Rudolf Gaiseb
The 4×4 Initiative Foundation, in collaboration with the noteworthy School of Destiny Association, last weekend held a football tournament at the Namibia Football Association’s Technical Centre in Windhoek to educate and empower the
boy child.
Founder of the initiative Sidney Boois said theinitiative, started in2022, is a hands-on and pragmatic approach that provides a platform for men to network and boys to develop morally, mentally, physically and psychologically.
“Our initiative aims to ensure healthy and transformative masculinity among boys and men. Therefore, we capture these audiences through forums such as football events, clubs and teams
“The initiative has also introduced the Boys Leadership Club (BLC) at over 15 schools across the country to instil core values such as
responsibility, respect, self-discipline and self-leadership,” he said.
He highlighted that the lack of self-worth, broken families, personal trauma and lack of life skills are some of the root causes of high-risk lifestyles that boys and men undertake.
He added that bad influence, ignorance and lack of knowledge are also contributing factors.
He said initially, the goal of the football tournament was to educate and equip 1 000 boys and men between the ages of 15 and 25 to restore individual values, speak up, manage conflict and gain interpersonal skills, but only 300 males showed up at the field. Boois said only six teams registered for the 4×4 Initiative Tournament.
The ‘4×4 Initiative’ team won the tournament, walking away with gold medals and a trophy. Windhoek Technical High School’s team took silver medals, with Thlabanelo taking the bronze.
Most of the players who participated in the tournament were school-going youth from Windhoek Technical High School’s most recently- established BLC and Drop-A-Pad campaign group.
The initiative also incorporated activities such as counselling services and peer talk shows under the Boys2Men programme, which is part of the initiative.
Boois asserted that the initiative has been faced with a challenge of apathy for partnership, particularly from relevant ministries: the youth, information and gender equalityministries are reluctant to show support and involvement.
“We have observed that developing partners has not been an easy task for us, as most institutions only lean to those who are already resourceful, and leave out start-up non-governmental organisations,” he lamented.
He noted that although several sponsors and partners have jumped on board for the tournament, the initiative needs facilities that will be used as resource centres to sustain their mentoring programme for continued life coaching and training.
Speaking at the event, local football coach Ronnie Kanalelo said it is important to set clear goals, and have a sense of direction in life.
“Without a clear destination in mind, it can be easy to drift aimlessly and end up in a place you didn’t intend to be. It’s always a good idea to have a vision of where you want to go, and to take deliberate steps towards reaching that destination,” he added.