BALI — Waste education for school students became part of Dompet Dhuafa’s Voluntrip Waste Summit series in Bali. Waste education activities were held at SD Negeri 5 Kesiman, Denpasar on Friday (22/9/2023).
A total of 106 students cheerfully welcomed the arrival of Dompet Dhuafa’s brothers and sisters. Likewise with the teachers, they welcomed this environmental care activity. In waste education activities, waste collection and weighing, story telling, health checks, and playing traditional games were carried out.
A number of Dompet Dhuafa organ teams participated directly in this action, they were Dompet Dhuafa Bali, Disaster Management Center (DMC), and Dompet Dhuafa Volunteer (DDV). Interestingly, this activity was filled by Dompet Dhuafa Volunteer Specialists, namely Dr. Tsaqyla Sabansya and Imelda Naomi, author of the book Luftan and Monster.
Ni Luh Putu Deyanti Dewi, grade 1 teacher of SDN 5 Kesiman said, “We are very happy to have been visited by the Dompet Dhuafa Team and Kak Naomi at the school. Children can directly hear stories directly from the author of Luftan and Monster books. Then we also played traditional games. The children were also happy to be examined by the doctor’s mother. I would like to thank Dompet Dhuafa for the visit.”
He then explained that SDN 5 Kesiman had collaborated with Bali Wastu Lestari, a waste bank in Denpasar. From there, children are taught about sorting waste, both at school and at home. Every month, the school holds a waste weighing activity. Each child is invited to bring the waste that has been collected at home to school to be weighed. They then get money savings from the waste. At the end of the year, the savings will be handed over to each student in cash.
“Incidentally, this school is not far from the landfill. People who pass by there, will definitely smell the unpleasant odor of garbage. That’s also one of the things that motivates us to teach students to sort waste from an early age. So when it is disposed of there, the landfill can immediately place the waste according to its category,” he explained.
Indeed, the issue of waste in Bali has become a hot issue in recent years. For this reason, Dompet Dhuafa Bali has made this waste issue a major issue. Several times, Dompet Dhuafa Bali has also held beach cleaning activities, including those that will be held on Saturday (23/9/2023) with DDV volunteers.
“This is our common duty to keep the environment clean. Hopefully, by coming to schools like this, it will be our small steps to teach how important it is to take care of waste so that it is disposed of properly,” explained Fadly Hassan as Branch Manager of Dompet Dhuafa Bali.
Apparently, SD Negeri 5 Kesiman has long had Luftan and Monster books. Most of the students have also read it. The arrival of Kak Naomi as the author made the students happy, because the book was immediately read and told by the author.
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“Luftan is a real person, not a fictional character. He is a young man who really cares about the environment. So hopefully other children can also learn from Luftan. They will be able to observe the environment more, know about the types of waste, so that it will be more beneficial for nature and many people,” Naomi said.
During the health check, Dr. Tsaqila also conveyed a message to students to always implement a clean and healthy life. Everyone can start by keeping themselves clean. If everyone is aware of clean living, it will certainly be able to avoid diseases due to environmental pollution.
“In maintaining environmental cleanliness, it can start from maintaining personal hygiene, namely clean and healthy living behavior. The environment is closely related to health, where when clean behavior is reflected in everyday life it can prevent yourself and the surrounding community from diseases due to environmental pollution,” he said.
After this event, Dompet Dhuafa then moved to Martasari Beach and Padang Galak Beach to continue the series of Waste Summit Voluntrip events. (Dompet Dhuafa/Muthohar/Syafira)