UNAIR NEWS – An alumna of Universitas Airlangga’s Faculty of Dental Medicine (FKG) has earned recognition for her dedication to community service. Drg. Zahrotur Riyad, a 1997 graduate who completed her degree in 2003, has spent more than two decades serving remote communities in the Galang Islands, Batam. Known simply as Zahra, she carries out her work with a humanitarian mission focused on Indonesia’s “3T” regions—frontier, outermost, and underdeveloped areas.
Dental clinic beneath the trees
Zahra’s mission began in 2010 when she was appointed as a civil servant dentist and assigned to Galang Islands, an archipelago of 104 islands, 40 of which are inhabited. There, she saw firsthand the lack of access to healthcare. “Residents must travel long distances to the nearest health center and spend nearly a million rupiah to rent a boat. Most villages don’t even have electricity, relying instead on diesel generators,” she said.
Motivated by these conditions, Zahra and her colleagues developed a simple but effective idea—bringing care directly to the people. She established Warung Gigi, a mobile dental care service. “This is far beyond what a dentist usually imagines. I carry my tools in a backpack, along with medicine and anesthetics,” she explained.
Her work soon revealed deeper challenges. In addition to dental health issues, she found cases of underage pregnancies outside of marriage. This led her to create educational programs on reproductive health and adolescent psychology in schools.
She launched the Konselor Remaja Nusantara (KRN) program, which trains 12–15 students in each school to serve as peer counselors. “Even though they are far from technology, their knowledge about the dangers of casual sex is still very limited,” she said.
Challenges and dedication
Zahra attributes her social commitment to her organizational involvement during university, including active participation in the FKG Student Executive Board (BEM). Her close ties with her lecturers also fueled her motivation to serve. Her work has even been featured in Watchdoc documentaries, including Dokter Bawah Pohon (“Doctor Under the Tree”).
The work is not without significant challenges, particularly the geography of the islands she serves. To reach some locations, she must travel 80 kilometers by land before taking a boat to the more remote islands. She admits these conditions make it difficult to find successors. “I’ve invited many students to join, but most are more interested in sightseeing than in focusing on the projects that need to be developed,” she noted.
For her long-standing dedication, Zahra has received numerous honors, including National Exemplary Doctor (2016), CNN Indonesia Heroes (2017), NOVA Inspirational Woman (2014), the Tupperware SheCan Award (2014), and recognition among the 100 Ksatria Airlangga Figures. Still, she considers these awards merely a bonus compared to the fulfillment she gains from serving with sincerity.
Author: Adinda Octavia Setiowati
Editor: Yulia Rohmawati
