Cape Town

Grassroot Soccer

In South Africa, over 6 million people are living with HIV.

More than one in three are 15 to 24-year-olds, with the vast majority girls and young women. Sonwabise, aged 22, grew up in the Khayelitsha Township in Cape Town and saw many of her friends contract HIV. Disempowered from a young age, girls are particularly vulnerable to infection.

Inspired by this challenge, she joined a group of local women to create Girls First, a project that uses specially-adapted football sessions to spread lifesaving education about HIV/Aids.

Trained as coaches, mentors and business managers, participants are empowered to be leaders and entrepreneurs, reversing gender stereotypes and allowing them to take control of their lives and fight the spread of HIV in their community.