The human body needs more than sport

It needs information. It was for this reason that on the 23rd of May 2009 CEDEJ arranged a workshop for the young girls from the ladies football team in Kavimvira to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS and sex education.
The photos you see here were taken in Kavimvira during the workshop. Kavimvira is one of the 14 districts which make up the city of Uvira. The district has a population of less than three thousand, the majority of whom are young girls. The ladies football team in this district has been helped by CEDEJ since 2008. The help consists of providing material support (such as balls, whistles, tickets) and moral support through awareness and education.
The team is made up of 30 young girls aged between 12 and 20. It includes young girls who have talent but are sadly lacking the equipment (kit, boots, balls …..)

The African traditions and religious beliefs observed in our society are a major obstacle to sex education. In our families, talking about sex is taboo, which means young girls do not know enough about HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases (STD) and sexually transmitted infections (STI). In the course of this workshop we noticed that few of the participants had enough information about using male and female contraception. During the discussion, a young girl called KANEKEMBO Dada asked this question: “How can you see if someone is infected with HIV/AIDS?” What this question actually shows is that too many people don’t test themselves to see if they are HIV positive.