The community service program from the Environmental Engineering Student Association (HMTL) is called “Ngabdi Rek! 2024!” This initiative will be carried out for 2 months, from July 13 to September 14, 2024, and will take place in RW 3 Asem Jajar, Tembok Dukuh, Bubutan District, Surabaya.
This year, the focus areas of the HMTL community service are environment, education, health, and economics. While all the programs are important, the main programs of Ngabdi Rek! 2024 include Educare for All and Dissemination & Training.
Educare for All is an educational activity focused on children. This program addresses topics related to education, health, and the environment, with the aim that children in the target community will learn and apply the materials, such as basic literacy and numeracy, maintaining personal hygiene, and understanding types of waste and how to manage them to protect the environment. This program supports the achievement of SDG Goal 4: “Quality Education,” as it aims to teach children subjects they have not yet received in order to improve their knowledge.
Dissemination and Training is an activity designed to provide new information and knowledge to the community, which can be applied in daily life. This program covers four main topics: environment, education, health, and economics. Since each agenda focuses on different topics, this program contributes to SDG Goal 1: “No Poverty,” especially with the economic topic. This aspect teaches the community about small businesses, such as how to start a business, market it, and offers business ideas to community members through the dissemination and training sessions. It also supports SDG Goal 3: “Good Health and Well-Being,” focusing on health by educating the community on the importance of balanced nutrition and how to maintain a healthy body.
In selecting the target community for this service activity, HMTL conducted a survey of four aspects: economic condition, education, access to health facilities, and the environmental condition. The survey results are compared with the community’s needs regarding the proposed programs.
This selection process directly supports SDG Goal 1: “No Poverty,” by addressing poverty in the target area. It also supports SDG Goal 3: “Good Health and Well-Being” by providing health information to the community and SDG Goal 4: “Quality Education” by offering education to children who lack access to quality schooling.
These activities align with the materials learned in the Faculty of Science and Technology (FST). As Environmental Engineering students, we have learned about pollution, waste, and other related topics. One example of applying our knowledge is in the Dissemination and Training program, where we introduced the making of Lerak Soap and Eco-enzyme. In these activities, we educated the community about pollution and waste. For instance, we explained how detergent, commonly used in soap, causes water pollution and harms living creatures and the environment. As a solution, we taught them how to make environmentally-friendly soap from lerak fruit. In the Eco-enzyme activity, we showed the community how organic waste, especially food waste, can be reused to create something useful. We hope this will reduce the amount of organic waste, particularly food waste, which is abundant in the community.
Another example is the Educare for All program, which focuses on the environment. In this program, we taught the children in the community about types of waste and how to manage it. The aim was to help them understand and apply these concepts in their daily lives.
HMTL also collaborated with several external organizations such as FKP, FKM, Denteam FKG, FK, and MRI Surabaya. The collaboration involved these partners as resource persons for various activities, such as FKP providing health education for children in the Educare for All program, FKM offering nutrition education in the Nutrition Dissemination session, and Denteam FKG providing dental health education for children in the Educare for All program. The collaboration with FK and MRI Surabaya involved organizing free health check-ups for the community.
To measure the success of the program, the first step was to conduct a survey to assess the condition of the area before the service activities. This survey serves as a baseline for comparison. Afterward, the impacts on the community are evaluated, including short-term impacts like an increase in knowledge and long-term impacts like improved welfare after the program’s implementation. For SDG Goal 1, “No Poverty,” success can be measured by improvements in the community’s economy. For SDG Goal 3, “Good Health and Well-Being,” success can be assessed by the community’s understanding of health and how well they implement the knowledge. For SDG Goal 4, “Quality Education,” success can be measured by the level of participation in education activities.
The biggest challenge faced was the lack of interest from the adult residents during the service activities. Many parents preferred to work or attend to household chores, leaving little time to participate. To address this, we asked the local leaders (RT and RW) to help spread information about the program. We also went door-to-door to encourage participation and explained the materials and benefits of the activities. To further motivate the community, we provided prizes that were related to the material presented and would be beneficial for the residents.
Looking ahead, HMTL plans to continue making the SDGs the main framework for planning and executing community service programs, with a focus on sustainability and long-term impacts. The implementation will also involve or collaborate with external parties to expand the program’s reach. The association will focus on inclusion and equality, and will measure and publish the impacts of each activity to increase interest among other students in engaging in community service.
