Kick4Life

Please take a look at a video created by our film production training program, Siyakhona. Breath of Life is a case study into the life of a Kick4Life participant: http://kick4life.org/watch.php?vid=169955

Siyakhona is our new participant-driven social enterprise designed to train our youth in the art of film production. The aim is to provide quality video content for Kick4Life and to provide a sustainable income for youth who are exiting our initiatives. 

You can also have a look at our Siyakhona Blog: http://siyakhonak4l.blogspot.com/.

At Kick4Life Social Enterprise is about empowering our participants with the skills, confidence and opportunities to achieve sustainable livelihoods for themselves and their families, as well as building the long-term financial sustainability of the organization.

Our Social Enterprise activities also have a wider social benefit that contributes to the overall development of the local community. This is an exciting and innovative part of the model - providing tangible opportunities for participants to achieve long-term economic independence that contributes to social improvement.

Links:

• Visit our website

Thank you so much for your support of Kick4Life again in 2012! With the support of the Kick4Life Global family we have been able to reach thousands of youth with a range of care and support services including HIV Prevention, education, re-housing, psycho-social support, health care and employment training.

We are now an operating 501(c)3 non-profit in the US and we are looking to expand our volunteer network across the country. If you're interested in getting involved (or you know someoone who may be interested!) please contact pete@kick4life.org or call 917-678-4584.

Please check out this video that outlines what we got up to this year.

Happy Holidays!

 ICT (Information Communication Technology) has undergone an explosion in Africa, most notably in the area of mobile communications. Internet access is still limited, particularly in sub-Saharan countries and very often innovations in mobile technology have stepped in to fill the gap. In Lesotho many young people do not have an email address, but have more than one mobile phone, although market penetration (currently at 39%[1]) is likely to be heavily twisted towards urban populations.

Kick4life has adopted the use of mobile technology to increase the comprehensive knowledge of young people on HIV and AIDS. The project is also designed to increase uptake of HIV Testing Services and peer counseling, increase ART adherence of participants, and provide easy access to support networks where correct information on HIV prevention and HIV counseling and testing services can be obtained. 

How it works?

Cell phone text messages are automatically sent out to Vodacom Subscribers who currently make up about 70% of the market in Lesotho. The messages are about HIV Life skills education and HIV testing and counseling. Pre and post testing will prove whether such messages can promote changes in attitude and even lead to take actions like going for HIV Testing&Counseling. The project has taken place in 2 stages so far:

1. Question is sent out to the subscriber and they are to respond back with the correct answer; response levels are measured both before and after the release of a key message corresponding to the question.
2. Subscribers are prompted to text in a word ‘HIV’ to the # 54321,beginning an automatic dialogue in which the participant is asked various questions about their testing history, and then offered the service of locating their nearest clinic.

OUTCOME

Over 2 million responses were received in the first few months indicating that many people are reading the texts, are willing to respond, and showing interest in SMS as a means of communication. In broad-spectrum the figures showed a good increase in correct responses after the key message had been released, suggesting that the campaign had been successful and there is an increasing knowledge level on key topics such as HIV transmission, prevention and treatment. 

Given the encouraging early successes of the campaign, Kick4Life are now investing in developing a more robust software platform to help further develop the project and make it easier to create more specific campaigns for different audiences in the future. Let us all join hands in transforming lives for the better, from all different parts of the world whether you're a company, organisation, a football club or individual you are welcome to support us in achieving our mission. For more information check our website www.Kick4Life.org and feel free to get in touch.