Girls United Program Girls United Program  

Kick4Life aims to address health and wellbeing issues for young people in Lesotho through the empowerment and education of young women and men.  

Women and girls in Lesotho face significant challenges relating to their health and wellbeing. A staggering 86 per cent of women have experienced gender-based violence and HIV prevalence amongst women is 29 per cent.   Girls United will use sport to challenge gender discrimination and empower young women aged 15-19 in the Maseru District of Lesotho with strengthened knowledge, leadership and confidence. Participants will include survivors of gender-based violence, sex workers, teenage mothers, youth living with HIV, and people with diverse sexual orientation, gender identity and expression and sex characteristics.   

With the support of the Australian Volunteers Program Impact Fund, this project will:

• support 300 girls to participate in a 12-session curriculum covering: sexual and reproductive health gender-based violence life-skills development
• refer 100 young women to external health and protection services including HIV testing and counselling, emergency shelter and mental health support
• support 50 vulnerable participants to join the Girls United Support Network, with access to dedicated counsellors, knowledge sharing and resources
• deliver 12 mixed-gender tournaments involving 300 young women and 300 young men to promote gender equality and challenge gender discrimination. 

Work and Learn Smart  

Thuso E Tla Tsoa Kae Handicapped Centre is a boarding school in Botha-Bothe, Lesotho, dedicated to the development of children living with intellectual and multiple disabilities.   

Around 90 per cent of the students at the boarding school have communication disorders and cannot express themselves well.   This project will provide assistive devices to facilitate a smooth interaction between students and their peers, teachers, parents, and the community.  

With the support of the Australian Volunteers Program Impact Fund, this project will:

• identify the assistive devices that are required by students, such as a smartboard, Go Talk, Switch, reading device or laptop
• purchases the devices
• engage the device suppliers to provide training to teachers.  

Bringing Two Worlds Together: Community-Based Rehabilitation for Children with Disabilities in Lesotho  

Touch Roots Africa is a non-profit, human rights-based training organisation specialising in child protection and psycho-social support programs.  

In Lesotho, more than 4 per cent of the population are living with disability, and about one-third are under 15 years of age. Children living with disability are less likely to attend school the rate of violence and sexual abuse against children living with disability is ten times higher than those without disabilities, especially for girls. Compounding the discrimination are negative parental attitudes which underestimate the capacity of children living with disabilities, and a lack of specialised care workers.   

This project will deliver a community-based model of rehabilitation to support children living with disabilities and offer respite for their families.   

With the support of the Australian Volunteers Program Impact Fund, this project will:

• deliver a community-based rehabilitation model using trained volunteers to work alongside parents to provide regular in-home sessions, emotional support and respite care
• mobilise targeted families to come together in parent support networks for mutual support 
• conduct a sporting day between children with hearing and speech impairments at mainstream schools to provide an opportunity for social interaction 
• contribute to the fight for disability inclusion within families, schools, communities and government by countering negative and uninformed attitudes and behaviours. 

Girls United (Operational)  

Kick4Life is a football club and social enterprise changing the lives and long-term prospects of vulnerable young people in Lesotho.

The Girls United program uses sport to challenge gender discrimination and empower vulnerable young women to lead healthy and successful lives. It supports 300 young women through a 12-session curriculum covering sexual and reproductive health education and life-skills development. Girls United also facilitates referrals to health and protection services, mixed-gender football tournaments and ongoing support for participants via the Girls United Support Network.  

With the support of the Australian Volunteers Program Impact Fund, this project will: 

• strengthen the program’s monitoring and evaluation activities
• provide the necessary IT equipment for the implementation of the project 
• deliver training for core operational staff members including finance, administration and HR teams 
• contribute to overheads and utilities including electricity and internet access, to support the effective and sustainable running of the organisation.  

The Gracious Gardener 

The Thuso-Tla-Tsoa-Kae Handicapped Centre will provide a new greenhouse for children living with a disability to grow vegetables. Participants will learn gardening skills which they can use in their villages once they graduate from school, promoting social inclusion.  

‍The project will be managed by a teacher at the Thuso-Tla-Tsoa-Kae Handicapped Centre. With the support of the Australian Volunteers Program Impact Fund, the project will include: 

• construction and maintenance of two greenhouses for growing vegetables from seedlings  
• teaching students to plant, water, weed and harvest the garden 
• producing vegetables to feed children at the Centre and sell the surplus to the local community
• teaching students marketing skills for selling vegetables. 

The project will provide participants with vocational and marketing skills that will help them to contribute to their communities and to be more resilient. 

Youth climate action in Lesotho 

Kick4Life will empower young people in Lesotho to strengthen their knowledge, advocacy and leadership skills on climate action. Participants will develop sports-based tools on climate change education. They will deliver sessions to their peers on reducing land degradation, water preservation and promoting biodiversity.  

With the support of the Australian Volunteers Program Impact Fund, this project will develop and deliver: 

• sports-based tools for climate change education 
• an advocacy plan to promote climate action in Lesotho, including media coverage and working with partner organisations 
• a climate action plan for the Kick4Life Centre and its operations including planting and nurturing indigenous trees and shrubs, implementing new water preservation and energy saving measures. 

The project is designed to give young people a voice, build awareness, share knowledge and provide a platform for action on climate change. This will be the first project of its kind in Lesotho.  

The project will engage and empower young people within communities that are directly affected by the impacts of climate change. Participants will include young people living with a disability, those living with HIV and members of the LGBTQI+ community. Kick4Life will identify participants from existing programs including Girls United, Champions United and Good Health and Wellbeing through Sport, as well as working with other partner organisations. 

Good Health & Wellbeing through Sport Online

Kick4Life will adapt their existing ‘Good Health & Wellbeing through Sport’ curriculum into online, animated content, to help reach young people with critical health messages while their physical sports programs are unable to run due to COVID-19.