated Campus. A total of 180 students, supervised by 30 field supervisors, were deployed in this program.
UMY Chancellor Dr. Ir. Gunawan Budiyanto M.P. IPM emphasized that the task of the COVID-19 Volunteer Community Service is to raise public awareness and discipline in the COVID-19 situation, as this is actually what has been overlooked. Therefore, the Community Service program, which aims to serve the community, must become a moving pillar to break the chain of virus transmission. “UMY has full confidence in its students who certainly have rational intelligence and scientific intelligence to carry out this mandate. That is why this Community Service program is held so that all levels of the UMY academic community can move. The bad thing about Indonesians is that they lack discipline and awareness, you must be an example and educate people about the importance of discipline and awareness in applying health protocols in everyday life,” he explained.
In fact, there is a clear formula for combating the COVID-19 virus, but most Indonesian people still underestimate it. “New transmissions will occur if droplets fall on our bodies, clothes, and infect us, which is why the 3M movement is important. The task of this Community Service program is to socialize this movement to the community, namely wearing masks, washing hands (as often as possible), and maintaining distance. We place our hopes on all of you, because even the Ministry of Health itself, which should be strictly adhering to health protocols, has become the ministry with the most employees infected with the COVID-19 virus. It is ironic, indeed, that students here must be able to set an example, provide education, provide guidance, and set an example for the community to implement 3M,” continued Gunawan.
The UMY COVID-19 Volunteer Community Service will be carried out for two months, starting from September 21st to November 20th. Students will be focused on implementing programs in the Kasihan sub-district, where UMY has previously collaborated with the Kasihan Sub-district Office in the “Kasihan Sub-district Wearing Masks” program on September 9th. “UMY does not think of itself, through the Kasihan community wearing masks movement some time ago, we have paid attention to the environment around UMY. As part of a learned society, we have carried out this activity in nearby cafes, involving the Polsek, Koramil, and sub-district officials. It was all done because we care about all of you, especially students who are active in the Kasihan environment and do not wear masks. So, this program must be continued by you in this Community Service program.”
Meanwhile, Dr. H. Agung Danarto M.Ag., Head of the UMY Daily Supervisory Board, revealed that the decision to deploy students as COVID-19 Volunteer Community Service was not easy, considering the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in Indonesia. “It will indeed be a dilemma for UMY to deploy this Community Service, at a time when COVID-19 cases are very high, as we know there are more than 3,000 cases per day, with a total of more than 200,000, and 30 million worldwide. On the one hand, we want everyone to be safe, but if the Community Service is not carried out, it will delay your graduation, who will educate the community, while the Indonesian bureaucracy is in chaos, so who else will educate the community if not us. But I advise all students to be able to take care of themselves, protect themselves, protect their friends, and protect the community.”
In addition, Agung said that the existence of this Community Service is not to sacrifice students in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Currently, many health workers have died, this is not about us sacrificing you, but we want you to be part of the community that saves the nation from the dangers of COVID-19, so that transmission can be stopped, until a vaccine is found. This is our responsibility, hopefully this activity will benefit us all,” he concluded, symbolically deploying UMY COVID-19 Volunteer students. (Hbb)
