Africa Goal 2010

TEDx YouthBerlin

2010-11-18T05:53:00.000-08:00

Africa Goal presents at TEDx Youth Berlin
Impact and Lessons Learned

On Sunday Nov 14th, Radial System V in Berlin was host to the world’s first TEDxYouth conference:

TEDxYouthBerlin 2010

TEDx is a programme which brings people with diverse backgrounds together under the motto ‘Ideas Worth Spreading’. TEDx conferences seek to create a forum for exchange, inspiration and networking through the inclusion of speakers, artists, and TED video talks. TEDx is an interdependently organized TED conference hosted under the license of TED.

http://www.tedxyouthberlin.de/category/home/
http://www.ted.com

Link to Presentation Slides

SAfAIDS News

2010-10-25T08:11:00.000-07:00

Africa Wins Every Time You Prevent HIV!

Southern Africa HIV and AIDS Information Dissemination Service

Cover Story
By Cynara Vetch and Mary Leakey

http://www.africagoal.com/media/SAfAIDSNews2_2010.pdf

A&U Magazine

2010-08-03T00:27:00.000-07:00

Africa Goal Scores with Live World Cup Broadcasts and HIV Prevention Talks

By Chael Needle

It may be hard to understand if you live in the United States, but the FIFA World Cup is a sporting event so intense that fans’ vocal chords are probably happy that the month-long soccer tournament takes place only every four years.

A group of dedicated advocates has tapped into the excitement around the World Cup, and soccer in general, and devised a nonprofit campaign to raise HIV prevention awareness in Southern Africa, a region with the highest prevalence of AIDS in the world.

Africa Goal was born of friendship and collegiality when its creators, who knew each other from working and living in Kenya before scattering to other pursuits, reunited four years ago in London for a get-together. “Some of us were living in London at the time and others were passing through. We were all studying at the time and getting excited about the summer break,” says Mary Leakey of Africa Goal.

They began to kick around an idea “to travel through Africa showing the World Cup soccer matches and using them as a platform for HIV information dissemination,” she says about the campaign’s organic evolution. Having either grown up in Africa or having lived there, they know what World Cup fever is all about, “even if there is no access to soccer balls or to broadcast matches,” notes Leakey, who works as a senior project officer at Southern Africa HIV and AIDS Information Dissemination Service (SAfAIDS). “The World Cup seemed like such a great way to engage people in HIV discourse.”

In 2006, Africa Goal took the ultimate road trip, complete with car-eating mud puddles, tire changes, but also pick-up games of soccer with the people they met and positive responses to prevention messages. Comprised of members whose experience ranges from media to development, the team traveled throughout Southern Africa, stopping each day to prep for the afternoon and early evening matches. Setting up a projector, retractable screen, dish, speakers and other tech needed to link up to Digital Satellite Television (DSTV), Africa Goal showed free-of-charge live broadcasts of World Cup Soccer matches in villages, where fans’ only access to soccer is often radio or print news reports. The team also used the opportunity to present videos, supplied by UNAIDS and sometimes local NGOs, to raise awareness about HIV and AIDS as a sort of pre-show. Africa Goal partnered with NGOs based in the community whenever possible, inviting their experts to lead discussions in the newly created communal event. The 2006 campaign was successful so Africa Goal is going out on the road again this year.

“No sport draws the crowds, excitement, and attention in Africa like soccer does—it’s a crowd-puller. And the majority of the audience correlates with the population sector most at risk for HIV infection (people aged fifteen to forty-nine years),” says Leakey about why soccer and HIV education make for a good fit. “Also a lot of men are drawn to the matches, so it is a great way to reach these traditionally hard-to-reach groups.

“More than that though, soccer has a fantastic way of uniting people, connecting people, and giving people a sense of common purpose, and it is this we really need to harness in the fight against HIV. Soccer also defies traditional cultural barriers; people from all walks of life, all ages, men, women, boys and girls can enjoy a soccer match together. By using the platform created by soccer we can take advantage of the unique communication forum that it affords and reach people on a new level, while also encouraging discussion among the audience, which may not happen in day-to-day circumstances.”

