Mathare Youth Sports Association
In Their Own Words
MYSA use sport, combined with community outreach and development activities, to give young people like the skills and confidence they need to aim higher, achieve more and improve their lives. MYSA is run by and for the young people who take part in its activities, and gives everyone the opportunity to dream of a brighter future.
Our Partnership
TackleAfrica have worked with MYSA since 2010, training and supporting local football coaches in Nairobi. A number of these coaches have already qualified as facilitators and since December 2012 have been running TackleAfrica courses themselves with the support of the charity. The local facilitators have been training other local coaches in the city and reaching even more young people with potentially lifesaving HIV education.
Joseph Jagero: MYSA Staff Member
“I first trained as a TackleAfrica coach in October 2010 so I know a lot about the programme. We have just completed the first stage of our level 2 course as well as having facilitation training. I believe the TackleAfrica programme is making a big influence in our community. Football drills encourage people to listen and it is easy for the coach to pass on information without having to stop play and talk about HIV separately. Not only do the players have fun, the coaches enjoy the drills too, no one is bored.
Although talking to someone about HIV is important I don’t think it is enough. It is easy to switch off so when you are learning you need to be active at the same time. You find that players will remember things from TackleAfrica sessions much more. They are playing games with HIV representations in them so it’s easy to highlight important messages again and again without players getting bored.
There are a number of good programmes that teach HIV through sport but TackleAfrica is different. Young people need to develop as people and as football players and the TackleAfrica drills allow players and teams to develop over a long period using real football drills that address real skills and strategies.”