For residents in urban areas, having a house with a bathroom is an absolute must, but for some residents in rural areas, it has not been fulfilled in every household. In Cibuntu Village, Ciampea District, Bogor Regency, West Java, for example, to serve the needs of more than 40 households, they only have 5 public toilet facilities. Or, if the average is calculated, each public toilet must meet the needs of 8 households.
Most residents in Cibuntu do not have a toilet. They utilize the river around them to meet their need for water. This has the potential to carry negative impacts on the environment and the health of residents if it is ignored for a long time.
This condition moved lecturers and students from the Department of Chemical Engineering (DTK), the Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia (FTUI) to help encourage the welfare of local residents by holding community service activities entitled “Chemical Engineering in Charity (CHERRY) 2022”. This activity began last September through the construction of public toilet facilities in collaboration with the Science and Technology of Chemical Engineering Student Association (IMTK) FTUI. “Alhamdulillah, on October 8, 2022, these public toilets were inaugurated. We hope that the construction of public toilets can help residents in the long term,” said Dr. Kenny Lischer, DTK FTUI lecturer who was involved in the community service activities.
Apart from the lack of toilet facilities, Cibuntu Village also lacks access to clean water, especially for houses that are far from the shared water reservoirs. To overcome this problem, DTK FTUI collaborated with Society of Petroleum Engineers Universitas Indonesia Student Chapter (SPE UISC), American Institute of Chemical Engineers Universitas Indonesia Student Chapter (AIChE UISC), and Association of Indonesian Petroleum Engineers Universitas Indonesia Student Chapter (IATMI SMUI), to build installation of water pumps to meet the demand for clean water with a larger debit.
In the series of CHERRY 2022 activities, DTK FTUI also synergized with the Society for Biological Engineering Universitas Indonesia Student Chapter (SBE UISC) to hold socialization and training on manure-making for residents. According to Dr. Kenny, although many residents of Cibuntu Village have livestock such as goats, their livestock manure has not been properly managed and utilized. Through this outreach and training, it is hoped that residents can understand the stages of making manure so that the fertilizer can be used to fertilize gardens and increase residents’ harvests.
This outreach activity began with a presentation of material related to manure and continued with a demonstration of the stages of making manure. One of the residents of RT 01 Cibuntu Village, Abdurrahman, welcomed this activity. “Alhamdulillah, with this training, I can learn how to make manure. In the future, fertilizer produced by CHERRY 2022 and SBE UISC will be used for plants in gardens. Hopefully, the next harvest will be better,” said Abdurrahman.
In addition, CHERRY 2022 conducted a collaboration with the Student Executive Board (BEM) of the Faculty of Medicine (FKUI) to provide medical examination services. The health checks that were provided free for residents included physical examinations (height and weight), general medical check-ups, providing healthy lifestyle education, and distributing health kits containing vitamins B, C, and D.
The UI student team also visited and filled out activities at Taman Baca Kampung Cibuntu. They introduced several professions to the children of Cibuntu Village residents by showing videos. The students guided the children to draw their dreams and invite them to play.
The children of Cibuntu Village were very enthusiastic about being invited to play and learn, considering that their meetings were limited and school activities had to stop due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Dean of FTUI Prof. Dr. Heri Hermansyah, S.T., M.Eng., IPU expressed his appreciation for CHERRY 2022 community service activities carried out by DTK FTUI.
“CHERRY 2022 is a community service activity that really helps improve the welfare of the residents of Cibuntu Village, Bogor. This step of making a real contribution deserves to be appreciated. Hopefully, in the future there will be many activities like CHERRY 2022 within FTUI, as a manifestation of the realization of an Excellent and Impactful FTUI,” said Prof. Harry.
The community service activity by DTK FTUI was closed by handing over donations in the form of used books, used toys, and stationery for communal use at Taman Baca Kampung Cibuntu. Submission of this donation received a good response from the residents of Cibuntu Village. Several activities in CHERRY 2022 are expected to have a positive impact on the welfare of Cibuntu Village residents.
