More than 200,000 children in 11 African countries have graduated from the Grassroot Soccer programs, and the program is rapidly expanding, according to Zak Kaufman '08, co-founder of Dartmouth Grassroots Soccer.
The South African instructors are currently traveling across the United States as ambassadors for the program and have recently visited Boston and Washington, D.C.
At the Collis event, the instructors showed students the games they use to teach African children about HIV. In the game "Find the Ball" two teams of seven Dartmouth students stood shoulder to shoulder facing each other. One line passed a ball behind their backs while the other team had to guess who had the ball. Self-named team, Cotton Candy, was able guess which person had the ball, but Team Avocado failed every time.
The ball represented HIV, and the game was used to teach kids that you cannot tell by someone's physical appearance whether or not they have HIV, Siyavuya Ntabeni, a Grassroot Soccer program coordinator, said. Instructors teach children that the only way to find out if you are HIV positive is to get tested, and the tests are available at hospitals and HIV clinics, Ntabeni said.
Grassroots Soccer's activity-based education method is the most effective way to teach children, Kaufman said. The soccer instructors also provide the kids with role models whom they respect and are more likely to listen to, he said.
"Kids learn best when they're active," Kaufman said. "We're not preaching abstinence or condom use. We are arming them with the knowledge and social support network needed to combat AIDS."
Kaufman is currently evaluating the effectiveness of Grassroots Soccer programs in the Dominican Republic for his honors thesis, and said the data has been very encouraging. In some areas, the number of children who believed you could contract HIV by drinking from the same cup of an infected person dropped from 44 percent to 3 percent after they went through the Grassroots Soccer program, he said.
Dartmouth is the biggest college supporter of Grassroots Soccer, according to Kaufman. The international organization was founded by Tommy Clark'92 DMS'01, and its headquarters is located in White River Junction, Vt. Many Dartmouth students have helped raise money by participating in the program's annual Lose the Shoes soccer tournament while others have voted for the organization in multiple online charity competitions that have raised over $25,000.
"Dartmouth has really rallied behind this cause," Kaufman said. "Its exciting to see people take action even if its just clicking on a mouse once a day."
Since its inception in Dartmouth, Lose the Shoes competitions have taken place across the world, with tournaments held in Hong Kong and Vancouver.
"Its a great mixture of fun and fundraising," said Elise Braunschweig '08, co-founder of Dartmouth's Grassroots Soccer chapter.
Grassroots Soccer will be offering a three-month internship in Africa for students for the first time this summer.
