26 Sep 2024

The US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through the Peace Corps in collaboration with Determined, Resilient, Educated, AIDS Free, Mentored and Safe (DREAMS) has adopted the Grassroots Soccer Programme to engage young people in the fight against HIV.

This in a bid to make a difference in the lives of young Batswana,.

The programme’s leader, Meshack Kgabanyane said in a interview that his team had adopted the usage of soccer to teach health issues and share life skills messages to persuade youth to change behaviours and attitudes towards HIV and safer sexual practices.

“Focusing on behavioural change and encouraging adolescents to utilise the knowledge they have gained is a system that has developed their resilience and ensured adherence to safer sexual practices,” Kgabanyane said.

He further said they had broadened the scope to include other things such as leadership training, social upbringing integration, inclusivity, and financial literacy, all of which were done through the analogy of soccer in a fun filled manner.

He highlighted that soccer had a magnetic pull, attracting multitudes of people from across the world, hence the ability of the programme to attract young minds.

Kgabanyane indicated that their curriculum had been approved by the Ministry of Education and Skills Development, adding that coaches were trained to be caring, empathetic and sensitive to situations.

The coaches are also encouraged to develop personal connections with each of their students through safe spaces.

“In that way, young people open up, as they hold vital conversations on sexual health issues and gender-based violence related issues," he said.

Kgabanyane said the programme was run countrywide with the help of Peace Corps volunteers, who act as coaches.

Their interventions, he said, had been effective in helping young people use the lessons learnt in life’s decision making.

DREAMS is a partnership between PEPFAR and the government of Botswana aimed at reducing the rate of HIV infection amongst adolescent girls and young women.

Kgabanyane pointed out that the programme provided a combination of biomedical, structural, economic and educational packages as well as social protection interventions for girls aged between 9-24. ENDS