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14 - The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday August 15, 2007 www.oakvillebeaver.com Living Oakville Beaver LIVING EDITOR: ANGELA BLACKBURN By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Phone: 905-845-3824, ext. 248 Fax: 905-337-5567 e-mail: angela@oakvillebeaver.com Mending strife-torn Uganda through sports With an AIDS epidemic raging and a 20-year civil war still smoldering, Uganda has an appalling number of victims. However, it also has its share of heroes, one of whom has travelled to Oakville in hopes obtaining a resource that could help to heal some of his country's wounds. That resource is soccer equipment. Albert Kunihira is the CountryDirector of the Africa Youth Ministries Uganda office, a group that organizes a number of sports programs intended to save Uganda's youth from the perils that surround them. "In the west, sports are used for recreation. We in Uganda are using sports as a tool for development," said Kunihira. "For example, we are doing a program called Tackling AIDS Through Sport. Basically through this program we get together young people, we reach them and we educate them about AIDS." In addition to education, Kunihira says, the soccer playing component of the program serves as something to keep young people engaged, so they are less inclined to get involved in risky behaviours like pre-marital sex and drug abuse. The need to protect Uganda's youth from AIDS is an urgent one as, according to the Africa Youth Ministries, about seven of every 10 new HIV infections among females occur between the ages of 15-24. Those who do become infected join the more than 600,000 Ugandans currently living with AIDS in an epidemic that has also orphaned 1.8 million children. The sports programs of the Africa Youth Ministries are currently serving around 5,000 young people across Uganda, but to continue arming these children with lifesaving knowledge, the ministries need sports equipment to draw them in. It is this need that brings Kunihira to Oakville. "What I am looking to accomplish through this trip is to develop long term contacts with organizations, soccer clubs that will help us by donating to us used sports equipment," said Kunihira. "We also welcome financial donations because these programs cost us money to run. We would be doing much more if we had the funds in place, but we are being held back because we don't have the funds to coordinate the programs." And there are many different programs to deal with many different problems. As big a problem as AIDS is in Uganda, there is something even worse, which the Africa Youth Ministries are using their sports programs to deal with. "Malaria is the biggest problem in Africa even though it's preventable and curable," said Kunihira. "Malaria kills many more people than AIDS in Africa." Carried by mosquitoes, malaria is rampant in Uganda where a lack of resources and a climate that is ideal for the growth of malaria's deadliest strain results in a lethal combination. In Sub-Saharan Africa, Malaria kills approximately 3,000 people SABRINA BYRNES / OAKVILLE BEAVER HELPING OUT: Albert Kunihira, Country-Director of the Africa Youth Ministries Uganda, and Marg Bartlett hold the Uganda flag. See Recreation page 15 SINCE 1954 GOURMET GRILLING BEGINS AT DENNINGER'S THIS WEEK: Top Sirloin Steak Cap Off .............$12.90/kg ($5.86/lb) All Beef Steakettes .................................. $7.99 (Box of 8) A thick juicy 100% beef burger, mildly seasoned Smoked Bockwurst Sausage .........$9.90/kg ($4.49/lb) Fully cooked & naturally smoked mild pork & beef sausage Fresh Chicken Mango Sausage............$8.80 ($3.99/lb) Seasoned with fresh mangos, limes & spices Seven Bean Salad .............................. $6.59/kg ($2.99/lb) Sausage Maker's Dozen: Buy 12 Sausages at the Meat Counter and Receive One Sausage FREE! BURLINGTON OAKVILLE HAMILTON HAMILTON HAMILTON MTN STONEY CREEK 699 Guelph Line 2410 Lakeshore Rd. West 284 King St. East Jackson Square 1289 Upper James 826 Queenston Rd. Open Sun. 11-5 905-528-8468 2 King St. W. Open Sun. 11-5 In-store lunch counter · Catering · Gourmet gift baskets (delivery available) · Gift Certificates · www.denningers.com