Service Learning Community: The Proper Way to Raise Young Generation’s Social Awareness.

In order to raise students’ awareness, Service Learning Community (SLC) UPH started an annual program called Heart to Serve (HTS) for all students. SLC is an activity unit that is managed by the Student Life Department. It aims to prepare UPH graduates who can bear impact by helping students to develop their interest, talent, and academic skills in order to understand respond to God’s calling.

This year, SLC sets a live-in program for students in Batok Village, located in the border of Banten and West Java, where they will have to do some Community Service (PKM) activities. The 3 days activity, held on February 14-16, 2020, includes a compost-making workshop for farmers, medical check-ups, and education programs for students in Sekolah Dasar Negeri 1 Batok.

The Community Service program in Batok Village was the second session of this semester’s HTS program. This time, there were 40 students who are involved, and some Study Program Student Association (HMPS) including the Biotechnology Student Association, who assisted the compost-making workshop, and Asian Medical Students’ Association (AMSA), who helped with the medical check-up. This program was free of charge for the people of Batok Village and its surroundings.

Aside from helping the farmers, the HTS program also held some educative programs for the children in the village. The program includes several activities such as coloring, outdoor games, and also physical education by exercising together.

On the last day, the Committee of HTS UPH gifted the village with trash cans to remind the people about the importance of hygiene and disposing trash in its proper place. Hopefully, this program can educate the people to keep their environment clean, and their health checked.

Previously, the first HTS session in Batok Village on February 8, 2020, an education day was held to teach the students there about good ethics, healthy living, and the danger of smoking. Through two sessions, students have full participation, as committee member, as well as volunteers from HMPS Biotechnology and AMSA UPH. Hopefully, this program will enhance students’ awareness of the needs of their society, and to raise their willingness to be impactful for people around them by using the skill and knowledge they have received.