I realize, in trying to give you a balanced view of my life here, I've forgotten to enlighten you more about Grassroot Soccer. So, back to the basics. This past week at the Kidsafe Soccer League, GRS was holding it down with a game called My Supporters. This is an exercise that illustrates the stigmitization of people living with HIV and how, instead of abandoning them, we need to help them and give them our support. Essentially, it's a lesson in breaking down stigma.

One kid is chosen to come to the middle. Then a group forms a tight circle around the participant. As illustrated below the kid in the middle folds her arms across her chest, shuts her eyes and then lets herself fall. The circle bolsters her making sure she doesn't fall down. Essentially its like a revised trust fall.



Next the kids are told a scenario. The person in the middle represents someone with HIV. The circle represents the community that this person lives in. One person from the circle is designated as a parent, another a doctor or teacher, a few more friends. Now, what happens when people stigmatize an HIV positive person and abandon them? Circle members are asked to step back from their support position. Maybe a friend thinks that coming in contact with such a person will infect them. Maybe a parent can't accept that their child is positive. Once people have abandoned their posts, the person in the middle is asked if they want to go through with the activity if their supporters continue to reject them. There are few left to catch them if they fall. Finally, the supporters are brought back into the circle to show that with their support, the HIV positive person won't fall.

I think this game illustrates well the ill effects of stigma. At a time when a person needs the most support, the stigma surrounding HIV can leave them alone and abandoned. However, with support there is hope and the possibility of living a postive positive life.

These are a few of my trainers politiking when their not teaching GRS:


Bonus: This cat just had it going on