A community survey is a means of gathering information from a narrowed target group in order to better understand a problem that affects them. For Usrah in Action of Ulu Tembeling Community Survey of CCUB2163 from Section 830, Kampung Pagi is the place that we are going to visit. It is located in the region of Jerantut, Pahang and I am wondering on how to manage this visit. Based on my reading that I have done via the Internet, Kampung Pagi is an underdeveloped village because it is situated in a rural area but it is also one of the most interesting places for tourists.  

Through this programme, it allows students to learn and identify the socio demographic of the community from the Kampung Pagi. The students’ task is to conduct a community survey to determine the current situation in Kampung Pagi. Thus, making this course as an essential subject for all students since this programme gives an opportunity to the students to interact with people with different backgrounds, ages and traditions. 

Therefore, I am looking forward to do this community survey in Kampung Pagi as I am hoping to relate this visit with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 which is Sustainable Cities and Communities. I believe that without fundamentally altering the way we create and manage our urban environments, sustainable development would be impossible. Thus, this program hopefully will allow me to dive into the major issues of the society in the Kampung Pagi. I reckon that we can bring the notion of Rahmatan lil 'Alamin to life by putting knowledge and understanding into practice via this course activities and assessments. I am also interested in how this course will help me to improve my social skills, and I am looking forward to polishing my cooperation skills through collaborating with others.

My first expectation for this course and the programme that my classmates and I are going to do is to take a look and observe the community of Kampung Pagi. Are there any problems related to their health, hygiene, environment, economy or others? There will be plenty of questions in my head about the community in Kampung Pagi. Plus, the objective of our first visit to the Kampung Pagi is to collect the data and identify the needs of this community.

Then, for the next sem where we are going to take this subject to brainstorm and apply our idea in the form of a programme including the community in Kampung Pagi. This programme surely needs to be sustainable and bring long term benefits to the whole community.

I am hoping that my classmates and I will be able to manage and handle the whole visit and achieve our goal of giving to the needs of the community in Kampung Pagi. That is all from me. Thank you. ;)

From my brief research, my expectations towards residents in Kampung Pagi are someone that have low socioeconomic status and poor access to technology since them are living in rural areas. As we aware, the issues faced by residents of rural communities are very different than those in urban areas. Rural residents may face disparities due to restricted access to quality health care, lack of public transportation, poor infrastructure, poverty issues and many more. But recently, I discovered that Kampung Pagi has become a tourist attraction due to beautiful landscape and nature even though it is an undeveloped village. To sum up, I sincerely hoped that our effort would not only benefit the community, but also make a positive influence in someone's life as well as we can assist them in developing mental, physical, and emotional relationships.

Thank you✨

Many meetings were held to give us some ideas on how to do community profiling. Based on the meetings, we will be divided into several groups. Some groups will conduct interviews with the villagers, other groups will identify the population and geographic patterns and so on. However, there might be a few challenges for me. Firstly, I must cooperate with new members which I’ve ever known before. I’m an introverted person, so it’s hard for me to communicate with new people. Also, conducting interviews with the villagers is a difficult task for me. Secondly, due to the fact that I've never gone to a rural area and communicated with them, I don’t have any idea on how to make this activity more interesting for the villagers. In addition, I’m worried that this activity will be a burden for them. 

However, I wish that this activity will give me a meaningful experience over 21 years.  As an introverted person, to communicate with new people is not something that is possible for me. In fact, this is an opportunity for me to dare myself to do something beyond my expectations. I will do my best and give my full contribution to my teammates for this program.  Before I end my writing, my highest hope for this program is that we can alleviate the burden faced by the villagers and complete what is currently lacking in the Kampung Pagi. 

