KENDAL, CENTRAL JAVA — Isnaq Rozaq (20) is the youngest farmer at the Dompet Dhuafa Central Java livestock center or DD Farm Central Java. Farming activities have been common for Rozaq, since his father raised goats behind his house. After graduating from the Software Engineering Department at Vocational High School in 2022, Rozaq began to diligently learn the ways of raising livestock through his father, as well as knowledge learned from the internet.
For the past year, every day Rozaq has traveled about 45 minutes from his residence in Sumur Village, Brongsong Subdistrict, Lower Kendal to reach the DD Farm Jateng location located in Limbangan Subdistrict, Upper Kendal. Occasionally, he stays overnight in the hut available next to DD Farm.
Rozaq is in charge of feeding the livestock in the morning at 07.00 WIB, afternoon at 13.00 WIB, and afternoon at 16.00 WIB. After feeding, he conducts health screening on the animals, then continues to clean the cages.
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The story of his life adventure began when he accepted the invitation of his childhood friend-Kendi, to take an interview test to become a breeder at DD Farm Jateng. Rozaq admitted that he was grateful to have a place to learn and gather with friends who had similar interests. Through a week-long debriefing, he delved deeper into animal husbandry, especially related to the care of livestock.
“Since then (after graduating from vocational school), I’ve been thinking about studying animal husbandry. I decided to learn by myself, watching my father. Luckily, a friend from my village who was already a farmer at DD Farm Jateng invited me to register as a farmer there. Until finally I was accepted here. I learned new things related to how to inject drugs and vitamins to animals, how to characterize healthy goats. Alhamdulillah, my parents gave me full support,” said Rozaq enthusiastically.
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Like other young people, Rozaq has an unlimited creative spirit. With confidence embedded in his heart, Rozaq said that he had always dreamed of becoming a musician. In between farming, he took the time to write songs. Now, his songs can be heard through various platforms, one of which is a YouTube channel with an account called Ozacq.
“Now I make some songs using computer technology. Usually two songs a month. I make them in my spare time after finishing my work at home. Moreover, thank God, I now have a steady income. Besides for my daily life, I plan to save money so that I can have my own music studio. In addition to my main job as a farmer, I still want to realize my dreams as a musician and have my own music label,” he said enthusiastically. (Dompet Dhuafa)
Text and photo: Hany Fatihah Ahmad
Editors: Dhika Prabowo, Ronna