Students of Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta’s Community Service Group 132 (KKN UMY 132) held a field study to the Bamboo Tourism Village of Brajan, Sleman on Sunday (1/19). This activity was carried out in order to provide knowledge to residents of Pringsari Hamlet, Mraggen Village, Srumbung District, Magelang to utilize bamboo into handicrafts that have sale value and also as a form of improving the economic community and supporting the achievement of tourist villages.
The Chairman of KKN 132 UMY, M. Fawaidurrohman said that the objective of this activity was due to the large number of bamboo plants in Pringsari Hamlet that had not been processed properly. “We hope that this comparative study can provide knowledge and that the residents who take part in their activities can spread the knowledge to other residents of Pringsari Hamlet,” he explained.
Fawaidurrohman also added that this comparative study activity is an effort to raise awareness regarding tourism villages in the Pringsari Hamlet area, Magelang. “Raising awareness for tourism villages is an activity carried out with the intention to provide awareness for residents of Pringsari hamlets regarding the formation of tourist villages and how to maximize the potential of hamlets or villages to be used as tourist attractions,” he added.
Sulis, an owner of one of the Bamboo handicraft industries in Brajan Village explained that making bamboo handicrafts requires quite a lot of bamboo and that Pringsari Hamlet has the potential to become a bamboo handicraft village with its considerable quantity of bamboo. “We still buy bamboo materials from other regions because our bamboo is no longer sufficient. Pringsari already has a lot of bamboos, so there is no need to buy from other regions and it will reduce production costs. This is a great potential that can be used to make bamboo crafts like in Brajan Village. Pringsari residents can certainly do this, “said the comparative study speaker.
In addition to conducting comparative study activities, residents of Pringsari Hamlet are also taught to make bamboo handicrafts in the form of mini fruit baskets. Furthermore, bamboo crafts that have been made during the training can be taken home by the residents of Pringsari Hamlet, so that they can be developed into other bamboo handicrafts. After the activities of making bamboo handicrafts, the study continued with a marketing workshop which is a follow up to the training in making bamboo crafts. With this marketing workshop, hopefully residents of Pringsari Hamlet can market bamboo crafts both nationally and internationally. (sofia)
