At the 2024 Community Service Festival, Universitas Indonesia (UI) introduced 32 community service programs through a talk show session. Dr. Fristian Hadinata, M.Hum., as the coordinator of the talk show session, said that this series aims to disseminate community service that has been carried out by UI academics in various locations in Indonesia. Previously, the community service workers had independently disseminated through the outputs produced. Furthermore, in order to reach a wider audience, Fristian, under the direction of the UI Directorate of Community Service and Empowerment (DPPM), held a special session for the community service workers to present important and impactful achievements over the past few years.
According to Fristian, dissemination of community service programs is very important to do so that there is no longer the assumption that UI is an exclusive campus that is far from the community. “The implementation of thousands of community service programs is a sign that UI is always close to the community,” he said. In this case, UI’s commitment to carrying out the tridharma of higher education is reflected through various innovative outputs that are beneficial to the community. One form of innovative output is a cultural-themed comic produced by two service teams from the Faculty of Humanities (FIB).
The first team led by Dr. Hendra Kaprisma, S.Hum., conducted service in West Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara. Hendra’s Team’s visit to West Sumba carried out a cultural revitalization mission using a literary approach. The main output produced was a comic and a poster of the Kadoku Traditional Village legend in the form of a QR Code. Thanks to the community’s joint efforts, Hendra’s Team succeeded in documenting folklore in digital form which of course can be enjoyed more widely than before. At this point, Hendra and his team are working on preserving culture amidst global dynamics that have entered the digitalization era.
The second team led by Novika Stri Wrihatni, S.S., M.Hum., conducted service in Depok, West Java. Novi’s Team, which is under the auspices of “Aksi UI untuk Negeri” (UI Action for the Country) is directed to introduce cultural values to homeschooled students around Depok. Realizing that culture is increasingly unattractive among the younger generation, Novi and her team innovated by packaging folk tales in the form of animations and comics. Both contain advice to respect teachers adapted from an Old Javanese book called Adiparwa. Parents of students involved in the event appreciated Novi’s Team’s persistence in teaching life values through popular culture that is loved by children.
