THE BIG PROJECT

HIV/AIDS Awareness Soccer and Netball Tournament
 (and Blood Drive)

It's finally here!!!!!!  I promise I haven't been just wandering around Africa the whole time I've been here, I've been working really hard!  I've actually been working on this project even before I arrived, and every day since I've been working on it.  I didn't want to bore anyone with the details of the day to day preparations, but the final product is complete!  This is my "baby" and I was the project manager and director so lots of effort was put into making this thing happen. :)  The key to development is relating to the people- you have to incorporate their interests in your cause in order to make them more interested in that cause.  And this is the story of how I tried to do that....
In Uganda, HIV/AIDS is an extreme problem especially in the slums called Namatala (population approximately 20,000).  They don't have any resources or counseling services offered to those suffering from HIV until this past year there was a group of brave community leaders that formed the HIV/AIDS Support Network- Namatala.  Many problems arise with HIV here because men see it as a "women's problem."  I've had men tell me straight to my face that they don't want to listen to me because it's not their problem and the women need to deal with it- even though they're mostly the culprit of its spread.  The medical misinformation here is unbelievable; people literally believe that if you jump up and down after sex you will not get pregnant.  AIDS is a shameful disease to the locals and almost every male who I talked to said they would rather not know their status because it's a death wish.  Medications called ARV's are a daily pill available to those who are tested positive that helps the immune system battle the effects of HIV, and a person who takes their ARV's on a daily basis could live as long or longer than someone who was tested negative.  The problem is that it's a culture thing- they don't want to be tied down to daily medication.  They say they would rather die than have to take a pill every day (something that I cannot fathom).  All in all, AIDS is a problem and with the lack of knowledge about family planning or sexual activity in general- it's spreading like rapid fire.
Here's where my plan came in!  Soccer is one of my greatest passions and in Africa it's not a passion it's RELIGION.  It's actually kind of insane how worshiped it is haha.  In Africa, however, soccer is a man's sport.  And that's where the light bulb turned on.  Hold a soccer tournament along with an HIV/AIDS testing and counseling day to especially target the young male population.  It worked!  They actually ran out of HIV tests and had to leave early.
However, it was far from an easy task.  We had so much to do including (and far from limited to) working with the HIV counseling group to set up everything, invite teams, book a location, build an entire field, arrange prizes, lunch/refreshments for everyone, have a local HIV testing organization attend, work with the Red Cross to arrange a blood drive at the tournament as well, get referees, and the list goes on and on.  Needless to say, I definitely needed this past month to get everything done.  The tournament was free (not normal) and we ended up also having a netball (similar to basketball) tournament for girls the same day.  That was another task all in its own!  We had 8 local Namatala soccer teams participate, and 4 Namatala girls netball teams.  And the boys LOVED it!  We had HIV/AIDS testing and counseling available throughout the day along with a very successful blood drive set up by the Red Cross.  The games started from 9 am- 6:45 pm and people stayed all the day long!  I was so grateful to the players, supports, Namatala community, and anyone else that came and helped to make yesterday a success!

Speaking to the players before the games started.  Eight teams of male soccer, four teams of girls netball

From ashes it arose!  We literally had to build this field.  Slash all the grass with a macheti, paint in all the lines, buy wood and construct goals posts, everything

                                                                        Warm ups!

                          THE REASON FOR THE SEASON! HIV/AIDS testing/counseling tent. Success!  There was also a big (and successful) blood drive set up by the Red Cross, but I didn't snap a photo of it. :(

                                                                     HIV testing

                                       

                                                                Watching the games

                                                         The finals!  (Didn't end until 6:45 pm!)

                                                                   Closing speeches

                                                        Congratulating the winners

                                          This wouldn't be possible without these amazing HIV counselors!

            BEFORE THE TOURNAMENT: My translator Martha while we mobilized and went around the slums advertising the testing, blood drive, and tournament.  She's such an amazing woman!

                                                           Mobilizing the tournament to the locals

                                                       Too cute little boy from the slums :)

                                                                        Location of the tourney