The balls...
Alive & Kicking make cheap, tough, repairable footballs, netballs and volleyballs using African skills and African leather. Each carries a message about HIV/AIDS and malaria.
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Alive & Kicking is a charity. We need your help, please.
You can donate money or give a ball.
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Partner organisations
We coudn't provide the services required without the invaluable help of these organisations...
Alive and Kicking Zambia
Alive & Kicking's unique model utilizes the power of sport to raise awareness about health issues, provides jobs, and produces a product which brings universal joy to all those who come into contact with it - a ball. Cheap, easily damaged balls are kicked around in the dust by many children in Africa. Others make their own balls from plastic bags and string. Alive & Kicking wants all kids the opportunity to play with real balls, so following the success of our Kenyan operations, we turned our eyes to Zambia. After being in production for a year, Alive and Kicking Zambia is going from strength to strength.
Our Supporters
Alive & Kicking Zambia has donated over 12,000 balls through support from DHL, Spar, Sport in Action, MTN, Coca Cola, Shoprite, Camfed, RAPIDS, Zambian Airforce, Zambian Malaria Foundation, Zambeef Plc, and Zamleather. A&K Zambia has also distributed 1,158 balls to primary and secondary schools in Zambia through donations from Good Gifts and the Canning Charitable Trust.
Our Health Programme
The leading cause of mortality and morbidity in Zambia is malaria, affecting 4.1 million and claiming the lives of 50,000. It is responsible for one quarter of childhood deaths. The HIV/AIDs epidemic in Zambia is one of the worst in the world - 1 in every 7 of the adult population is living with HIV. TB also continues to be a major health threat here, with a co-infection rate of 70% with HIV. Together, these diseases overwhelm the Zambian health system.
Alive & Kicking is providing access to simple yet effective health education by stamping our balls with preventive health messages relating to HIV/AIDS, malaria, and TB.
To raise health awareness when balls are donated by Alive & Kicking, in partnership with Right To Play we have trained 3 of our stitichers as peer health educators. These stitchers visit schools around Lusaka, personally donate balls, play HIV focused games, and give brief talks, in the local language, on the risks to young people and how they should avoid them. Our peer health educators are also leading an awareness programme for our stitchers. 
Alive & Kicking Zambia recently joined 3,000 children from 20 community schools in Lusaka for a day of inter-community school athletics and health education. 'Kicking Out Malaria and HIV/AIDS' was the theme of the day. Our newly trained Peer Educators talked to groups of children about these serious diseases. We also donated 30 footballs to the participating schools.
Zambia News
- The Great Football Giveaway from the UK are on course to donate 2,000 Alive & Kicking balls in Zambian schools in October 2008. Watch this space for more information.
- The Zambian Malaria Foundation have ordered 50 World Malaria Day footballs to use in tournaments throughout the country.
- Zambeef have bought 1,500 balls for donation as part of their Healthy Living school programme. Using a 'healthy living' truck to travel around the country, Zambeef is attempting to raise children's awareness about nutrition through a series of fun activities and food donations.