Most of the 2006 team members are returning. Again, Africa Goal will follow a route that has been nicknamed the “AIDS Highway,” whose high volume of traffic has increased trade, transport, and transactional sex, and along which the prevalence of HIV is high. This year, the team will travel through Eastern and Southern Africa, starting in Nairobi, Kenya, in time for the June 11 kickoff, and ending in Johannesburg, South Africa, for the final on July 11, with stops in Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Swaziland.

The 2006 trip was a learning experience for Africa Goal and this time some changes will be made.

On the technology front, for instance, Africa Goal will be adding a satellite locator to its bag of tricks. Says Leakey: “This will hopefully make it a bit easier to find the DSTV signal than it was last time—when all we had was a compass!”

She continues: “This time around we have been in communication with local partners long before arriving at the match locations so that we can plan with them. We feel the input of local partners is vital to ensuring the relevance of the information shared, as well as the sustainability of the intervention. In 2006, we partnered with local organizations but most of the planning with them was done on the ground when we arrived at a location. This time, we have the advantage of knowing a lot of the partners and also having a better idea of who is doing what, and where, so that we can link with them more easily in advance.

“We are also planning a shorter overall trip so that the daily distances to be travelled are not so long—this is important because we have made arrangements to meet partners along the way so we need to allow time for border delays, breakdowns, punctures, etc., while still being able to get there on time. Having said that, with this kind of project, you really can’t plan for every eventuality, but you can turn every situation into a positive experience.”

Case in point: a village near Siavonga, Zambia, on the shores of Lake Kariba, 2006. A wrong turn made the Africa Goal team lose their way. The Ghana vs. Brazil match was starting in an hour, and the team did not have enough time to make it to their intended destination. They stopped at a village, “talked to the Chief and the nurse at the local clinic, and arranged with them to hold the match in the village square,” says Leakey. “The nurse facilitated a discussion around HIV before the match, focusing on the need for everyone to know their status, among other things. The match was really well attended. We had over 200 people there as everyone in the community had heard that the World Cup match was being shown and we had a very lively and participatory discussion about HIV—men, women, old and young people all joined in and debated certain cultural practices that increase risk and shared ideas on what needed to be done to reduce risk of new HIV infections in the community.”

The game was starting during the discussion so they called a time-out until the break. “We all watched the first half with enthusiasm—cheering every goal attempt, and every save, irrespective of which team was ahead. At half time, the HIV discussions continued before we watched the last half of the match, which ended up with Brazil winning 3–0,” says Leakey, who cheers for South Africa’s team. After the match, some audience members broached the idea of arranging a testing day at the clinic and it garnered enthusiastic support from the nurse, other audience members, and the Chief, who offered to be first in line.

Africa Goal followed up the next week with the nurse, who reported that 100 people had lined up by 7 a.m. to get tested. The Chief was first in line. The nurse “really appreciated the conducive environment that was created through the Africa Goal event, which enabled open discussion and also the feeling of unity that was generated, which helped everyone to realize that it was their combined responsibility to reduce HIV infection in the community.”

Partnering with community-based NGOs “helps to ensure our relevance to the particular communities that we will be working in,” notes Leakey. “We also feel that it is important for sustainability—so that people who come to see the matches relate the HIV information disseminated to our local partners and can more easily access further information or services if they require.” Africa Goal is respectful of and strives for cultural sensitivity, which, the nonprofit believes, is essential for effective messaging. The team members rely on the local NGOs for guidance, and videos shown are language-specific and culturally appropriate for each stop.

Of course, soccer is a universal language. Africa Goal builds on this by distributing soccer-themed prevention information packages. And this year Africa Goal is formalizing a program called Trading Footballs that first came about in 2006. “Regularly, we would stop to play a roadside soccer match along the way—to break up the journey—and were struck by how different the handcrafted balls were in each of the areas we visited. Since they are made out of whatever materials are at hand, the balls really do tell a story or their own. They are a true celebration of ‘the beautiful game’ and also of the innovation that is such an inspiring part of what we all love about Africa—there is always a solution, even if the ‘right’ tools are not available,” Leakey analogizes. The balls are indeed made with whatever is at hand—discarded plastic bags, string, wool, grass, and rubber, among other materials.

