One of the most important things in life is to give back to the community and this is an important aspect of our students’ education in IMU. As part of their Medical Biotechnology curriculum under the Applied Biotechniques in Biotechnology and Community Health module, a group of Semester 6 students took part in a community project at Kampung Sebir, Labu. Kampung Sebir is an Orang Asli village on the outskirts of Seremban with an approximate population of 200 people. This activity is aimed at instilling health awareness in the village community. During the first visit, environmental samples such as river water, pond water, soil and commonly touched areas were collected within the vicinity of the village. The presence of pathogenic bacteria such as Salmonella sp., Enterococcus sp., Campylobacter sp., Staphylococcus sp. and Pseudomonas sp. in these samples was assessed by the students using microbiology, biochemical and molecular biology approaches, namely isolation of bacteria colony, gram staining, DNA extraction, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and gel electrophoresis. Findings were then reported and presented to the villagers in pamphlets during the second visit in February. 
On 28 February 2016, the students returned to Kampung Sebir where a number of activities were conducted, targeting both adults and children. A seminar entitled ‘Prevention of Dengue Fever’ was conducted to share good practices in reducing breeding places for mosquitoes at their homes. Insecticide was also given to all seminar attendees at the end of the seminar. 
Children were then invited to take part in some games with educational values, which were conducted by our medical biotechnology students. These students took this opportunity to teach the children some basic hygiene habits such as wearing shoes or slippers often, bathing often and proper hand washing techniques. 
