The Independent Learning Campus (MBKM) Grant Team, Optimizing Disaster Response from the Geography Education Study Program, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education (FKIP), Sebelas Maret University (UNS) Surakarta, held a series of Disaster Response Optimization work programs as an effort to reduce the risk of a Mount Merapi eruption, based on community participation in Balerante Village, Kemalang District, Klaten Regency. All activities and work programs of the Village Project MBKM Grant were carried out over a five-month period, from February to June 2024.
Chaired by Ahmad Rondi, the MBKM Disaster Response Optimization Team consists of 10 students: Ahmad Rondi, Anakita Sascha Aurora Jasmine, Aslam Abdullah Arif, Ladyva Laudya Susanto, Nadya Putri Fitriani, Rizqi Amaliyatun Nisa, Upik Cahyaningrum, Wahyu Triadi, Windi Azizah, and Yovina Lestari Santoso. The implementation of the Village Project MBKM Grant was supervised by Field Supervisors 1 and 2, Dr. Pipit Wijayanti, S.Si., M.Sc., and Dr. Rita Noviani, S.Si., M.Sc.
The Merapi Eruption Simulation was conducted on Monday, May 27, 2024, at SD NEGERI 1 BALERANTE. The event featured expert speakers in the field of disaster mitigation, namely Mr. Sri Yuwana Haris Yulianta, S.T., M.T., from the Klaten Regency Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), and staff. Participants included all 57 students of SDN 1 BALERANTE, along with 10 teachers.
This activity is one of the core work programs of the Balerante Village Project MBKM Grant series. The program’s primary goal is to provide training and understanding to students and teachers in the event of a Mount Merapi eruption, which can occur at any time. The Eruption Simulation was chosen as a crucial step in disaster evacuation. After conducting a survey and interviews with village officials, the community, and teaching staff in Balerante Village, it was discovered that SDN 1 Balerante is vulnerable to a Merapi eruption. Why is this? This is based on three key points: first, location. SN 1 Balerante is located in Balerante Hamlet, RT 07, which is in the upper area. This hamlet is only 3 kilometers from the summit of the Merapi crater. Even from the road in front of the school, we can clearly see the crater. Second, elementary school students are one of the groups most vulnerable to eruption hazards, along with the elderly, toddlers, people with disabilities, and pregnant women.
Third, according to a BPBD staff member, during the last eruption in 2020, the teaching staff panicked when Merapi suddenly erupted. Consequently, it was decided to send all students home. Some students whose homes were located above the elementary school returned home, while their parents independently evacuated downwards, creating a risk of a serious disaster. From this experience, it is hoped that this simulation activity can reduce the risk of victims of the Merapi eruption disaster.
This Merapi Eruption Simulation activity emphasizes the provision of material and understanding by the BPBD to teachers and students, this activity was carried out in 2 different classrooms, class 2 for teachers and class 1 for students. The provision of material and understanding about the eruption of Merapi to students of SD N 1 Balerante was carried out through interesting power points regarding before, during and after the eruption, then continued with watching an animation of a volcanic eruption and a BNPB fairy tale video that tells the story of a group of animals living in the mountain area who must immediately save themselves because an eruption will occur, after that in the final session, students were given a general description of how a mountain when it erupts releases lava using a diorama of Mount Merapi. With various interesting and easy-to-understand media, students are expected to increase the knowledge and awareness of SDN 1 Balerante students in facing the eruption of Mount Merapi in their environment, while teachers are given material and understanding how to deal with eruption situations to save themselves and students.
