February 5, 2016
Eight months travel, two international work experience placements and a community project; that’s the incredible prize that Will, our Great Global Adventure winner, won last year. And if, like us, you’ve been following the GreatGlobalAdventurer on his amazing journey, you’ll know that he spent some time in Jakarta volunteering with Prestasi Junior. So who are Prestasi Junior and why is the work that they do so important to both AXA and Will? Read on to find out.
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Prestasi Junior is the Indonesian wing of Junior Achievement – a worldwide, not-for-profit organisation and one of our Global Corporate Responsibility partners. We’ve been partnering with them since 2012, focusing on improving financial literacy and teaching work-related, entrepreneurial and business skills to youth all over the world.
The partnership began with a program called ‘Insure Your Success’, aimed at helping school children understand the risks of financial decisions, through activities and discussions around planning, budgeting and saving. Since its start, it has been implemented in 12 countries around the world (including Indonesia) and resulted in 500 AXA volunteers delivering classes in 129 schools and reaching over 13,000 students aged 12-18.
Last year, within the Alliance for Youth partnership, AXA also supported the Entrepreneurial Skills Pass (ESP) offering further opportunities to 250 Junior Achievement students and alumni in 5 countries. And more recently, through ESP and the JA network, we were involved in the ‘Leaders for a Day’ initiative which invited ESP students to shadow a variety of leaders in the business and policy community.
Now, in 2016, our AXA Adventurer Will has joined the effort. Here’s what he had to say about his experience:
‘The highlight of my time with Prestasi Junior Indonesia (PJI) has to be the teaching! I was overwhelmed by the energy and joy of the students and I could not stop myself from smiling when working with them. Moreover, it was a real privilege to see first-hand the great work that the PJI teachers are accomplishing in Jakarta, and to see how invested and committed they are to building the future and potential of their students.
One quality that all of the students shared when speaking, was in my opinion one of the greatest gifts a teacher can give: confidence! By giving the students financial knowledge, positions of management in their business teams and inspiration, PJI have given each child bounds of confidence and the keys to unlocking their limitless potential.
Volunteering with Prestasi Junior Indonesia has been a brilliant experience that I will always remember. It was rewarding to work with such a committed and diverse team and to help contribute towards the bright future of the students in Jakarta. I look forward to coming back to Indonesia soon, terima kasih PJI!’