Kilimanjaro climbing guide Frankie Luoga supports WKU team member Theo Mitchell after a grueling climb towards Uhuru Peak.

Imagine this.

It's 7:40AM on a very brisk Saturday morning. Your legs feel like they're going to fall off. Your nose has turned into a leaky faucet. You can't put together a sensible complete sentence and each gasp for air feels like your last. Fortunately, one thing brings you a great sense of solace and achievement: the congratulatory sign that indicates that you successfully reached Uhuru Peak of Mt. Kilimanjaro, the tallest point (5,895m) in Africa.

On February 18th, I  safely reached the summit and conquered Mt. Kilimanjaro for WhizzKids United. In a span of five days, I reached the famed "roof of Africa" by traveling, hiking and climbing through five uniquely different environments. These environments included a rain forest (very similar to a scene from LOST), a heathland, a moorland, an alpine desert and an ice-capped mountaintop. With the help of dedicated expert guides and great friends made along this journey, this climb will definitely be an experience remembered for a lifetime.

In addition to ascending to the top, the fundraising component of this project has also achieved the same great results. With the combination of online and offline donations, the WhizzKids United Health Academy will be receiving over a total of US$1400 to further support their feeding programme for the orphans and vulnerable children of the Edendale community. Furthermore, the Health Academy will also receive additional donated soccer items courtesy of our friends at Earthmother Organic. 100% of all funds and gifts will be delivered to the Health Academy for the children under the aforementioned programme.

Now imagine this.

It's 12:21PM on a warm Monday afternoon. You're sitting in a little garden patio. You watch hotel guests from all over the world walk around and prepare for their upcoming climb. Your chapped lips are recovering from the weekend's strong mountain winds. Your t-shirt feels a little loose because you probably lost nearly three kilograms of body weight. But the smile on your face cannot be erased.

I am graciously thankful for each and every person who helped me along the way in this effort. Whether you donated, spread the word or encouraged me personally, please know that I humbly appreciate your warm kindness. The success of "Conquering Kilimanjaro for WhizzKids United" is a tribute to your heartfelt generosity. So, on behalf of my team in Durban and the Health Academy, thank you for believing in me, this project and our work. Thank you for helping me to conquer Kilimanjaro!

Valentine′s Day Choir

Hello To All Reading this Post,

I would like to give an introduction. My name is Melanie Lane. I am the newest volunteer of WhizzKids United. I arrived last Wednesday from London. 

It was a scorching Valentine's Day for all at the Health Academy. Fortunately, the heat did not deter anyone from all of the enthusiasm and activities of the day. With this being my first experience in Edendale, I was excited to see the facility and all it has to offer. After being there for just a few minutes I completely understood why a place like the Health Academy is so important to the boys and girls of the community. The WhizzKids United Health Academy provides more than just health services, it also presents a very trusting environment where children of all ages can feel safe and cared for. 

As the afternoon progressed some entertainment was provided by the children. A group of young and very talented girls sang traditional Zulu songs. Although I did not know the language they were singing in, I felt as if I could comprehend the lyrics because they preformed with such emotion. I could have listened to the choir sing all day. 

February 14, was a greatly profound day for me. I am looking forward to learning more about the Health Academy and getting to know the children who make it such a significant place. 

Theo Mitchell explains his motivation for climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro and expresses gratitude towards all supporters.

It all started with a conversation over dinner. Four friends patiently waiting for their meals and discussing potential fundraising ideas for WhizzKids United. During our brainstorming session, Lauren jokingly blurted out about how cool it would be if we could climb Mt. Kilimanjaro as a fundraising event. As we all laughed at the thought of scaling the highest mountain in Africa for charity, the idea resonated inside me and I just couldn't let it go. Nearly two and half months removed from that dinner conversation, I am truly proud to say that I will be climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro in four days on behalf of the WhizzKids United Health Academy. 

In the last month, I have prepared for the mountain by exercising consistently in order to build up my strength and stamina. My workout regimen has consisted of going to the gym early in the morning and alternating my focus each visit between upper body and lower body exercises. With my goal in sight to reach Kilimanjaro's summit, my morning workouts quickly transformed into tough two-a-day sessions (going to the gym before and after work). To further spice up my workouts, I also began to play full-court basketball regularly again and added yoga sessions into the mix. Let's not also forget to mention my refusal to get burgers and milkshakes from Steers during my training - probably the hardest part of my training.

But, beside the physical labor in the gym, the outpouring of love and support I received from family and friends worldwide has been tremendous. When I started this project, I established a small target fundraising goal of $1000USD for our youth health clinic. However, the positive response of the project was so overwhelming that I was able to exceed that amount for the Health Academy in a matter of two weeks. At the present moment, I have raised over $1250USD with the gracious help of my family, friends, colleagues and supporters. All of the money donated for this effort will be used to help feed the children that utilize the Health Academy.

