Ramadhan Brings Blessing

author: Rizka Malda Phonna

Ramadan is the ninth month in the Islamic calendar that obliges Muslims around the world to fast, refrain from lust from sunrise to sunset. The physical condition during Ramadan is certainly very sluggish because there is no food or drink intake, but this does not stop the volunteers of Rumah Relawan Remaja (3R) from their activities. During Ramadan, the volunteers carry out various activities ranging from sewing to discussing financial literacy (financial management). These activities are also carried out with the same enthusiasm as in other months. For clarity, I will describe all these activities

The activity of sewing clothes from patchwork

Recently, 3R managed to inaugurate a social enterprise named Greevi which is an acronym for Green Village. Greevi’s main goal is to reduce waste, from paper waste to clothing waste. Currently, Greevi sells tote bags and menstrual pads made of patchwork and disposable cloths, and pots made of disposable diapers. Well, ahead of Eid al-Fitr, of course a lot of people are shopping for clothes, it’s not even uncommon if the number of clothes they buy has exceeded what is needed. Based on this, 3R volunteers want to campaign that new clothes can also be produced from used clothes. Below is a patchwork garment that was successfully sewn by the volunteers.

Making Eco-enzym

Eco-enzyme is a versatile liquid made from fermented organic waste. This liquid is especially used for cleaning, from cleaning houses to cleaning polluted river water. At first the 3R volunteers got this eco-enzyme material from a housewife who had a mission to clean the Krueng Neng river, a local river which is very close to the 3R basecamp. Of course, we welcome this mission with enthusiasm, even now we have started to cultivate our own eco-enzymes. Through this Eco-enzyme, we hope that there will be no need to buy cleaning fluids that are not environmentally friendly, and of course also we hope that we can clean the Krueng Neng river.

Making eco-friendly soap

Soaps are generally made from detergents and parabens, two ingredients that can damage nature and damage human skin slowly. Well, eco-friendly soap is organic soap that does not contain these two ingredients. With the guidance of one of the volunteers who had already received this material, another volunteer managed to make three bars of soap using coconut oil and tea. Of course, we all hope through this eco-friendly soap. At least we can help in minimizing the natural crisis, although in the process of making soap itself, the water we use must be pure water such as cleo (bottled water).

Recycle paper and plastic waste

These two activities are regular activities that carried out by all 3R volunteers. Waste paper processing itself has been carried out since the inauguration of Greevi. This is done considering that Greevi’s packaging requires paper as an instruction paper, a thank you sign, and as other accompanying gifts. Processing of plastic into ecobricks has been carried out since 2020. It is common knowledge, anyone who comes to 3R must bring back their plastic waste because 3R volunteers themselves do not dispose or burn plastic waste.

Making Wardrobe

This activity is carried out by volunteers in order to gain independent skills in processing wood into a necessary object. In addition, this activity can eventually become knowledge in minimizing the use of new wood to meet the needs of household appliances and other needs.

Community Sharing (Discussion) on Financial Literacy

Given that extravagance is also at the root of all negative cultures that ultimately pollute the environment, the volunteers learn how to manage finances effectively and efficiently which can meet needs but not wants.

Community Sharing about Canva

Canva is an application that is often used as an editing tool for social media uploads, presentation materials, stickers, t-shirts and so on. Branding is a vital thing that must be done by every volunteer considering that the positive activities we do can be contagious to others. With Canva’s capabilities, of course the posts we share will be more interesting for the general public.

Community sharing about the Dual Role of Women

One of the principles of the 3R community is to respect human rights. All volunteers continue to learn to understand the principle of gender equality and reject misogyny. A simple example is that daily household activities in the 3R are not divided by gender. For example, men and women all get a cooking schedule. Hopefully this Community Sharing will increase the awareness of volunteers in understanding gender equality.

Starting from the distribution of takjil activities to breaking the fast together.

Sharing is a regular activity that we carry out during Ramadan, starting from distributing iftar, distributing food for families in need, to breaking the fast together.

All of these activities make our Ramadan feel more meaningful. Especially when all the volunteers gathered at the dining table while waiting for the time to break the fast and the time for sahur. Ramadan makes volunteer relations closer, especially in the previous month some volunteers had to go to the village, but at this moment we gathered for a whole month. Really, the term “Ramadan brings blessings” is indeed right.