During the initial trip, “we had carried some factory-made soccer balls with us and, after one match, one of the children initiated exchanging his hand crafted ball for the factory made one.”

That simple trade inflated the new program. In all, 300 handcrafted balls were collected across nine countries. Doubling as art and promotion, the traded-in balls have been and continue to be exhibited at several galleries. During this trip, Africa Goal will document the stories behind each homemade soccer ball collected and the donated factory-stitched balls exchanged will each bear an imprinted HIV prevention message.

Also new this year are GOAL condoms. “The GOAL condom idea has been a great passion of mine for a long time now and is something that I really think could have a big impact on promoting safer sexual practices in the region,” says Leakey. “By producing high-quality condoms and marketing them for the specific audience in mind, with packaging and advertising that will appeal to the target audience, there is great scope for scaling up condom use; condoms still have a vital role to play in HIV prevention. I felt that launching a brand of condoms in line with the World Cup would be a great way to renew enthusiasm about condom use.” The branding and marketing strategy is smart and includes print ads that pun off of soccer terms and equipment: protection, gloves, scoring, studs. The tagline “Have you got a Goal?” and round packaging shaped like a soccer ball strives to reverse rampant negative attitudes toward condom use.

While a lack of funding did not allow Africa Goal to put condoms on shelves in time for the World Cup, Leakey is not giving up on the idea. “Soccer mania will be around long after the World Cup final and I think we can still piggyback on that to reinvigorate condom promotion. I’m also working on a number of other concepts for market-appropriate and more appealing condoms so I hope that, in the not too distant future, we will be seeing GOAL or something similar available here. Maybe someone reading this will see the potential of GOAL condoms and we’ll be seeing them on the shelves even sooner!”

Africa Goal has no problem sending prevention into overtime. “Growing up in rural Kenya, you couldn’t help but be affected by the impact of HIV, which was particularly visible given the small size of the community,” says Leakey about her commitment to AIDS. “A lot of people that I knew within the community were affected. I always felt that there was more that could be done, new ways to reach people with information and new and innovative ways to respond to the epidemic. I have worked with a number of different organizations and on a number of different projects and, although it can be tough, I get a lot of satisfaction out of the work.”

Africa Goal is thankful for its sponsors, among them the Government of Canada, SAfAIDS, and PSI Zimbabwe. For anyone interested in finding out more information about the project or GOAL condoms, or contacting Africa Goal, log on to www.africagoal.com. The Web site will also be updated throughout the campaign with news, events, and stories about the project.

Chael Needle is Managing Editor of A&U.

June 2010

http://aumag.org/wordpress/?p=25

Africagoal exhibits in International Football Village, South Africa

2010-07-08T08:41:00.000-07:00

Since June 10th 2010 Africagoal has been exhibiting photos and homemade footballs in the International Football Village, Johannesburg. Over a thousand people visit the village daily many of whom visit the arts and development zone called ‘Ne Nako Africa’ (It’s time for Africa) where the exhibition stands.

The Africagoal exhibition tells of its 2006 journey and its dreams for 2010 through photos, an information panel and handmade footballs that were traded for factory stitched balls along the 2006 route. Africagoal is one of several development programs exhibited that use football to affect social change. Within the Ne Nako Africa arts and development zone it is shown how Football is being used as a central tool in health promotion, peace building, Children’s rights and education, antidiscrimination, social integration and the environment.

Several of the exhibition tents that have a strong focus on this vision are the German Development Cooperation, Youth Development through Sport Association, Department of Sport and Recreation – South Africa and the Southern African Development Community.
The International Football Village and exhibition will end on the 11th of July, as will the 2010 Africagoal project. What will not end is peoples love of football and hopefully with it the knowledge for people to improve their lives and the lives of others.

