Architecture for Humanity

In the area of KwaZulu-Natal, close to 45% of the population is HIV-infected. One 2003 study showed that one in two 20-to-25-year-olds was infected. So, that generation and the one immediately after it – teenagers – are feeling the full blow of the epidemic. Girls between the ages of 9 and 15 are the most at-risk population – they are entering into sexual activity, but in many cases this activity will not be consensual. South Africa has the highest rate of rape in the world for any ‘developed’ country; three out of five women will be raped within their lifetime.

Siyathemba is a combined soccer field and health-care facility, focusing on AIDS, in the South African community of Somkhele in KwaZulu-Natal – an area with one of the highest HIV/AIDS rates in the world. This facility, set to be run by medical professionals from the Africa Center for Health and Population Studies, will serve as a gathering place for young people between the ages of 9 and 14, and will serve as the home for the first ever girls’ football league in the area. The pitch will also act as a place to disseminate information on HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment and eventually as a service point for mobile health care. Since soccer is the biggest sport in South Africa, it is an effective way to create a social hub that will reach the most at-risk population. When a game is on, this becomes a non-intrusive, non-intimidating way to disseminate health education and services.

Siyathemba has the potential to offer substantial life improvement for its target group of children and young people. To bring a desirable element, such as play, into the children’s everyday life while simultaneously seizing the opportunity to provide information on AIDS or offer treatment of the disease, combines the sad aspects of disease with the uplifting effect of play.