Nurturing Child-friendly Communities
A football tournament, comprising approximately 100 hundred players, kicked off in the Speyside savannah and recreation grounds, Speyside Tobago, earlier this year. The tournament, which finished in August lasted for over two months and saw the mobilization of the community, as scores of spectators and players came out each game to witness and be part of the most exciting sporting tournament in Speyside in over 10 years. The tournament engaged the entire community as players from the different geographical areas, and even those of surrounding communities, came out to compete in the tournament, geared at fostering community interaction and promoting healthy lifestyles within the community.
Speyside is a slow-paced village of 1,000 inhabitants whose main economic activities are oriented towards fishing and tourism. Despite the serenity of its landscapes, its tourist oriented activities and facilities the community faces some problems that undermine the potential for the positive development of its children and adolescents. Unstructured families, lack of parenting skills and support for parents; an intergenerational communication breakdown in the context of a culture influenced by the belief that children “must be seen and not heard”; not enough youth friendly counseling and guidance on important issues like sex and sexuality or career development; and very limited or non opportunities for structured physical and psychosocial activities. All these factors combined put children and adolescents in Speyside at risk of adopting negative life-styles including poor performance in school and school drop-out, unprotected early sexual initiation, drug abuse and violence.
The football tournament is about more than competition – it sought to give players and spectators a sense of belonging, community and self worth. The tournament, an initiative of the community group, EDACS, is part of a wider effort aimed at building and nurturing “child-friendly” communities through a wide range of initiatives, the main one of which is sport. Speyside is being used as a pilot community for the project - “Nurturing Child-friendly Communities” - a joint effort of UNICEF, ASOP, TTASPE and other supporting agencies. This project is aimed at building the capacity of community members through a number of measures, one of which is the creation of the community group and the introduction of sustainable fish farming, as well as a host of creative and sporting programs; creating a community that is healthy, both physically and mentally, thus suitable to children.
The philosophy underlying this initiative is to prevent violence, HIV and AIDS and other vulnerabilities in communities by building local capacities to support a holistic positive development for children and adolescents with emphasis in sports, culture and communication. For this purpose the Community Based Organization EDACSC - Eastside Dynamic Achievers Culture and Sports Club was created in and trained by a committed group of community members willing to make a difference in the lives of children and adolescents in their community.
Spectators of all ages gathered at the Speyside savannah and recreation grounds to witness history, as this is the first time football has been played in the community at this level in more than 10 years. As one spectator said, “I love football and I think this a good thing – it gives the young fellas something to positive to do, yuh know.”
During a 10 month period children and adolescents were exposed to a variety programs and activities, all with the capacity to transfer positive values and life-skills to children and adolescents, nurturing and providing them with guidance in all spheres of life. The tournament has also brought the idea of social responsibility to Speyside as businesses within the community have lent support for the tournament, sponsoring teams – they too see this tournament as positive as it brings more people, and in turn more business, to the community. One German hotel manager confessed, “I love it! It’s football, and when the people come here they are so happy to know there is football here too… they say the match was fun and it gives them a chance to experience the culture of Tobago.” Not only the business owners in the community who are lending support, but many residents are too; there are the coaches, referees, the MC, a community member who has provided the sound system, and other community members and leaders who ensure that everything goes well and everybody has a good time. The tournament has been very successful as with each game new players are added and more and more spectators take part. The goal of improving the community is slowly being recognized as an attainable.
The tournament is set to begin again sometime later in November this year as the goal of nurturing a child –friendly community continues in Speyside.