Pemberdayaan Pecalang Desa Adat Sumerta dalam Penanggulangan Covid-19

Sumerta Traditional Village, located 4 KM east of the center of Denpasar City, seeks to participate in accelerating the handling of the Covid-19 Pandemic in its area. In accordance with the policy of the Governor of Bali, at the village / kelurahan level a Mutual Cooperation Task Force was formed based on the customary village. Through the Collaborative Task Force at the customary village level, Pecalang is at the forefront of preventing and overcoming the Covid-19 outbreak. All Sumerta Traditional Village pecalang are the main force in handling the Covid-19 pandemic. Even so, pecalang people do not know carefully the role that must be played in tackling and preventing the corona virus outbreak. In carrying out this humanitarian task, the pecalang must be supported by adequate facilities and infrastructure. In addition, basic necessities in the form of healthy food must also be available while they are carrying out their duties. Taking into account this phenomenon it is deemed necessary to do community service (PKM) to pecalang in Sumerta Traditional Village. This PKM targets community groups, especially the pecalang in Sumerta Traditional Village. Given that the pecalang is an organ of a traditional village, the PKM partner is Bendesa, the Sumerta Traditional Village. The problems faced by partners are: (1) the unknown role that pecalang can play in overcoming and preventing the covid-19 outbreak (2) lack of available facilities and infrastructure in carrying out epidemic prevention and control tasks, and (3) assistance for basic necessities obtained pecalang is not sufficient. This PKM aims to solve the problems faced by partners, namely counseling / mentoring the role of pecalang in tackling Covid-19, meeting the availability of materials for the prevention of the Covid-19 Pandemic in the form of masks and hand sanitizers, and providing basic food assistance to all pecalang in Sumerta Traditional Village. Thus this PKM uses two approaches, namely the method of mentoring / counseling, and service assistance to the pecalang. The two solutions offered are expected to increase the role of the pecalang in handling the Covid-19 pandemic, the availability of facilities for prevention / overcoming the outbreak and partners to obtain basic necessities for their household needs.  Desa Adat Sumerta yang terletak 4 KM sebelah timur pusat Kota Denpasar berupaya berperan serta dalam percepatan penanganan Pandemi Covid-19 di wilayahnya. Sesuai kebijakan Gubernur Bali, di tingkat desa/kelurahan dibentuk Satgas Gotong Royong yang berbasis desa adat. Melalui wadah Satgas Gotong di tingkat desa adat, Pecalang menjadi ujung tombak dalam pencegahan dan penanggulangan wabah Covid-19. Seluruh pecalang Desa Adat Sumerta menjadi kekuatan utama dalam penanganan pandemic Covid-19. Walaupun demikian, para pecalang belum mengetahui dengan seksama peran yang harus dilakukan dalam penangulangan dan pencegahan wabah virus corona. Dalam menjalankan tugas kemanusiaan ini para pecalang harus didukung oleh sarana dan prasarana yang memadai. Selain itu, kebutuhan pokok berupa makanan sehat juga mesti tersedia selama mereka menjalankan tugas. Memperhatikan fenomena tersebut dipandang perlu dilakukan pengabdian kepada masyarakat (PKM) kepada pecalang di Desa Adat Sumerta. PKM ini menyasar kelompok masyarakat terutama para pecalang yang ada di Desa Adat Sumerta. Mengingat pecalang adalah organ dari desa adat, maka yang dijadikan mitra PKM adalah Bendesa Desa Adat Sumerta. Permasalahan yang dihadapi mitra adalah: (1) belum diketahuinya peran yang dapat dilakukan oleh pecalang dalam penanggulangan dan pencegahan wabah covid-19 (2) kurang tersedianya sarana dan prasarana dalam melakukan tugas pencegahan dan penanggulangan wabah, dan (3) bantuan kebutuhan pokok yang diperoleh pecalang belum memadai. PKM ini bertujuan memecahkan masalah yang dihadapi mitra yaitu penyuluhan/pendampingan peran pecalang dalam penanggulangan covid-19, memenuhi ketersediaan bahan untuk pencegahan Pandemi Covid-19 berupa masker dan hand saniteser, serta memberikan bantuan sembako kepada seluruh pecalang di Desa Adat Sumerta. Dengan demikian PKM ini menggunakan dua model pendekatan yaitu metode pendampingan/penyuluhan, dan bantuan pelayanan kepada pecalang. Dua solusi yang ditawarkan diharapkan dapat meningkatkan peran pecalang dalam penanganan pandemic Covid-19, ketersediaan sarana untuk pencegahan/penangulangan wabah dan mitra memperoleh sembako untuk kebutuhan rumah tangganya