A volunteer
in my region is currently fundraising to create a better basketball court to
promote healthier life decisions. See
below for a write up on her project.
The children and youth in my
community here in Madagascar
have very limited access to recreational activities during vacation, after
school and/or work. Because they don't have recreational activities to keep
them occupied, our youth is more likely to engage in risky behaviors such as:
drinking, smoking and unsafe sexual relationships and our kids have no place to
be physically active.
According to the World Health
Organization, the current cigarette smoking prevalence among the Malagasy youth
is 19.3% and tobacco prevalence is 22.8% while the alcohol consumption reported
by the Malagasy Institute of Public Health is about 59% among teens during the
last 12 months. Additionally, the chances of suffering from a sexually
transmitted disease are exponentially amplified due to the lack of access to
sexual education.
Our local youth and kids are not
only exposed to risky behaviors but also they are completely unaware of the
health effects they can face in short and long term. But we can promote some
change and provide a safe recreational place for the local youth and children
by building an amazing basketball court. My project "Slam Dunks" hopes
to give teenagers and children not only a place to be physically active, an
opportunity to have a hobby to keep them away from engaging in risky behaviors
but also to educate them about all these unhealthy behaviors that can
potentially jeopardize their future.
The Slam Dunks project has the
potential to improve the lives of hundreds of kids and teenagers not only from
my local community but also from the surrounded areas by promoting basketball
tournaments as well as by developing strong youth leaders than can become a
role model to others.
