By Imaan Moosa
Edited by Refiloe Tsitsi
Local community upliftment initiative empowers under-served girls through sports to become agents of change in their communities.
Young girls of the Khayelitsha community play together after school. Photo: @activate.her
ActivateHer is a community upliftment organization that uses sport to highlight the potential and achievements of women in Cape Town, South Africa.
This sports development organisation was established in December 2017 and was officially registered as a non-profit organisation (NPO) in January 2018. The organisation has been uplifting and giving all women “the power to play” for over three years.
The organisation has established itself in communities that did not have many programmes catered to girls’ participation in sports.
According to founder Adele Bruggeman, ActivateHer seeks to “create safe spaces for girls to claim their health, discover their value and harness their leadership potential”.
The young girls of ActivateHer show how sports are most fun when enjoyed with a friend. Photo: @activate.her
An organisation such as this provides an after-school environment that protects young girls from threats, such as gender-based violence (GBVF). It also prevents obesity as the girls will partake in physical activity that is beneficial for their fitness.
GBVF and obesity are two epidemics that young girls in the country are currently facing, and ActivateHer is taking a step in the right direction to offer a solution.
The South African National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey reported a combined overweight and obesity prevalence of 13.5% in children aged 6-14 years, which is higher than the 10% global prevalence in schoolchildren.
“With high rates of gender based violence, along with increasing levels of childhood obesity, we believe sports is the best way to create an empowering space where girls can be equipped with knowledge around their rights, learn about their bodies, and develop skills to allow them to become successful leaders in their communities that can overturn these debilitating statistics.”
The organisation’s utilization of a multi-sports approach exposes young girls to a range of activities across different sporting codes that allows them to discover their talents. ActivateHer uses both play and lessons on life skills to educate the girls about important topics, such as sexual and reproductive health, and conflict resolution.
This approach introduces an interactive method of learning while encouraging a healthy lifestyle. Additionally, “having access to role models and programmes that develop their life skills and education beyond the classroom”. This further provides a critical function to ensure the overall socio-economic welfare, and physical, mental and emotional well-being of the girl child.
ActivateHer coach demonstrates the “inchworm to cobra” pose to highlight how strong girls really are. Photo: @activate.her
There are 108 girls enrolled in the 2021 ActivateHer programme. As the girls are relatively young, between 3 and 12-years-of-age, training begins with foundational movement skills in order to assist the young members to adapt to the program. This becomes the basis for all other sports.
“We also make sure that we incorporate sports that have historically been male dominated to highlight that girls too can be competitive in these sports.”
The classes offered range from athletics, football and rugby to yoga. The girls at ActivateHer partake in sports that are historically male-dominated. Exposing young girls to such sports challenges existing stereotypes to go beyond the norm.
In South Africa, there is a vast gender gap between men and women’s sport. Women athletes are paid less in comparison to male athletes. Women who do not conform to archaic gendered stereotypes are further misrepresented in the media.
Bruggeman lends insight into women’s sports in the country, saying:
“While there is a massive gender divide in sports across the globe, it remains very clear in South Africa that the investment in sport is primarily directed towards men. There has been much progress towards greater equity amongst male and female sports participation at school levels, yet the divide continues to be exacerbated by socioeconomic status and leaves girls out of the conversation.”
ActivateHer seeks to tackle the gendered role of sports by amplifying the call for greater inclusion and equality of women’s sports coverage, pay and participation. Their agenda is to “make it clear that girls belong in sports, too”.
The MoveHer programme is focused on the youngest girls between the ages of 3 and 8.
Girls are taught how to practice balance, coordination and gross motor skills development in the MoveHer programme classes.
The programme ensures that the girls are on track to meet all of their developmental milestones and successfully conduct foundational movement skills.
“We believe introducing girls at a younger age to sports will allow them to break down the traditional gender stereotypes that are historically associated with physical activity and sports involvement, recognising that they too as girls can play and compete.”
The PlayHer programme which is for ages 9 to 12-year-olds teaches mastery of skill; the classes provide a bridging platform to transition the young girls into adolescence.
“It has been so fun to see the growth in confidence that participating girls have as time goes on. Not only are they more confident in themselves and the skills they are able to share with their peers and teammates, but also the leadership potential they begin to step into once they trust that they can be a leader amongst these groups.”
The PlayHer programme transitions both primary and high school girls into ActivateHer. Photo: @activate.her
As the girls come into their own, they may choose to independently volunteer themselves to lead different activities. Bruggeman says she hopes their initiative and drive to help others will transcend into the girls’ schooling careers and the broader communities they are a part of.
“We hope to develop a future generation of strong, independent girls and women who are confident in themselves and their abilities to succeed in whatever they set their mind to, backed up by the health and the knowledge that they possess.
“We believe that we can break down the gender barriers that still entrap women across the globe, allowing them to unleash their full potential to contribute to society and make the world a better place.”
Moreover, ActivateHer intends to break the gendered cycle of poverty by equipping women with the tools to master basic life skills and become financially independent.
As the organisation continues to grow, they will offer a new programme to include young women between 18 and 30 years of age. These women will receive personal and professional development skills training and training on how to coach their contemporaries.
These programmes will be instituted in the city centres to connect coaches with existing girls clubs and schools.
“We hope to expand our work to more communities and more girls across South Africa and beyond to give more girls from underserved communities the opportunity to become their own changemakers.”
About Adele Bruggeman:
Adele Bruggeman is the founder of ActivateHer. She is a community development practitioner who grew up playing sports her whole life. She was never the best athlete on the field but learned through sports that hard work, dedication, and teamwork can allow you to achieve far beyond what you initially thought to be possible.
She continues to see the power that sports play in her everyday life, personally and professionally, frequently draws on these skills to use her work as a force for good in the world.
Continuing to improve the ActivateHer curriculum means constantly engaging in conversations with other sports development organisations to improve the current curriculum, create new learning opportunities, and continue to champion female health and gender equality in everything the organisation does.
To Donate:
Donate to ActivateHer through their Paypal or GivenGain donation platforms. These funds will contribute towards keeping their organization operational, providing scholarships for participating girls, supporting their coaches’ stipend, and allowing the organization to go on active outings to share the value of the outdoors with the ActivateHer team.
A general breakdown of what varying sizes of donation would contribute towards:
R100 Helps purchase sports equipment
R300 Covers a term of sports class for 1 girl
R450 Goes towards our active outings (e.g. hike/sports event)
R600 Contributes to expanding the organisation’s reach to more girls
R1000 Supports the ActivateHer coaches’ stipends
To Get Involved:
Run a race, cycle or hike for ActivateHer, host an event for ActivateHer, such as a birthday party or fitness event, or share their work with your friends and family via social media.
Follow and support:
Instagram: @activate.her