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urmala, a housewife, started to visit children with cancer in 2008 after her Koran teacher introduced her to the world of volunteerism.

Six years later, she is the coordinator of volunteers who work with child cancer patients at the Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital (RSCM) because, she said, the children had '€œtouched my heart'€.

'€œThrough making the children happy I feel that I can give something to them. Furthermore, they also teach me a lot about life and motivation,'€ Nurmala told The Jakarta Post over the weekend.

Hoping to continue her mission, she has joined the Indonesian Childhood Cancer Foundation (YOAI) and spends her weekends visiting the RSCM to read books, play or just simply chat with the children there.

However, Nurmala said the activity brought sorrow as well as joy.

'€œThe saddest thing about being a volunteer in the cancer field is that a child could leave you any time, even though he or she seemed like a healthy person the day before,'€ she said.

Nurmala, however, emphasized that such a challenge would not stop her from providing companionship to the young cancer fighters as, for her, the moral obligation to give something back to the community was paramount. Kartika Purwanto, cofounder of the YOAI, said that volunteers have for years helped the foundation to provide hope and motivation to struggling children.

The foundation, which has been helping children with cancer since 1993, was established by a group of parents grateful for the recovery of their sons and daughters who had suffered from cancer.

'€œWe and our volunteers want to keep spreading the hope for other parents whose children are engaged in battles with cancer, that recovery and getting back to a normal life are possible for their children,'€ she said.

Kartika said further that the foundation was open to anyone wanting to join its volunteer group, called the Family Supporting Group, as long as they had a strong desire to support children with cancer.

Aside from working with sick children, there are other ways to be of use to society.

Anggie Dwiputri Irsan, a legal staff member at a private company, shared her views about the importance of volunteering to contribute to the lives of others, no matter how small the effort might seem.

Along with some friends, she spends weekends teaching less-fortunate children, most of whom are buskers living on the streets.

'€œI want to be a person who is useful to others through sharing my knowledge with those who do not have enough access to education,'€ she said.

She added that being an unpaid teacher for street children has taught her a life lesson about how to stay motivated, even in the most difficult of situations.

Anggie said that one of her students was a 20-year-old girl with Down syndrome, while the rest were a lot younger.

'€œHowever, she is the most motivated student there and does not seem shy about raising questions or taking the first turn at every chance in class. She inspires us all,'€ Anggie said.

Then there is Marsya Anggia, who has taken volunteerism to another level.

She works as a volunteer manager at Indorelawan (indorelawan.org) '€” an online platform that aims to bring volunteers and volunteering opportunities together '€” to increase volunteer numbers and help them make a real contribution to society.

However, Marsya added that one of the major obstacles in facilitating such connections was the lack of a culture of volunteerism in the country.

'€œMost people still think that a volunteer is someone who lends a hand during a disaster or who lives in a remote area for a period of time.'€

For expatriates in Jakarta, the websites of the Australia and New Zealand Association (anzajakarta.net), American Women'€™s Association (awajakarta.org) and British Women'€™s Association (bwajakarta.org) all feature information on volunteering under the organizations'€™ social welfare programs. (idb)