Huge week in the fight against HIV/AIDS

Hey everyone, I just wanted to share a little about my week and weekend with you. On Sunday morning, please get on google(search engine) and type in, FOOTBALL FOR HOPE, Grassrooot Soccer, Khayletisha South Africa. That way you can see all of the news/press that we got over the weekend and you can read all about it.

I hope that everyone is doing well. I am so excited for this weekend and have been doing so much work that I have been running all over Cape Town for the last two weeks. Last weekend at the Football for Hope Centre in Khayletsha we had the community opening, it went great. I was actually crying when one of the best performance groups came walking down the street singing “Oh Happy Day”. It so amazing to see how passionate these kids are about their dance and I have spent so much time with them the last couple of weeks I can’t wait to see them perform throughout the weekend!!

On December 1st, 2009 (World Aids Day) Nike launched their RED CAMPAIGN. This campaign is NIKE’s corporate social responsibility pitch to help in the Fight Against HIV/AIDS. A small part of this campaign is that they are selling red shoelaces and part of the proceeds go to organizations that use football in the fight against HIV and Aids. Because of a connection Grassroot Soccer has with NIKE we receive part of the proceeds from the sale of each pair shoe lace. Currently, at NIKE Town in London they are running NIKE based GRS video’s on loop, http://inside.nike.com/blogs/nikesoccer/2009/11/30/fighting-hivaids-through-soccer, please check them out, and buy the NIKE “Red Shoelaces”. Buy (Red) Laces

Additionally, here in Cape Town, on December 1st, we held (I organized) a Voluntary Testing Counseling Tournament from 11:00-3:00. This is a tournament where kids play in soccer games, participate in SKILLZ CORE (grassroot soccer curriculum) activities and have the opportunity to test themselves for HIV. In 5 hours we tested 124 people (including myself) for HIV and no one came back HIV Positive. AMAZING!! It was a hectic and amazing day!! I learned so much about how to run one of these tournaments and was blessed/excited that so many people tested in such a short amount of time.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are some of the most exciting days I have ever had. There are so many VVIP coming, the president of FIFA, a bunch of princes and princess from this area, the president of South Africa, and the Chancellor of the US embassy here, just to name a few. It is going to be an amazing weekend and I am so happy that I am in Cape Town to be a part of it. Currently, there are 7 delegate teams here from all over Africa and one from Brazil. These teams have been site seeing and getting to know each other for the last couple of days, and on Saturday and Sunday they play in a soccer tournament to celebrate the opening of the centre. It is going to be a lot of work, pressure, but totally worth it.

It is so amazing to see this whole opening come together. For the last year people have been working on so many different aspects of this opening and the centre itself.This is going to be amazing. I will write ya’ll soon and let you know what happens.
See ya soon,

Sarah