EVERY day, Petra Gimbad straps on flat shoes before boarding the monorail that will take her to a seedy side of Kuala Lumpur.

"I wear flats so I can run if need be," she says, half-joking. "And covered shoes in case I step on druggies' needles."

Petra

She speaks light-heartedly, but her fears are real. For the past 10 years, the 27-year-old social worker has boldly gone to places most people would avoid because that's where her services are most needed.

Unlike most of her peers, Petra is not interested in climbing the corporate ladder.

She is among many young people who are devoted to doing good; to help the needy and champion causes that they believe are bigger than themselves.

"Even when I was only three, I've always wanted to do healing and helping work of some sort," says Petra who started with tutoring children from underpriveledged backgrounds after secondary school.

Since then, she has spent most of her time volunteering in various charitable organisation while making ends meet with freelance work for various publications. Petra now works full time as a social worker with Rumah Nur Salam in Chow Kit, Kuala Lumpur, where she helps the urban poor and Afghan refugees.

Her work is not easy, and her battles are often uphill.

Aid for Gaza

Juana Jaafar, who has been working with aid organisation Perdana Global Peace Organisation (PGPO) for the past four years, went on a perilous journey from London to Gaza last December.

The 28-year-old took turns driving an ambulance packed with medical aid, clothing, baby milk and toys with her colleague and friend Ram Karthigasu. They were among 500 volunteers involved in the third Viva Palestina International Humanitarian Aid Convoy to war-torn Gaza, and two of the 10 Malaysians who came along.

Juana with a shopkeeper in Gaza.

They travelled 8,000km over land and sea, past border checkpoints and endured clashes with Egyptian authorities.

Eventhough they were given a window of 48 hours by the Egyptians (who control the border into Gaza) to deliver aid into the country, they had to leave after a mere 30 hours because the country was bombed.

"We didn't have a chance to be afraid. It was tough, but when we got to Gaza and got a glimpse of how the people there live, all that we went through didn't compare to what they go through," says Juana who believes passionately in championing for human rights.

Ever since she completed university over eight years ago, Juana has campaigned tirelessly against war.

"Our (PGPO) central agenda is to campaign for the criminalisation of war. We established a fund specifically for Gaza, dispersed funds to buy medical aid for Mercy Malaysia, and late last year made the journey to deliver ambulances and aid."

Throughout her trip to Gaza, Juana sent out updates via Twitter.com, quickly gathering a following from all over the world, and even having one of her tweets broadcasted by CNN.

Although morale was low throughout the journey and experiencing the tragedies of war first-hand sent Juana into depression, the overall experience and meeting other young volunteers have given her even more drive to keep fighting for human rights.

"I met people willing to part with their savings to bring aid to Gaza, willing to sacrifice their time to stand in front of a supermarket to collect donations. It's meaningful on a personal level," says Juana.

Being deeply involved with people directly affected by poverty, war and illness can impact a volunteer or aid worker dramatically, often giving them a new direction in life.

Making a change

Delving head-on into volunteer work, Stacey Priya Raj took a year 'off life' in 2009 to volunteer with the Malaysian AIDS Council (MAC), and Protect and Save The Children (P.S. The Children).

Stacey helped to create education material, provide safer sex education at schools, conducted research and facilitated child personal safety programmes in primary schools.

At the moment, she is pursuing her PhD in clinical psychology in the United States, a move that will help her fulfill her lifelong mission of helping people.

Stacey

"I examine cultural differences in parenting and child development, and my goal is to conduct research to inform policies pertaining to child maltreatment prevention and intervention in Asia," explains the 28-year-old, who has also volunteered at homes for children, the elderly, and the disabled.

"I also examine programmes to educate and reduce discrimination associated with HIV and AIDS."

Similarly, Surain Azhar, 32, has been involved with spreading awareness and education onHIV and AIDS, as well as working with people living with HIV/AIDS.

"I was studying microbiology at the time, so I put the two together and decided to study the subject further, from a scientific point of view," says Surain, who started out by helping to carry chairs at MAC events seven years ago. He recently resigned from his job as a lecturer to devote more time to his HIV/AIDS work.

Staying true to their passions

Challenges in their line of work do occasionally discourage people like Surain, Juana, Petra and Stacey, but keeping their eye on the bigger picture always helps to keep them going.

"Sometimes it gets overwhelming," says Surain. "But I think to myself, 'If not me, then who?'"

"Maybe I sometimes feel like I'm too small for all these huge issues, but it helps to take a step back and take a break to clear my head."

Petra gets her strength from the families she works with and cares for.

"When you see how people feed their entire families with so little, it gives you the energy to keep going," she says.

Surain

For some of these young do-gooders, part of their struggles is in convincing their parents that it's worth their while to champion for causes.

"I used to fight with my family about what I wanted to do with my life.

"For 10 years, I held my ground until my parents finally accepted that this was what I wanted. It was really hard for them to have a daughter who had graduated from university but was doing social work," says Petra.

In those years, she often pondered whether she could help others by being a doctor or a lawyer. But she now knows that her calling is in social work.

"They have finally accepted it, and even have some amount of admiration for what I do."

As for joining their peers in the corporate rat race, this bunch shake their heads and say that what they do feels right for them.

"Choosing to live a life of passion rather than one of material success, I cannot imagine having it any other way," says Stacey. "How many people can honestly say they look forward to each working day?"

"I benefit and gain more than I give when it comes to volunteering. I am able to do what I enjoy, I have the opportunity to engage with people from all walks of life, and I get to learn more about issues than I am committed to working on in both my professional and volunteer life."

Petra has long reconciled with having less materially because she values the fulfillment her chosen path gives her.

"Even though I don't earn as much as my corporate friends, this job makes me happy and I look forward to work. I'm being paid to take care of families and to love people,"

While Juana's family was supportive of her decision to embark on the perilous journey (her mother's only comment was that she would need proper winter clothing), many question why she would put her life in danger to deliver aid to a foreign country.

"We don't live in isolation, we're part of a globalised world. If we want change in Malaysia, do we want to just read about them, or get directly involved with the work?"

Although these young people have chosen to take the path less travelled, they want youths to know that doing good doesn't always require a head-on plunges into deep waters.