May 2008 Soccer Leaders Against Malaria (SLAM)

As part of our effort and Friends of Play Soccer Malawi (Dr. Bob and Mary Stewarts) based in Scotland managed to collect 580 ITNs. ITNs from the Ceilidh Proceeds and 500 ITNs donated by various well wishers will be distributed on June 16th, African Child Day, to 1080 families, through our participating children from Bangwe, Chigumula and Ndirande Play Soccer sites. It is nice to see a number of people wearing our End Malaria - Blue Ribbons, in an effort to help and keep a promise to eradicate this deadly, yet preventable disease.

Continuous training and community mobilization which started in February 2008 with the beginning of the End Malaria Blue Ribbon Campaign is indeed adding value to our core curriculum especially the children’s contact time with their families and communities….it is making a positive impact and the bearing is going to you all, Dr. Bob and Mary Stewarts of Friends of Play Soccer Malawi, Dr. Mary Galinski and Esmeralda Meyer of Malaria Foundation Int., and John Heathcote for UK Schools links with Malawi Schools partnership to be established soon.

Our Soccer Leaders Against Malaria (SLAM) are getting ground and our ultimate goal of “ENDing MALARIA” may one day be a reality. 

Play Soccer Malawi celebrates WMD 2008 by bringing malaria education to communities

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PLAY SOCCER MALAWI KICKS OFF THE END MALARIA-BLUE RIBBON CAMPAIGN IN BLANTYRE

The End Malaria-Blue Ribbon big campaign involving Blantyre City, commercial capital of Malawi finally kicked off on March 14th, 2008. There was jubilation dancing and celebration from all the people from all walks of life, Children themselves; Youth and or Students Leaders Against Malaria especially the Blue Ribbon Clubs, Mothers; Nurses, Doctors and Board members, in short our Students who organized fully participated in the initiative….
The first place to enjoy the fruits of Blue Ribbon End Malaria campaign is a place called Makhetha, a slum with over 1 million people. The SLAM of this area organized all under 5 children together with their mothers at their under 5 clinic. Here speeches were delivered by the community leaders and also by the Play Soccer Malawi, Country Director. Thereafter ITNs were distributed to each child accompanied by its mothers who regularly attend the under 5 clinics…..Lectures on the prevention and control of Malaria were also undertaken….see the photos
 
The next destination was a SLAM called Bangwe which has population of over 800 000. Here our Blue Ribbon Clubs of Play Soccer Malawi also participated in the initiatives…they distributed nets to all the mothers with newly born babies and also distributed the ITNs to our children of Play Soccer who were doing the distribution. The function took place at Namatapa Health Centre.
 
The climax of the day took place in Ndirande a slum with over 1.5 million people. Here the ITNs were distributed at the Health Centre and individual mothers led by the Board Chairman of Play Soccer Malawi, Mr. Walter Nyamilandu Manda. He explained to the gathering at the clinic the importance of clearing swamps, sleeping in treated nets all year round and how people can detect early signs of Malaria
From Ndirande clinic; activities were held at our site in the same area to mark a new era in malaria fight. Children recited poems, songs dealing with malaria, competitions on defending malaria (Football Defending Skills with a defender and no defender i.e. representing a child sleeping with and without an ITN concept) Mr. Nyamilandu Manda was also present at this function together with civic and community leaders. All in all Blue Ribbon End Malaria campaign is here to stay in Malawi. This event was carried on both Televisions, Radio stations including local reporters of BBC and VOA and not forgetting in our local newspapers. 

Board Chairman-Walter Nyamilandu Manda

Chiefs & Leaders

 Director of the Clinic

 Media Time with board Chairman

PD ndirande Under 5

Community Blue Ribbon club

Games on malaria-Defending

Is This true?

Mother's Bed

Mothers of Play Soccer Community in Bangwe

Quiz Time

Smiling Faces

Yellow Card to malaria vs. Kick Out Malaria

Patricio Kulemeka from PSM is interviewed by Peter Kanjere from The Nation, a daily newspaper in Malawi.

On March 18, 2008, Mr. Kanjere from THE NATION, one of the major newspapers in Malawi (circulation of 90 000 copies a day) interviewed Patricio Kulemeka, the Country Program Director of Play Soccer Malawi. They discussed the organization's involvement in the fight to End Malaria, mosquito nets and its partnership with the Malaria Foundation International.

