It’s Never Hard to Start Volunteering

Levina Masli, Final Year Communication Student

When I think of the act of volunteerism, I think of my big-hearted friends, traveling across the country to remote islands, off-the roads villages, spending days and nights to help underprivileged people with all the time and energy that they have. Such grandiose act of kindness that I don’t think I could be. But I never thought about what matters in volunteering is the spirit of volunteerism itself.

The first time I heard about Kelas Belajar Okky, I never actually picturizes how slums in Jakarta are that poverty-stricken. We are talking about unhygienic kampongs, some with high criminal activity and might also affect the children. Kelas Belajar Okky is there to keep these children occupied through supplementary classes that focuses on both school materials and well-being. Kelas Belajar Okky does not only want these children to be smart, but also healthy with a balanced meal.

That is why when we had the chance to do something good, we went with Kelas Belajar Okky.

Planning a volunteering event is never an easy thing, even though ours are just for a day. And we think a classic “bagi sembako” act is so yesterday, we want to share our knowledge that in the long run might help the kids in Kelas Belajar Okky in Bintaro area to be a better individuals. Children in slum areas are deprived with access to healthy food and drinks. And we found out that even middle class Indonesian are mostly dehydrated, we thought that these kids were not missed from that statistics to.

So we chose to do “8 Gelas Sehari”, and we collaborate with a local NGO, Do Something Indonesia to help us spread the words. The result? We managed to teach 50++ kids on the importance of drinking water, and with a bunch of fun activities, we helped the kids to stay hydrated and happy.

You see, volunteerism does not require you to travel to the unknown, be a goodwill ambassador, or build water irrigation or some sort. It should start from the heart, to the nearest community around you, with the mission to combat the simplest, yet important issue. We choose water for the kids in Bintaro. How about you?

Interested to find out more? Visit here