The next social work after my Red Cross days is my service to PILAR-PKBI, a Youth Center that works on the counselling and education of youth reproductive health. I applied to PILAR as I missed the recruitment of Red Cross Volunteer in my university. They recruited new members when I was in Japan for my International Exchange Program (and I still can't believe my luck! :D), and I just felt that I could not live without doing something meaningful for others.
So, in June 1998 I started my voluntary work in PILAR's Education, Information and Communication Unit, and again, I loved my job so much. Supported by dedicated volunteers at that time, PILAR built awesome credibility as the information source and counselling center for any youth in need. There I learned about Non Government Organization (NGO) Management, counseling activities, advocacy, and I built my network with other organizations. As a college student who was studying Public Relations at that time, PILAR was a great opportunity to sharpen my PR intuition. I wrote my first press release, radio ads, and developed the newsletter there. There, I also started some of the best long-lasting friendship that last until today.
The lesson from this is, we can learn about great things and build great networks when we join voluntary activities, while at the same time we feel fulfilled by the fruitful results that we see from our works for others.
I could not find the website of PKBI of Central Java nor PILAR, however this is the link to the old-day PILAR.... http://www.pilar.pkbi.20m.com/.
You can browse to other youth center sites, or, you can find the list of all 26 youth centers operated by the PKBI here.
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