Sri Wahyuningsih Alms Water from the Sky

Since 2012, Sri Wahyuningsih has been intensively providing education, trying to change perceptions about rainwater.

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Sri Wahyuningsih shows one of the 5,000 liter tanks used to collect rainwater at her home in the Sleman Regency, DIY, on Saturday (9/3/2024).

Sri Wahyuningsih has been spreading knowledge about the benefits of rainwater for public health for twelve years. He took this step, among other things, through rainwater alms and educational programs at the Banyu Bening Rainwater School which he founded.

A father waits at the house of Sri Wahyuningsih (55) in Tempursari Hamlet, Sardonoharjo Village, Ngaglik District, Sleman Regency, Yogyakarta Special Region, Saturday (9/3/2024) morning. He said he had come to consult with Sri regarding the health benefits of electrolyzed water.

"It so happened that my relative wanted to try it and I wanted to know whether rainwater was suitable for the illness my brother was suffering from," said the father regarding his relative who suffered a stroke in Klaten, Central Java.

However, that morning, Sri was still busy teaching at the Rainwater School of Banyu Bening. This activity is likely to continue for a long time. So, the father decided to leave first and would return later.

That's why, almost every day there are people coming to Sri's house to take the rainwater that has been processed with electrolysis. "There was even a visitor from outside Java who came early in the morning to take more than one gallon of water," said Siti Juwariyah (70), one of Sri's neighbors.

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Sri Wahyuningsih

Electrolysis is the process of separating water into acid and base. Acidic water with organic acid content is beneficial for healing wounds, while alkaline water is good for drinking as it hydrates the body well. The best natural material for healthy water like this is rainwater, which falls into the category of pure water.

Sri always prepares rainwater that has been electrolyzed every day as part of the charity movement for rainwater. Anyone can drink it there or take it home for free. Sri does not limit the intake of water and people can take as much as they need, whether it's a glass or a gallon.

The more people that come, Sri becomes increasingly happy. "The collection of water (by residents) has become the best campaign method, proving that consuming rainwater is safe and even beneficial for health," she said.

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Sri has long been advocating for everyone to utilize rainwater for health purposes. She educates the public about the benefits of rainwater, how to manage it through the process of electrolysis, and teaches how society should ethically treat this natural downpour.

For example, Sri introduced the concept of 5M, which is to habituate in collecting, managing rainwater, processing, drinking, and saving rainwater. If everyone does this, Sri is confident that the dependency of residents on groundwater will surely decrease.

He also teaches that the rainwater saving movement can be carried out by returning the remaining rainwater storage to infiltration wells or biopores. The spirit of water saving also continues what our ancestors did in the past. "We must always save water because the groundwater we enjoy today is actually the savings of our ancestors in the past," he said.

Concerned

Sri has no background education related to water science at all. Born and living in Sleman Regency, she has also never experienced any difficulties or water crises. As an ordinary citizen, she only frequently exposed to news about disasters, including those caused by heavy rainfall.

KOMPAS/REGINA RUKMORINI

Learning activities about rainwater held by the Banyu Bening Community in Ngaglik District, Sleman Regency, DIY, Saturday (9/3/2024).

When following the news, Sri is often shocked to find that rain is often considered the trigger for floods and landslides. When the dry season arrives, rain that has not yet arrived is often blamed for triggering a crisis of clean water, drought, and crop failure.

"Looking at the variety of disasters and problems that have emerged, I actually feel that there is something wrong with the management of rainwater that we have become accustomed to receiving from the sky," he said.

From there, Sri tried to explore the benefits and management systems of rainwater through books and journals or by asking experts and figures who had previously experimented and researched rainwater. One of them is Father V Kirjito in Magelang Regency.

Sri then invited her family to harvest rainwater and try their own rainwater electrolysis process. After that, she formed the Banyu Bening Community and tried to encourage others in her surrounding environment to learn about rainwater together in 2012. At first, there were not many enthusiasts. Despite that, Sri continued to move forward.

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In 2015, when the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) was vigorously addressing disasters by establishing informal schools, such as river and mountain schools, Sri's education efforts also caught their attention. The BNPB then sent teams from the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) in several regions to learn about rainwater at the Banyu Bening Community. After that, Sri's education and campaign to promote the use of rainwater became even more intense.

Sri then initiated to label her rainwater education activities with her community by the name of Clear Water Rain School. The school is held every Saturday. So far, many people have participated in the educational program at the school, both as individuals and as representatives of institutions from several regions.

Some of Sri's students were inspired to conduct the same movement in their respective residences. Dozens of volunteers also emerged. From there, several similar movements finally emerged in many places, such as Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya, and Bali.

Sri Wahyuningsih

Born: Sleman, 28 July 1968

Education: Bachelor's degree in Sharia Science IAIN Yogyakarta (now UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta)

Husband: Kamaludin (59)

Activities: Founder and Establishment of the Banyu Bening Community and Banyu Bening Rainwater School