The awaited day has arrived. We went to Kampung Pagi early in the morning to see how their life actually is. Also, to challenge myself to communicate with strangers of different ages was the aim before I came. When we arrived, I observed the assembly point at Kampung Pagi. I think our objective to study their hygiene is absolutely right. To be honest, I grew up in an urban area. I do have 2 villages but the village is called ‘Felda’, not in a rural area. However, this is really my first time to be in a rural area, Kampung Pagi which is such a calming place for me. Before we started our community profiling, the head village gave us some briefing, told us about the history of Kampung Pagi. He told us about the water source for this village and also the problems that occur in Kampung Pagi. He mentioned that the villagers here are kind-hearted, sporting and love guests. So all of us have been distributed into 3 groups. However, my friends and I got to the area which does not have many houses compared to other teams. We walked to that area to get at least 2 houses each person, hoping the villagers were at their home. Unfortunately, all of the houses were empty. But we got some villagers who were working at that time, such as security guard, shopkeeper and grasscutter. The best part was they are very friendly and willing to chat even though they are working. During the first interview, I was a bit nervous to talk. First of all, the grasscutter was a young man. Secondly, because he is working, and I’m afraid to take his time. But, he was very kind to answer all of my questions. They actually helped me and my team a lot to complete the survey. I ended my day at Kampung Pagi with a lot of smiles. This project actually opened my eyes to the fact that not everyone is bad. In this small world, everyone has a sacred heart and enjoys benefiting others. In addition, if we found someone who annoyed us, maybe the mistakes could be on us. Even though I don’t get any experience meeting with the villagers at their home, I was very happy to be part of this project. 

I achieved something within one day in Kg Pagi, in which I succeeded in socializing with people around me. I have to admit, I do stutter when talking to the first person I interviewed, Kak Zuraini. She was so nice even though I repeatedly said "sorry, it's my first time doing this kind of work". She only replied, "That's alright, I know you are still learning." That single moment, I realized, it’s true, I am always learning something new every day. That's life. Learning from the mistakes you make will gain you experience. When it comes to the second person I interviewed, I can feel all the comfort coming out of my speech. My mind at that time was like "wow hazim, easy to chit chat already". I learnt that the first step is always the hardest in whatever you are doing, but to move to another step in your life, you must take that very first step in front of you so that you will start moving from one chapter in life to another.

One of the things that amazed me about the villagers here is that they are really kind to us, treating us like they have already known us for a long time. Kak Mastura family even lent us their motorcycles with just about 10 minutes of chit-chat with them. They are really nice, beyond our capability to do the same action if strangers come to my house, and for sure, I will not lend them motorcycles. I agree with Prof. Jamal's words, "They have pure souls compared to some people who live in the city". 

As for my respondents, the hygiene is good because their houses and surroundings are clean, but every house said the same thing about their water source. When there is heavy rain, the water pipe from the hill will break down, and they won't have water for that period of time. Other than that, the probability of a problem is how they manage their waste. They usually just dig a hole and wait for it to fill, then burn it to ashes. 
 

These problems will be discussed to find the real change that Kg Pagi needs. I did enjoy the entire journey. A big thanks to all Kg Pagi villagers for such great cooperation in helping us with this community profiling. Bye.

The main purpose for all members of section 830 is to do a community profiling which is a type of sociological research that entails constructing a picture of a community's nature, needs, and resources with the active participation of its people, with the goal of developing and implementing an action plan to solve the issues discovered. The issue that we thought to be a problem in Kampung Pagi was poor hygiene since we believe there is no access or public convenience in rural areas. Surprisingly, as we arrived around 6 a.m. the surroundings were  tranquil and refreshing. I could barely see the trees as it was covered by the mist. However, when it comes to cleanliness, it was not surprising at all. The toilet at the ‘Surau’ was filthy and unmanaged. Only a few toilets are available while some toilets are clogged and full with mud. Not to mention that their water source is coming from the hill. Some of the villagers complain that sometimes there will be sand or mud in the water especially during heavy rain. The waste management was quite fine but the way may not be friendly to the environment. Thus, I believe there are several ways that can be done to improve the hygiene in Kampung Pagi. 

