Abduli, Cedar Tanzania’s Field Officer, shares his important role in the village of Kamanga. He is part of the SASA! team that works to address the sensitive issues of gender based violence in communities and he leads our TackleAfrica project, which strives to educate young people about the issues surrounding HIV/AIDS and sexual health.
HIV Awareness Campaign in Nyamatongo Ward
In Tanzania, like in most Sub-Saharan African countries, HIV/AIDS is a major public health concern. The worldwide majority of 68% of HIV-positive people live in Sub-Sahara Africa with the highest prevalence in East and Southern Africa. In Tanzania, 1.6 million people are living with the virus, whereby women are more affected than men. In order to address this severe health issue, Cedar Tanzania implements a number of projects in Nyamatongo Ward. Read more about Tackle Africa and our annual event commemorating World AIDS Day
After several community members as well as local leaders approached us to further support the education of the community around HIV/AIDS, we have developed and implemented an awareness campaign from October to December 2019. In collaboration with the Community Health Workers, our Field Officers Jacqueline and Consolatha conducted interactive community dialogues in 14 locations across the whole ward, covering all hamlets. Our aim was to demystify the virus, inform about the transmission and prevention of HIV and offer free testing on-site, provided by Dr Neema from KHC. This should contribute to the overall goal of a more informed and open society which empowers people living with HIV/AIDS.
In total, 547 community members attended the dialogues whereby 325 received Voluntary Counselling and Testing services. In order to understand the increase in knowledge after the dialogues, baseline and endline surveys were conducted.
One of the highest increases were found for the question “Can breast-feeding transmit HIV from mother to child?”. Before the dialogue only 67% of participants knew that indeed, breas-tmilk is among the fluids that transmits HIV. After the dialogue, 89% knew the correct answer. Additionally, the community learned that HIV cannot be transmitted through mosquito bites, saliva, shaking hands or kissing. Another focus of the dialogue was the prevention of transmission which can be supported by condom use and Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision. Before the dialogue, only 61% of participants knew that Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision reduces the risk of contracting HIV. After the dialogue, this number increased to 87%. Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision is offered at KHC and is proved to reduce the risk of female-to-male transmission by 60% (Source: unaids.org).
Moreover, the community was informed about the fact that, once infected with HIV, it is more likely to contract other diseases. The scores increased from 77% to 89%. The community learned that antiretroviral treatment can increase life expectancy of an HIV-positive person significantly and that the treatment is available free of charge at KHC.
All in all, the results were really encouraging as, on average, 84% correct answers were given after the dialogues. The knowledge of participants increased significantly in all areas: transmission, prevention, intimate partner relations as well as HIV-positive status. Nevertheless, we need to continue our efforts in the fight against HIV and are currently exploring additional methods to reach even more community members. If you want to support us in this endeavour Take Action
Match day in Kamanga!
After the holiday break Cedar Tanzania started sporty into the new year. On the 18th of January 2020, we hosted the Cedar Tanzania-TackleAfrica tournament for all our coaches and young players who are participating in the initiative which combines football with sexual and reproductive health and rights education.
The Cedar Tanzania team was off to an early start: crossing Lake Victoria from Mwanza to Kamanga together with tents, chairs and a sound system. Some coaches and their teams were already on the pitch warming up when we arrived. You could feel already that the teams were keen to start playing–and eager to win. To make it easier for the teams who live far to reach the field, a small bus was hired to pick them up and bring them to the pitch. Due to heavy rains and soaked soil, the bus got stuck next to the pitch – fortunately, the driver managed to pick up all teams before he got stuck.
When all 14 coaches had registered their teams with 20 players each – a total of 280 participants – the first of 18 matches of the group phase was kicked off. Throughout the day, the Cedar Tanzania team raised awareness on the importance of knowing one’s HIV status. Because once someone knows that she or he is HIV positive, they can receive proper follow-up care and benefit from life-prolonging antiretroviral treatment. To that end, a dedicated team from Kamanga Health Centre offered free voluntary counselling and HIV-testing services all day long. It was a huge success with 218 people tested, mainly young people participating in the programme.
