No question that SPORTS are at the heart of everything that Kids Play does: we love teaching kids in our Let’s Play! program in Rwanda how to spike a volleyball, hit a home run, dribble a soccer ball and pass a baton. However...as much as we love teaching kids how to excel ON the field (our founder, Tracy Evans, is a 3x Olympian, so no surprise!), we really love using sport as a tool to teach life lessons that can be used OFF the field.
Kids Play's SPORTS for Life values are the foundation of our Let's Play! community sports education program and our Girls Dream Big empowerment program.
Here's what those SPORTS values are all about!
- S: school – importance of getting an education
- P: physical fitness – leading an active and healthy lifestyle
- O: opportunity – equal opportunities for both girls and boys
- R: respect – for yourself and others
- T: teamwork – achieving more by working together
- S: self-esteem – building confidence in yourself and your abilities
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| Warming up before our Let's Play! program |
In our Let's Play! program, after the kids take a warm-up lap around the field, we gather in a circle and discuss one of the SPORTS for Life lessons. We focus on just one lesson every week, which gives our in-country coaches the chance to engage the kids in a two-way conversation and get them thinking about how they can use the lesson in their own lives.
So, SCHOOL...why is it one of Kids Play's core values? According to UNICEF, physical education has been shown to improve the learning performance of kids by increasing school attendance and the desire to succeed academically. One of the UN's Millennium Development Goals is to ensure that by 2015, children everywhere - both girls and boys - will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling. While many African countries are getting close to achieving that goal, there's still a problem with kids - particularly girls - starting, but then not finishing, school. More than 30% of primary-school students in sub-Saharan Africa drop out before graduation.
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| Tracy and the kids taking a break from the field |
We use our Let's Play! program to address the problem by engaging the kids in discussion and reinforcing the importance of staying in school. Kids Play also identifies kids who are not in school and provides financial sponsorship so that they are able to complete their educations.
We agree with UNICEF: sport is not just an end in itself, but also an effective tool to help improve the lives of children, families and communities!
We’ve got volunteer trips to Africa on the books for May and June of next year, so come check out our programs and our SPORTS for Life values for yourself!
Til next time!
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