By Curtis Gardner | Team Leader
What used to be known as the Maseru Street League has now evolved... say hello to Women4Women, the Literacy and Numeracy Programme, and the ReCYCLE project!
Thanks to incredible support from donors, we have been able to successfully run over 20 Street League tournaments. Working with the vulnerable youth in Lesotho has been a learning experience for everyone, and while the Street League certainly was a smashing success and a lot of fun, it was time to go back to the drawing board. After careful consideration of the needs of our participants, Kick4Life has refined it's approach to providing integrated, holistic care to orphans and vulnerable children in Maseru, the capital city of Lesotho. Don't worry - the kids still play a lot of soccer, and we still hold large scale community events through our Test Your Team Campaign.
Kick4Life has developed 3 programs that each attempt to address the needs of Maseru youth. Each programme draws participants from the Maseru Street League, and each programme uses the concepts of interactive, games-based discovery learning and real practical life skills development.
The Literacy and Numeracy Programme is basically like Kick4Life's little library, enhanced with a super sweet Curriculum that teaches youth basic literacy and numeracy skills. The Literacy Centre is open every day, but kids meet every Tuesday to do planned activities and progress through a series of challenges which eventually build towards the creation of real income generating activities for the youth!
The Women4Women programme specifically targets vulnerable women in Maseru. The women meet each week for different topics, such as a guest speaker on nutrition followed by the planting of a garden at the Lesotho Football for Hope Centre. And yes of course, sometimes they play in house football tournaments on the 5-a-side artificial turf pitch!
The ReCYCLE project is an innovative project with huge potential. Vulnerable youth from Maseru, most of whom are homeless, ride bicycle routes to collect recyclable materials from paying customers, using welded trailers on the back of bicycles. The recycled materials are then taken to the Recycling Centre, and all money raised goes towards paying for school fees and/or vocational training for the participants. We currently have about 40 customers signed up for this, but the number is growing each week, and the guys recently started picking up materials at the local mall too. It's as cool as it sounds!
So these three projects form the basis of what is now the Kick4Life OVC Initiative. All participants in all programmes are constantly encouraged to test for HIV in the counselling rooms now available at the Lesotho Football for Hope Centre, and our counsellors and mentors are always looking for ways to reintegrate youth back with families, re-enroll in school, adopt healthy behaviors, and generally provide the support and care that these kids desperately need.
Your support as always is much appreciated and Kick4Life couldn't do what it does without you! Know someone who would be interested in our work? Why not 'Like' our Facebook page and encourage your friends and family to check it out for regular updates on our activities and progress!
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