ON December 2 when the Kashif and Shanghai Organisation partnered with United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Men’s Affairs Bureau to issue Red Card to Sexual Violence against Men and Women, a new dimension was drafted to deliver the football players, coaches, administrators, their families and friends and moreover supporters of the game to this new area, and today over 300 footballers currently playing in the tournament have benefited from lectures and firsthand guidance.
This was disclosed by the UNFPA Project Coordinator Daren Torrington who said eight of the 20 clubs competing in the 22nd annual football tournament, have benefited from educational sessions and guidance.
The response was overwhelming and the new response from those who benefited will be reflected in their communities and the football clubs they represented. The result will speak volumes for the objective of the programme.
Torrington was at the time, updating the public in Berbice via a live television programme to promote the recently played K&S Christmas Day fixture at the Blairmont Community Centre ground.
During each match large banners of players and officials will be displayed. At halftime ball boys will advertise the said banners for a 15-minute period, while there will also be a jingle and pamphlets educating the general public on sexual violence.
Torrington, who is expected to continue similar programmes with the remaining clubs in the tournament, is anticipating further success with the project that is being introduced for the first time to the football public.
Director of the Kashif and Shanghai Organisation, Kashif Muhammad, said the framework of the project commenced in 2010 and the execution failed in the same year due to unforeseen logistical problems.
Not one to be associated with failures, Muhammad said his organisation and their partners were able to recommence the project and have so far executed same successfully with this year’s tournament, noting that men will now, after this experience, channel their lives in a new direction.