Irwanto helps out young addicts

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Irwanto has dedicated the last 20 years of his life to helping children, but characteristic of the 46-year-old activist is he has never sought to win publicity for his good work.

The activist works to reduce juvenile delinquency and crime, which has become a major social problem, particularly in large cities.

"I like hanging out with children .... When I see them, I see the bright face of the future," says Irwanto, who heads a harm reduction center for drug addicts run by Atma Jaya University.

Irwanto, whose given name is Tjia Wie Kiong, was born in Purwodadi, Central Java, to a Javanese mother and Chinese- Indonesian father. He says that since his youth he has had an attachment to children.

"As the son of a Chinese-Indonesian father, I was discriminated against and treated unfairly. I felt alienated from society.

"I see similar treatment toward children with drug problems. They are virtual outcasts."

Neither is Irwanto himself a stranger to drugs, with which he became acquainted while in college. So looking back, Irwanto says his work now is a little bit like an attempt to make up for his past.

Focusing on containing the spread of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) among drug addicts, the harm reduction center provides primary health care programs, peer education, community outreach, counseling and HIV testing, as well as sterile needles.

The harm reduction approach involves a range of measures and strategies focused on reducing the adverse health consequences caused by drug abuse, particularly intravenous drugs.

Every day, about 100 teenagers visit Irwanto's office in Cideng, Central Jakarta, to get a health checkup or an HIV test, share their experiences with peers or just to hang out.

Despite the fact that 76 percent of the children under the center's supervision are HIV-positive, the center cannot provide treatment due to financial constraints.

The center is only one of Irwanto's many activities related to child advocacy. He also runs an educational program to promote peace among children in conflict regions like Poso in Central Sulawesi and Halmahera in North Maluku. Under the auspices of the International Labor Organization, Irwanto also campaigns for the eradication of the worst forms of child labor.

"Research I did during my university years showed me the facts about the plight of poor children. My first observations occurred when I was doing research on street children in River Code, Yogyakarta."

After graduating from the School of Psychology at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, Irwanto resisted the temptation to take a job as a consultant for a major company, instead going to Jakarta and eventually working as a researcher at Atma Jaya University.

It was during his stint at the university that he got his first chance to help children with drug problems professionally. He joined Bersama, a foundation chaired by the late Tien Soeharto, wife of then president Soeharto. The foundation provided counseling for young drug addicts.

The social work at the foundation went hand in hand with his day job as social researcher.

He took his affinity for social research a step further by pursuing a graduate degree in the Department of Family Studies and Child Development at Purdue University in the U.S. He went on to obtain his PhD from the same university, with the support of a Fulbright scholarship.

"The data shows that almost all social problems could be anticipated if more resources were dedicated to solving problems afflicting children. The aim is to reduce costs in the future; more investment should be made in children's early years," he told The Jakarta Post.

Irwanto's research on patients at a state-run mental institution in Magelang, Central Java, led him to conclude that some symptoms of mental disorders such as paranoia and schizophrenia could be eliminated during the early childhood years.

The same is true for poverty. "Children may come from poor families, but it does not mean that they should live in destitution. Children are entitled to have the same opportunity to live good lives."

"But let me tell you that what I am doing now is not 'saving our youth', as that aim is too big. I just love doing this."