Universitas Pelita Harapan demonstrated being good children of God by sharing blessings in Christmas 2018. After a worship session and Christmas celebration on December 14, 2018, UPH conducted an internal and external “Aksi Natal” (“Christmas Charity”) at UPH Lippo Village on December 18, 2018. Being distinctly different from the previous years, this year’s external “Aksi Natal” is carried out by conducting a health screening for 500-600 participants, held in UPH Lippo Village Basketball Court.

The main people that UPH aims to target are those living around Lippo Village. This program is certainly also open for the people in UPH’s staffs, lecturers, people working in the UPH cafeteria, and even outsourced staffs.

“This program is a collaboration between the Christmas committee, the UPH Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Nursing, and also UPH Clinic. We set up this program as one of the things we can do as children of God” to be a blessing to others in a simple way. Not only for people inside UPH, but also for our brothers and sisters outside UPH. This means our impact can be felt extensively throughout all groups of people,” Prof. Dr. Manlian Ronald A. Simanjuntak, S.T., M.T., Head of Committee of UPH Christmas 2018, explained.

Agreeing with Prof. Manlian, dr. Andree, Associate Dean in Student Affairs of the Faculty of Medicine defines this year’s “Aksi Natal” as a form of tangible action done by UPH.

“The basic check-up that we provided includes a height check, weight check, abdominal circumference, blood pressure, pulse, cholesterol, uric acid, and blood sugar checks. There are also consultation corners that the participants can go to. Facilitating this program, we had 11 students, 6 alumni, 8 lecturers, and 16 people from the Faculty of Nursing involved in the check-up flow. We hope that UPH’s Christmas celebration not only can give out presents but can also bring out solutions for those who need it,” dr. Andree wished.

A healthy body is certainly crucial in order to do our jobs well. God has entrusted jobs for every person to be done well and as believers, we ought to work His calling in our lives responsibly. Through this Christmas moment, UPH conducted a health check-up for internal and external communities to help give solutions to health problems.

“This program turns out to be really beneficial for its participants, one of them being Ahmad Syarifudin” an online motorcycle taxi driver.

” I didn’t plan on joining this event, but I was delivering here and I was just convinced to take part in this. I am thankful to know this event, where I can get to know the conditions of my health for free. I was advised to exercise more and control my diet, seeing that my blood pressure is quite high. I am grateful that I came to UPH,” said Ahmad, expressing his feelings.

Aside from an external service, an internal service was also conducted, with 380 participants all consisting of outsourced staff from various corporations such as Security Indonesia, PTPT BPI (Bangun Papan Idaman), PT Polaritas Indonesia, and many others. They admitted that this event is something that they look forward to every year.

“I have been working here since 2010, and even then, this event has already been conducted. Every year, this is something that we really wait for because we can gather together and have a fellowship together. We really feel grateful because we feel like our hard work is appreciated here in UPH,” Riska Oktavia, from PT BPI, expressed.

Irwan from PT Harapan Jaya Lestarindo also eagerly admitted to feel the same thing. “At first I didn’t expect UPH to have this kind of program. Ever since I started working at UPH in 2007, I have been really happy and grateful. Everyone is friendly, and that makes me enjoy working here. In this “Aksi Natal”, I am certainly also very happy that I can feel that UPH cares about the wellbeing of all of us,” Irwan chirped.

In response to this internal “Aksi Natal”, UPH Rector, Dr. (Hon.) Jonathan L. Parapak, M.Eng.Sc., explained that this is one of the ways that UPH can say thank you and give an appreciation to all the outsourced staffs that contribute to making an environment in UPH that is safe, clean, and comfortable.

“We are here together to serve the students of UPH. Today I joined the health check-up in the external “Aksi Natal” event, and it turns out I am still healthy in the midst of all my business and activities. This means that when you and I work wholeheartedly, the fatigue will not get to us. Let’s work wholeheartedly and keep loving each other, whatever our religion,” the Rector declared.

In this “Aksi Natal”, UPH also gives an appreciation for 10 best outsourcing staffs in a special event, “Outsource Award”. The 10 staffs consist of 3 from PT BPI, 2 from PT ISS Indonesia, 1 from PT HJL, 1 from PT Polaritas, 1 from PT Raih Daya Persada (RDP), and 2 from PT Security Indonesia.

UPH hopes that through these events conducted in light of Christmas, the civitas academia can really embody the theme “Being Children of God” to follow God’s example and put those examples into action and can be blessings for other people. (mt)