Thanks to the generosity of project sponsor Siren TV, TackleAfrica have been able to team up with PfP to run this project in the Machakos district in central Kenya.

50 members of the Kabaa Young Cobras Football Club & Tulila United Football Club, aged 15-24 years, are being trained as peer educators who will be able to inform young people about HIV/AIDS at football events. Their activities are expected to reach an additional 10,000 young people aged 5-30 years old.

Many young people in the Machkaos area drop out of school and become involved in child labour. Many are involved in ‘sand-harvesting’ which involves digging up sand from dry rivers beds and selling it in sacks at the roadside to trucks which take it to Nairobi for in construction. This is illegal, poorly paid and bad for the environment, but it provides the young people with disposable income, which is sometimes spent on drugs. There is also pressure from some families to contribute to household income. PfP is working with the schools and local leaders to discourage this activity

A PfP survey carried out last year identified negative peer pressure, unemployment, HIV/AIDS, drug abuse and poverty in the family as the key impediments to the development of young people and to their communities. The objective of the project is to promote positive behaviour change among young people. This will be achieved by providing them with information about HIV/AIDS, reproductive health and related issues so that they can make informed decisions and take control of their lives. Young people out of school cannot readily access information about HIV/AIDS and they are particularly vulnerable to infection. This project will specifically address this urgent need to help save young people’s lives

The project involves 8 one-day training seminars for all club members to equip them with accurate and relevant information about HIV/AIDS. The seminars will also be used to plan the events and help the members design the messages, and methods of delivery, they will use during the sporting activities.

The project also provides for ongoing support to club members from PfP staff and the Provision of sporting equipment, kit, balls, nets etc.

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