Seeing Stars, Changing Lives: A Very Special Invite!

Join the Conversation: Support the #16Days Campaign

16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence is an international campaign to challenge violence against women and girls. The campaign runs every year from November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, to December 10, Human Rights Day. 

Grassroot Soccer has assembled a toolkit for your use to amplify this campaign. If you would like to show your support on social media, please use any of these downloadable graphics throughout this period and tag @grassrootsoccer. File names are reflective of sizing for Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. 

The following caption is a guidepost to use alongside the respective infographic. Please note that this content is for use from now through December 10.

Girls who go through @grassrootsoccer programming report a higher sense of self-efficacy, confidence, and knowledge about the risk factors for sexual and gender-based violence and HIV. This #16Days, I'm proud to highlight the work of GRS!

'Tis the Season to Support Girls in Mozambique (Hint: It Involves Coffee!)
 

Stay warm and stay energized this festive season with Our Gorongosa coffee!

Grassroot Soccer is teaming up with Our Gorongosa to support programming for adolescent girls and young women in Mozambique and beyond! For every purchase of Our Gorongosa coffee made with the GRS promo code at this link, 5% of proceeds support GRS (use code GRS at checkout).

Our Gorongosa supports the people, wildlife, and rainforest in the National Park of Gorongosa in Mozambique, and through the park's Girls Clubs they keep girls in school by encouraging them to complete their studies, delay pregnancy, and bring an end to child marriages. Grassroot Soccer is helping girls in Mozambique and around the world through expansion of our SKILLZ programming, which provides key health and life skills education.
 

That's why we're delighted to bring you a chance to enjoy delicious Our Gorongosa coffee while supporting our work.

We Took Care of Your Holiday Shopping (So You Don't Have To)
 

Soft fabrics, beautiful colors, and the world-famous Grassroot Soccer logo combine to make our latest gear the perfect way to do good while looking good. Take it from our Co-Founder Ethan Zohn, who says "During my time on CBS' Survivor I spent 57 days on a deserted island in one of these shirts and I still want to wear it all the time." The collection now includes hoodies too! Perfect for that comfortable feeling, indoors or out. 

Goalkeepers: GRS Coaches Take On Critical Health Gaps During COVID-19

To ensure sustained access to youth-friendly Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) services and task shift away from health workers overburdened during the pandemic, GRS Zimbabwe partnered with the Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council/Ministry of Health to train 40 Coaches as Youth Reproductive Health Assistants (YRHA) and certify them as essential health workers. This quickly enabled GRS to continue reaching young people, especially adolescent girls and young women, despite movement restrictions and barriers to SRHR service provision. Launched as a pilot program in 2019 and scaled up during the COVID-19 pandemic to address service gaps, this flexible and creative solution provides youth with a first line of comprehensive, youth-friendly SRHR information, short-term contraception, and referrals to long-acting reversible contraception and other clinic-based SRHR services.

The following first-person entry was written by YRHA Norleen Takaendesa.

"… And it happens that one day you wake up and you are in a place where everything feels right, where your thoughts are positive and you are doing something you love in this world. This is me today as an enabler – creating a supportive environment for young people to reach their full potential and being a game changer in my community.

Bringing positive change in people’s lives is one of the best things that ever happened to me.  I had always wanted to bring change in my community as I felt there was great SRH need for youth in my community, as many of my peers were having early and unintended pregnancies and failing to complete their education due to that. These early and unintended pregnancies often led to early child marriages as my community views it, as a taboo to raise a child as a single young woman who is not sure who the father is. 

I have been able to provide accurate information to young people and escort them to access long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARC)* at a local facility. These young women have been able to open up to me telling me that although they were sexually active, they wanted to avoid getting pregnant, as this would deter them from achieving their goals. I took them to the nearest health facility where information on LARCs was provided and they decided on the contraceptive they wanted. Many of them have expressed their appreciation on [how] I have made the process to access sexual reproductive health services easy.  Some have highlighted that they find it easy to discuss sexual health issues with me as I am not judgmental and I look as young as they do. 

I am very proud of the work I am doing. Being a Youth Reproductive Health Assistant has influenced my life positively, as many youths in my community are coming to me to access services and we discuss various issues that are affecting youth in our community.

*Editor’s note: Long-acting reversible contraceptives include the intrauterine device (IUD) and the birth control implant