A FOOTBALL coach swapped the fields of east London for the plains of Africa on a charity mission to encourage greater awareness of HIV.

Sinem Cakir, 25, spends her day job coaching on behalf of the City of London Corporation on the 62 football pitches of Wanstead Flats, but decided to visit Zambia for three months for Tackle Africa.

Tackle Africa educates young people with the facts about HIV and AIDS through football coaching sessions.

Sinem said: “It's a clever way of manipulating football. We might teach how to outnumber defenders and that links in to how HIV outnumbers and attacks the white blood cells. You can outnumber three people with seven and a goal is scored and then you all come together and talk about how that represents the immune system.

“It's a really great way of breaking down cultural barriers and barriers around health issues.”

After spending an initial three weeks in Zambia for Tackle Africa, Sinem decided to stay on to carry on working with local football coaches.

“Coaching in Africa is something I've always wanted to do,” she said. “The big difference I found was young people in Africa have a real thirst for training. They'll take on any advice or criticism and never stop from a poor attitude.

“I almost wanted to take everyone I know back there to meet the people I met.”

For more information on the charity visit tackleafrica.org.