As we are educated to watch and mingle with them, I learned how to live and integrate into the society well. This course activity not only helped me become more socially flexible, but it also introduced me to a variety of abilities that helped me develop my character and become a more balanced and employable graduate in the future. Meeting people in Kampung Pagi had opened my eyes, that there were people with different attitudes, background and perception regarding the environment. These taught me to be more wise in choosing words when talking and initiating a conversation. Thus, I believe this course is really needed and a must for all students to take as it is essential in improving social skills, manners and soft skills. 

Tok Empat is so nice and he taught us many things. From the history of Kampung Pagi to the main concern that always happened there to help us do the community profiling. He always reminds us to not be afraid of the villagers as all of them are very nice and kind. I might say that he is true! As I have said before that I was really nervous to meet all of them since I could not talk that much with strangers, simply said introvert. However, all the villagers really help us to do the survey. They also served us food and cold drinks as the day is scorching hot!

Me and my partner, Diyana went through three houses and the first house really caught my attention. It is a house lived by parents with five children. To be honest I would say that the house is kind of small to fit all of them. However, I still remember the last question that we asked her if there is any issue in this house or even Kampung Pagi and all her answers were “Alhamdulillah, everything is enough for us”. Since then, I believe that we need to always be grateful for everything that we had because even the small things could cause happiness for every individual.

Regarding the issue at Kampung Pagi, I have to say that the cleanliness is not in my satisfactory. During the community survey, Diyana and I went through houses in different are which are the ones located in the lower areas and the ones in the hilly or higher areas. The houses in higher areas always have issues with water supply for like almost a week as it is always being cut off due to broken pipes. However, there is no issue regarding water in lower areas. I hope that all of us could discuss together to plan an action and make changes to Kampung Pagi so that the cleanliness will be improved. I am really looking forward to meet the villagers again and giving our best to the community. That’s all from me, thank you!

First of all, I need to apologize as my reflection on the trip to Kg Pagi may consist of many complaints and frustration, but here it goes.

My group managed to interview only four people, two of them are man and the another two are woman. I must say I personally didn’t do well interviewing them, it was awkward, but they were so nice to actually just share with us about themselves. However, it wasn’t all happy moment there. Although all of them were not interviewed at their house, rather at a small shop or guard post and in the school compound, I can see that as we walked from house to house, the sanitation was not as good, in fact I was quite surprise to see the few houses condition that we got to stop by. Most of them were not conducive at all, one of them I saw having sink installed (if I may put it this way) just outside the window while the water used to wash the dishes flow out through the pipe under it straight onto the ground with no sewage trough, another house honestly looked like an abandoned hut with all the fisherman’s equipment left unsorted in front of the house and there were also houses with dumped garbage behind the house. I am not being judgemental or trying to say bad things about them, but just to share my observation on what I saw and I hope they won’t have to live in that condition anymore. When I saw the sink, I was like “where is their drainage system?”, “how about their toilet then?” – seriously, the water was stagnant under their house, and it could lead to another problem, dengue- they have children in the house (shouldn’t they at least think of those kids?). Now I might sound frustrated and acting like a clean freak (although am not), but really, this was not expected. The dumped garbage, yes from our interviews, we get to know that mostly people in that area would manage the garbage by their own, either burning or burrowing them. Then, more to say, wouldn’t they at least should have lived with a more systematic or tidier practices in managing the rubbish instead of leaving them scattered. 

As the complaints go, I personally couldn’t think of any ways to overcome this problem yet. From what I saw, it is their behaviour towards cleanliness that should be straight out. But of course, I am not making a conclusion for all the people in Kg Pagi, because there were also a few houses that was actually far better than those that I mentioned, but I just happened to see more poorly house condition in the area that was set for our group to survey. Aaa I am really not good with words and I might have been harsh with my words, but really, I just wished to share what I felt when I saw those things, not degrading people or anywhere near it.