HIV & AIDS Projects during the World Cup

2010-07-03T03:02:00.001-07:00

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/278b894ea67ca3da6507e3b52a5d39cb.htm

Africa Goal on Al Jazeera

2010-06-28T01:02:00.000-07:00

AlJazeera English — June 24, 2010 — The World Cup may be the biggest story in Africa, but for many who live there, getting to see a game is not always easy. Charity organizations are giving some of the continent's most remote communities the chance to watch games on a big screen -- as long as they watch an HIV/ Aids awareness campaign video first. Al Jazeera's Zeina Awad reports from a screening in Mtiba, a fishing village in Western Kenya where HIV infection rates are among the highest in the country.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iov83HYFZyE

Beyond Profit Magazine

2010-06-28T00:58:00.000-07:00

TWITTER “SOCIAL ENTERPRISE OF THE DAY”

POSTED BY LAUREN ZANOLLI ON JUNE 23, 2010

All eyes are on the World Cup and South Africa. According to UNAIDS, 80 babies in South Africa are infected with AIDS during the time it takes to play one 90 minute match. This week we bring you five socially-minded enterprises and campaigns playing off the immense popularity of soccer and momentum of the World Cup to further HIV/AIDS prevention in Africa.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Social Enterprise of the Day – Africa Goal Campaign

Africa; Non-Profit

The so-called “AIDS Highway” runs along the eastern coast of Africa and earned its unfortunate moniker thanks to the demand for transactional sex from long-haul truckers along this route. The Africa Goal Campaign (AGC), in its second World Cup mission, chose to focus on the eastern highway from Nairobi, Kenya to Johannesburg, South Africa to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS. The premise is simple: the AGC team goes between small villages, many with very limited access to outside media channels, to screen short educational programs on the virus during screenings of World Cup games. The program draws on the immense popularity of the sport—and the tournament—to gather the community and educate people about HIV. It’s a smart targeting tactic—the largest sector of the football (or soccer, depending on where you are) audience is aged 15-49, the same subset that is also most affected by AIDS. AGC also pairs up with local NGOs to disseminate culturally relevant materials on HIV/AIDS education and prevention.

2010-06-21T10:45:00.000-07:00

June 8, 2010. Africa Goal (Jacob Holmsgard) featured on Danish Radio: http://www.dr.dk/radio/

Africa Goal links up with Africa United!

2010-06-03T06:22:00.000-07:00

We are excited to be linking with Steve Bloomfield’s book Africa United, which has just listed by the New York Times as one of this year’s best books about the World Cup.In Steve’s words the book is not an encyclopedia of African football but “It’s the story of how Africa has been shaped by its football and how Africa is now shaping football.”

Here in the introduction Steve gives a synopsis of the beautiful game in the continent and the importance of an Africa based World Cup:

Africa is a continent in flux. In the first decade of the twenty-first century Africa has been through more changes than at any time since waves of independence swept across the continent fifty years ago.

Football has been at the forefront of Africa’s recent changes. Players such as Côte d’Ivoire’s Didier Drogba and Nigeria’s Nwankwo Kanu have become global stars. Think of a famous African and the names that come to mind tend to be political leaders or footballers. Mandela and Eto’o. Mugabe and Essien. Those players have found fame in Africa, but they have made their fortune in Europe. The success of Africa’s footballers in Europe reflects the economic difficulties the continent still faces. Few African countries have clubs rich enough to be able to afford the sort of wages that Drogba or Adebayor can earn in Europe.

In most cases, though, African league football is of a poor standard. Despite the continent’s love of africa united the game, crowds for local league matches rarely get above a few hundred, particularly if the kick-off time clashes with an English Premier League match on satellite television. Football in Africa often reflects the political and cultural struggles that a country is experiencing.

For decades African footballers have been leaving the continent to play their football. Now the world’s best footballers are coming to Africa. The tournament will focus attention on African football like never before. It will also be an opportunity to shine a light on the new Africa. The continent that is constantly viewed through the prism of war, poverty and disease will get a chance to present a different face.

