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Rosie's Grassroot Soccer Fund

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LETTER TO MY SUPPORTERS 

Dear Friends, Family, Friends of Friends, and Friends of Family, 

My life has been defined by sports and more specifically soccer for as long as I can remember. My choice of university, graduate school studies and career path have all centered around my love for and belief in sports. I have long seen sports as a universal language drawing people together regardless of language, skin color, disability, gender, faith or income.

Since finishing my Master’s degree in Sport Management, I have been searching for a way to use the universal language of sports to empower dramatic social change. Finding the organization Grassroot Soccer offers me an opportunity to use a lifetime of soccer experience on the world stage of sport development, and I could not be more prepared or excited.

 Specifically, I have been offered a year-long, unpaid internship with Grassroot Soccer (GRS) in South Africa. GRS is a nonprofit organization that uses the African passion for soccer in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Founded by former professional soccer players in 2002 and supported by organizations including The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, UNAIDS, Nike, The Ford Foundation, and Sony, among many others, GRS works in the world’s most HIV-affected countries to provide boys and girls with the knowledge, skills and support to live HIV/AIDS-free.

But I need your support to take advantage of this life-changing opportunity. GRS will provide lodging but nothing else (health care, visa, flights, transportation) while in Africa. They say I’ll need a minimum of $10,000 to get me through the year. Any donation – be it $1 or $1000 – would be deeply appreciated. The easiest way to donate will be through my GoFundMe page. If, however, you would like to donate directly to GRS for tax purposes, go to www.grassrootsoccer.org/donate-to-an-intern find my name, and the funds will be used to directly support my work in South Africa. Or, you may prefer to send a check (no processing fees) made payable to Grassroot Soccer with “Rosalind Aguilera Internship” in the memo, to P.O. Box 712, Norwich, VT 05055. All donations to GRS, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, are tax deductible to the extent provided by law.

This is the first step in my career to use the power and ability of soccer to address serious health, social and economic issues in the world.  Sometimes all we need is to find a common language to make a start.  Sports is that language.

MORE ABOUT GRASSROOT SOCCER

Mission: Grassroot Soccer uses the power of soccer to educate, inspire, and mobilize communities to stop the spread of HIV.

Vision: A world mobilized through soccer to create an AIDS free generation.

Strategy: To achieve our mission, we continuously improve our innovative HIV prevention and life-skills curriculum, share our program and concept effectively, and utilize the popularity of soccer to increase our impact.

GRS realized that the true power of soccer has always been connections that it creates between people. Using footballers as role models, and using the popularity of soccer to engage hard to reach young people, GRS has combined social theory, public health methodologies, rigorous evaluation and a huge dose of passion.

Youth awareness and empowerment campaigns have the ability to shift the perspectives of young people worldwide. It is on this front in the fight against HIV/AIDS where ingenuity and creativity have the largest impact on HIV prevention.

As a GRS intern, starting in August, 2015 I will be responsible for assisting in the planning and implementation of youth-targeted HIV prevention education programs, networking with community organizations to develop relationships and to promote GRS programs and services, planning and coordinating community events such as Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) soccer tournaments, assisting with program monitoring and evaluation, recruiting community-based volunteers, and assisting in curriculum and business development.

HIV FACTS

The HIV/AIDS pandemic has become arguably the worst public health crisis in human history:

34 million men, women, and children worldwide are currently infected with HIV.

17 million people, half of those currently infected, do not yet know their status.

26 million people, more than ¾ of those currently infected, do not receive proper anti-retroviral treatment.

23.5 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa are HIV positive, 69% of the infected population worldwide.

2.5 million people became infected with HIV in 2011 (roughly 6849 every day).

More than 90% of all new youth (Ages 0-14) HIV infections occur in Sub-Saharan Africa.

40% of all new HIV infections occur among youth aged 0-24.
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Donations 

  • Matthew Hulse
    • $20 
    • 6 yrs
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Organizer

Rosie Aguilera
Organizer
Santa Cruz, CA

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