Has the HIV/AIDS epidemic impact on the sport and development activities of your organisation?

Globally, the HIV/AIDS epidemic has affected all strata in society. The impact of this epidemic on individuals, communities and nations in sub-Saharan Africa has been said to invalidate the gains of the past 25 years in development efforts and will continue to do so if the epidemiologic trends are not turned around. The drivers for this disease are multifaceted and call for a multi-sectoral response. Right To Play's methodology as stated above is part of a bigger combined and coordinated response at the country level where the SportHealth program is implemented. With the above and in this context, the epidemic is having a direct impact on the children, coaches and communities where Right To Play programs are implemented. Children are faced by multiple burdens - poverty, lack of basic services, loss of parents and care givers and trying to survive in a weakened or in some cases non existent social support system. Right To Play coaches are faced with a similar dilemma which requires skills beyond coaching to ensure the holistic provision of services required to address the needs in this context. Faced with the complex nature of this epidemic, Right To Play programs on the ground have to ensure partnership and collaboration with other agencies that can complement what Right To Play brings to the table, thus ensuring a holistic approach. This calls for increased innovation and a greater understanding in the field by Right To Play program leads who must ensure the SportHealth program is complemented by other development efforts that address other aspects of the epidemic.

The Right To Play program resources include Coach2Coach training, Red Ball Child Play and Live Safe, Play Safe (LSPS). This LSPS module is a health education initiative, designed especially to focus on the prevention of the spread of hiv/Aids among young people in response to the growing epidemic. From 2005 on, more LSPS trainings were deliverd in more countries than planned due to increased request and need from implementing partners. The favourable reception experienced by animators utilizing this module with children was high and the module has been proven successful in engaging children in the development of key knowledge, attitudes and skills on hiv/aids.

In what way does your organisation deal with this?

Twice a year, Right To Play hosts a comprehensive ten-day training session which is designed to train international volunteers and new staff on a wide variety of topics related to the implementation of Right To Play programs. In addition to briefings on specific on-going projects, the training sessions also cover child survival, health, protection and working with communities. Specifically, time is spent to provide an orientation to LSPS and HIV/AIDS resources. Depending on the local health situation of each project, volunteers are provided with information and skills that will enable them to understand and work collaboratively at their project sites to promote prevention activities around HIV/AIDS. Volunteers and staff in some project sites have received further infield training on LSPS (Sierra Leone, Rwanda and Mali) and the same is planned for other countries within the Africa Region.