148 students of Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY) will perform a community service in 3T (the frontier, outermost and remote regions). The students were officially departed by Rector of UMY Dr. Ir. Gunawan Budiiyanto, M.P. on Tuesday (11/7) at Lobby of Rector.
The students are divided into five groups, namely 25 students in Kokoda tribe, Sorong (Papua); 31 student in Sambi Rampas Manggarai Timur (Nusa Tenggara Timur); 35 students in Sembalun, Lombok Timur (Nusa Tenggara Barat); 40 students in Sebatik (Kalimantan Utara); and 16 students in Berau (Kalimantan Timur).
In his remark, Dr. Gunawan Budiyanto, M.P. stated that students should be well-prepared to stay in a new environment. “Students need to focus on several specific aspects when talking about 3T regions. For instance, in Sebatik, a frontier and outermost area of Indonesia bordered with Malaysia, the students will find the people who possess the low sense of nationality. They are prouder of Malaysia than Indonesia. Another issue was dealing with people in Semalun encountering a transition phase from agrarian to tourism era. The shift will affect the education in the area because people will get low education if the area is utilized as a tourism place. Thus, the student conducting the community service in the areas should concern with the issue,” emphasized Gunawan.
Head of LAZISMU (Muhammadiiyah Zakat, Infaq, Shadaqah Agency) Hilman Latief, M.A., Ph.D. stated that a community service at 3T is a sustainable program from Muhammaidyah Congress in Makassar. “This community service has been conducted three periods. It shows development of this program,” he told.
Hilman as a Vice Rector for Student, Alumni, and Islamic and Muhammadiyah Study Afffairs expected that all activities of previous community services in 3T can be documented. “We contacted a number of students and alumni performing the community services to report their activities. It aims at publishing a book as a guideline for their juniors who are interested in joining the community service in 3 regions and a promotion medium of roles of UMY in community,” maintained Hilman.
