Mohammad Afifi Romadhoni, a Cleanliness Pioneer in Islamic Boarding School

 

 Islamic boarding schools are the oldest Islamic educational institutions in Indonesia. Until now it is still make an important contribution in the socio religious field. Islamic boarding school as an educational institution has strong roots in Indonesian Muslim society. And nowadays many parents prefer to send their children to Islamic boarding school.

But unfortunately, as we know, in that boarding school, may be cleanliness is still not be the first priority. It is common knowledge that children who live in an Islamic Boarding School always have skin disease problems. Two of my children also happen to live in an Islamic boarding school. When they were in junior high school, maybe the Islamic boarding school was relatively clean, so they didn't get skin diseases.

But when they were in high school, I moved them to a bigger Islamic boarding school, maybe because there were more and more residents, so my children inevitably got skin diseases. Thank God it didn't drag on, once given ointment and medicine from the doctor, the itch immediately dried up and healed.

I always told my son to keep clean, not to borrow his friend's things, always clean the bedroom and bathroom and many more. But apparently it's not enough to keep them safe, their skin diseases keep coming.

That's why I salute with Mohammad Afifi Romadhoni who founded the Healthy Pesantren Movement in Jambi in 2017. Afif is a recipient of appreciation in the field of health at the Satu Indonesia Awards in 2019 from Jambi Province. SATU Indonesia Awards is Astra's Appreciation for the Children of the Nation who have contributed to supporting the creation of a sustainable life through the fields of Health, Education, Environment, Entrepreneurship and Technology.

Based on his experience, Afif said that facilities in pesantren such as bedrooms, bathrooms, and toilets are often inadequate, making them prone to transmitting diseases. Afif understands this because he has lived in an Islamic Boarding School. Not to mention that the minimal facilities are used by hundreds of students, so that students are ultimately vulnerable to contracting diseases. This inspired Afif to provide education to increase the understanding of santri to practice Clean and Healthy Living Principles (PHBS) in their daily lives in the pesantren.

Although the santri often hear and understand that cleanliness is part of faith, that they must maintain cleanliness, but it seems that this has not been fully applied by the santri, especially since they live far from their parents, there is no one to remind them every day.

Incidentally, Afif is also a general practitioner who graduated from the Faculty of General Medicine, Jambi University. Afif's medical knowledge encouraged him to organise the Healthy Pesantren Movement. This movement is a forum for young people who have an interest in social activities in the health sector, especially to improve the quality of health of students. Various innovative activities have been carried out by Afif and his friends in the Healthy Pesantren Movement, such as:

1. Health counselling, which is equipped with a pre-test and post-test to measure the level of understanding of the students,

2. Health-themed competitions, such as PHBS speech competitions

3. Selection of Healthy Santri Ambassadors.

4. Selection of Pesantren Doctors (such as little doctors)

 

Until now, more than 5000 santris have participated in the spread of this Healthy Pesantren movement (GPS). Alhamdulillah, there is a lot of support to help publicise this activity, as well as collaboration and cooperation with various parties to help spread the importance of improving the health quality of students living in Islamic boarding schools.

Afif hopes that GPS can be an inspiration for the movement to improve the quality of santri health throughout Indonesia. Santris are the next generation of the nation, and their health must be prioritised.

Although Afif and his friends faced many obstacles, it did not dampen their spirit. For example when some of the locations are so remote that they have to spend more on transport.

Over the past three years, GPS has visited six Islamic boarding schools with around 1,000 students. Their intensive programme means they have to come many times, first to provide counselling, then to evaluate the progress of the students and finally to measure real change to ensure the benefits are felt.

Afif's big dream is for GPS to be adopted across the archipelago to improve the health of all students. Let's help Afif to realise it.