Heart racing inside my chest, pumping so hard it should hurt - I am
anxious but focused as the adrenaline pulsates through me. As I take
one of my national exams, I feel as though I’m on the soccer field
trying to score a goal. Since I left school last year I am now making
up for lost time, and these tests are important.

I grew up in a farmers’ family, growing crops and raising cattle for
food, we sell whatever is left over. “What is the point of school?” I
still wonder, neither of my parents can read much, but farmers don’t
need book learning. Uninterested and not understanding the point, I
left school last year, and thought I would never look back. Then not
too long ago, I heard a soccer team had been started at my old school,
and only enrolled students could play. Itching my head with my finger,
I erase a wrong answer and quietly laugh to myself, “If it weren’t
for that soccer team, I wouldn’t be taking this test.”

This is the true story of Ramathani, 19 years old, and recently back in
school with plans to graduate. Before the sports program and soccer
team came to his school, going back and graduating was the furthest
thing from his mind. He had been a regular truant before dropping
out of school and saw no point of going to school.

Although he had been bright and scored well on exams, according
to him, “nothing in school really interested me” Now that he
is back in school and doing sports, he consistently scores within
the top 5 - 10 students in his class. When asked what the sports
program has done for him he says, “the sports program is the
reason I stay, if that were gone, I would not be here.”
Thanks to ADRA’s work in the Hanang primary schools, students
are coming back and performing bettr in class than before. The
head of one primary school expressed that before ADRA’s work,
10% of the students were truants, neither going to school nor
working at home during the day. Now, with ADRA’s sports and
health program providing with health education, marathons, netball,
soccer and volley ball competitions, truancy has decreased
from 10% to 4%.

Furthermore students who are in school perform better on all exams.
When the head of one primary school responded to how
sports is is important he said “sports is important to everyone’s
health , but for students its more important because it helps them
perform better in school which will help them perform better in
life.” Additional benefits of ADRA’s sports and health program
are increased self esteem and lower sexual activity among the
students.

Befrore ADRA began its work in Hanang, a shocking 93% of
out- of -school youth had had an average of 11 sexual partners
each. An even more disturbing 61% of primary school youth
( ages 7 - 12) had had sexual relations with different partners.
These upsetting numbers reflect the values and self - esteem the
children used to have, but now with ADRA’s sports and health
program in primary schools, things have changed. They prepare
for track races, soccer games, or their next big test, feeling no
longer doomed to hanging out by the road and looking for the
next sexual playmate.

ADRA Tanzania’s Hanang Health Project has been a six year
effort to help the most impoverished of the district’s approximately
205,000 members. This project, with the help of the local
government, was implemented by ADRA and funded by the Danish
Agency for International Development of DANIDA. Adra
works in over 125 countries and in Tanzania alone has served
more than 700,000 adults.

By Max Church, Country Director