In Feb 2016 we established a new partnership with X-SUBA Sport 4 Development Uganda with the aim of enhancing netball amongst communities in Jinja, Uganda.
X-SUBA is a non-profit community based organization based in Uganda using sport and play to educate and empower children and youth to overcome the effects of poverty, conflict and disease in disadvantaged communities of Jinja.
In the last 8 months X-SUBA have done some amazing work in partnership with NDT. They have introduced “connection netball play” which happens every Saturday and community netball on Sundays. In these netball play sessions there has been a notable increase in the number of young people, especially girls, joining in. This has also provided a platform for X-SUBA to reach out on their Saturday life sessions discussing sensitive issues about sexual health, HIV and self esteem.
At the end of May 2016, in partnership with EMCO, AIC, CHAIN and NDT, X-SUBA held a community netball tournament with an interactive sexual reproductive health education activity and HIV testing in the district of Walukuba. Over 60 young women played in the “girls can play” tournament and 140 community members also accessed the free HCT (HIV counselling and testing) services provided on the day by AIC. When they were not playing, the girls and women attended educational sessions provided by CHAIN about sexual and reproductive health. The interactive discussions talked about teenage pregnancies, prevention from STI’s, abortion, family planning and alternative sanitary health options.
Huge thanks to our partners X-SUBA who ran the event with EMCO (Empowering Communities), AIC (AIDS Information Centre) Jinja and CHAIN Africa Initiative and volunteers, young leaders and everyone that put in their effort to make it a success!!
Views of two participants on the day:-
Torach Samtah (aged 18): “I have not ever involved myself in sports for a long time, so I am excited for Sunday”
Kiasagali Getrude (aged 17 ): “I am attending the day because SRH activities are going to be carried out….and I want to learn more about family planning because child birth rates are high and I have only ever accessed these services before through school programmes.”