Jakarta. Indonesian student Darren Ismaya Karmaina recently introduced the "Water Guardian" project that aims to improve the sanitation in Jakarta's Kemayoran area.

Darren has always been interested in issues related to water access. As a starting point, this project sees the development of a communal sanitation facility in Kemayoran. Its development also aligns with the Sustainable Development Goal 6 on Clean Water and Sanitation.

"What can a student do to address real challenges in the community?" Darren wondered.

"That's why Water Guardian starts from an idea and becomes a project through the collaboration between the people, local figures, sub-national governments, corporate social responsibility partners [CSR], and others," Darren said.

The sanitation facility began construction in June and has just recently entered operations.

However, Darren admitted that this was only the first step as the next challenge is to make sure that the facility is "well-maintained and gives continuous benefits for the people". This will be Water Guardian's next focus on top of regularly reviewing the impact of the program.

"If the Kemayoran model is proven effective and sustainable, Water Guardian can explore the possibility of replicating this approach in other communities," Darren said.

He went on to say that Water Guardian can be a platform to teach youth leadership skills. It demands the guardians to communicate with the stakeholders and ask for help from the more experienced individuals. It also upholds collaboration between the youth, communities, government, private sector, and scholars.

The initiative also received praise from the Kemayoran residents.

"What Darren is doing shows how the Indonesian youth has begun contributing to addressing the real challenges in their surroundings," local man Sueb said.

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