The word ‘goal’ seems to be more easily achieved these days by street children in Indonesia,
who make use of soccer to raise public awareness on HIV and AIDS.
Since 2004, the Church World Service (CWS) in Indonesia has been using soccer to educate
street children in Jakarta about HIV and AIDS. Called ‘Soccer 4 Children on the Road 2
Empowerment’, the programme is carried out by CWS in partnership with the Jakarta-
based Asian Soccer Academy. So far, one street child has been awarded a soccer
scholarship.
Once a week, two soccer teams made up of street children under the care of Rumah Kita
Foundation, a non-government organisation, get to play the game popular with
Indonesians. Most street children here are boys.
While waiting for their turn to practise soccer, the teams learn about HIV and AIDS from
the foundation’s peer educators. After the HIV and AIDS session, the game begins.
“While learning the rules of the game, the children also learn to make a collective
transformation and make a difference,” said Maurice Bloem in a symposium on ‘Being
Young, Being Safe: Reaching Out to Youth and Children’ at the 8th International Congress
on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific here.
The interesting thing about the programme, according to Bloem, is that more and more
street children are learning about the pandemic because the children themselves invite
their peers to take part not only in soccer practice, but most importantly, in the HIV
information sessions.
CWS, however, is grappling with a very basic problem in its efforts to integrate soccer in
HIV and AIDS education -- the lack of soccer fields in Jakarta. Richel Langit-Dursin (END/
IPSAP/TerraViva/RLD/LLC/07)