We will be looking at Steve’s analysis in AfrIca United of football in Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa as we travel through the region.

You can follow Steve’s thoughts on the World Cup and football in Africa on his blog

You can also buy his book from Amazon online

Message of Support by Mr. Wilfried Lemke

2010-05-29T03:33:00.000-07:00

Special Adviser to the United Nations Secretary-General on Sport for Development and Peace

Africa Goal 2010

The United Nations considers sport to be a powerful tool to promote education, health, development, and peace. Sport unites people of all social classes, cultures, and religions in a positive and educational way.

As the Special Adviser to the United Nations Secretary-General on Sport for Development and Peace, it is with great pleasure that I offer my support to the Project, “Africa Goal 2010” for one year. The initiative is an extraordinary example of the application of sport as a tool for development and peace-building efforts. Harnessing the opportunity of the World Cup and building on the experience of the implementation of this project in 2006, the Africa Goal Project will combine screenings of the World Cup Football Games throughout the African continent with awareness raising campaigns about HIV and AIDS. In cooperation with local community based NGOs and by providing an enabling platform, Africa Goal, taking on a facilitating role, will support local partners to maximize the potential of the World Cup as a tool for HIV information dissemination. A sustainable effect is assured by exhibiting audio-visual material as well as locally handmade footballs after the tour, creating funds that the communities will benefit
from.

This project exemplifies how sport can be used as a valuable tool to initiate social change and through its activities, contributes to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals. I wish you great success and all the best for the continuation of your exceptional efforts throughout the next year!

Wilfried Lemke
Geneva, 27 May 2010

Under-Secretary-General
Special Adviser to the Secretary-General
on Sport for Development and Peace

http://www.africagoal.com/media/2010-05-27_Message Wilfired Lemke_Africa Goal-final.pdf

Africa Goal Launch Exhibition

2010-05-28T01:38:00.000-07:00

http://zimbabwe.mydestinationinfo.com/en/events/africa-goal-photo-exhibition-27-april-2010

World Cup AIDS Initiative

2010-05-13T04:25:00.000-07:00

The Swazi Observer
by James Hall

By now readers are aware that next month’s FIFA World Cup in neighbouring South Africa is much more than soccer. It is about promoting Southern Africa in a positive manner, for future tourism and investment, and about grasping the once in a lifetime opportunity to build new facilities from sporting to roads. It is also an opportunity to promote public health. A tie-in to the World Cup generates immediate interest for any project, and this week an AIDS awareness initiative was launched called Africa Goal 2010.

According to the Southern Africa HIV and AIDS Information Dissemination Service (SAfAIDS), “The project will harnesses the potential of the FIFA World Cup as a platform for HIV Information Dissemination.” It was launched in Zimbabwe a few days ago. According to SAfAIDS, crowds gathered to watch World Cup matches will come in contact with health information. By screening live World Cup matches on a large screen in rural areas throughout the Eastern and Southern African region, an area heavily affected by AIDS, and combining this with the dissemination of HIV information, Africa Goal aims to share behaviour change information with traditionally "hard to reach" groups in an effective and memorable way,” said a SAfAIDS spokeswoman.

The Africa Goal project was begun four years ago, during the 2006 World Cup. A team of nine volunteers travelled from Kenya to Namibia and back, projecting soccer matches and disseminating HIV information to remote communities. It worked well, and is happening again, starting soon. This year’s African Goal Team is made up of 10 members. During the dates of the 2010 Soccer Showcase the team plans to travel through Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique before arriving in Swaziland before the team’s final destination of South Africa.

At this week’s launch, partnering parties included youth groups, business leaders, diplomats, media practitioners and representatives of AIDS service organisations. They met at the National Gallery in Harare to witness the project launch and exhibition, which featured images of hand-made footballs designed by children throughout the continent, as well as images from the 2006 Africa Goal campaign. Both the exhibition and the project were received with much enthusiasm. In her remarks at the launch, the Ambassador of Canada to Zimbabwe, Barbara Richardson, committed her country to supporting the Africa Goal project.

