by Kate Otto (RI '07)

I would imagine that for most people, a group of HIV-positive recovering heroin addicts playing a football (soccer) match may not appear to be public service.  And before beginning my year-long consultancy at an Indonesian drug rehabilitation and HIV/AIDS center (as a Luce Scholar), I must admit that I also did not yet understand the unique service these young people had to offer.

Yet over the past year working with Rumah Cemara as a management and program consultant, I have come to learn that it is indeed the most marginalized members of society, in informal settings like the football pitch, who have the greatest power to meaningfully serve their community.  Particularly on an issue as controversial as HIV/AIDS in Indonesia.  

Inside the office, more than 80 percent of Rumah Cemara staff are living with HIV, and more than 90 percent are recovering drug addicts, taking the concept of "Peer Support" to the next level!  RC thus allows people most affected by HIV and addiction to transform their challenging experiences into valuable education and counseling services for their peers in need.  On the football field, every week, Rumah Cemara strategically engages young audiences first in sport and then in education, effectively decreasing the stigma surrounding the virus by opening their own statuses - and space for discussion - after the game.

I am thrilled to have helped support Rumah Cemara's application in the recent Nike/Ashoka "Changing Lives Through Football" Competition, and even more excited that they were recently awarded the Grand Prize of $30,000, and significant institutional support.  

Although I was one of the only members of an office who did not have HIV and who did not have a history of drug abuse, I was still able to channel their philosophy of "peer support", because at the end of the day we were all committed to achieving the same public health goals.  While I offered strategic programming, data management, marketing, and organizational advice, I received in return deep insight into the best (and oftentimes most underfunded) HIV prevention and care techniques and strategies, from the front lines.

When I first became a Truman Scholar in 2007, it was my work on various HIV/AIDS initiatives that most defined my leadership in public service.  Three years later, I am happy to report that while still in the HIV/AIDS field, my own experiences have gained breadth and depth, as I have the privilege to work alongside leaders in public service from all walks of life.  

Please take a look at Rumah Cemara's application to learn more about their philosophies, vision, and plan here, and thank you to all who participated in voting for Rumah Cemara's victory!

Kate Otto (RI '07) is a public health consultant, and graduate of NYU Wagner with a Masters in Public Administration program in International Health Policy and Management (2009).  For more information on Rumah Cemara please visit: http://www.rumahcemara.org/