# Fundraising hope to prevent the spread of HIV

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2009/07/21/fundraising-hope-prevent-spread-hiv/
- Published: 2009-07-21T17:49:13+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

A charity which aims to educate the prevention of HIV infection in children and 
teenagers in Africa is the latest in a string of organisations to join new fundraising
website gift2help.com which launches in August.

 

Africaid WhizzKids United chose KwaZulu Natal as its starting point because it has
one of the highest new HIV infection rates amongst young people anywhere in the 
world. The prevalence rate is shockingly around 16% in 15 to 24 year olds overall
and an alarming 60% plus amongst 15-24 year old women in some areas.

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Founder and CEO of Africaid WhizzKids, Marcus McGilvray, initially attempted to 
educate street children to the dangers of HIV in the classroom with the offer of
a football game as their reward for attendance. However it soon became apparent 
that to harness their interest, the educational element had to be dropped as the
kids weren’t interested in learning but simply wanted to play football. Consequently,
the classroom was moved permanently to the football pitch, with a focus on relating
football to life skills as an effective method of getting the message across.

 

Marcus comments: “These kids come from extremely difficult backgrounds where family
structure is often void, poverty is rife, opportunities scarce and where HIV prevention
hangs low on their daily list of priorities.

 

“Football is a universally loved game and the kids have responded incredibly well
to volunteers teaching and playing the game, while acting as positive role models.
In fact, it wasn’t long before they learned that there were alternative methods 
of dealing with disputes and finally stopped brandishing knives and throwing stones
at each other.

 

“The enormity of the HIV pandemic is overwhelming and we firmly believe that when
it launches in August, gift2help.com will make a significant impact by not only 
providing people with an insight into this enormous problem, but will also attract
donations to ensure that this terrible and preventable disease is contained before
it personally affects us all.”

 

gift2help.com is unlike any other charity-giving website in that it is totally free
of charge for the charity involved. 100% of every donation made will go direct to
Africaid WhizzKids United and there is no cost at all to the organisation.

 

Donors will be able visit the website, choose Africaid WhizzKids United from a list
of other charities and view the shopping list of items that it requires for the 
everyday running of its projects. For those wanting to support more than one charity,
gift2help.com will provide a simple and easy platform to donate to several charities
in one easy transaction.

 

There is still time for your charity to get involved and start fundraising through
gift2help.com. For more information about joining email Markus at: in**@*******lp.
com

 

www.gift2help.com

 

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