Soccer
players
tackles
AIDS
in
Africa
""
,
Grassroots
Soccer
has
players
teach
children
about
HIVAIDS
.
'
By
Alex
Gillett
The
Martlet
(University
of
Victoria)
VICTORIA
(CUP)
Imagine
having
your
sports
hero
be
your
elementary
or
middle
school
teacher
for
two
entire
weeks.
For
some
children
in
Africa,
this
dream
has
become
a
reality
thanks
to
a
non-profit
organization
called
Grassroot
Soccer.
Founded
in
2003
by
American
Tommy
Clark,
Grassroot
Soccer
uses
professional
soccer
players
and
other
role
models
as
HIV
educators
for
African
children.
Clark,
who
spent
part
of
his
childhood
in
Zimbabwe
and
later
returned
to
play
professional
soccer
there,
conceived
of
the
idea
for
Grassroot
after
watching
many
of
his
friends
and
teammates
in
Africa
die
from
AIDS.
After
Clark
returned
to
the
United
States
to
attend
medical
school
in
1998,
he
began
recruiting
many
of
his
U.S.
teammates
to
help
him
create
Grassroot
Soccer.
Three
of
those
friends,
Kirk
Friedrich,
Methembe
Ndlovu
and
Ethan
Zohn
(you
might
remember
him
from
Survivor:
Africa),
became
co-founders.
In
2003,
the
program
was
piloted
in
Zimbabwe
with
14
professional
African
soccer
players
teaching
the
curriculum.
With
help
from
the
Bill
and
Melinda
Gates
Foundation,
Grassroot
expanded
into
Zambia
and
Botswana
in
2005
and
will
soon
exist
in
South
Africa
too.
The
innovative
Grassroot
curriculum
is
designed
to
break
down
the
stigma
associated
with
HIV
AIDS
and
to
educate
African
youth
and
communities
at
large
about
this
disease.
Educators
often
use
games
to
help
get
their
points
across.
For
example,
in
a
game
called
"Find
the
Ball,"
one
team
passes
a
soccer
ball
behind
their
backs
while
another
team
tries
to
guess
who
has
it,
illustrating
that
it
is
impossible
to
tell
if
someone
is
HIV-positive
just
by
looking
at
them.
"Grassroot
Soccer
has
in
its
four
years
of
existence
already
graduated
some
125,000
Africans;
we
hope
to
reach
millions
by
the
time
the
World
Cup
comes
to
South
Africa
in
2010,"
wrote
David
Harrison,
a
Grassroot
representative,
in
an
e-mail.
Harrison
noted
that
Grassroot
has
also
carried
out
projects
in
other
African
countries,
including
Namibia,
Ethiopia,
Liberia
and
Lesotho,
in
partnership
with
other
organizations.
Cont...
p
19
College
of
New
Caledonia
-
CNC
ion
18