Wednesday, October 13, 2010

HIV Prevention through sports project

HIV prevention awareness for the youth sports is one of the innovative ways of reaching out to the youth. The project targets young people between the ages 15 to 30 living in the Kawempe division, Kampala district in Uganda. Currently, a total of 200 young boys and 64 young girls drawn from the 22 parishes of the Kawempe Division participate in sports activities, including football and netball.

These youths are among groups at high risk of HIV infection, due mainly to their reckless lifestyles, which include drug abuse, prostitution and unprotected casual sex. A survey conducted by CHAIN in 2008 in Kawempe division revealed that there are high illiteracy levels, poverty and housing congestion leading into promiscous activities. The survey also found out that there was a general feeling of resignation among youth, mixed with loss of hope, loneliness and mistrust, to which thay reacted in different negative ways. Rather than working, many youth spend time sitting idly or chatting with friends and drinking alcohol. The perceptions and judgements that youth held were conditioned by years of socialization within their families and with peers, reinforced by media, schools, cultural beliefs and religion. These are considered to be the major escalating factors of HIV among youth in the Kawempe Division.

It is against this backround that CHAIN decided to emphasize youth empowerment and HIV prevention programmes. CHAIN is using innovative and intergrated approaches to reach out to youth, including sports programmes. Sports can help young people to keep out of idleness, which leads them into promiscuos activities that expose them to HIV.

Peer transformers project

The peer transformers is a youth project project aimed at creating awareness of the need for change and motivating the youth to change attitudes towards themselves and work, acquire self-confidence, communication skills, interpersonal and entrepreneurship skills. This is done mainly to encourage the youth on positive attitude and behaviour that would enable them to become useful citizens. The youth have acquired skills and have organised themselves into support groups that have formed economic empowerment projects (mushroom, vegetable growing, bakery, dance and drama group)

The Community Health And Information Network (CHAIN).
Community House, Plot No. 809 Kanyanya Gayaza Road P.O. Box 16051 Kampala, Uganda Tel: +256 0414 568786,
email:info@chainproject.co.ug

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