A Small Grant Project Aiming to Make A Difference

Here's a picture of 40 deflated balls, a megaphone, and a volleyball net

At the beginning of this year, I wrote a grant for a girls sports camp from the local elementary school.  I recently received the money for the event and my counterparts and I bought 40 balls, whistles, a volleyball net, and a megaphone.  We still need to buy more things for the program but we were able to get most of it.

Even though we're excited about the camp, my counterpart and I will be really busy the next couple of weeks organizing the activities.  I'll post pictures and more information in a few weeks.

If you're curious about the camp, I pasted part of the grant below.  However, I omitted some information about my school and city for security reasons.

Let the games begin!

August 11th , 2014 will be the commencement of a three-day, all-girls sports camp at Escola
Secundaria PPPPPPPPPP), where ten female high school student athletes
from PPPPP will facilitate activities that will educate female students from a primary school in
the community called PPPPPPPP2. The girls from the elementary school will be between
the ages 10 and 13 and will learn about the transmission process of HIV/AIDS while learning the
fundamentals of soccer, basketball, volleyball, and handball. The student athletes from PPPP
will receive one day of training about the activities that they will lead, including training in
HIV/AIDS education. During the one-day training, the athletes will also design an educational
mural that will illustrate HIV/AIDS prevention practices on the walls of the school gymnasium.
The girls from the primary school will continue to participate in "palestras" sports activities over
several weekends until November 1st, 2014, when they will have their final tournament. The
community will be contributing its covered gymnasium at the secondary school for the event and
the practices that will follow. The principal goal of this project is to provide the community girls
with stimulating, sustainable, and educational activities that involve sports that will maximize
their leadership and team-building skills. Essentially, the objective of this event is to highlight
the connection between participating in sports and collaboratively defeating HIV and AIDS as a
community.


The high school, ********, in which the sports camp will be taking place, is located just
outside of a small city called, ********. This city, which is located in the ******** province, is a
home to ###,### people. Although ******** is quickly developing, many people live in poverty
and women's roles remain traditional. Because ******** has one of the highest number of
people infected with HIV/AIDS in the country at 18% ********, it is pivotal that the youth
in ******** learn about the true facts around HIV/AIDS and debunk the myths about the virus
starting at an early age. The project was first identified by faculty members at ******** who
wanted to implement a sustainable, fun, and educational event for the girls in the community .
They strongly believe that encouraging the young women to get involved in extra-curricular
activities like sports, can reduce the likelihood of them engaging in risky behavior like
unprotected sex. Essentially, the idea is that the emphasis in leadership, teamwork, and
community involvement in sports practice, will warrant high self-worth for the young girls and
will indirectly help prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS in ********.

Community Involvement

The community will be offering its secondary school, ********, 
for the three-day sports camp. Colleagues at ******** participated in planning for the
girls camp that will encourage them to get involved in sports at an early age, so that by the
time they enroll in high school, they have the basic fundamentals in sports and HIV/AIDS
education. It has been overwhelming to see how much the community has been eager to get
involved in the event. My counterpart, ********, has been planning and
organizing most of the sports camp. Also, a woman in the community named ********
has volunteered to give the HIV/AIDS "palestras", as she has experience in educating young
adults and children about the virus. Further, the teachers at the******** have volunteered their
time to help plan and organize the camp event.

The principal desired outcome of implementing a sports camp for girls and the creation of an
HIV/AIDS mural in the school's gymnasium is to encourage a dialogue in the community about
the true facts around HIV/AIDS. Further, the young women spearheading and participating in
the event will challenge gender roles in the community about women being in leadership
positions and partaking in traditionally male-dominated activities. The "palestras" and fun
sports activities at the camp, will be centered around HIV/AIDS education. The female student
athletes at ******** will gain leadership skills and will acquire a solid foundation in sports and
HIV/AIDS education that will be discussed with community members. Ideally, the student
athletes and the girls from the primary schools will learn games that will educate the
participants on the virus that can also be played in the community.

I am hopeful that the camp will encourage girls from elementary schools to pursue sports in the 
future because it will help them develop leadership skills, community involvement, and it will 
encourage them to take care of their bodies.