At the Utrecht University I study Organizational Science and my major is Organization, Culture and Management. For this major I, together with my fellow student Maikel Waardenburg, am going to do research in South-Africa between February and July 2005.  

This research will take place in Ikageng, a township near the city of Potchefstroom in the South West Province in South-Africa. For several years an organization called Tshepong AIDS Project is trying to spread information about HIV and AIDS. About one hundred volunteers are actively taking part in these information distributions and they organize all kinds of activities. And to assist in this distribution a new idea has sprung up: sports activities should play a larger part in spreading this message. For instance, the organization has said to want to start a girl soccer league tournament.

I want to examine what meanings the people involved give to the combination of sports activities and information sharing about AIDS, which interest come into play and which constraints or stimulators there can be identified during the realization of the project.

To be able to examine all of the above I have to be actively involved in setting up and carrying out the project in Ikageng. By using observations, interviews and methods (see the links on the left side of this page) I want to get a better view of what developments are made and investigate what effects this has had for the project at that time. Ultimately advice can be given about using sport activities as a tool for spreading information about AIDS.

I expect that such activities will make a huge contribution to the developments concerning the health and well-being of the community. Moreover, I believe that this research at the Tshepong Aids Project can be a valuable contribution to science, in particular to developing cooperation and community participation. The project is supported by a Dutch organization called FASD (Foundation for African Sports Development) and there has arisen cooperation between my faculty at the Utrecht University and the North-West University at Potchefstroom.