Sport4Change

The Washington Post on Tuesday 6/26/07 in the first of a series of articles profiled the D.C. Blast -- a Washington, D.C.-based girls' soccer team that is traveling to Port Elizabeth, South Africa, to learn about HIV/AIDS and teach local girls about the sport. The team is collaborating with Grassroots Soccer, a U.S.-based organization that works with children in Africa and teaches them life skills aimed at preventing HIV/AIDS, the Post reports.

The soccer team raised $60,000 to cover the cost of the trip -- $10,000 of which will be used to maintain a street soccer program for girls in Port Elizabeth after it leaves the country. In the weeks leading to the trip, Blast coach Ian Oliver, who coordinates sports-based programs for the not-for-profit Academy for Educational Development, brought in experts to teach the team about HIV/AIDS and other issues in South Africa, as well as the country's history and culture. Oliver said the team hopes to work with 150 girls in Port Elizabeth.

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