Deportes Para la Vida (Sports for Life)

This summer I had the opportunity to work with the professor of physical education at Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos giving talks about HIV/AIDS prevention and sexual health education. we had a group of 17 participants aged 10 to 14. Why HIV/AIDS prevention and why would I be working with a physical education teacher you ask? Well, let me back up a bit and tell you more.

During our first ten weeks of Peace Corps Training, we learned about a variety of programs that already exist in the DR and in which we could participate or develop in our site. HIV/AIDS prevention is one of the driving forces behind funding here in the peace corps DR, therefore programs that educate youth on HIV/AIDS prevention are popular. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) website in 2009, in the world there were an estimated 33.3 million people living with HIV/AIDS, including 2.5 million children under the age of 15. In 2009 an estimated 1.8 million people died worldwide, including an estimated 260,000 children under the age of 15. Here in the Dominican Republic, WHO in 2007 estimated that 71,000 people were living with HIV and an estimated 3,300 children were living with HIV. During our Peace Corps Training, we were given information that suggested closer to 1.8% of the Dominican Population is living with HIV/AIDS. With a total population of 10,090,000, this would put the HIV/AIDS estimate closer to 180,000 people. It is difficult to get an accurate read on the number of cases of HIV/AIDS in the DR based on a variety of reasons including stigmatization of the disease. In the Dominican Republic individuals are 6 times more likely to contract HIV/AIDS than in the United States.

While sexual practices in the DR may be improving, the society has a reputation of promiscuity and infidelity and the use of contraceptives is also stigmatized. I write this neither to pass judgement on the country, culture, the people nor society of the Dominican Republic. I am writing this to give you a background and context to the situation here. Not all Dominicans are promiscuous nor are all husbands/wives cheating, however the general likelihood that this would pass is much higher here than it would be in most parts of the United States. The danger with this type of behavior could be a rapid spread of HIV, making it a worse situation than it already is, which is where the Deportes Para la Vida, (DPV) program comes into the picture.

DPV was started as a grassroots program in Africa, Grassroots Soccer, Because soccer is the most popular sport around the world, the developers of the program used games and soccer drills to break the myths, stereotypes and stigmas of HIV/AIDS amongst youth. The program in the DR was started as a pilot in 2005 specifically to work with at risk population sin Bateys, Haitian immigrants, Dominicans of Haitian descent and Dominicans. Within the past year, the Peace Corps partnered with the Deportes Para la Vida program and has offered two trainings to volunteers and youth counterparts.

Back in March of this year, both Phoebe and I attended the second training for DPV with our community counterparts. I am working at an orphanage therefore I was able to bring two members of the community; employees, with whom I thought I could work to develop the program for the kids and staff at the home. This summer, we started our initiative with our target group of 10 to 14 year olds at the home. We had a group of 17 kids, 9 girls and 8 boys who completed the program. Working with the kiddos was excellent, but working with the physical education teacher was a the most rewarding experience. Seeing how well he was able to pass along the information to the kiddos, use the games and curriculum of the DPV program to teach HIV/AIDS awareness, I truly believe that we could be making a difference in the lives of youth at the home.

Partnering with the physical education instructor was suggested to me by the Peace Corps because often the youth do not have much organized nor structured learning in the physical education courses. DPV is made to be fun, interactive and educational; perfect for a gym class. The kids we taught are now not only more conscientious of how to support members of society with HIV/AIDS, but also they have learned ways in which they can live their lives in a healthy manner.

We are planning to continue the courses this fall and hope to work with the 7th, 8th, and 9th grade classes at the orphanage. Gym class will now be educational!