After meeting with Tok4 and hearing a brief history of the Kg Pagi, we were divided into three groups. I was assigned in Group C, along with the brothers' team which we require to survey the area that located a bit far from others . Masyallah, my teammates were extremely boisterous and friendly. Based on what I saw,  they seemed to communicate effectively with the orang kampung. And, Alhamdulilah, the orang kampung was incredibly pleasant and friendly . When we visited to their house, they served us a variety of foods and treated us well. We were greeted warmly. They were very cooperative as long as the survey was conducted. From that I can learned that , people in the villages live together with love and harmony. They are hard-working and believe in simple life instead of a luxurious one. Also, when we conduct a hygiene survey, I believe that poor hygiene is not a major issue. Their living quarters appear to be clean, though not in perfect condition. We also discovered that they had a reliable and safe water supply. It is not difficult for them to obtain water for daily routine except during heavy rains when the pipe on the hill breaks down.

Lastly, for me that was the best experience I ever had because I able to interact well with others and I enjoyed learned the new things. Thanks to Prof Jamal for all his assistance and knowledge. As well as to my usrahmates, thankyou  for your tireless efforts and you've all done fantastic work! Thankyouu

As the sun rises, we got to feel the calm breeze and vibes from Kg Pagi. A short briefing with Tok Empat, the Head Village was done before we went on our way. We divided ourselves into 3 groups to cover all areas in Kg Pagi so that no one will be neglected. All voice matters they say. We went house by house in pairs and my partner for that day was Raihana. The adrenaline rush of the moment we reached the first house was indescribable. The fast beating of my heart and the cold sweat started to form on my palm. Luckily Prof Jamal and his wife accompany us to the first house. Allah knows how grateful we were when the owner of the house was so lovely and welcoming. It was such a tense 5 minutes chit-chat at first and it gets better as we comfortably continue our conversations. The next house that we went to also welcomed us warmly which ease our uneasiness. One of our respondents, known as Kak Julia gave me and Raihana 2 bottles of flavored drinks for free! That pretty much shows how kind and warm people are in Kg Pagi.

After a long day, what can we conclude is that hygiene was not the major problem there. As for my respondents, they know how to manage their waste well despite having no public rubbish bin there. Perhaps the best we can do to improve their waste management is to suggest a more sustainable way of disposing of the waste. Despite that, I learned a lot that day. Their life there teaches me to be grateful for what I have instead of having the feeling of not enough. To boot, I believe that my communication and social skills are well polished that day. Even though we were there for only half of the day, we learned a lot from the people there. And it was such an expensive experience that you can't get it freely. That’s all from me. Thank you everyone and Prof and IIUM for bringing this golden opportunity to us. 

First and foremost, I'd like to state that I was unable to attend the intervention day on December 11th (Sunday) because I am infected with COVID-19. To begin this journal, I want to share that I was so excited to join the intervention day in the first place, as I volunteered to go to Kg. Pagi a day earlier to help with the preparations. Unfortunately, on Saturday morning, as I was packing to leave for Kg. Pagi, one of my friends came into my room and informed me that she has COVID-19. I stopped putting clothes in my bag and went straight to get tested because I'm afraid that I might spread the virus around to everyone if I didn't bother to do a self-check, and sadly, I saw a double line on my test kit. I seriously thought that I was packing my things to go to Kg. Pagi, but I never knew that I was actually packing my things to go to quarantine in Mahallah F1. I can't share much, but worry not, I always check in with my friend Iqlima for updates on the intervention day's activities. I was told that the activities, particularly the explorace conducted by the COMMED and UIA students, were well enjoyed by the orang kampung. My friend said that the orang kampung were "sporting betul!" and gave their full cooperation during the explorace activity. I was so happy to hear that, as I should be one of the person in charge of the checkpoint. I really wish I could witness that with my own eyes. However, I've heard that the orang kampung were only interested in games and explorace on that day, but when it came to hearing about health and the "kitar semula" talk, most of them just opted to sit in the back of the school hall and do their own thing. I assumed that they might already be tired of the activity they joined earlier. I sincerely hope that the orang kampung have a good time and feel contented during the intervention day, as well as that they can gain some useful knowledge to apply in their daily lives to ensure that their health and the cleanliness of their surroundings are always in good shape.

