GlobalGiving.org: Sports for African children with Disabilities

July Activity: Inclusion Through Disability Sports

Ian McIntyre — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 07:00:19 GMT

The Kids League - A-League participant

The Kids League Report for the Inclusion through Disability Sports (IDS): Activities Undertaken in July

The month of July was the turning point for the project in terms of fulfilling its objectives. On 9^th July the season activities began in earnest. The season started after a lot of hard work had been done by the partners within the schools and the above. Prior to 9^th July there was an exhibition week of intense training to show the public about the IDS project in the District. The following activities were carried out during July.

ACTIVITIES

Arranging the children into teams for the various games/sports undertaken
Delivering coaching sessions to the school teams alongside their coaches
Visit to Nwoya District to exchange them memorandum of understanding between GDPU and the local government
Drafting formal letters for the schools to clarify the schedule of the season

Children from the schools in the programme have been taking part in various games like wheelchair basketball, volleyball, boccia and showdown during the competitive weekend activities – which have formed the official league aspect of the project. However, other games like goalball, football and netball are being introduced at practice sessions during the week to show how they can be adapted for children with disabilities. This is good preparation for future seasons as these activities will not be entirely unfamiliar when they are incorporated into the programme, perhaps in September. They can also be used in addition to the current sports when we do advocacy work in schools with able-bodied children to create awareness in the community about disability.

Season logistics: the basketball, volleyball and boccia leagues all comprise four teams, and the competitive activities take place at the GDPU centre.

After the refresher training courses the coaches were familiar with what they needed to do, in terms of delivering quality training for the children involved in the programme, and in and for promoting the activities in their schools/communities. This has been sustained through further guidance during the first weeks of the programme Also delivering the training schedule for the wheel chair basket ball training at GDPU centre.

CHALLENGE IN THE MONTH.

The number of children who are participating in the sports activities (be it training or competitive games) and interest levels in the project have gone beyond what was initially expected. We need to manage expectations and set out a clear guideline for the number of children who are involved at any given point. The exact number of participants will be clarified before the next season starts. This will be done through consultation with the TKL head office in Kampala, the TKL coordinator and GDPU.

There is currently no money set aside in the budget specifically for refreshments (water) for coaches and participants during the activities. We are trying to get around this within the budget but a specific allocation for future activities would be helpful.

June Activity: Inclusion through Disability Sports

Ian McIntyre — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 13:46:44 GMT

Gulu Coaches learning Sign Language

During this month different activities were conducted which were in line with the project objectives.

ACTIVITIES

Delivery of the refresher training course for coaches
Follow up of the coaches
Scheduling of the training programme in schools
Mobilisation of the coaches.

On 10^th June 2011 the refresher course began at the GDPU centre. Twenty coaches attended the activities over two days, with discussions taking place over skills already acquired by the coaches and new ideas that will help in handling forthcoming seasons. Attendees included Fred Semakula ( GDPU co-ordinator), Ojok Patrick (GDPU Field Officer). Simon represented the Visually impaired department. The training was facilitated by Michael Aloya and Jill of TKL. The main outcomes of the training were as follows:

Different skills/ideas for coaching various games with children with disabilities were covered. This included ideas for sports such as volleyball, football, showdown, goal ball, wheelchair basketball, netball and Boccia
Discusssions took place about the necessary communication skills required when dealing with children with disabilities
Discipline among the coaches was highlighted as a top priority in the project
The overarching goal of advocating the rights of children with disabilities through sports was considered, and how the Gulu project could best achieve this
There was also a discussion of LANGUAGE used while with the children with disabilities during sporting activities

In the two weeks following the training course TKL travelled to meet the various coaches at their schools to see if they were using the skills/knowledge acquired. As a result of these follow-up consultations the training course can be considered a success as most of the coaches had begun some mentoring processes with the children, talking about various aspects of the games that will be tested during the project. For example, children at Mother Teresa Primary School and Laroo Boarding Primary School were already practicing football, while at Gulu Primary School their children were already enjoying the showdown and the goalball games.

The Project Coordinator also emphasized that the project should promote strict adherence to respecting the rights of the persons with disabilities.

Coach Training: Learning Boccia

Links:

The Kids League website

One Year On

Ann Dudley — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 17:47:48 GMT

Licensed to Play Sports!

In the first year of this project we are deligted to report that 55 coaches have been successfully trained and 80 disabled children have been able to participate in sports leagues in Kampala.

In the coming year we hope to expand the training to coaches in Gulu a town in Northern Uganda where The Kids League conducted its first leagues back in 2003 in the days when a rebel army was abducting children as young as 5 years old into its ranks.

Gulu suffered 20 years of war ending in 2006 and a whole generation grew up in Internally Displaced People's camps. As these people go back to their traditional villages they face many challenges not least of all because they no longer have the skills to farm the land.

There is an increased number of children born with disabilities in conflict zones and some children are injured as direct result of war (eg by land mines). This migration from IDP camps to farms in Gulu District has had particular consequences for children with disabilities who have been left behind until the farms become productive once again and food supplies have been estabilised and stabilised.

So as we move our interventions up to the north, please help us to train coaches and put on some fun and healthy sporting activities for these children by donating to our cause!!

We will be eternally grateful and so will they!

Links:

www.thekidsleague.org

Update March 2010

Ann Dudley — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 09:56:31 GMT

Now a year into our A League project 55 Level one coaches have been trained to deliver Adapted Sports programmes for children in Kampala. Ten Level 2 Coaches, selected from the most committed of those coaches completing Level 1, have been undergoing training and assessments to reach Level 2 as a Trainer.

During the first year 80 children have been offered sporting opportunities which might never normally have come their way and one lucky girl has been selected to go with her able bodied friends to the Football for Hope Football Festival scheduled to take place alongside the World Cup in South Africa in June/July this year.

This project gives hope and builds aspirations in all children who are disabled showing them that they too can succeed whilst enjoying themselves. The advocacy role they as individuals play in educating their communities about the abilities of children with disabilities, is vast.

In this coming year we hope to reach out into the rural communiites in Uganda's former conflict zone where there are many additional children disabled because of war who could benefit enormously through this project.