The whole Cedar Tanzania team participated in the tournament, everyone was involved in one way or another. Our Accountant Steve and Project Manager Dylan demonstrated their skills (and stamina!) as referees, our medical volunteer, Dr. Vasanth, was able to follow-up on his regular profession by supporting us as First Aider and most importantly, our Field Officers, Abdul, Wakili and Mussa, did a great job in coordinating the event from linesman to lunch.
After 18 matches the group phase was over and eight teams remained in the fight for the championship. The games were only interrupted by a herd of cows and goats that were led to their respective feeding grounds – with a shortcut through the playing pitch. Whilst the matches were being played, the bus was still stuck in mud, even after multiple attempts to pull it out by various other vehicles. And as the day went on, the poor driver managed to dig the bus even deeper into the ground.
In the late afternoon, the two finalists were determined: Kamanga A United against Mkolani FC. We saw a thrilling final that was only over after penalties and won by Mkolani FC. The winning team was rewarded with brand-new football shoes from adidas who generously donated them to Cedar Tanzania. The players accepted their prizes with proud smiles and celebrated their win with loud chants. After a long day, Cedar Tanzania’s Field Officer Abdul, who was the man in charge of keeping the ball rolling that day, concluded: “It was exhausting, but everyone seemed to have fun and to enjoy the day. So it was absolutely worth it.”
In the end, even the bus driver managed to get his bus out of the mud, with the kind support of a community member and his truck, and was able to return all the kids back safely to their homes.
Football in ACTion
We have set our goal, and we are almost halfway there already. We are NOT stopping until we get all the way!”
- Nina Hjortlund, Founder and Managing Director, Australia for Cedar Tanzania
The 1st of July Australia for Cedar Tanzania launched ‘Football in ACTion’. Our goal is to be able to take 400 teenagers through a full year of sexual health education taught using football drills.
We are using Tackle Africa’s amazing format that we did a pilot on last year over a 3 month period.
This year we are building and expanding on those experiences training 20 local coaches in the specific methodology and specialised drills utilised in the Tackle Africa programme.
We don’t just teach in between breaks in a football game. We use the specialised football drills as visual aids to exemplify consequences of good versus poor decision making, whilst creating a safe and welcoming environment to discuss and ask about sensitive subjects.
Sex, menstruation and Sexual Transmitted Infections (STIs) are not often spoken about in families in Tanzania. HIV/AIDS is now the biggest killer of Tanzanian adolescents between 15-24 years old. Young girls get coerced into sex in return for gifts or favours and this has resulted in high teen pregnancies. In Tanzania, a pregnant teenage girl can no longer continue her education.
STIs are not a subject that is widely spoken about and as a consequence most teenagers don’t know the symptoms or how to effectively prevent themselves from getting them.
Many teenagers have no knowledge about menstruation and what it means, and some girls get shocked the first time it happens to them. Oftentimes young girls miss out on school while having their period due to lack of hygienic washrooms and lack of affordable pads.
Football in ACTion changes the level of knowledge and encourages all participants to know their HIV status. Only once your status is known is it possible to seek counselling and treatment, and learn how to prevent passing it on to others.
Changing the lives of these young boys and girls begins with you! Our goal doesn’t come without a price tag. It costs only $30 to take one teenager through this programme for a full year. Our goal is to raise enough money to take 400 children through this programme which amounts to $12,000
With you, and other fantastic supporters, we are nearly halfway there. If you, your neighbour, your work colleagues, your nephew or aunty, your school class or local soccer club would like to help us reach our goal you can do so by supporting us here:
https://chuffed.org/project/football-in-action
Every time you sponsor three children you can choose to get a ticket in the draw of our two amazing prizes:
A Juventus 2018/19 team signed t-shirt including Ronaldo and Dybala
A Manchester United T-shirt signed by Beckham