Jessica is a secondary school student studying in Jakarta Nanyang School, Tangerang, Indonesia. After completing her Bronze Award, she continued on to do Silver - the next level. Jessica felt having her Silver Award would help her to stand out as a strong candidate in her University applications. However, she ended up discovering her potential as a fundraiser – raising donations to help struggling healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 global pandemic as part of the Voluntary Service section of her Award.
As the number of active cases rose in Indonesia, a lockdown was imposed to prevent further outbreak. This affected countless Indonesians, Jessica and her sister Jennifer included, where they had to find alternatives to finish their Award activities.
For Jessica, relying on online tools became the backbone of continuing her Award journey. From switching from Volleyball to an at-home-fitness-routine, from changing her social club management skills to baking in the kitchen, and pivoting from face-to-face fundraising to long distance – it was all change.
Echoing the government’s public campaign of recognizing and appreciating local healthcare professionals, Jessica focused herself on fundraising for these local heroes by carving digital illustrations in exchange for donations. The funds collected went towards food, Hazmat suits, masks, and other necessities desperately needed by the healthcare workers.
Along with her sister who was also doing her Award activities, Jessica utilised her social media platforms to further her goals, under the Instagram handle @artforcovid.id, where she promoted her unique fundraising idea and was able to raise around 10,000,000 IDR within three months.
“My sister and I successfully reached our goal of raising a fund of over Rp.10.000.000 to help fight against Covid19 in Indonesia, supporting healthcare workers with APDs, food, and other necessities by creating a custom digital illustration in exchange of their donations to the cause.
Through the Voluntary Service section of her Award, Jessica felt that the activity has helped her overcome personal challenges during the quarantine:
“During this quarantine period, it has been more difficult to stay focused and be productive. As a result, I was in a slump at the beginning, but through the Award, I forced myself to do more than just sit at home.
I like how the Award pushes me out of my comfort zone, and how it teaches me useful life skills such as teamwork and commitment.
I had to act resourcefully in order to find solutions to help me continue my Award. By turning to digital and online activities, which can be done remotely, I was able to achieve this.
The Award has inspired many to help the community and has kept us in touch with each other during this period of social distancing.”
Sisters Jessica and Jennifer are secondary school students studying in Jakarta Nanyang School, Tangerang, Indonesia. After completing their Bronze Awards, the girls continued on to Silver level and together, used their love of art to raise funds to help struggling healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 global pandemic.
March 2020 was when Indonesia first imposed lockdown and quarantine on the public. Jennifer and her sister Jessica had to adjust to long-distance learning as well as figuring out alternatives to complete their Award journey.
It was easy to give up and to postpone all Award activities during these times, but Jennifer pushed herself to commit to her Award, and realize that there are activities that can be done with the help of online tools.
“With less human interactions because of the quarantine, it is harder to study at home because it is easier to lose focus. At the same time, it has also made me realise to appreciate what I have and know that I have to be more disciplined.”
“The Award gives me opportunities to learn new things and help people in the process”, and true to her words, Jennifer and her sister was able to raise over 10,000,000 IDR through her social media platform [email protected], drawing digital illustrations in exchange for donations.
Jennifer considers the Award as a beneficial program to improve herself and her community especially during COVID-19:
“I am now more productive at home. It turns out there are activities at home that I can do that can help me complete my Award journey.
“I can pursue my hobbies and even integrate these into my Voluntary Service section – drawing illustrations for those that donated to the fundraising effort.
“It has enabled me to push myself and achieve things I wouldn’t have expected to before joining this Award.”
