Just Play Project Manager Michelle Paiti delivered a successful training course for teachers and community leaders on the island, with 15 participants taking part in the two-day course.
The course covered the key social issues prevalent in the Cook Islands – under the umbrellas of health, gender, disability and child protection – and they ways in which the Just Play Programme can help address them.
Close to 60 children from Vaitau School and the village of Vaipae joined the participants on day two to have a go at some of the newly introduced activities – and of course to have some fun.
“Practical sessions were a key part of the course where participants had the opportunity to practice delivering to different age groups of children and that helped them learn how to adapt the activities where needed,” Paiti explains.
Another important aspect of the course is learning how to deliver the key messages in a creative and fun way that captures the childrens’ imagination and attention.
“The messages were fun and facilitators can be creative turning messages into short songs that children of all ages will be able to remember,” Araura College teacher and participant Terangi Tamati says.
Full equipment kits were presented to the new school facilitators to allow them to delive rthe programme over the next six months.
“The equipment provided is fantastic and everything a facilitator needs, and it’s just perfect as there is no need for large fields,” Tamati adds.
Given the need to measure the effectiveness of the programme, the particpants were all taught the importance of, and how to use, the new monitoring and evaluation tools which will provide information on the impact as well as where improvements might be needed.
“During our practicals more and more children came as they saw the kids having fun, so I can already see the impact this programme could have,” says Araura Primary School teacher Michelle Paerau.
Paiti says all those teachers and community leaders who took part in the course grasped the overall concept very well, with the Just Play team now looking forward to updates and feedback as the 16-week programme progresses.
Developed by the OFC social responsibility and technical departments, Just Play is designed for children aged six to 12 and promotes physical activity while encouraging community involvement, healthy living, gender equality and disability development.
OFC has worked closely with UEFA, the Australian Government – through its agencies the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) and the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) – Football Federation Australia and UNICEF to implement the programme across the Pacific. It was launched in Tonga and is now also running in American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tahiti and Vanuatu.
For more on Cook Islands football visit www.cookislandsfootball.com

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