One third of the patients who walked into the Nicaraguan health clinic where Zak Kaufman '08 worked during his sophomore winter break had illnesses caused by contaminated water. This problem motivated Kaufman to address public health problems in South America, efforts which earned him a 2007 Truman Scholarship.
From a pool of 585 candidates nominated by 280 colleges and universities, 65 students were selected as Truman Scholars. Each scholar receives $30,000, priority in graduate school admission, supplemental financial aid and federal government internship opportunities.
Kaufman, a special major in health and society in Latin America, worked in the Dominican Republic with a program called "Football for Life," inspired by the Grassroot Soccer HIV/AIDS prevention program founded by Thomas Clark '92.
Peer educators and local soccer players combine the sport of soccer with education about HIV and AIDS.
"In the Dominican Republic, many Haitians feel that they do not have control over their lives or their health because the government can just come and take over their houses at any point and deport them to Haiti," Kaufman said. "When you live in this constant state of no control, people live in the moment. They don't think about the future."
The "Football for Life" program tries to combat this type of thinking with soccer activities. The activities introduce the concept of risk, all in the name of changing attitudes about HIV and AIDS.
In one activity, for example, teams of students must complete a ball-dribbling relay through a line of cones. The first time a cone is hit by the soccer ball, however, the student must stop and do three push-ups; the second time, the whole team must do three push-ups; the third time, all teams must stop and do three push-ups.
"At first, the kids were screaming, 'Go, go, go! Let's win,'" Kaufman said. "But later, as the game progresses, they said, 'Take it slowly. Be careful.'"
Leonel Fernandez Reyna, the Dominican Republic's president, expressed interest in supporting the organization with a government grant.
For his senior fellowship project, Kaufman would like to return to the Dominican Republic to study the organization's effectiveness by interviewing students immediately after they graduate from the program and again five months later.
A friend of Kaufman first suggested that he apply for the Truman Scholarship, and he compiled his application while in the Dominican Republic.
"I didn't expect that I would win because I was up against folks that are making a huge difference on their campuses and will make a huge difference in the world," he said.
As for graduate programs, Kaufman said he's eyeing Harvard University and Johns Hopkins University for their Masters of Public Health and Masters of Business Administration joint degree programs.
