HAT’S OFF TO YOU ALL

Fera Ketti
Aug 8, 2017 · 3 min read

It is commonly hearing some people’s saying about enjoy your youth by doing everything arbitrarily, living on the earth is once only so your irreplaceable adolescence is better spent in whatsoever you want to do even in vicious deed such as drugs, alcohol, and other pointless activities. Ironically, all of those negativities are accepted and considered as youth pride. However, may I be frank? I can say firmly that it is not the sense of youngsters are.In my serendipitious convocation with some of young people who even though coming from diverse background, I found that they had already lost their heart and vigor in gaining same objective and action for being able to impact other’s lives with no expectation of any returns. Who exactly are they? They are young volunteers! I marveled at the growth East Nusa Tenggara youths movement especialy those who immerse together in respective voluntary communities in West Timor and Rote Island. Incessant energy, creative ideas and determination have driven them into prouder practice of voluntarism in order to make social change.

I know some sincere volunteers who invest themselves and their own for others and they never lost their prior belonging including their YOUTHFUL TIME because volunteering is not merely wise activity in leisure time, but also a celebration of life’s thanskgiving. It is indeed a way to give thanks for something like knowledge, skill, finance, time, spirit, etc you already had to people who have not it yet. Moreover, knowing the initiators is such a blessing to me and knitting together with the several voluntary communities in Kupang is priceless and exciting enough!

All of the efforts that have been done by youth in Kupang are not enough magnitude performances but it is lovely to do a simple doing rather than sit in reticence, it would be better to crawl forward or nothing would ever change.

Overseeing and involving in gender equality, children hygiene and sanitation, teeneger reproductive health, children rights and education, health environment, capacity building, entrepreneurial thing, Local Food security, advocation and public policy, human trafficking and many others might seem like a big theme to endure, but all the young volunteers in Kupang begin it with small action like donating books or goods, funding for social action, teaching children to wash their hand and brush their teeth properly, promoting health reproductive for teeneger in schools, conducting an Inspiration Class or discussion class, campaigning the ban of smoking, training children to protect themselves from sexual assault, asking your friends and neighbour for not littering and scratching in public place, training people to recycle waste, making a social concert, estabilishing a library for children in remote areas, facilitating and helping people to share some fruitful ideas in social media wisely, attending a useful workshop, promoting local tourism and local food security, inspiring and mentoring students to gain scholarship, gathering people to improve English speaking, etc.

In the other words, instead of thinking massive action to create exponential changing in this world, let start with a fine way nearby you then be gallanty traversed the track you chose to tread.

Volunteer networks is a milestone to lead people to become actor of solution. Even though taking so much time to see the result of anything that have been doing, how respective communities in Kupang even outliers enlisting and giving unwavering support to each other to erase despairs, collaborating and keeping up the superb works perpetually, still encourage us to be the key of change in every endeavour we have taken as individuals or a community.

Additionally, we can prove the real meaning of Youth in our generation as saying goes “Youth involvement has moved forward. It is no longer seen as a rebellious act, the way it was a few decades ago”.

All in all, For your Heartfelt though and intention, Hat’s off to you all!

I beg God for blessing you incessantly!