I cannot stress enough how appreciative and humble I am of everyone who contributed to this great project. So many people have helped me along the way to get to this point and endorse this cause. Whether it was a donation, using your own social media page to share the news, keeping me motivated or giving gifts for our kids, I sincerely thank each and everyone of you for helping me to conquer Kilimanjaro for WhizzKids United. If you would like to support this cause, then please check out my Givengain page (US) or my Just Giving page (UK/Int'l). But, from the bottom of my heart, thank you all for your kindness in this project.

I'll see you at the top... 

Left Photo: Khumza (2nd from right) attending a camp lecture. Right Photo: Khumza (middle of back row) and Youth Leaders with Mr. Lemke.

It was a once in a lifetime experience being a part of the United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace (UNOSDP) Youth Leadership Camp (YLC) in Doha, Qatar. I never imagined I’d have the opportunity to travel overseas and represent WhizzKids United and South Africa. It was late last year when I sent my application to the United Nations Office for the camp and I was so excited to get the news that I was accepted. Prior to this trip, I had never travelled outside of South Africa. In Doha, I received a warm welcome from the Aspire crew, Mr. Wilfried Lemke (Special Advisor to the Secretary of United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace) and all the facilitators and fellow participants.  

It was an honour to spend the week with Mr. Lemke, the facilitators from Right to Play and other participants from different sub-Saharan African countries and the Palestinian Territory. 

During the week we focused on the 8 Millennium Development Goals and learned great information on how to use sport as a tool to achieve the goals. All of the participants got a chance to present our respected organisations’ practices and how we deliver our message using sport as a tool. I gained a lot from the other presenters, especially about including people in our programmes who are blind and disabled. I also gained some tips on how to write a proposal and how to solve conflict in our communities. Most of all, I enjoyed the sharing of ideas with the participants who came from different backgrounds in sub-Saharan Africa.

Some of the highlights from the week included running football drills with the Liverpool FC players, exploring Qatar, seeing camels, riding in sand drifting cars, going to the beach, and spending time in the incredible Aspire Zone venue. Through these fun activities, I enjoyed the opportunity to experience elements of a different culture (something I never dreamt I’d do!). 

As we know, WhizzKids United uses sport to deliver our message and works to achieve two of the eight MDG's. I look forward to applying what I learned at the camp with the youth here in KwaZulu-Natal. One immediate lesson I want to put into practice is engaging the youths’ parents more often and further promote WKU and the Health Academy’s services. 

Thanks to UNOSDP, Aspire, and everyone who made the camp a truly incredible experience!

Two teams are ready for action prior to their matchup!

I had such a great experience in running the Mixed Gender League (MGL) for the first time. At first, I was very nervous because I wasn't familiar with the coaching. But, after the first week, my coaching skills truly improved.

The MGL kids behaved well and each day they learned life skills and improved their behaviour on and off the pitch. Most of the kids came to WhizzKids feeling shy and scared. But, after a few days, the kids became familiar and opened up to each other. For example, a 16-year old, HIV-positive girl was shy and quiet during the first week. Yet, as time went by, she got used to the other MGL players, played extremely well and made so many friends.

The most important thing that we did with the participating youth was to work with the players before each game to teach them about life skills and health education. I used the WhizzKids United "On the Ball" Life Skills, three session manual which helped me to tie in the sport of football with youth development. For example, I was able to tackle issues such setting life goals and HIV & AIDS prevention through football drills of shooting, defense and ball control. 

We had 8 teams compete in our MGL and three winning teams rose to the top. Each of the three teams were rewarded with medals for their outstanding play. In addition, we also presented a trophy to two of our budding players, one male and one female, for being the leading scorers of our league. The action from the league really made children from the community excited and eager to join the MGL in the future! The MGL kids really enjoyed their experience of learning through the sport of football. And so did I!

8-year old twins Ntokozo (third from left) and Slindile (far right) shine in our Mixed Gender League

The current Mixed Gender League (MGL) at the Health Academy features two new young football stars. In fact, they are the youngest MGL footballers so far. In our picture to the right, you will be able to see 8-year-old twins, Ntokozo and Slindile. You can probably pick them out of their team line-up, standing half as tall as their teammates with football kits a few sizes too big. Regardless, they both have enough heart and hustle on the football pitch to make up for their lack of size and experience- - Ntokozo is even one of the leagues’ leading scorers! 

Ntokozo and Slindile have attended the WKU Health Academy for health services and recreational activities for the past 6 months. Ever since their first visit they have wanted to play football in the MGL. Since the MGL footballers complete a sexual health course in conjunction with the football games, the staff select participants who are at least 12-years old. Fortunately for Ntokozo and Slindile, the Health Academy chose to run an MGL for the youth who will stay in the Edendale area for the school break and have allowed them to compete. 

