the Jakarta Globe, 24 August 2014

Balikpapan. Andi Muhammad Aslam's journey of activism began 11 years ago, when he sought an escape from routine by visiting a house of a relative in Bontang, East Kalimantan.

The resource-rich city is known as one of the richest regions in Indonesia thanks to its natural gas production, but Aslam happened to stay near one of the darkest corners of the "city of gas," namely the red-light district of Prakla.

He was alone in those days in 2003, wandering aimlessly around nearby fishing villages, ports and tourist sites, when he stumbled upon the prostitution area.

It interested him, he said, as he talked with people working in Prakla and heard their stories, touching not just on prostitution but also on the issues of drug trafficking and sexually transmitted disease.

Aslam then decided to abandon his studies at Hasanuddin University in his hometown of Makassar, South Sulawesi.

He decided to stay longer in Bontang — not for its resource wealth, scenic beaches or national park, but because he had found his calling in life: to contribute to solving then largely neglected social issues of HIV/AIDS and drug abuse.

"At the beginning I was only stranded here," Aslam, now 39, tells the Jakarta Globe. "But after walking around the city, seeing the condition, I learned a lot.

"Foreign ships often dock here, and the crew members visit the red-light district, bringing alcohol and drugs with them. Then there are also the mining and oil and gas workers from around Bontang. They often engage in unsafe sex and face a high risk of HIV/AIDS exposure."

Aslam decided to stay near Prakla. Every day he would walk the narrow alleys, talking with the residents to warn them of the dangers of drug use and of HIV/AIDS. No one was paying him to do it.

He recalls weighing his words each time he spoke with sex workers, pimps and bodyguards at the brothels, as well as local residents, hoping that the careful approach would minimize any resistance to his campaign against HIV/AIDS and drug use.

Aslam also tried to garner support from local communities, non-governmental groups and the city administration to beef up his campaign. Tackling HIV/AIDS and drug abuse, he says, were hardly a priority at the time.

"I told them the facts and the situation on the ground. There are many environmental NGOs in Bontang; I told them the environment wasn't the only issue that required attention, that public health was more of a priority," he recalls.

"The city administration also didn't care because this campaign wasn't a popular issue at all. So there was practically no empathy."

The first good news came in 2005, when then-mayor Sofyan Hasdam, who had a background in medicine, welcomed Aslam's proposal for an advocacy program.

Aslam received Rp 10 million ($856) from the mayor, which he used to rent a house inside Prakla and set up the Social Advocacy and Rehabilitation Foundation, or Laras. The house served as a rehabilitation center for drug addicts and a counseling center for people with HIV/AIDS. Four other people worked there at the time.

"When a female sex worker contracted HIV/AIDS, the pimp would refuse to take responsibility. On the other hand, the sex worker would hesitate about purchasing medicine and undergoing hospital treatment, although that's free," he says.

"Our main duties covered awareness and prevention. When someone contracted [HIV/AIDS], we'd bring them to hospital. From then on it's the government's job to help them recover."

Over the years, Aslam's work has gained more and more support. Now his foundation, where he serves as director, has opened offices in other parts of East Kalimantan, including Samarinda, Balikpapan, Kutai Kartanegara, East Kutai and Tarakan, and has 40 workers.

The Samarinda office has become Laras's headquarters, while Balikpapan hosts the main branch office. These two offices provide various health facilities, offering rehabilitation and regular checks for HIV/AIDS and drug abuse patients.

The province's mining boom has spurred the growth of red-light districts. In Kutai Kartanegara, for instance, nearly all 18 subdistricts have a prostitution site.

These regions have contributed at least 3,000 HIV/AIDS cases in East Kalimantan, with the wives of male clients of the sex workers eventually contracting the virus as well, Aslam says.

"That number is far from the actual figure. It's the tip of the iceberg. We estimate up to 20,000 people have contracted HIV/AIDS [in East Kalimantan], mostly due to sex with multiple partners," he says.

Aslam's dedication to HIV/AIDS and drug abuse advocacy has earned him several awards, including one from the Islamic Development Bank in 2006, from the Bontang mayor in 2007, the East Kalimantan governor in 2008 and, most recently, from Vice President Boediono during the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on June 26.

Aslam, married with two kids, says he will continue to dedicate his life to helping people fight drug abuse and HIV/AIDS.

By Tunggadewa Mattangkilang

Source; the Jakarta Globe