IPB University Students Carry Out Village Development

One of the student roles is to do community service. To fulfil this role, the Biology Student Association (HIMABIO) of IPB University held a village development program in Cihideung Ilir Village, Bogor, named the Application of Biology for Community (ABIOTIC) activity. ABIOTIC is an initiation program from the HIMABIO Bioworld Division, which was carried out from April to September 2019.

Saidah, Chairperson of the Bioworld Division, said that previously HIMABIO of IPB University had a similar annual program in a different village each year. “ABIOTIC is designed as a long-term Biology student village development program,” said Saidah.

Six out of eight meetings with community, Saidah said, were the introduction of the field. Saidah explained that it was better to strengthen the relationship between students and community in the first year of village development.

The last two programs were housewives and children empowerment to recycle waste into usable items. They used plastic bottles, used cardboard, and saga seeds. The closing meeting was filled with a free nutrition consultation provided by the Nutrition Student Association (Himagizi) of IPB University.

Saidah admitted that there were obstacles in implementing the program such as the difficulty to attract the masses. However, they were quite happy because the villagers were enthusiastic about welcoming students. “Hopefully the ABIOTIC program can continue to run and explore more potential resources in Cihideung Ilir,” she said. (ASK/ris/zsp)