Every game day Ntokozo and Slindile arrive at the Health Academy with huge smiles, football socks pulled up over their knees, ready to start playing. Last week, the Health Academy staff had the chance to chat with their number one fans, their parents, who came to cheer on their son and daughter. 

Ntokozo and Slindile’s mother told us how thrilled they were about the opportunity to play in the MGL: 

My son and daughter are so excited to be playing on the Swallows team this season. The first day of the MGL, my son received his football kit. He was so anxious to show it off. After leaving the Health Academy that day he went straight to his grandmother’s house to show her the kit and tell her about his MGL team. After visiting his grandmother, he came home. It was a raining evening so my husband and I were sleeping. Ntokozo came runnning into our room to wake us, wanting to show us his football kit and tell us all about his first game and how he scored 2 goals. He wanted to know when we were going to come give him support and my husband and I promised we would come to a game. We as parents are very happy about him. 

Just another feel good story that is testimony to the impact the WKU Health Academy has on the youth and families of Edendale! 

Some of the many friends from throughout Africa that I made in Ethiopia

At the end of November and early December I had the privilege to travel to two great HIV & AIDS conferences. The first was the Social Aspects of HIV & AIDS Research Alliance (SAHARA) Conference in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. There, I presented the results of an evaluation of our On the Ball programme in Northern eThekwini, which generated a lot of interest. The highlight of this conference, for me, was viewing a pre-screening of a new film called Inside Story which follows the life of a young soccer player as he tries to cope with the pressures of his career and life, including HIV.

After returning from Port Elizabeth, I headed straight off to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for the International Conference on AIDS and STI's in Africa (ICASA). This was a much larger conference with nearly 10,000 delegates from over 100 countries attending. I presented a 90 minute skills building workshop entitled, Quantitative Methods for Evaluating Behavioural HIV Prevention Interventions, which was attended by about 100 people and was very well received. I have identified that there is a skills gap in statistics within the field of HIV & AIDS research in Africa, and I hope that this workshop contributed to diminishing this gap. The notes from this presentation can be downloaded from our Downloads page.

I benefited greatly from attending this conference, partly because some of the leaders in the struggle against HIV & AIDS were present and I was able to hear a 'big picture' perspective on the epidemic. These leaders included former US President George W. Bush, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, and numerous other dignitaries. Another reason I benefited from this conference was the chance to meet and network with people from many African countries about their projects and programmes. I made friends from many countries including Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Côte D'voire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. I was also able to get to know Dr. Bob O'Neill better. Bob is the Chairman of the Canada Africa Prevention Trials Network (CAPTN) of which we are a member.

It was also my first time to visit East Africa so it was great to experience another African culture. The conference was very busy from dawn to dusk so I didn't have much chance for tourism, but was able to visit a local restaurant, a traditional market, as well as an Ethiopian Orthodox Church.

I want to extend my thanks to CAPTN as well as the sponsors of both conferences for covering my expenses and thus allowing me to attend these two enriching events. I have come back to Durban with a lot of new ideas, energy and contacts to follow up with, and am confident that these will ultimately translate into better programmes for the beneficiaries of WhizzKids United!

WhizzKids gathering together in celebration.

The 9^th of December was an exciting day for the youth of Edendale as it marked the final day of the school term and the start of summer break. The WKU Health Academy was filled with even more excitement for the youth, as our WKU staff, Edendale community members, and WhizzKids gathered together to commemorate World AIDS Day and reward the healthy behaviour of the WKU Health Academy youth with a Christmas Party. 

It remains debatable amongst the youth as to what was the best part of the event. One main highlight of the event was a visit from Martizburg United Football Club. The youth spent an hour performing football drills under the direction of Martizburg United coaches and players. Read more on their visit in our previous blog. 

The event also featured three special guest speakers. A young gentleman living with HIV, presented a powerful message on building a healthy relationship with an emphasis on partners getting tested together. Sipho Hadebe from the School of Agriculture, urged the youth to be independent and avoid being lured into making bad decisions based on the three c’s: cash, cars, and cell phones. The final speaker, Nditsheni Mudau from FET College, informed the youth on alternative education options and motivated them to continue their studies regardless of obstacles. 

Amid the excitement from the event’s guests, the attendees also enjoyed a delicious, hot meal. The Health Academy staff worked tirelessly in the kitchen starting at 6AM, cooking large pots of chicken and mutton curry and numerous salads for the 400 attendees of the events, including youth, parents, business representatives, and school teachers. We owe a huge thanks to Green Farms Academy and FIFA for their generous sponsorship of the event’s catering needs. 

