UNAIR NEWS – Started from their desire to gather and a sense of togetherness, Madurese students at Universitas Airlangga formed a regional student organization (ORMADA), which was named Madura Student Forum (FORMARA). This community was formed on January 25, 2008.
Head of FORMARA UNAIR is Dwi Yanti Rachmasari Tartila, 2016 Nursing Education student. Yanti said that the purpose of FORMARA is to bring together Madurese students in UNAIR without any boundaries of regions in Madura. Yanti said , a sense of unity and togetherness in an organization is very necessary.
As organization, FORMARA is divided into several departments, Department of Creative Economy, Department of Public Relations and Alumni, Department of Student Resource Development (PSDM), Department of Community Service, and Department of Communication and Information.
“Each has its own work program that runs for a year,” Yanti added.
In 2019, for 11th Anniversary of FORMARA, FORMARA held several activities including FORMARA Goes To School, Tryouts for high school students, Futsal Tournaments, Abdi Desa (Abdes) in Pamekasan, and the night of Anniversary in Sumenep.
Dwi Yanti said, Abdi Desa is a routine activity held every year various regencies in Madura. Regarding the target area, FORMARA cooperates with government agencies to look for data on disadvantaged region. Not only that, the targeted area is also expected to have a potential that can be developed well.
“This year’s Abdes was held on January 16-20 2019 in Toket Village, Proppo Sub-district, Pamekasan Regency,” she explained.
Yanti also said that the village was chosen because it is a batik industry village. These advantage, she continued, will be explored by FORMARA by holding entrepreneurship seminars attended by batik artisans and local women. In the seminar, FORMARA presented a speaker from alumni who had become entrepreneurs, by discussing the strategies and processes of business development and the right marketing process.
In addition to the seminar, FORMARA also catalogued the results of batik production produced by residents. Sales will be done online on caribatik.id Instagram account. It aims to boost marketing in the world of digital online industry.
“There is also a one-day event with the residents, learning to batik in the homes of artisans while listening to their complaints for development materials,” she added.
In addition to business development, FORMARA also taught and motivated elementary school students in grades 4,5 and 6 to continue their education to a higher level. Most of elementary students there do not want to continue their education.
The series of Abdes FORMARA activities besides developing business and teaching, added Yanti, will also conduct free health check program for residents, social services by distributing 100 packages of basic necessities and clothes, distributing milk for toddlers, cleaning sites which are considered sacred, making concrete signs for Madrasah Aliyah (MI), and organizing community meetings. In Don-jandon (community meeting), FORMARA invited residents to gather and presented the head of PDAM Pamekasan to solve problems during the dry season.
“We have come here to connect the residents and PDAM because access from the village to the city is quite difficult,” Yanti said.
Yanti said, there are currently 70 FORMARA administrators. The community, FORMARA, continued Yanti, made students have more social awareness. One of them is by holding a dissemination on university admission process in high school. Evidently, FORMARA is actively promoting UNAIR to more than 100 high schools in Madura.
“I hope ORMADA can always be useful for Madura. With the intention of making Madura better, more organized, and participating in the study of socio-culture in Madura, ” she concluded. (*)
Author: M. Najib Rahman
Editor: Khefti Al Mawalia