The government of Canada is one of the major supporters of the Africa Goal Project, together with PSI Zimbabwe and SAfAIDS, among others. It was a major week for Canadian support of AIDS initiative in Africa. At the weekend, the Toronto-based Stephen Lewis Foundation, whose motto is “Turning the Tide of HIVand AIDS in Africa,” hosted along with its Swaziland partner SWAPOL the continent’s first conference devoted to African grandmothers and AIDS, which was the subject of last week’s AIDS LIFELINE column.”

The Africa Goal project will follow the AIDS Highway through eastern and southern Africa, where increased mobility and migration in conjunction with rising disposable incomes and the associated escalation of “transactional sex” (commercial sex, usually involving transportation drivers, migrant workers and other mobile people) along this central transport and trade route have been a major contributor to the spread of HIV in the region.

Soccer has long been followed with excitement in the continent and no other sport has the capacity to draw crowds and attention the way soccer does. Organisers of African Goal have noted that the largest sector of soccer supporters, the 15 to 49 age-group is also the most vulnerable when it comes to HIV. It is for this reason that the Africa Goal team sees the opportunity of reaching this group through the Soccer showcase. SAfAIDS Country Representative to Zimbabwe Monica Mandiki said her organisation would be providing the publications and information to be dispensed at the World Cup game screenings. “We see the Africa Goal project partnership as a way to reach ‘at risk groups,’ which are traditionally hard to reach, with vital HIV prevention information,” said Mandiki.

Africa Goal 2010 will start in Nairobi in June and end in Johannesburg in July. AIDS LIFELINE has sought information from organisers about when and where the Africa Goal team will screen in Swaziland, and will pass on this information to readers as soon as it is available.

http://www.observer.org.sz/index.php?news=13276

2010-05-13T04:10:00.000-07:00

Health Reporter
Zimbabwe Herald, May 12, 2010

The Canadian International Development Agency and the Southern Africa HIV and Aids Information Dissemination Service have launched a project to raise awareness of the pandemic during the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup.

Dubbed the "2010 Africa Goal Project", the programme will cover seven countries.

Speaking at the programme launch recently, Canadian Ambassador to Harare Ms Barbara Richardson said most football followers were aged between 15 and 49, which is also the demographic group worst affected by HIV and Aids.

Zimbabwe country representative for Safaids Ms Monica Mandiki said they were excited to be partnering Cida in this initiative.

"Our target group is children as they are more vulnerable when it comes to this issue. The most exciting thing about this programme is that it is country-specific meaning that every place has its own specific interventions due to differences in cultures," she said. The Africa Goal Project was first launched in 2006 and will cover Zimbabwe, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland and South Africa.

http://www.herald.co.zw/inside.aspx?sectid=18683&cat=1

Africa Goal Project Launch Exhibition

2010-05-03T07:17:00.000-07:00

World Cup 2010
Africa wins, every time you prevent HIV
The Africa Goal Launch Exhibition in Zimbabwe
http://www.safaids.net/?q=node/1317

HARARE, 4 May 2010 (SAfAIDS Media) - It was with much enthusiasm and excitement that the Africa Goal 2010 Project was launched in Zimbabwe last week. The project is an HIV initiative which harnesses the potential of the FIFA World Cup as a platform for HIV Information Dissemination.

Through screening live World Cup matches on a large screen in rural areas throughout the Eastern and Southern African region, the epicentre of the epidemic, and combining this with the dissemination of HIV information, Africa Goal aims to share behaviour change information with traditionally "hard to reach" groups in an effective and memorable way.

Judging by the excitement evoked in guests at the launch by some of the Africa Goal Project materials such as the Vuvuzela, popularised by neighbouring South Africa in the build-up to the 2010 tournament, to be held from 11 June to 11 July 2010, the project will be able to achieve this goal.

The 2010 Soccer showcase will see the rest of the world converge on Africa, where the World Cup is being hosted this year. It is during this period that the Africa Goal team, which is comprised of ten members, will travel through Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Swaziland and South Africa, screening FIFA World Cup matches and sharing HIV information throughout their journey.

