Unair Patriot Expedition Team Develops Healthy Village in Manokwari
The Patriot Expedition Team from Universitas Airlangga (Unair) Surabaya is developing healthy villages through strengthening sanitation and promoting clean living behaviours among communities in the Prafi transmigration area, Manokwari Regency, West Papua Province.
Dr Corie Indria Prasasti, Head of Team 11 of the Unair Patriot Expedition, said in Manokwari on Wednesday that the healthy village programme prioritises simple technology that is easy for communities to apply by utilising local potential effectively, efficiently, and sustainably.
“The programme, titled ‘Sanitation Revitalisation and PHBS: Strategy for Accelerating Healthy Villages in the Prafi transmigration area’, began with mapping community needs,” said Corie.
According to her, the focus group discussions aimed to identify and determine appropriate locations for the community empowerment programme by considering conditions, needs, community readiness, and stakeholder support.
The results of the discussions served as the basis for determining locations, while also addressing sanitation problems such as waste management and domestic wastewater disposal that have not been handled optimally.
“The team then conducted field surveys and verification to establish priority locations and determine the appropriate form of intervention based on community conditions,” she said.
She noted that several flagship programmes prepared include household wastewater treatment installations, hydroponics, composting of waste, community-based total sanitation, and clean and healthy living behaviours.
The Patriot Expedition Team also involved posyandu cadres, PKK teams, and farmer groups so that communities have a direct role in the implementation and sustainability of the empowerment programme to realise healthy villages.
“The involvement of these various community groups is expected to produce local leaders or natural leaders who are able to continue sanitation practices and healthy living behaviours independently,” said Corie.
Team 11 of the Unair Patriot Expedition, led by Dr Corie Indria Prasasti, consists of Desta Dwi Lestari, Mhd Izzan Nasser, Yasmin Lail Ramadhani, Syaiful Arifin, and Yamander Au Yensenem.