One of the Microbiology students from the 2020 cohort, Uways Irfany, commonly known as Uways, has just completed the Community Empowerment Learning Work Lecture (KKN-PPM) period IV of the year 2023/2024 in Paka Village, Satar Mese District, Manggarai Regency, East Nusa Tenggara. This KKN activity is one of the compulsory courses that provide opportunities for students to directly apply their discipline in helping to address community issues. According to Uways, the KKN program encourages students to step out of their comfort zone, observe the challenges faced by the community, and contribute effectively to solving these challenges together with students from other disciplines as well as with the local community. Although the 50-day service period may seem very short, Uways believes it is enough to initiate positive change not only for himself as a student but also for the community to become more empowered.
As a microbiology student, Uways has focused his work program on applying microbiological knowledge to improve agricultural productivity, starting from counseling to the production of Trichoderma as a natural biocontrol, liquid organic fertilizers, and botanical pesticides, all of which rely on fermentation processes and maturation involving microorganisms. Uways realizes that the success of these programs cannot be achieved without full support from all layers of the surrounding community. Through this service activity, the most important value to be gained, according to Uways, is that differences in ethnicity, race, and culture between students and the community do not hinder the spirit of collaboration in solving the problems encountered in the KKN environment, but instead, they assist each other and discuss solutions that are most appropriate while still prioritizing local wisdom.
This synergy is a strong evidence to achieve the goal of SDG 1: No Poverty, SDG 2: Zero Hunger, SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth, and SDG 11: Sustinable Cities and Communities.