Learners at the Moses van der Byl Primary School in Windhoek and seven other Khomas schools recently received sports equipment from the United States government-funded Namibia Adherence and Retention Project (NARP).

The equipment includes 100 footballs, 24 whistles, two goal nets, two stopwatches and 20 chess boards.

Acting United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Country Representative, Mark Anthony White, said in a media statement on Friday that the donation is one of seven to six regional education offices across the country, in support of a curriculum called ‘Coaching Boys into Men,’ which helps to prevent HIV infection, sexual violence and early sexual debut among boys aged nine to 14.

White stated that the programme tries to positively affect how young men think and behave both on and off the field and that the curriculum is financed by the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through USAID.

“USAID is happy to be a part of ‘Coaching Boys into Men’, a 12-month effort that will engage over 7 200 boys and assist in preventing sexual assault, postpone sexual debut and avoid HIV.”

Paulus Nghikembua, Director of Education, Arts, and Culture in Khomas, was quoted in the statement as inviting other organisations to follow the project’s lead as part of their social responsibility.

“The donated equipment will be used in primary preventive programme sessions by trained coaches and sports teachers,” he stated.

The NARP initiative has served approximately 37 000 orphans and vulnerable children, as well as their carers, in 18 districts across the Kavango East, Kavango West, Khomas, Ohangwena, Omusati, Oshana, Oshikoto and Zambezi regions since 2013.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency