Our Projects

HIV Awareness Football tour - West and East Africa, 2003/4

Between September 2003 and April 2004, TackleAfrica carried out its first ever project - which was organised in partnership with Christian Aid and Concern.

In late September, 20 intrepid volunteers from across the UK set off on a six month HIV/AIDS awareness football tour of West and East Africa. Flying into Morocco, the team travelled down the West Cost of Africa as far as Senegal, before turning inland and passing through Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo and Nigeria before reaching Cameroon in mid December. After New Year the team flew across to Ethiopia, before travelling down into Kenya, and on into Uganda and finally finishing the project in Tanzania in late March. Over the course of the 6 months, the project team took part in 16 different HIV awareness events and played more than 40 games of football.

Each event was carried out in collaboration with an established local NGO, ensuring that the event was geared for the specific needs of the local community. The events varied enormously in terms of size and style, with venues ranging from glistening national stadia to dirt pitches with no proper goals or markings. The opposition was also hugely eclectic - on some occasions full times pros and even internationals, and at other times school teams or farm workers.

As well as taking part in football matches, the team also took part in HIV awareness seminars and workshops, street parades, cultural evenings and schools visits - all designed to increase people's awareness and understanding of HIV and AIDS and to challenge people to take positive steps to protect themselves against the disease.

The project team also distributed leaflets and posters and other materials to help raise AIDS awareness, and also a huge amount of sports equipment - hoping to help local partners to continue to run similar events in the future, and encouraging the local community to take part in the activities.

At the end of the project, the team returned to the UK road weary and exhausted, but also filled with a considerable sense of achievement. Over the course of the 16 events, the volunteers had won a huge number of friends, and had been able to convey vital messages to more than 50,000 people.

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