Dozens of youths, business leaders, diplomats, media practitioners and representatives of AIDS service organisations thronged the National Gallery in Harare to witness the project launch and exhibition, which featured images of hand-made footballs designed by children throughout the continent, as well as images from the 2006 Africa Goal campaign. Both the exhibition and the project were received with much enthusiasm.

In her remarks to those who attended the launch, the Ambassador of Canada to Zimbabwe, Mrs Barbara Richardson, expressed that Canada was proud to be associated with the Africa Goal project. The Government of Canada is one of the major supporters of the Africa Goal Project, together with the Southern Africa HIV and AIDS Information Dissemination Service (SAfAIDS) and PSI Zimbabwe, among others.vuvuzela blowing

"The team will follow the AIDS Highway through eastern and southern Africa, where increased mobility and migration in conjunction with rising disposable incomes and the associated escalation of transactional sex along this central transport and trade route have been a major contributor to the spread of HIV through the region," said Ms Richardson.

Soccer has long been followed with excitement in the continent and no other sport has the capacity to draw crowds and attention the way soccer does. It is of note that the largest sector of soccer supporters, the 15 to 49 age-group is also the most vulnerable when it comes to HIV.

It is for this reason that the Africa Goal team sees the opportunity of reaching this group through the Soccer showcase.

SAfAIDS Country Representative Ms Monica Mandiki echoed Ms Richardson's sentiments saying SAfAIDS was very pleased to be partnering with Africa Goal in this innovative endeavour. SAfAIDS is a leading HIV information publication and dissemination house in the region and sees the Africa Goal project partnership as a way to reach at risk groups, which are traditionally hard to reach, with vital HIV prevention information.

The Africa Goal project was initiated for the 2006 World Cup by a team of nine volunteers who travelled from Kenya to Namibia and back projecting soccer matches and disseminating HIV information to remote communities.

Due to the success of that project, the team decided to plan for the year 2010.

Africa Goal 2010 will start in Nairobi in June and end in Johannesburg South Africa in July.

SAfAIDS Media Resource Desk
Email: beatrice@safaids.org.zw

Some photos from the event:

Africa Goal materials developed by SAfAIDS on display during the launch

SAfAIDS Country Representative Ms Monica Mandiki

The Ambassador of Canada to Zimbabwe, Ms. Barbara Richardson

The Chairperson of the SAfAIDS Board, Mr. Justice George Smith

Football Donations

2010-04-23T09:01:00.000-07:00

A big thank you to the following organizations for their generous contribution of footballs for 'trading' along the trip

Select Sport
http://www.select-sport.com/script/site/default.asp

Werder Bremen Football Club
http://www.werder.de/english/team/team.php

Alive & Kicking
http://www.aliveandkicking.org.uk/What-we-do.html

Africa Goal Project Launch Exhibition

2010-04-14T11:13:00.000-07:00

The 2010 World Cup is a time to remind ourselves that we can all unite and join together for a specific purpose and, in so doing, can bring about change. 2010 is a landmark year for Africa and, by taking the opportunity to play our part in reducing all new HIV infections, now and in the future, it will also be a landmark year for each of us as individuals, as a community and as a region in the fight against HIV. In the spirit of ‘About Face’, make 2010 the year that you make a difference to HIV prevalence in the region.

Please join us at the Africa Goal ‘Give me the ball and I will make it happen’ exhibition during HIFA from the 27th April – 2nd May 2010 at the National Gallery, Harare to learn more about the Africa Goal project and HIV.

Press Release: Africa Goal Campaign: Using the 2010 World Cup to address HIV issues in Africa

2010-03-25T22:35:00.000-07:00

Pretoria, South Africa, 17 March 2010 (SAfAIDS Media)-For the first time that the World Cup is being played in Africa, the ‘AIDS Highway’ will witness a spectacular combination of the screening of the matches in conjunction with the screening of HIV and AIDS information videos from June 11th to 11th July 2010. From Kenya, to Johannesburg, the ‘AIDS Highway’ goes through Eastern and Southern Africa, where increased mobility and migration in conjunction with rising disposable incomes and the associated escalation of transactional sex along this central transport and trade route were a major contributors to the spread of HIV through the region.

