More than 400 children participated in Fiji Football Association’s Just Play program last week in Taveuni.
Fiji FA Just Play Manager Filomena Liku said her team went to Taveuni to celebrate International Day for Eliminating Violence Against Women and Girls and also Monitoring and Evaluation Festival for schools and communities.
“Visiting schools were part of the Monitoring and Evaluation of teachers and Volunteers that took part in the Just Play Health and WASH Training for 6-12 years in August,” said Liku
“We celebrated International Day for Eliminating Violence against Women and Girls in Naselesele Primary School and also running a festival in Somosomo District and Wairiki community.
“There was a
total of 400 plus kids who participated in the Just Play Health & WASH Festival.
“The children and teachers were excited and happy to be a part of the celebration as this was the first time running a Just Play festival in Taveuni,” Liku said
“The festival format had skills, small-sided games, and themes like “Together we can make a difference”, “Respecting each other”, “Protecting each other and Love one another”.
Liku said children were also taught basic football skills.
“The objectives and messages integrated into the programme using key messages in fun and educational activities will impact children’s lives in Taveuni and beyond through the power of football.
“The Just play program helps the children to learn, grow and explore the world around them and the messages shared by the Just Play Team will develop respect and drive behavioral change through fun and interactive football sessions in the future.
The headteacher from Naselesele Madam Maria said; “The children were excited and happy taking part in the Just Play Programme, with all messages and football skills delivered was very educational and enjoyable”
“This festival had drawn more interested schools for the program as the team had planned to also do scoping for next year’s schools. This was due to the fact that Somosomo Primary Schools was close to town and people had seen the festival while passing through to get to town which caught their attention and started proposing another delivery of the program next year,” said Liku
Just Play is a community-engagement Sport for Development programme developed by the OFC to improve the lives of children and teenagers aged 6–16 by means of football.
The programme engages children in interactive sessions that include social messages aligned to the four key programming pillars: health and wellness, gender equality, social inclusion, and child protection. Through active participation, Just Play helps children to develop healthy lifestyle habits and become confident in their abilities; encourages gender equality; promotes social inclusion; and emphasises that sport is for everyone.
The program aims to reduce the risks associated with, and vulnerability to, endemic social issues, such as the prevalence of violence against women and children, gender inequality, and social exclusion, by integrating social messages into the sessions – for example, the importance of reporting bullying and other types of violence.
In doing so, the program promotes an understanding of the importance of regular participation in physical exercise and its impact on issues such as bullying, violence, and social inclusion to enable positive social and behavior change.
Just Play also facilitates the development of critical life skills applicable both on and off the field of play, including the acceptance of rules, teamwork, respect, decision-making and fair play.
