AHIP GIANTS: PROMOTING REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH FOR YOUNG PEOPLE THROUGH SPORTS
|
>View discussions about this entry Country: Nigeria
Organization: Adolescent Health and Information Projects(AHIP)
Sport - Basketball
Year the initative began (yyyy) - 1993
Project URL: http://www.ahipnig.org
Positioning in the Mosaic of solutions
What is your signature innovation, your new idea, in one sentence? - The Giants enpowering all through sports
Describe your innovation. What makes your idea unique and different than others doing work in the field? - In its struggle to reach out to young people with different interests in Nigeria, AHIP adapted the initiatives of a group of young persons who were interested in sports and had put together a basketball team. The team were re-organized to become reach tool for young people. The basketball team started in 1993 with only 5 players who volunteer to be training despite all odds before and after school hours as AHIP basketball team. All team members are trained as Peer Health Educators with emphasis on value clarification, self esteem and community mobilization, over 20 topics are treated in the 6 day training. The all ways have more than the required numbers of player. This is to allow the extra members mingle with the crowd and do a one on one counseling and distributing information and educational material to interested audience.
What are the existing barriers, the biggest problem, your innovation is hoping to address/change? - inadequate funding, lack of space, and infact sports is not taken serious in this northern part of the country.
Delivery Model: How do you implement your innovation and apply it to the challenge/problem you are addressing? - All staff, player/team members are trained as Peer Health Educators with emphasis on value clarification, self esteem and community mobilization, over 20 topics are treated in the 6 day training. The team always have more than the required numbers of player. This is to allow the extra members mingle with the crowd and do a one on one counseling and distributing information and educational material to interested audience.
How do you plan to grow your innovation? - by mentoring other NGOs to take up sports as a means of reaching young people and also as ameans of delivering reproductive health packages and also by patnership with bigger/larger organisations/teams. we also would like to have a sport academy,where we could train young people on both sports and healthy living.
Provide one sentence describing your impact/intended impact. - young people chanels your energy towards sports and not violence and they play the play and not abusing drugs or substances.
What impact has your innovation had to date/or what is your intended impact? Exactly who are the beneficiaries? - The program so far has had impact on a lot of young people, it has kept some away from drugs, developed self esteem, reduced violence amongst peers and family members, some learned more about themselves and some kept away from other social vices and the benefactors are young people/adolescents.
A couple of interview with some of the fans shows that AHIP is not only making a name but also achieving the goals it has set out for, for instant:
Please list any other measures reflective of the impact of your innovation? - apart from creating awareness we have also helped a number of people to attain higher status in the basket ball world. we have players who are playing for the the national team; have players in most of the Nigerian universities; have transfered players to various local Nigerian teams;
What are the main barriers to creating or achieving your impact? - inadequate funds,the lack off a gym and the lack off opportunities for the young ones to showcase their talents.
How is your initiative financed (or how do you expect your initiative will be financed)? - we are hoping that from this we could get sponsors
If known, provide information on your finances and organization. - Please list: Annual budget, annual revenue generated, size of part-time, full-time and volunteer staff. annual budget-#6000000(six million Naira) ($60,000)
annual revenue generated-($35,000) size off part time staff-(26) full time staff(6) What is the potential demand for your innovation? - This field has not been completed
What are the main barriers to financial sustainability? - AHIP does its best to sustain the programme with the little it can spare from grants it gets but it has never been enough,as to some times there isnt any funds for the teams.Basically we need bigger and stronger sponsors.
What is the origin of this innovation? Tell us your story. - IT all started at a hood basketball court where we used to play,all schools were on strike so all we had was basketball,it kept us occupied,the director of AHIP(adolescent health and information project) had a son amongs us and she realised dat it was helping her with her child and it dawnd on her that this was a way to keep the young ones off the bstreets,drugs and other social vices.THe rissing stars are currently playing in divisionii,while both the GIANTS and QUEENS came all the way from divisionii and are now playing in the premier league.
Please provide a personal bio. Note this may be used in Changemakers marketing material. - AHIP giants,queens and rissing stars r teams that were developed to help youths and adolescents,it was aimed at keeping the youths/adolescents off the streets,keeping them ocupied.The programme has helped in changing alot of young ones,it has also helped in keeping them away from drugs.
Contact Information:
Usman Bello Garko
Teams manager/outreach officer Adolescent Health and Information Projects(AHIP) (NGO) Discussions about this entry |
Hi Usman,
I thought your reply to the last comment about empowering girls and calling it a "queens team" is really interesting. Could you give some more detail on your specific work with young women and girls? Are there any cultural or social hurdles for girls and sport? Do you have to convince their parents to let them play? How do the parents react to the fact that you are openly discussing sexual health and relationships with the girls and boys? How have you addressed any gender-specific challenges and how are you measuring the effect of basketball on the girls? Thanks in advance for your response.
Astrid Aafjes
Women Win
www.womenwin.org
You've demonstrated persistence and resilience over a fourteen-year period, Usman, and you don't appear to be inclined to over-estimate the impact that AHIP has had. I suspect that you've made an even greater social impact through affecting more lives than you claim. Further, you've done much with very little money with which to work.
It seems as if AHIP's emphasis has changed over the years from first assigning a priority to educating Nigerian youth about reproductive health to now principally combatting substance abuse. Do I interpret this correctly, or have both goals always been equally important to the Projects and its work?
Steve Byars
Marshall School of Business
University of Southern California
enpower all through sports!!! AHIP`s emphasis has not changed,substance abuse is a major aspect when we talk about reproductive health/peer health education. under peer health education we have loads of topics, topics such as HIV/AIDS,STIs,gender and gender based violence,selfesteem,decision making, negotiating skills, drugs/substance abuse among others, taking a critical look at all these and the alarming rate at which drugs and substances are abuse, it is very obvious that they are all interrelated. The indulgence of young people in drugs has either affected or effected other issues. So both goals have to be equally important to our organisation.
Hi Usman,
saince you´re mentioning a "queens" team, I suppose that you offer a girls´program, too. Do you target boys and girls differently, when it comes to rep.health education? Is the sports aspect just a way to get in contact with young people or does it tie in more directly with the sex ed. aspect?
Jasper Nicolaisen
Free University Berlin
University Challenge
enpower all through sports!!!the queens team is a female team,here in AHIP we are gender sensitive so whatever we do we make sure its gender balanced.As for the the sports aspect it is meant not only to get in contact with young people but also to develope their personal skills,their knowledge on sex ed. so they could also share this knowledge with their peers.