Photos

For the Belgium vs France semi-final game, we set up our screen next to the main road in the middle of Kalokol town centre. We were able to attract a good crowd of young males, a vital but hard to reach group in HIV prevention and a key target group for Africa Goal. The event started with enthusiastic reactions to the HIV quiz, creating an energetic vibe with audience members excited to participate in the discussions. We even had couples who had gone for joint counseling and testing volunteering to speak about their experiences in front of the audience. Although the crowd was primarily made up of men, both men and women were encouraged to take part in the HIV quizzes, and young children were involved in easier quiz questions and dance-offs which were appreciated by a cheering crowd. We had information bags containing HIV information booklets, posters, stickers, condoms…

The Croatia vs Russia quarter final was organised by PS Kenya with the District AIDS and STI Coordinator (DASCO) on a football field in Turkwell. Getting to Turkwell required navigating a maze of sand tracks, all the time wondering if we were heading in the right direction but on arrival we were met with an excited and growing crowd. Government devolution and the improved road network in the region since oil was discovered in Lokichar has led to an increase in mobility but also in the circulation of money at community level and an associated rise in inequality. This, according to our partners, is a major factor in the recent rapid increase in HIV prevalence in the local area, rising from almost nothing in 2012/2013 to about 2% today, with the highest rate of new infections amongst adolescents and youth aged 14-24 years. Whilst still relatively low compared to other…

Our first event in the Turkana region was in a communal open area in the centre of Lokichar, a small town which has gained recent notoriety with the discovery of oil – an event illustrated even by the name our hotel, Black Gold. While still a very impoverished town, this recent discovery has seen an influx of visitors and road construction workers, both with relatively more disposable income than the local community. Rapid and unequal wealth creation and distribution has lent itself to the development of a flourishing sex trade and, while talking to the neighbours, we found out we were precisely at the location where local sex workers take their clients. The health services in Lokichar are provided through the Reformed Church of East Africa who provide HIV and family planning services but do limited mobilisation around HIV prevention and testing so there was excitement about the on site HIV testing services…

On Tuesday July 3rd, we set up an Africa Goal event in downtown Kitale in an informal settlement area called Bondeni. A well chosen venue by our partners, PS Kenya and the County AIDS and STI Coordinator, set the stage for a great event; right at the entrance of a slum area, we were able to attract people most at risk of HIV in that area. Poor living conditions, weak sanitation infrastructure and the ease with which infectious diseases are transmitted in high density informal settlements like Bondeni increase vulnerability to ill health. High HIV prevalence as well as high rates of violence and abuse further increase vulnerability, making this an ideal location for an Africa Goal event. Sport in general and the World Cup football in particular creates a non-threatening platform to bring people together for open, accessible and frank discussion around sensitive issues. The partners identified very charismatic youth…

The Africa Goal team was excited to return to the football “stadium” in Mbita for the fourth time, having held events here in 2006, 2010 and 2014. Our first more urban location for this year, the football pitch is a fantastic spot for our events – as we arrived, children were already playing a game of football, though it was temporarily abandoned in the excitement of our arrival and the screen going up. Rainy season in Kenya this year has yielded a lot of rainfall and we were very much hoping it would be over by now but, alas, this event was another where we set up while the sky was flashing with lightning and rumbling with thunder. With the winds rapidly picking up, our screen began to act like a sail and almost took off! Needing a quick ‘plan b’, we drove the Land Rover behind it to block…

Our second island event was held at the K’Ongata fishing village on the island of Takiwiri. The location was right on the waterfront, ideal for unloading all our equipment and – since we set up the screen double-sided – it was visible from elsewhere on the island and the water, a cool way to attract our target audience of fishermen and their families to the event. Surrounded by boats, we even tethered the screen to a sesse canoe on the shore to keep it secure in the winds. A remote settlement with estimated HIV rates of around 25% and above and very little access to HIV information and services, we set up the screen and lights for HIV testing services early, to peak people’s interest and so that testing could begin long before the match. For the most part the audience was quite reserved and the crowd remained quite dispersed,…

Our second event was held in Sena, the main market area on Mfangano Island in Lake Victoria. We loaded all our equipment, materials, bags – and ourselves – into 2 boats and made the crossing from Mbita. After a session preparing materials in the hotel common area, we went over early to check out the event location. After the hectic arrival and set up of our last event, it was very welcome to have plenty of time to set up and talk to the local children who were very excited about the upcoming match. Partners PS Kenya had been mobilising people on the island all day, and many arrived long before the match began to receive HIV testing services, with a steady stream of people queuing throughout the event. Community health workers kicked off the awareness-raising activities with some initial information on prevention of HIV, including an explanation of voluntary…

The Sotik event was quite the nail biter. Whilst stuck in a traffic jam on the Great Rift Valley escarpment road for 5 hours, we all started to wonder if we would make it in time. Amidst great relief, we arrived with half an hour to spare and quickly pulled out all the equipment to set up, only to be faced with the next hurdle as a great clap of thunder signaled the start of a huge downpour. Quickly covering all of our electronic equipment to save it from the rain, we then had no choice but to nervously watch the clock again waiting for the rain to ease, whilst also coming up with several back up plans – including setting up a waterproof screen and arranging to set up under a tent. With just 15 minutes before kick off, the weather thankfully complied and we set about frantically putting…