IO, Surabaya – The 31-day adaptation challenge program, started on August 1, 2020 and implemented by National COVID-19 Volunteers (RECON), is being hosted by the Director General of Higher Education, Ministry of Education and Culture (Kemendikbud), in collaboration with the Indonesian Medical Student Senate Association (ISMKI). The aim is to provide health education and dissemination to impede COVID-19 transmission.
Recruitment began in early March, resulting in numerous programs for the wider community, such as Rumah Bahasa, Hoax Buster, Balai Erona, and the latest, a 31-day adaptation challenge. Health education to the wider community is very necessary and must be carried out continuously so infor mation provided will be embedded throughout the population, not only with online dissemination but offline as well, so information can be comprehensive and intensive.
“The 31-day challenge program for adapting to new habits contains both online and offline dissemination. Thus, every day for 31 days there is a scheduled posting,” said Martining Shoffa Puspitaningrum, a student of Universitas Airlangga (Unair), Surabaya, who also serves as a volunteer, on Friday (8/14/2020).
Information and updates related to COVID-19, she continued, are expected to be accessible not only through official government media, but also through students, “Agents of Change” close to the communities. “Yes, we want to enable knowledge, so people can get information and updates about COVID-19, not only through official government media, but also through students,” she said.
Education carried out in a sustainable manner, she stated, is also expected to raise awareness among the wider community, which can play an active role; this includes students, who are close to the public and can provide education with useful activities. “This activity is fun: there seems to be no positive activity during COVID-19, so it is a kind of challenge to provide education to the public, directly or indirectly. Suppose there are people who refuse to volunteer; we can encourage them to be more willing,” concluded Shoffa. (est)