Success Stories: Players Encourage Botswana to Test for HIV

July 2007

More than 30 villages have been visited by players from the Zebras national football team and more than 2000 people have tested for HIV since the pilot roll-out of the Zebras Test 4 Life campaign in December. The program uses popular Zebras players as role models to encourage men and out-of-school youth to test for HIV and commit to behavior change.

U.S. Ambassador to Botswana, Katherine Canavan, accompanied Zebras players to special HIV testing events in Pandamatenga and Kachikau in April 2007, hosted a lunch for stakeholders on June 5, 2007, and handed over a $75,000 grant (P450,000 BWP) to Tebelopele Voluntary Counseling and Testing Centers on July 19, 2007, to aid in the behavior change campaign.

The program, sponsored by the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through the Ambassador's Initiative, is a combined effort from Tebelopele Voluntary Testing and Counseling Centers, the Botswana Department of Sports and Recreation, the Botswana Football Association, the National AIDS Coordinating Agency, the U.S. Mission in Botswana and the Zebras national football team.