And of course, it wouldn’t have been a Christmas party without gifts! Christmas gifts and certificates were presented to the WKU youth who received HIV Counselling and Testing and utilised the Health Academy sexual health services for the past year. Doctors from Edendale Hospital graciously donated 350 gift bags for the WhizzKids and Martizburg United Football Club gave complementary game tickets. 

Despite the overcast weather, it was a beautiful day of celebration amongst the youth and Edendale community, honouring the healthy lives the WhizzKids lead. It was incredibly transparent from the smiles on the faces of the youth and community members that it was a great day. WKU graciously thanks all who contributed to making it a successful event!

Now, it’s time for all in attendance to go forth with the holiday spirit and empower others to lead healthy lives!

Maritzburg United (all standing in the rear) collaborates with WhizzKids United for a fun-filled day with the children.

On December 9, 2011, Premier League football club Maritzburg United teamed up with WhizzKids United to celebrate its HIV youth programme in partnership with the Edendale Hospital in Pietermaritzburg. The event commemorated the success of the Health Academy and rewarded adolescents who attended the youth-friendly clinic throughout the year and successfully adhered to living a positive and healthy lifestyle. Over 400 guests, including school principals, business leaders and local students, attended our function and contributed into making this an incredibly successful event.

The players from Maritzburg United that joined the festivities were Rheece Evans, Byrone Hendricks, Kurt Lentjies, Kulegani "Chillies" Madondo, Michael Morton and Jabulani "JB" Ncubeni. In addition, goalkeeper coach Ronnie Kanalelo and second assistant coach Ashwin Sutton were also present for the event. The players and coaches not only congratulated the youth of the Edendale area but also provided coaching tips on how to improve their football skills. Sutton supervised all the on-field activity as Madondo, Lentjies and Kanalelo led the dribbling station for the children. Evans and Morton worked on passing while Hendricks and Ncubeni focused on headers.

The team also participated in a ceremony which rewarded the youth for their dedication to living positive and healthy lives. The players and coaches of Maritzburg United handed out certificates, distributed gifts and exchanged hugs and high-fives with the award recipients. Each WhizzKid received a holiday gift bag that included a complimentary ticket to the upcoming December 17th home game against the Jomo Cosmos in Pietermaritzburg. And to everyones delight all attendees were given a complimentary ticket to Saturday's game as well. This event marked the second time this year that the club joined WhizzKids United to stress how football is greatly beneficial for youth development.

The youth of the Health Academy loved Maritzburg United and enjoyed every single moment with the professional footballers. The ability for these children to interact and experience this great group of athletes and coaches in their very own community is what made the event truly special. Thank you to Maritzburg United for not only contributing to the success of our event but also for making a great impact on the children and community of Edendale.

Incredible play takes place at L.D. Matshego Primary on November 29, 2011.

Last week Stefan and I traveled north to Rustenburg to work with our Life Skills trainers and host tournaments for four different schools. A total of 684 children played in our tournaments while a countless amount of students watched daily from the sidelines. Each day presented us with the opportunity to learn more about each school, interact more closely with teachers and principals and have fun with the participating children. But my fondest memories of the week were the moments when the children became fully absorbed with the sport of soccer. In these moments, you could see firsthand the love of the game.

Every morning began with the same routine: organizing groups of teams in a World Cup-like fashion. But, once the whistle blew, the children were enthralled in the action of their games. You could often see bodies colliding when dozens of players attempt headers on soccer balls that were out of reach. Shoes flying off of kids' feet when trying to strike the ball for a goal. Faces grimacing and yells of frustration when either shots were inches away from scoring or goalies missed a key save. However, once goals were scored, then it was pure jubilation for one side and utter devastation for the other.

The intensity only picked up once the knockout rounds began. Due to the heat of the moment and the day, beads of sweat ran down players' heads as many male players took off their shirts and played in just their colored pullover bibs. Many boys and girls alike would forgo playing in shoes and just keep going in either their socks or barefoot; not even thinking twice of playing on dirt surfaces with few patches of grass and sharp rocks. At this stage, many matches were decided by shootouts that showcased those who could rise above pressure and perform in truly clutch moments that led to award-winning play.

Every day, champions were crowned and achievements were recognized. But, you couldn't erase the smiles off of the children's faces. Like all of our tournaments, every child received a medal. But I could feel their enthusiasm heightened even more once I placed a medal around their neck. It was a feeling that satisfied me and validated my work at the end of each day. My colleague and I were exhausted once we returned to Durban from our weeklong trip but we witnessed firsthand the passion that lies within the sport.

A huge thank you goes out to the following: Lekwakwa Primary School, L.D. Matshego Primary School, Rutanang Primary School, Paardekraal Primary School and our Rustenburg Life Skill Trainers (Buang Mokoatsi, Elsie Nolekwa, Moeketsi Sello and Sello Hlongwane).