 

After being divided into colouring and bingo activities, the children who did the collage activity numbered only 6. Only one of the six individuals—a student in years 2 and 3—has ever created a collage; the other five are young children, ages 4-6, and have never done so. Children who have never created a collage were first bored. But over time, the children become happier when we assist them in the collage making. When I asked them if they had enjoyed making the collage, they replied that they had enjoyed creating it with the sisters and brothers. Since some of them didn't appear happy at first, I was glad to hear that. 

Besides, I was really happy to see the joy of the locals.  I was quite shocked when I saw that each group had its own theme shirt.  The people must have a very deep bond because, in my opinion, doing this in other villages, including my own, is challenging and almost impossible.  They are so enthusiastic to receive the information and knowledge shared by UIA. Hence, I believe that we have succeeded in achieving the goals of our community activities. 

During the event occur, I have some fun during that time. I see the locals there, where having a blast during the event, especially during the sukaneka. Just like the locals, I learned a lot from the COMMED students. they though locals there about making compose as a fertiliser. That was quite interesting. Overall, I felt like I was doing something really productive on the weekend that can benefits other people and feel good about myself. 

To be honest, I was surprised because the residents of Kg Pagi were enthusiastic about participating in this programme and eager to learn simple lessons such as the 3R principle, the importance of waste management, and many others. Regardless of the age, the residents demonstrate a strong desire to participate in all activities such explorace , talk session and also the games. 

In my point of view, this intervention program provides numerous benefits to me because it allows me to practise and develop my social skills, as I am required to interact and engage with the residents. Not only that, it is believed that this program also can increase the awareness among the residents regarding the importance of the proper waste management as raising awareness is great point to start the great efforts .

Finally, it is hoped that as a result of this effective approach, all residents will accept the responsibility and duty to practise proper waste management in their daily lives and raise awareness about the issue. They will understand that proper waste management can reduce pollution in the environment while also ensuring the safety and well-being of humans and all other living beings.

Thank you and Wasalam.

First and foremost, my deepest gratitude to Prof Jamal for giving us (UIA students) the chance to join hands together with the COMMED students in conducting the intervention day at Kampung Pagi. I believe our intervention day wouldn't be as great and successful with just the 18 people of UIA students only. 

Alhamdulillah, regardless of all challenges (busy schedule, limited time, and transportation problems) we succeeded in conducting the intervention day in kampung Pagi. We departed on the 11th of December, 3.30 am and due to the delay of the bus, we arrived there a little bit late than the estimated time. It was drizzling the moment we arrived there (great weather to sleep I'd say hehe).

Honestly, upon arriving I was quite surprised to see there was already a crowd of Kg Pagi people gathered at the SK Kampung Pagi looking all excited to join the program despite the sweater weather. I was part of the booth team and we prepared three simple posters regarding 3R (reduce, reuse, recycle), the benefits of practicing 3R, and how to practice 3R. We also prepared a  mini quiz and reward each team that can answer the quiz correctly with candies. I was really contented to see the people of Kg Pagi try their best to answer the question and engage with us. Throughout the day at the booth, what I can conclude is that the people of Kg Pagi are willing and eager to learn new lessons and knowledge, it is just that they need someone to guide them through it. 