SOCCER SERVING SOCIETY
   
Football has, without doubt, acquired a role in the politics of modern society. Many people, however, who regard the world as better place to live in, think that there is little more to football than simply kicking a ball. Malaria, HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis continue to rage, yet one of the most popular sports of the Malawian society has been underused. 
   
Together with the End-Malaria Blue Ribbon Campaign, the Play Soccer Malawi organization hopes to spread the message through the Student Leaders Against Malaria network to tackle some of the world's most complex issues. PARTNERSHIP is therefore a key word in this strategic approach to social and health responsibility. Football can be a strong associate for humanitarian organizations and social programs and at the same time, football needs partnerships to be able to grow and to be successful in helping those in need. The world of football, therefore, provides an incomparable umbrella under which different interests can be brought together for the good of the society. Implementing the End Malaria Blue Ribbon campaign through all the soccer bi weekly sessions in Malawi will add -value to our activities, especially when we are focusing on diseases that kill many children across the globe. The FIFA QUOTES “MAKE THE GAME BETTER, TAKE IT TO THE WORLD AND MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE!” and for the good of African children, access to and participation in sport is a human right and essential for all individuals of all ages to lead healthy and fulfilling lives and Global Peace Games are an important part of this effort.

Together we will be promoting fair play on the pitch and -- the society in general; concentrate efforts on program in areas of health, peace, the rights of children and youngsters, the fight against poverty, disease etc to improve their livelihoods. All may see a child as the point of entry of new outlook into human life. These children have a manifesto to achieve. It is also an experience that teaches us that we, as rule, are what we have made ourselves into, first in youth, and then in our fulfillment of adulthood. Becoming leaders against malaria is a rare opportunity to build that confidence by giving this targeted age group to have lifetime skills and as result we are going to eradicate malaria. In short, the SLAM will become a school of life for the youth of Malawi and the End Malaria campaign brings an added bonus of well being, with this strategic alliance, which Play Soccer Malawi is proud of, much more it will shine like a light in the dark.

November 2007 GLOBAL PEACE GAMES

The Global Peace Games were successfully conducted in all our three sites of Bangwe, Chigumula and Ndirande on Saturday 24^th November, 2007. Activities for Bangwe and Chigumula commenced in the morning from 8.00 A.M. simultaneously in both these sites.

A lot of activities took place. These included matches between boys and girls in the age group of 8,10,12 and 14 years along with Volunteer Coaches/Communities teams other activities included drama and poetry recitals. This year theme was centered on the fight against malaria. Play Soccer believe that the youth can be effective agents of social change. Malaria continues to wreck havoc in our communities claiming a lot of lives of people. However, preventive measures can be easily adopted to control the disease. This year with the support of the Malaria Foundation International and its Students Leaders Against Malaria (SLAM), we incorporated the End Malaria - Blue Ribbon educational Campaign. As an outcome of the educational brigade in all three centers,  our youth, volunteers and community leaders are busy going around clearing bushes, filling swamps with soils in order to control the breeding of mosquitoes which spread the malaria causing parasite.

At Bangwe alone over 5,000 children led by chiefs and their parents participated in these activities. It was fascinating to see children dramatizing on the dangers of malaria and also why uncleanliness of the environment can also be the recipe of this deadly disease. It was observed that the children are aware of the dangers of malaria. In addition the community leaders committed themselves to join the efforts of the fight against the disease. Also at Chigumula over 7,500 participated in the event as well.

After the tournament, in Ndirande, political and community leaders, and parents converged at Makata Primary School to witness the occasion. Here events included sack race, apple eating competition, needle race, acrobatics, netball between our volunteers and a visiting team, under 7 football games between boys and girls, and also women soccer. Over 10 000 children participated in the event at Ndirande. Political and community leaders committed their efforts to promote peace through the fight against malaria. They commented that although Malawi is not under civil strife, diseases like malaria are the ones disturbing their peace. 

In the communities, the UN and FIFA messages were read in English and translated version and signing of manifesto was done with 22,500 signatures collected and a Handshake campaign will run up to December 24^th 2007. Other participating organizations included Malaria Foundation International, Sport 4 Life, Special Olympics and Primary Schools within the communities.

The following pictures were taken during the event: 

For more information about Play Soccer Malawi, please visit the Play Soccer website, click on Global Peace Games.

Patricio Koleni Auxensio Kulemeka, Country Program Director

P O Box 31899 Chichiri  Blantyre 3. Malawi

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