Namibia
Nawa Sport - Behavior Change Communication for Men
Activity Dates
2005 and ongoing
Activity Summary
Results from the participatory learning assessments highlighted the low level of HIV/AIDS knowledge amongst the men's groups, particularly the group 24 +. To address this, HCP initiated Nawa Sport, a health program featuring a series of activities that encourage young men to explore issues relating to HIV/AIDS and to gain the necessary skills to lead healthy lives such as critical thinking, communication, self-esteem, and decision-making, among others. The program combines a series of goals and sportsmanlike competition to motivate behavioral change based on HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention among young men. It is an opportunity for them to experience these behavioral changes both collectively as a team and on an individual level. Nawa Sport activities are led by role models in the community, for example, soccer coaches, teachers, professional soccer players and young leaders.
The overall objectives of Nawa Sport are to increase HIV/AIDS knowledge, address stigma and gender, promote HIV/AIDS services in the community and promote a healthy lifestyle. The anticipated outcomes of this initiative are that young men adopt safer sex practices, get tested for HIV, feel empowered through knowledge and understanding of HIV and become active role models in their communities.
Implementation
HCP has developed a Nawa Sport curriculum, adapted from Sports for Life ®, with which identified coaches are trained to become Nawa Sport coaches. After the training each coach receives a Nawa Sport training kit, which includes a Nawa Sport bag with all the necessary training and M&E tools in it and a Nawa Sport coaches T-shirt. Each coach is then responsible for training groups of young men in their community using this 12-session curriculum. To date HCP has trained 60 Nawa Sport coaches, who in turn have reached over 1,000 young men with this dynamic program. At the end of each training, Nawa Sport graduates receive Extra Time, an HIV/AIDS workbook using soccer as an analogy for learning, as well as a small Nawa Sport backpack.
To encourage Nawa Sport graduates to continue playing soccer and sharing their newly learned HIV/AIDS knowledge and soccer skills with their friends, HCP supports Street Soccer Squads. These are small, informal groups of young men who get together to play soccer to practice their skills, have fun, talk about HIV/AIDS and keep fit. Through a sign-up cards issued to participants at the end of the Nawa Sport training, young Namibian men can become part of this movement and receive the Extra Time Newsletter, which has exclusive soccer stories, training tips from professional coaches and advice on how to stay healthy. This newsletter also informs its members of NLT organized events and competitions.
Materials & Tools
Audience
Men 24 – 35
Partners
AED and a Namibian NGO
Back to Namibia
Note about materials: Some of the materials and resources listed on each page are available in their full form, others are represented by image or citation only. For more information and resources, go to www.jhuccp.org
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