Girirejo, 27 August – The train departed at 6:20 am from Gambir station in Jakarta to Yogyakarta, marking the start of the iBuddy Community Summit Impact 2025 activities in Girirejo village, Central Java. The event, hosted by Universitas Islam Indonesia from August 27 to 29, 2025, focused on applying the knowledge gained in the design thinking workshop in real-life situations as a follow-up session at BINUS University’s Alam Sutera. 

The village is approximately 2 hours away from Yogyakarta, situated between Mount Merapi and Mount Merbabu. Expect lush greenery in every corner, accompanied by breezy air, mist, and warm sun throughout the day. If you are lucky, farmers will greet you with their vegetables on their carts as they go to the market.   

(Photo Credit: Hamzah Ramadhan/Photo Editor: Mufti Warits)

For more than 30 international and domestic students from BINUS University, Universitas Padjadjaran, Institut Pertanian Bogor, Universitas Islam Indonesia, and Universitas Katolik Atma Jaya Jakarta who participated, Girirejo is a paradise. Not only can they enjoy the beauty of the scenery, but they also had the chance to meet with local youth communities and elementary students to provide their recommendations based on the workshop that they had! 

(Photo Credit: Hamzah Ramadhan/Photo Editor: Mufti Warits)

Deepening cultural understanding is at the core of the program, while these buddies put their skills into practice. As they experienced living in a local resident’s house, participants had the chance to immerse themselves in the community through food and interactions that will last a lifetime. One of the household made them a daily lunch box and some snacks that she can bring and share with other participants! 

(Photo Credit: Hamzah Ramadhan/Photo Editor: Mufti Warits)

Take, for example, the meeting the group had with Karang Taruna, the local youth group, where they found that disseminating information in the village can be a challenge. During the group discussion, they thought that a technology workshop would suffice, assuming they possess a good understanding of technology; however, the problem is bigger than that.  

“They only use messaging chat applications such as WhatsApp and do not use other tools, such as Google Sheets, that help them with information gathering and organization,” said Aoi from BINUS University.  

The disparity in technology usage is an example of the importance of “empathizing” that participants have gained during the design thinking workshop in Alam Sutera. Training might be the first thing that comes to mind, but bureaucracy is the primary issue. They realized that identifying an issue that acted as a baseline for their solution should be grounded in the real-life situation.  

Another issue that they have encountered is the regeneration of the youth in the group. Some might choose to leave the village and might not have the interest in being part of the group. Since this is the first time the group has interacted with them, this is an unexpected development that has altered the trajectory. Ultimately, both groups agreed on the initial step they could take by understanding the level of commitment required to improve the dissemination of the information.  

(Photo Credit: Hamzah Ramadhan/Photo Editor: Mufti Warits)

The same group also experienced a similar experience during the visit to the local’s elementary school. For the group, providing an English language training seems like a good idea. Who doesn’t need a foreign language training? However, they found out that learning a language requires a longer time, whereas a short visit like this program might be sufficient.  

One of the problems that they found from the visit was the lack of confidence in speaking a new language. Despite the interactive games that help to stimulate the students to learn but the problem is to ensure that the teachers can continue to spark this interest when they return from the village.  

(Photo Credit: Hamzah Ramadhan/Photo Editor: Mufti Warits)

“The local context should be embedded in the learning to ensure that the students are willing to learn the language,” said Ir. Wiryono Raharjo, M.Arch., Ph.D., as the Vice-Rector for Collaboration & Entrepreneurship of Universitas Islam Indonesia during the opening, who explained about the program. 

Lastly, through the support from the Proyek Inisiatif of BINUS Higher Education, the iBuddy Community Summit 2025 demonstrates how BINUS University, collaborating with Universitas Padjadjaran, Institut Pertanian Bogor, Universitas Islam Indonesia, and Universitas Katolik Atma Jaya Jakarta can create an opportunity for enriching students’ experiences by bringing together diverse cultural and academic backgrounds to learn and innovate, sparking new ideas.