Using the power of soccer to fight HIV/AIDS

To celebrate World Aids day VAP organized its annual 6th Kick N' Test VCT and TB screening tournament on December 1st 2014. A group of forty teams a mixture of young boys and girls from all the walks of Nairobi had their footmarks leading to Jericho community field in readiness to have fun, create peace as they battle HIV and TB.The flavor of the tournament was that teams were not only getting points for winning or drawing matches, but also for participating in the Skillz Kenya activities as well as visiting VCT tents for HIV testing,TB screening and other services that actually added them an extra bonus point to their respective teams. Fans and community members too were not spared as they too had an opportunity to access VCT services and donate their extra bonus points to teams of their choice..

Playing Off The Field

A total of 400 participants had an opportunity to access VCT services from Edarp VAP’s VCT service providers who had pitched tents besides the playing field. Participants had to scramble and line up for VCT services as these extra points were very crucial and important to their teams in terms of boosting their overall points. Being on a world’s Aids day, there was a shortage of testing kits all over the country and this affected the testing targets of VAP. During this tournament that also included a mixture of boys and girls in one particular team, football3 methodogy was also incorporated whereby boys and girls in each team had equal time to discuss before and after the match, and learnt how to solve issues themselves and build consensus, the approach has proven particularly useful to VAP in achieving its core aim of transmitting and reinforcing important messages on health issues such as HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. With health as the starting point, VAP uses its football3 sessions to address other topics such as gender equality, social inclusion, peace building and youth leadership.