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| The image of the guest lecture "Social Work Practice in Indigenous Perspective." (Photo: Istimewa) |
Social workers tend to face various problems, especially those who are Malaysian indigenous tribes, as said by Prof. Madya Dr. Khadijah Alavi, hailed from Malaysia, in the guest lecture of the Social Welfare department of the University of Muhammadiyah Malang in the middle of June. Besides Khadijah, Malaysian professors who served as speakers at the lecture were Prof. Madya, Dr. Zahara Abdul Manaf, and Dr. Rinikso Kartono. M.Si.
Furthermore, she explained a range of happening issues: education, health, and discrimination. Seeing occurring problems, Khadijah offered solutions to social workers to prevent conflicts and provide support, primarily for the social functioning of indigenous communities based on anthropological findings.
"Three important things to have are knowledge, skills, and attitude. We must understand the indigenous culture. Social workers must put aside prejudice about religion, race, social, economic, and class status. That way, they will be willing to respect the value system of life although it clashes with the values they hold dear," she said.
The guest lecture raised the theme "Social Work Practice In Indigenous Perspective," where all the speakers tried to specifically discuss the social issues experienced by indigenous people.
Meanwhile, Zahra presented social health issues, like stunting and obesity, focusing on the children of the native people. According to her, the factors that cause malnutrition in children are poverty, lack of knowledge about nutrition, climate change, and environmental factors.
On the other hand, limited health services are also a challenge that must be addressed immediately, and so are cultural practices and traditional beliefs, which are one of the reasons.
"Therefore, tackling undernutrition requires a multi-faceted approach engaging various stakeholders. However, the government must also take into account the unique cultural context and involve indigenous communities in designing interventions that are culturally appropriate, sustainable, and empowering," said Prof. Zahra.
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Additionally, Rinikso explained the characteristics of the social work profession in dealing with indigenous issues in its services. He mentioned a set of things: the integration of local traditions, the intervention of local assistance into the mainstream social work practice (shamans, chief of villages), and the adaptation of mainstream approaches to fit the regional context/boundaries.
"There are many main sources of knowledge for ecological practice and wisdom, such as generating knowledge and practice models for the bottom up based on values, beliefs, customs, and cultural norms of local aid practices, and so are the Sarawak model and (its) local culture," concluded he. (imh/nel/wil)
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