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Project 3
Physical education for boys
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It Takes Two to Tango – Supporting Boys’ Rights and Responsibilities in Tanzania

As the saying goes, “It takes two to tango.” In LiiKe’s sport-based education project in Tanzanian lower secondary schools, we address not only the rights of boys — but especially their responsibilities.
“Treat others as you would like to be treated” becomes a guiding principle, especially in how boys interact with girls their age.

The project updates outdated initiation training materials traditionally used for boys (known as Jando) for the 21st century, incorporates football and physical activity sessions with health education themes, and trains teachers to recognize and address gender inequality in the school environment.

In Lindi Region, where LiiKe supports 117 lower secondary schools together with local partners, school results have improved across the board.


👉 Watch the story of a local fisherman to see how boys have formed trash-running clubs to support their community.

You can support the boys’ education and empowerment project by donating any amount.


Why Focus on Boys?

Teen pregnancies remain one of the main reasons girls drop out of school, yet boys and men often avoid responsibility in these cases. At the same time, boys’ own educational outcomes decline after traditional initiation school (Jando).

Lindi’s lower secondary schools have some of the weakest academic results in the country. This project supports weekly sports and health education clubs for boys in all 117 schools. Through football and other activities, boys explore:

  • gender equality
  • sexual and reproductive health
  • positive life choices and behavior

Updating Jando: Traditional Meets Transformative

A unique part of the project focuses on revising and modernizing the content of Jando, a traditional initiation rite practiced among ethnic groups such as the Yao, Makonde, and Makua. These month-long camps, typically for boys aged 9–12, are meant to teach them how to become “real men” — often reinforcing harmful gender roles and masculine stereotypes.

After attending these camps, boys’ attitudes toward girls often become disrespectful, and they may begin to seek early sexual relationships.

The project works to:

  • train Jando camp leaders in modern health education
  • rewrite and update teaching materials
  • support the establishment of a Jando educators’ network with progressive values

Working Together for Gender Equality

This boys’ empowerment project works in close collaboration with LiiKe’s existing Empowered Girls Speak Out (EGSO) initiative, implemented with Sports Development Aid (SDA).

While EGSO focuses on empowering girls, gender equality cannot be achieved unless boys and the wider community also understand and respect girls’ rights, education, and freedom from gender-based violence.

EGSO has developed a new 160+ page health education book for girls, and this material is now being adapted for use in Jando training.

The project uses tested EGSO models and practices to help boys understand gender equality and build healthy male identities.
It also includes boys with disabilities, supporting their inclusion through training and awareness-raising.


Funding and Impact

The project operates in all 117 lower secondary schools in Lindi Region and is supported by Finland’s development cooperation funds (2021–2024, 2025-28) as well as private donations.

Support us in raising a generation of respectful, informed, and responsible boys.

Support our important work!

10–15% of the project costs are covered by private donations.
The more support we receive, the greater impact we can make through our development cooperation efforts!

What do we do with the donations?

Your donation helps support and educate Tanzanian boys on gender equality through physical activity and health education.
It also promotes and strengthens the human rights of persons with disabilities.

Training center to Tanzania
LiiKe, in collaboration with the Tanzanian organization Sports Development Aid, is renovating the abandoned Finnclub Centre in Mtwara, Tanzania. In the future, the center will serve as a training hub for young people with intellectual disabilities and school dropouts. We call this initiative Project Matwaara.
Physical education for girls
LiiKe is implementing a sport-based health education project in 50+50 secondary schools along the southeastern coast of Tanzania, taking girls’ education and gender equality work to new heights. In a nine-school pilot conducted by LiiKe and its partner Sports Development Aid, the girls’ pass rate in national secondary school exams increased from 9% to 51% over five years — a remarkable achievement!
Physical education for boys
In the lower secondary school sports project supported by LiiKe, the focus is on boys’ rights — and especially their responsibilities. The key message: Treat others as you treat yourself, especially girls your own age. The project includes: a) Modernizing traditional initiation education materials for boys to reflect current values, b) Using football and physical activity to teach health and life skills, c) Training teachers to recognize and address gender inequality in schools
Educational project in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe has faced a severe economic crisis since the early 2000s, and teacher training colleges have been among the hardest hit. The training of teachers suffers from a lack of materials and motivation. Yet, education remains the most crucial step toward development. LiiKe supports the development of physical education instruction in 17 teacher training colleges across Zimbabwe, helping to strengthen teacher capacity and the role of sport in education.
Secondary school sports in Tanzania
The Secondary School Physical Education Training Project focuses on key priority areas in Tanzanian schools. These include establishing the framework for PE instruction and improving training both in secondary schools and teacher training colleges. The project also aims to modernize the training of PE teachers, enhance health education and adaptive physical education, and increase the visibility of the positive outcomes of physical activity and health education.
Global education in sports
Kestävästi Liikkeelle! – Moving Sustainably How can we promote sustainable development through sport and within the sports sector? The Kestävästi Liikkeelle! project trains Finnish sports professionals and students in sustainable development and global challenges, with a particular focus on how these issues connect to physical activity and sport. The project aims to strengthen the sports sector’s commitment to the Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Finland’s development policy objectives.