Overall, I would say the messages of the program were not really being conveyed to the people there as a one-off program isn't enough to fully change the behavior of a person.  For instance, as we were explaining the harm of not properly disposing of the waste, there was still rubbish (the candy wrapper) being thrown in front of our booth. However, I personally think that this type of program is a great stepping stone for us in educating the Kg Pagi people about hygiene and ways to properly dispose the waste. Perhaps, we need to think of a more practical way in delivering the messages to them so they can implement what they have learned from us in their daily life and slowly change their attitudes and behavior toward achieving and being a Sejahtera community. 

    In terms of objectives for this event, I sincerely believe we did achieved the objectives because in the explorace I observed certain people really eager to know regards to compost. Asked again and again on how to create an enzymes solution. Not to denied that we cannot change the community in a day because not everyone can accept changes in their life especially regards to 3R, even people in city still dont take serious action regarding waste management. However, I think we succeed in relay the knowledge regarding waste management including to the childrens. 

     Apart from that, I learned that it is important to always be enthusiastic in everything we are doing. All the participants there gave 100% in every game held. Actually, I really love this kind of program that needs me to interact with community, people that i do not know personally because here I train myself to be brave to confront people. Back then i often being scared of people and when there is a chance like this. I fully utilize it to socialize with people there. 

     Here, I would like to thank Prof Jamal for allowing the collaboration between medicine students and Allied health sciences students. Honestly, I learnt a lot from them on how to be fast in every task given and be professional despite a tight academic schedule. Thank you all for giving me this opportunity to participate in this event. I am really happy to work with you guys. Indeed, we have a dynamic group work. Lastly, thank you to the people of Kampung Pagi and I hope that we bring you something that can change the community. 

Community projects have always been things that I look up to and get involved in. Alhamdulillah on 11 December 2022 was the third time I went to Kampung Pagi. During the first trip we had done community profiling, doing situational analysis at Kampung Pagi and came out with a research topic entitled Knowledge, Attitude and Practice on Household Waste Disposal among the Community in Kampung Pagi. The second one is to collect data, walk from door to door, asking questions from the villagers. And this time, we had an intervention from the research results we have been working on and done health promotion at Kampung Pagi.

I want to share what are the things that reflect me the most. First and foremost, this program reflects my communication skills. I experienced to dealt with Tok4, create networking with NGO I-Medik, mingle with orang kampung during our visits, fought with fears to start communicate with orang kampung and ask correct questions from our questionnaire, delegated task among my colleagues and handled a situational issues calmly. It is difficult and challenging whenever there is miscommunication, changes of plan at the very end of time, many thoughts and opinions. But being sincere and straightforward, lowering expectations in discussion is the key to overcoming this matter.

Second, the generosity of orang kampung really captured my heart. They are too kind, providing us with food and helping us fulfill our needs without any return. They keep entertaining us every time we come to Kampung Pagi. Very different characters compared to people in the cities. Being not materialistic, not asking for any return, very friendly, very welcoming visitors to the kampung. The cooperation and anticipation of the villagers very amazed me. They gave 100% attention, very creative in rekacipta thing from used items, they active in all activities in the explorace. But the things that we disappointed was the time was to constraint, we not able finished our program as planned with the villagers. We will try to expect the unexpected and having a back up plan if there is anything unwanted happen.

Third,we had an opportunity to give our community service to the community and I admit it is a must for us to have this kind of program. The villagers need us to show and guide them how to improve themselves. We brought a piece of knowledge that hopefully will change the attitude and practice in the community as a whole. Intervention and health promotion about household waste management is a good example on how we are able to serve the community.

To put in the nutshell, I’m so grateful and i would like to express my gratitude especially to Prof Jamal, our supervisor that had shown us the gist of this community program, prepared us along the way with tools to engage with people with a sense of humanity, empowered us with Prof’s knowledge and experiences. Appreciation to the COMMED department and management that have always eased all the process throughout this program. Also to all my COMMED and UIA colleagues, thank you for all of your hard work, cooperation, being in a team, and handling the program very well. May Allah grant you all His paradise, may the essence of this program be a part of our akhlak and vision towards community.