IO, Solo –Minister of Education and Culture (Mendikbud) Nadiem Anwar Makarim has instructed all students in their final year, especially those in health or medical studies, to get directly involved in the effort to overcome the massive Covid-19 infection in Indonesia. The good news is that students of Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta have initiated a movement, namely, “Solo Fights the Corona (Solo Melawan Corona)” on Friday (20/3/2020). This movement is focused on educating lower-middle class people about the prevention of Coronavirus; these are citizens who have not yet been reached by the rampant information on social or mass media.
Naufal Aminur Rahman, one of the initiators of the “Solo Fights the Corona” movement, mentioned that educational content regarding Covid-19 has actually been spread massively on social media. “When we visit Instagram, we scrolled on the timeline and clicking on stories, almost all accounts have provided education material on Corona, right? However, when we go out, from our studio apartment for instance, riding a motorcycle, we can still find many people still getting together as though nothing has changed,” said the student of the Faculty of Medicine (FK) UNS, on Tuesday (24/3/2020).
Naufal added that the main target of “Solo Fight the Corona” is citizens who do not have internet-ready gadgets. “Because of this, we think that actually, many members of society do not have any device to access Instagram or Twitter, where educational content regarding Coronavirus is massive – but this info has yet to appear in their lives. Therefore, it is not surprising if they go about their business as usual. We targeted people that have no access to social media, to educate them; thus, they are conscious that this Coronavirus is a dangerous disease,” added Naufal.
Currently, the movement is open. Anyone can join the movement in order to expand its usefulness. Today, those who involved in “Solo Fight the Corona” include UNS Students, Karang Taruna, and merchants who know about it. They use a cultural approach, which adapts to the habits and local dialects in order to make it easy to understand.
With a jargon “WENAK” they held a massive education on Covid-19. WENAK itself is an abbreviation from the Javanese language that consists of Wijik nganggo sabun (wash hand using soap), Eling istirahat cukup (remember to have enough rest), Nutup yen watuk (cover mouth when coughing), Aja ning reramean (avoid crowds), and Ke Rumah Sakit (RS) yen ngerasakke gejala (go to the hospital if you feel symptoms).
Until now there are several areas that have been visited by the “Solo Fights the Corona” movement, including Nusukan, Rumah Sakit Jiwa (Psychiatric hospital-RSJ) Jebres, in front of Geprek Kumlot Jebres, and Alun-alun Kota Surakarta. (*/est)