Ensure Education Services Don't Stop, Matana UM Surabaya Helps Set Up Emergency Tents for Schools

Education was one of the sectors affected by the hot clouds and the eruption of Mount Semeru which hit Lumajang Regency, East Java Province on December 4 2021 which resulted in one school being heavily damaged, five lightly damaged and 19 affected by dust.

Batch 2 UM Surabaya Disaster Response Students (MATANA) who departed Tuesday 4/1/2022 as disaster volunteers started their action by setting up emergency tents initiated by the Ministry of Education and Culture in ensuring education services continued.

Head of LPPM UM Surabaya Dede Nasrullah said that the students who were dispatched to the disaster site today were batch 2 with an estimated time of 14 days from January 4-17.

"Matana UM Surabaya, who departed today, has started to take action by helping set up emergency school tents initiated by the Ministry of Education and Culture to be used as comfortable classrooms for students. This is a form of countermeasures to ensure that services in educational units affected by the eruption continue to run well despite the emergency situation," explained Dede.

Dede also added that the departed MATANA volunteers will continue to be committed to supporting and assisting programs initiated by the government.

"The UM Surabaya MATANA team is divided into several clusters, so not all of them are focused on setting up tents. Some have focused on survivors' health, assisting children's education, helping public kitchens and distributing logistics. The university hopes that the presence of MATANA UM Surabaya will greatly assist programs initiated by the government or affected communities," added Dede.

Meanwhile Prasista students of the Faculty of Law who are members of MATANA who departed for batch 2 expressed their pleasure to be directly involved in humanitarian action in Lumajang, East Java.

“Being a part of MATANA is a real lesson for me. I am grateful to be able to pass the selection for activities that hone knowledge as well as humanity. Not only training sympathy but also great empathy, "said Prasista.