The Valuable Work
"Find a job that is in line with your values. If I used to aspire to be a pastor so I could serve the community, now I can still serve the community without having to be a pastor," said Maximus Lilo, currently serving as a Sponsorship Information Officer at WVI's operational office for the Biak, Papua area.
Wahana Visi Indonesia is no stranger to the man known as Kak Maxi. He has seen WVI's transformational development work since he started implementing the program in Keerom District in 2010. After learning about WVI's work, Kak Maxi was interested in joining when a staff recruitment opportunity opened at the Sentani operational office.
It's been almost 10 years since Maxi worked at WVI. Not only does he do work that develops people's lives, he also admits, "WVI changed my lifestyle from not caring about the environment to caring. I also learned to find solutions to every problem faced,".
The dynamics of working with the community is one of the biggest challenges for Kak Maxi. Dealing with work targets in the middle of areas that are difficult to reach children and communities requires extraordinary skills. "But after struggling, when I see cadres in the village who are so eager to help children in their village without demanding wages or payment. Or when children who were once afraid to meet strangers can now greet me and even ask, when is there an activity, Kaka? It feels like the hardships of this job are worth it," he said.
Now the children in Biak are more courageous thanks to the assistance provided by Kak Maxi and the whole team. Not only are they more courageous, the children are enthusiastic about coming to every activity in the village, even some of the older children have been able to go alone without the need to be escorted by their parents.
"I have plans in the future to continue serving with WVI so that children can enjoy reading house facilities that meet the standards. I want to work as well as possible so that children in the village can get out of literacy problems," hoped Kak Maxi.
Working as a social worker or humanitarian worker does have different challenges from other jobs. However, like Kak Maxi, through this work our hearts will feel full and joyful because it benefits Indonesian children. And last but not least, our personal development can be better and better.
Writer: Mariana Kurniawati (Communication Executive)
