A second jobs fair organized by Jakarta archdiocese to fight poverty was bigger and better this time round attracting more employers and over 1,600 job seekers from many different backgrounds.

Eighty large companies participated in the June 26-27 event under the theme “Let us Work Together in Combating Poverty,” held in the St. Mary Elementary School hall in Jakarta.

The first fair last year, saw only 40 companies participate in a one-day program.

We learned from our mistakes, said Jesuit Father Alexius Andang Listya Binawan, who heads the archdiocese’s Youth Desk.

“We sold 1,200 tickets last year, but 1,500 people turned up forcing us to turn 300 away. So this year we held the event over two days and increased the number of tickets,” he told ucanews.com on June 26.

For this year’s program, every job seeker bought a 20,000-rupiah (US$2.2) ticket, which were available in all the parishes.

We sold more than 800 on the first day and about the same number on the second.

The fair was “a bridge” between businessmen and job seekers, as well as a training exercise for the mainly young organizers, Father Binawan said.

“I hope many young people will benefit and get the jobs they want and that the event acted as a motivator for both the Church and society,” he continued.

Yosep Lyle Koten, an organizer, said the fair’s theme was in line with the archdiocese’s 2010 campaign for Lenten action.

“Through the program, we want to help the unemployed and fight poverty. So the program was concrete action under the Lenten theme,” he said.

Many job seekers said they found the job fair very useful.

Marietta S. Puspapeni from Cijantung in East Jakarta said the event gave her a great chance to find a good job and improve her career.

“I hope the will hold another one soon,” she said.

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