FKM NEWS – One of the knowledge applications is by doing community service in order to serve the society. Currently, the 58th Community Service Program or Kuliah Kerja Nyata Belajar Bersama Masyarakat (KKN-BBM) of Universitas Airlangga is ongoing, up until 28 July 2018.
Before executing one program, it is essential to determine the prior problem in a region. Thus, the assessment and problems identification are essential before the program started. As what done by the students of UNAIR in Beton Village, Menganti Sub-District, Gresik Regency, they conducted in-depth interview with health workers in Community Health sub-center or Puskesmas Pembantu (Pustu) of Beton Village on Wednesday (04/07/18).
Puskesmas pembantu as the branch of the Primary Community Health Center (Puskesmas induk) of Menganti Sub-District consists of 1 nurse, 1 midwife, and 1 doctor with picketing schedule in certain days. The workers of Puskesmas kindly accepted the presence of university students. When asked regarding the primary health problems in Beton Village, Mustofa, a nurse in Pustu, stated that many of the residents still have not owned healthy latrine yet. “There are 44 houses that have not owned healthy latrine yet,” said Mustofa. There are the total number of 951 houses in the village.
Referring to the data preserved by the Puskesmas, some houses that still have not installed healthy latrine, use jamban cemplung. The main reason that the residents still have not owned healthy latrines is due to limited funds. Other than that, the lack of work force to build underground aqueducts also makes for another reason. Initially, the residents did not use closet because Beton Village experienced water difficulty that did not make the usage of closet possible since it needed abundant amount of water.
For that reason, the workers of Puskesmas sincerely hope that the students of UNAIR can also trigger the residents to install healthy latrines as soon as possible. “It is true that every year, the number of the residents installing healthy latrines increases, but slowly,” said Mustofa, the head of environmental health field in the Puskesmas of Menganti, Gresik.
The following day, the KKN team of Beton Village conducted a survey regarding the latrines in the houses of the residents, referring to the data provided by Puskesmas. They initiated interview with house owners and documented the latrine’s condition in the house.
Here, the role of the students of FKM UNAIR performing KKN is needed by the residents. The students of FKM UNAIR need to be able to help the residents by providing solutions for the occurring health problems, such as the latrine problems in Beton Village.
