Becoming a Agent of Change in Jabungan Semarang

Life is not a run race, but a race to share. Pursuing a personal dream is important, but if it does not bring benefits to others, it will feel less meaningful. That is the intention set by members of the Tanoto Scholars Association of Universitas Diponegoro (Undip), Semarang. Sharing and benefiting others is an elaboration of the value we get from Tanoto Foundation, which is “pay it forward”.

We, Undip’s TSA, undertook a long-term community development program in 2017, from April to November. The location of our program is at Madrasah Ibtidaiyah (MI) Al Khaeriyah in Desa Jabungan, Kecamatan Banyumanik, Kota Semarang, Central Java. We have undertaken several programs at this madrasah.

There were four main programs in our activities, namely cheerful Saturday, clean and healthy Saturday, planting Saturday, and library arrangement. Cheerful Saturday is a teaching and storytelling program for MI Al Khaeriyah students, clean and healthy Saturday is a program to teach clean and healthy lifestyle, and planting Saturday is a greening program in the school environment. One other program, library arrangement, is a school library renovation program.

” Universitas Diponegoro‘s Tanoto Scholars Program is very creative. The murals, created in the library, make the library room feel more alive and the students become interested in coming to the library. Thanks also for donating the books, “said Pak Muflikhun, Head of MI Al Khaeriyah.

Hopefully, the activities that we have undertaken for seven months at MI Al Khaeriyah can bring positive changes for the school environment.

Written by Niko Karuniawan, Tanoto Scholar from Universitas Diponegoro