Dubbed the Africa Goal Campaign, the initiative will witness a team driving from Nairobi, Kenya down to Johannesburg South Africa, projecting live World Cup football games on a retractable screen along the journey. The Africa Goal team will encounter a diverse range of audiences and peoples along a route that encompasses key localities in the region with the highest HIV prevalence in the World. Every afternoon or evening throughout the duration of the tournament, with the help of Digital Satellite Television and a projector, speakers, and a DC/AC inverter, the team will screen the live 2010 World Cup games. Before every live game, the team shall screen HIV and AIDS awareness media supplied by SAfAIDS, UN-AIDS and, when possible, by local NGOs. Taking into account cultural sensitivities, the videos will vary depending on the countries and the demographic structure of the audience. While the educational videos will be watched by all the football fans, the largest sector of the football audience is people aged between 15 and 49, correlating with the age sector most severely affected by HIV and AIDS.

In the spirit of the World Cup, the Africa Goal vision is to harness the energy and passion of the games to promote increased awareness about the HIV epidemic which has impacted upon the region so dramatically. The main focus will be mainly on HIV prevention, taking a holistic definition of prevention to include the promotion of knowing one’s HIV status; safer sex practices; positive prevention and acknowledging ART as a component of prevention.

With the majority of the audience not having seen live World Cup matches on a big screen before, the occasion will be a highly memorable one and HIV information disseminated at the games will, therefore, imprint on the memories of the viewers and serve as a vital reminder as to how each and every person must play their part in reducing HIV prevalence in the region.

http://www.safaids.net/?q=node/1266

Michael Ballack's PSA

2010-03-07T05:07:00.001-08:00

Ballack PSA

UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassadors Campaign: Michael Ballack & Emmanuel Adebayor

2010-03-07T05:06:00.001-08:00

UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassadors Campaign: Michael Ballack & Emmanuel Adebayor

Michael Ballack & Emmanuel Adebayor (2nd Version)

2010-03-07T05:04:00.000-08:00

UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassadors Campaign: Michael Ballack & Emmanuel Adebayor Bonuses

Michael Ballack World Aids Day Statement

2010-03-07T05:02:00.000-08:00

Michael Ballack WAD Statement

2010-03-04T10:07:00.000-08:00

Africa Goal HIFA Exhibition

Time:6:00PM Thursday, April 22nd

Location:National Gallery of Zimbabwe

Harare International Festival of the Arts is a six day annual festival and workshop programme that showcases the very best of local, regional and international arts and culture in a comprehensive festival programme of theatre, dance, music, circus, street performance, spoken word and visual arts. Africa Goal is proud to be an exhibitor at this years HIFA Festival. A selection of photos, videos and "DIY footballs" from the 2007 Campaign will be exhibited from April 27th through to May 2nd in the Zimbabwe National Gallery.

www.hifa.co.zw

Africa Goal 2006 Exhibitions

2010-02-08T23:52:00.001-08:00

Godine Gallery, Massachusetts College of Art. "Africa Goal: Give me the ball, I'll make it happen". Multimedia Exhibition. Boston, Ma. Dec 2006.

Village Market Exhibition Hall. "Africa Goal: Give me the ball, I'll make it happen". Multimedia Exhibition. Nairobi, Kenya. Jan 2006

Slater Gallery. Tufts University " Africa Goal: Give me the ball, I'll make it happen". Photography Exhibition. Medford, MA. Apr 2006

2010 Africa Goal Website Launched

2010-02-08T23:40:00.000-08:00

Africa Goal 2010 Website is Launched
www.africagoal.com

Website Photography: Tiana Leakey & Chris De Nogales
Website Design: Maciej Sudra

The 2006 Africa Goal site is now located at www.africagoal.com/archive/index.html

2010-02-08T05:26:00.001-08:00

Africa Goal Travel News Article

Published Mach 2007