WhizzKids United
This project's parent organization is The Africaid Trust - WhizzKids United
It operates in South Africa
It uses Football (Soccer)
Entered the Sport for Health Award
More about WhizzKids United
Our ‘On the Ball’ school-based HIV prevention intervention takes kids out of the classroom for health education on the football pitch. There, football exercises and games are used to ‘bring football to life’ – the game of football is treated as a metaphor for life in order to illustrate vital lessons about HIV/AIDS in a contextualized, fun and memorable way. For instance, ‘goals’ are the impetus for talking about goal setting, ‘positions’ for talking about gender issues, ‘opponents’ for talking about HIV/AIDS, ‘ball control’ for talking about self control, ‘teamwork’ for talking about sources of support, ‘tactics’ for talking about long-term planning, and so on.
The programme also features boys and girls playing together which builds mutual respect and helps break down gender inequality on and off the pitch. This culminates in a mixed-gender World Cup-style tournament which is used to reward all participants upon completion of the On the Ball intervention. In order to provide care, treatment and support to young people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS, The Africaid Trust has developed a permanent component to the WKU programme: the ‘Health Academy.’ These provide counselling, HIV testing, ARV treatment, psychosocial support and recreational activities including football skills development.