Universitas Malikussaleh (Unimal) Chancellor, Dr. Herman Fithra Asean Eng, released 10 student volunteers who will be dispatched to help communities affected by the earthquake in Majene Regency, West Sulawesi, Sunday, March 21, 2021, at the Bukit Indah Campus, Lhokseumawe, Indonesia.
The ten students are Benny Murdani (Sociology), A Riski RM (Indonesian Language Education), Zulkipli Pohan (Mechanical Engineering), Zulkarnaini (Mechanical Engineering), M Harie Rizki Lubis (Law), Febri Robiatun Adwiyah (Information Systems), M. Althaf Kiram (Informatics Engineering), Windy Cintia Putri (Agroecotechnology), Mustafa Kamal (Accounting), and Sayyidina Farline (Business Administration).
Previously, on Tuesday, the students were provided with preparation to go to West Sulawesi.
ASEAN Chancellor Herman Fithra said the students would go via Medan to Makassar and after that, they would go to Majene by road.
"All participants have carried out an antigen swab at the Medical Faculty today and are declared free of Covid-19. This is the first time Unimal has dispatched students as humanitarian workers as well as studying at other campuses. This activity has been reported to the Director-General of Higher Education. Thank God they give appreciation," he said.
Herman said Unimal will always send students to disaster areas as well as to study at local universities. This activity is one of the concepts of the Independent Learning Campus (KMMB).
"We hope that the 10 volunteers who depart today can take care of themselves, maintain cohesiveness, often coordinate with student affairs, and maintain the good name of the campus and prioritize discipline by implementing health protocols at the location of their assignment later, he hoped.
The release activity ended with a prayer together and glutinous rice feeding which was carried out by the Rector of Unimal, Dr. Herman Fithra, to 10 student volunteers.
As it is known, Majene Regency and Mamuju Regency, West Sulawesi were rocked by an earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale on January 15, 2021. The disaster caused thousands of residents to lose their homes, so they were forced to live in refugee camps.
According to the Vice-Rector III for Student Affairs, Dr. Baidhawi, the students who were sent were part of the implementation of the Free Learning-Free Campus Curriculum (MBKM).
"There are eight off-campus learning schemes that students can choose from, one of which is volunteering for a humanitarian project," he explained.
The purpose of being a humanitarian volunteer is to train students to have social sensitivity to explore and explore problems so that they can be resolved according to their interests and expertise and make students who are plenary who uphold human values in carrying out tasks based on religion, morals, and ethics.
"The students will be for one semester at the disaster site. During their duties, students must continue to coordinate with the local campus (Unimal) and the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) in making programs that will be carried out in the field,” concluded Baidhawi. []
