A Challenging Industry - NGO

I started my internship in Zero Strays Miri (ZSM), a non-profit organisation based in Miri City in Sarawak, Malaysia. I do have some working experience for being part-timer at various small companies before this intern but working for a non-profit organisation will definitely bring new challenges to me which I never experienced before.

For some basic background information, ZSM established in year 2013 which prioritise on Trap, Neuter and Release or Rehome of stray dogs and cats while also carry out rescue jobs for the injured strays. Besides, the organisation carries out educational talks regularly to encourage responsible pet owners. Due to it is a non-profit organisation, all its operational costs comes from fund raising and public donation.

So what is the challenge I’ve faced during the first week of my internship? Writing a lot of press releases!!

Before I joined the organisation, I already noticed that ZSM had organised quite a number of charity sales at malls, educational talk at its centre, schools and even orphanage through newspapers and its Facebook page. I do understand that for a non-profit organisation to raise awareness against something, publicity is the most important aspect. Usually news being reported on newspapers are based on their news value. In order for small events to be reported, press releases have to constantly be submitted to media outlets and hope they can be carried out.

Same goes to ZSM. Just in the first week itself I’ve been assigned to write two press releases with another one pending. This had given me a great opportunity to really improve my writing skills because what I wrote most probably will be seen in the newspapers; of course every draft has to be approved by my supervisor. I’m glad that I could join the organisation and anticipate for more new challenges for me as a PR intern.

Thanks for reading.

~ Elson Tsen~