“Voluntary Corps of Red Cross Unit (Korps Sukarela Palang Merah Indonesia / KSR PMI) of Diponegoro University is a Student Activity Unit at Diponegoro University that is engaged in the field of red cross and based on humanitarian principles. As an organization, Voluntary Corps of Red Cross Unit Undip is not only a place for students to develop themselves but also as a forum to hone the spirit of volunteerism in the social and humanitarian environment. Voluntary Corps of Red Cross Unit Undip acts as a volunteer who spends their time and energy to help others selflessly and apply humanitarian values. These roles makes Voluntary Corps of Red Cross Unit Undip important, to be present in the community without distinguishing race, ethnicity, class and others,” said Ika Laiki Ramdani, Commander of Voluntary Corps of Red Cross Unit of Diponegoro University.
Ika began to be interested and liked activities and in the field of red cross since she was in middle school. After graduated from junior high school, she continued to join Red Cross Organization at high school level. When she entered Diponegoro University she joined Voluntary Corps of Red Cross Unit Undip.
“Actually, Red Cross and Voluntary Corps of Red Cross Unit are the same but at different levels. As long as I am a prospective member, continue to be a member, and until now I can become the Commander of Voluntary Corps of Red Cross Unit, I am very happy to be able to participate in activities and learn science. I feel that Voluntary Corps of Red Cross Unit is my world,” said this Environmental Engineering student.
The pandemic condition does not become a barrier for Voluntary Corps of Red Cross Unit Undip to continue their activities. The activities that have been carried out include Motivation Training of Voluntary Corps of Red Cross Unit by online using Zoom application. The purpose of holding Motivation Training event is to give the spirit and knowledge of being administrator to the new management, so that they carry out their duties and obligations with enthusiasm and sincerity. The administrators are very enthusiastic about holding this event because it can help to get to know each other. Another event is New Member Admission which aims to recruit Undip students who are interested in joining Voluntary Corps of Red Cross Unit Undip. New members are required to continue the management relay in the following year. Therefore, New Member Admission is one of the important activities and requires more attention to get members who are in accordance with the needs of organization. The next event is Training Of Facilitator, where Voluntary Corps of Red Cross Unit Undip becomes a facilitator or becomes trainer of Red Cross Youth. For 2021, Voluntary Corps of Red Cross Unit Undip will be the trainer of Red Cross Youth SMP N 33 Semarang, SMA Hidayatullah Semarang and SMA N 1 Semarang. Thus there needs to be training for Voluntary Corps of Red Cross Unit Undip administrators and members to become qualified facilitators.
The other event is World Blood Donor Day 2021 which carries the theme of “Give Blood Share Live”. This activity is carried out online and offline considering the need for blood in this pandemic condition is very high. Voluntary Corps of Red Cross Unit Undip together with SATBRIMOB POLDA JATENG held a joint blood donation to help those who in need of blood. In addition, Voluntary Corps of Red Cross Unit Undip also gives rewards to donors who have donated blood for others. Voluntary Corps of Red Cross Unit Undip provides merchandise in the form of cloth masks and stickers for donors which are distributed through Blood Donation Units of Red Cross in Semarang City and Semarang Regency. The provision of cloth masks aims to increase public awareness in preventing COVID-19 by using masks. For the online activity, Voluntary Corps of Red Cross Unit Undip makes a podcast Parmita (paradigm of myths and facts) about blood donation during a pandemic. From this podcast, it is hoped that people will no longer be afraid to donate blood during pandemic. Voluntary Corps of Red Cross Unit Undip also active as a speaker at training events held by Undip or outside Undip. The activity is usually carried out online.
“We also participated in online-based education training and competitions held by Red Cross in East Jakarta and supported by SEAYN, IFRC and Indonesian Red Cross. In the competition, we won 2nd place at the national level of training and online-based education implementation competitions. We celebrate Voluntary Corps of Red Cross Unit Undip Anniversary by online on March 27th. Then there are routine exercises and physical exercises that are carried online with the delivery of materials using videos, pictures, and others so that the materials can be easily captured. Voluntary Corps of Red Cross Unit Undip also carries out internal activities to get closer and get to know the management, and to increase the capacity of management and members,” she continued.
“Organization and education are very important, these two things are a combination that will make the younger generation capable of becoming a great generation. In formal education, we are taught about science according to the field of education we take, while in organizations we are taught to have awareness of society. What people need or what we can do, we don’t necessarily get from formal education. Organization can also train our soft skills, problem solving and public speaking which of course we really need in the world of work later. Therefore, it must be balance between education and organization,” she concluded. (Linda – Public Relations)
Translated by: Titis (Public Relations)