The Student Executive Board of Universitas Pelita Harapan (BEM UPH) donated to the children victims of the Ambon disaster through World Vision Indonesia (WVI) at the UPH Lippo Village campus, Karawaci, Tangerang on 3 December 2019. The donation, with an amount totaling to Rp 47.972.000, was symbolistically turned over by Curtis J. Taylor, who is the Vice-Chancellor of Bidang 3 UPH, to Beatrice Mertadiwangsa, who is a WVI representative. The donation will be allocated according to the needs of the children victims of the Ambon disaster.

Beatrice Mertadiwangsa, the WVI representative, explained, “The funds we have collected will be used to buy the non-food items needed by the victims, especially for the children. The needs are, for example, toiletries, blankets, tarps, and medicines.”

UPH students raised these funds as a sign of their care for the victims of the earthquake at Ambon, which happened on 26 September 2019. The earthquake of magnitude 6.8 was followed by an aftershock that was felt more than 123 times, resulting in many victims and trauma, especially on the children.

BEM UPH decided to respond to this disaster by raising funds from 18 October to 1 November 2019, involving thirteen organizations of student groups and extracurricular clubs from all UPH campuses, that is, UPH Lippo Village, UPH Medan, and UPH Surabaya. The funds will be donated through WVI.

Monique Gabrielle Surjono, Head of BEM UPH’s Community Service Department and a Psychology 2017 major, said, “This action is the embodiment of our contribution and care for our environments, thus helping Indonesia. In addition, students are also agents of change.”
Andri Pandjaitan, Director of UPH Student Life, expressed his gratitude and pride to UPH students for their actions.

Pandjaitan said, “We are proud of our students who took the initiative to help the victims of the Ambon earthquake. This proves that they not only care about themselves but that they also care about others. We are also proud of the teamwork and collaboration between leaders of student organizations from UPH Lippo Village, Medan, and Surabaya (ONE UPH).”

In 2018, UPH fundraised Rp 132.947.776 for victims of the disaster at Palu. This year, UPH successfully raised Rp 47.972.000. Monique hopes that the next step UPH students take will be to volunteer directly and help victims at the location. Monique also hopes that more student organizations will participate in fundraise next time.