A New Start

The holidays are over and the schools are back in session. Every Grassroot Soccer program begins with a pre quiz. The pre quiz is used to assess what the children know and think about HIV/AIDS.

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Example questions from pre quiz include; HIV is the same as AIDS? I can avoid getting HIV/AIDS? I can tell if someone has HIV/AIDS by looking at him or her? The quiz is also given at the end of every program to evaluate the effectiveness of the Grassroot Soccer program.

To join the Grassroot Soccer program/team each child is required to sign the Grassroot Soccer contract. The Grassroot Soccer contract is signed by all coaches and students. The contract states that every Grassroot Soccer participant should respect one another, feel comfortable to participate in all activities and share the information they learn in GRS with their family, friends, and community.

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The words contract, respect, comfort, participate, and share are discussed in the classroom. Once everyone understands, the students sign the Grassroot Soccer contract joining the 100,000+ people all across Africa who have already committed to the Grassroot Soccer Program.

After the contract has been signed the students are introduced to the “4 Ways to Stay Strong.” The “4 Ways to Stay Strong” is used to teach kids how to be resilient and bounce back from the hard times in life.

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The support team statement in the 4 Ways to Stay Strong truly touches home to me. My Mom and I always talk about how lucky we are to have our family, friends, church, and the community. Without our family, friends, St Joan of Arc Church, and Westgate community, we would not have been able to bounce back from our loss. My family and I thank you for your support throughout the years and I thank you for the opportunity to help other children in need.