The young generation in the village tends to be less proactive in being involved in development in their area because they prefer to migrate to other areas for seeking a better life, even though the village has great potency of natural resources that can be managed to fulfill their daily needs. Related to this issue, the Multiplication of Stube HEMAT in Lampung held a workshop at Pondok Diakonia GKSBS Batanghari by inviting Sugianto (head of village financial affairs) and Dendy Setyo Harjo (head of Karang Taruna Banarjoyo village) (Sunday, 12/03/2023). The workshop aims to: (1) Participants know the direction of village development; (2) Participants know how the young generation contributes to village development; (3) Participants have an overview of their roles and functions in development in their village.
The workshop was hosted by Yesaya and Griya from Pondok Diakonia who started the event by describing the village's uniqueness and interesting things, as well as observing village developments in an increasingly modern era. The first question asked to Sugianto was how the development of the village in this advanced era. “We should be grateful that now the village is quite advanced, both in facilities and infrastructure, compared to several decades ago. In the past, you had to go to the market to go to Metro City, now it's close because it's in our village. In the past, we had to wait for public transportation for hours, now many people have private vehicles. In the past many street were dark, now almost all corners of the village are lighted with electricity,” he answered.
"Furthermore,
for economic issues, currently there are many creative people. In the past,
people only thought about how to grow rice, but now they are more innovative by
planting various plants, so there is a great chance of getting profits,
especially supported by good road access. In this digital era, I feel left
behind with young people, communication and information are fast and widely
available, but it makes people reluctant to gather, so there are only a few
young people who are active in Karang Taruna of Banarjoyo village,"
Sugianto added to his explanation.
Regarding the role of young people in the village, Dendy Setyo Harjo said, “Young people are a village's great potency, if a village wants to have progress, it must involve young people in development. Most people think that young people don't know anything, or they can't do anything. As a young person, do you want to accept such a statement?” Several participants stated that they did not want to be seen as incompetent, because they could form sports groups, develop study groups, or farming and livestock entrepreneurship groups, although Banarjoyo village has 160 listed young members and just 7 people were active. The most common activities carried out are meetings, commemorating independence day, and taking part in security service during religious celebrations. Dendy admitted that young people have not been much involved in village development because they do not know where they are going. It’s admitted that the village apparatus several times called for a joint meeting, but it was limited to carry out the village government policy to hold celebratory activities. He also complained that there was no special fund that Karang Taruna could manage. So far, if the Karang Taruna plans a program, the members propose or collect funding by themselves.
Responding to this, Sugianto explained that actually there are village funds that can be budgeted from the village government, but so far they have not been specifically allocated because still no proposed programs to be discussed during the budget planning. Till now, youth activities of Karang Taruna have been included in the village's general activity fund.
In closing the workshop, Dendy emphasized, “Young people don't have to travel far to become successful people. It cannot be avoided that the demands force children who are smart and have sufficient abilities to leave their villages. In my opinion, there needs to be cooperation and openness involving young people in village development. Young people need to be asked what they want, so they can be actively involved in the village where they were born and raised.” While Sugianto added, “For me, young people are village potency that must be managed and empowered for village development. Youth is needed in the village, if the youth are not active then the village will not develop. Young people have a better future, and they also have enough energy to make changes in the village. The village government needs to be more open and proactive in involving village youths so they know the direction of village development and are willing to be involved in the development.” ***
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