Join for Joy believes in the power of playful learning and has developed a Sports and Play program for primary school teachers in the rural areas of Kenya, Zambia, Malawi, and Uganda. They learn how to implement sports and play activities in the school curriculum effectively to 1) motivate children to come to school and stay at school and 2) to discuss taboo topics, such as malaria, HIV, sexual violence, teen pregnancies, or gender (in)equality with children in a playful way. Teachers discover how to create a safe learning environment at school and act how to as positive role models. As a result: more children come to school and stay at school all day; awareness of social issues and disease prevention; inclusion of girls and children with physical or mental disabilities; fewer teenage pregnancies; better focus in class and learning material is easier to remember; children perform better at school; fewer dropouts and more children who finish primary education; children are better able to deal with daily challenges and grow up as resilient boys and girls with a positive future perspective.
