Indonesia’s geographical area is located within the ring of fire, and almost all of Indonesia’s territory is surrounded by volcanoes. Therefore, it is not surprising that disasters often occur in areas surrounded by volcanoes. But humans are also often involved in the occurrence of disasters, and for that, we need self-awareness of the importance of disaster response and how to reduce risk in the event of a disaster in the future. Seeing the seriousness of the problem, Muhammadiyah Disaster Management Center (MDMC) initiated a collaboration with Muhammadiyah Universities in Indonesia to carry out Social Services Programs(KKN) themed around Disaster Awareness and Relief.
Secretary of the Muhammadiyah Central Board Higher Education Council Muhammad Sayuti, M.Pd., M.Ed. Ph.D. said that Muhammadiyah Colleges are increasingly becoming an important pillar in Muhammadiyah’s charitable endeavors, especially in the field of community service. “A total of 166 Muhammadiyah colleges consisting of universities, colleges, institutes, academies, polytechnics, and Aisyiyah colleges are becoming the largest universities in the world. Of course, this greatly facilitates Muhammadiyah to conduct its charitable business movement because Muhammadiyah is present all over the world,” he said in the Muhammadiyah Disaster Scientific Meeting panel session on Thursday, (30/01) at Amphitheater Building D, UMY Young and Global Campus.
On the other hand, he also thinks that it is a challenge for MDMC to collaborate with PTM in their disaster preparedness and management programs. “This also presents a new challenge for Muhammadiyah Disaster Management Center (MDMC) to create an off-campus service program for Muhammadiyah college students, especially with the enactment of the new Permendikbud (Ministry of Education and Culture Decree) 2020 regarding the Merdeka Campus program which requires students to carry out activities outside of the normal study program for three semesters. This is an opportunity for MDMC to direct Muhammadiyah college students to provide community service in areas that are still lagging behind in Indonesia so that community growth is evenly distributed, as well as a form of Muhammadiyah’s involvement in overcoming disasters in Indonesia,” Sayuti added.
On the same occasion, the Chairman of the Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta Office of Research, Publication, Publishing and Social Services (LP3M UMY) Dr. Gatot Supangkat said that building disaster-friendly behavior through education is very important because we never know when disasters will come. “Disasters are certain to happen and cannot be avoided, and humans can only try to mitigate the risk of disasters by preserving nature and preparing knowledge so that when disasters occur we know what to do. When we manage the environment well, that is also a form of disaster mitigation,” he concluded.
At this event, Universitas Muhammadiyah Banda Aceh who also attended the forum declared the opening of the Disaster Engineering S1 study program, as well as the signing of the opening of a new study program by representatives of Universitas Muhammadiyah Banda Aceh. (ads)
