Stories from the field

I am a Zambian girl; my name is Jude Zulu and I am 18 years old. In school I only went up to Grade 6. I come from a vulnerable family of 6 children.

I am very active and interested in sports, I play football in the Never Give Up Football League and I run in the Never Give Up Cross Country Circuit. My dream is to become a coach in the future for the upcoming football stars.

I love sport and I think it is very important for many reasons:

  • I enjoyed sports from my childhood, it is life to me,
  • it is in my blood;
  • Football and any other sport can speak any language in the world,
  • it helps you communicate with other people,
  • it has no borders, no boundaries;
  • Sports strenghten the body, it also helps to broaden the mind in terms of thinking;
  • Excercise helps preventing some diseases and it keeps the body strong;
  • Sports can also allow you the be recognized at a local and international level;
  • Through sport, someone can receive help for education, sport and employment.

Know your status!

BENEFIT OF GOING FOR AN HIV TEST!

  • When you know your status, you will be able to plan your future.
  • If you test positive, you can take measures to avoid passing on the HIV virus to your unborn child or baby.
  • When you know your status, you will avoid passing on the infection to others and getting re- infected yourself.
  • Knowing your status will help you get treatment when you need it.
  • When you are HIV negative, you will take steps to remain negative.

VCT Match at Kafue Day: Need to know!

A team from Comet Champs came to Kafue Day on Saturday 5th May to provide Volunteer Counseling and Testing. Part of the Never Give Up Football League program is the sensitization on HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness, so the presence of VCT made the peer educators` activities even more special and relevant as the participants and the spectators could find out their HIV status. Need To Know bands were distributed to all those who accessed the VCT. Most football players left the ground proudly wearing the band, excited and empowered thanks to the counseling and advice received by the peer educators and counselors. Regina Chipwele, coach of the Chiparamba team as well as Kafue Day ground coordinator, reports: “We appreciated the presence of Champs who were doing the VCT. The youths after being advised on abstinence willingly went for testing of their status. Well done organizers!”

“Football integrated with life skills” workshop on 7th, 8th and 9th July 2010


 

What an amazing workshop! Fantastic! Very Good! Very interesting! Entertaining and educational! Wonderful!
These are only some of the comments from the Coaches who attended the workshop on Football Integrated with Life Skills held by Pearson and Kizito from Sport in Action.
The workshop was a three day of total immersion in all things football and life skills. After the morning theory session, the coaches jumped, ran, kicked at Matanda ground for the afternoon practical session.
On the last day, they also had the chance to put into practice the newly acquired skills by coaching some of the young players of Never Give Up who were very willing to try some new fun and educational drills.
A huge thank you goes to the two amazing facilitators, Kizito and Pearson, who excited and thrilled the coaches with their knowledge and enthusiasm! Let`s give them a KALABANDA clap!

Tackle Africa: Sinem coaching the girls


“You are APPLE; you are WATER; you are EXERCISE; you are SLEEP”, Sinem tells the Under 12 girls at Matanda ground. It is a game which uses a football drill to promote a healthy lifestyle.
Sinem is an amazing volunteer coach from the UK, in Zambia with her organization Tackle Africa. The girls from Matanda ground were very happy to have this great opportunity to meet her and learn new games and drills. The Under 18 girls learned a drill which requires great precision and team work from a football point of view, but it also teaches about positive living.

Sinem is now back in her home town of London, but the all of Never Give Up wants to thank her for giving us such a fun Sunday afternoon