African Alliance for Youth Sport and Entrepreneurship (AAYSE)

Full title: Effects of PA and sport based Positive Youth Development programs on youth life skills and Entrepreneurship

The AAYSE project uses school and community based sport and physical activity-based Positive Youth Development programs to; 1) teach youth learn life skills, 2) enhance youth understanding of how the life skills can be applied to other life domains such as academic achievement, and emotional wellbeing, and 3) nurture entrepreneurial mindsets in youth. The project has received funding from the Alliance for African Partnership.

Project team: Leapetswe Malete (MSU, Project Lead), Daniel McCole (MSU), Reginald Ocansey and Clement Adamba (University of Ghana), Tshepang Tshube, Thuso Mphela and Gaofetoge Ganamotse (University of Botswana), Cyprian Maro and Juliana Machuve (University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania).

Youth Physical Activity & Well-being (YPAW)

Full title: The Impact of a Community-Based Life Skills Program on Youth Physical Activity and Wellbeing

The goal of the YPAW project is to demonstrate that if youth (ages 8-14 years) are exposed to a physical activity (PA) based life skills program, they will have improved PA and fitness, improved life skills, well-being, and school outcomes. PA-based after school programs are rich learning environments, with the capacity to mediate youth development challenges and enhance socio-emotional well-being of youth. However, youth from underserved communities, have limited access and fewer opportunities to participate in these programs, and this compounds the challenges these youth have with PA, health, and socioemotional well-being. This project has received funding from the Michigan Health Endowment Fund, Community Health Impact Initiative and targets youth from underserved communities in the greater Lansing area.

Project Team: Leapetswe Malete (Project Lead), Jennifer Roth, and Andrew Mac Intosh, Chelsi Ricketts.  

SMART Infrastructure and Mobility Innovations

Full title: Collaborative Research on Youth Empowerment and Education: SMART Infrastructure and Mobility Innovations for Resilient Community Health

The goal of this project is to offer research opportunities for MSU and University of Botswana (UB) students from Engineering and Kinesiology to work on faculty research labs at MSU and UB. MSU Graduate students are expected to travel to UB to engage in collaborative projects that bridge and leverage the unique resources and expertise of MSU and UB faculty on innovations in technologies for a resilient and sustainable infrastructure, physical activity and health and youth entrepreneurship. Students and faculty are expected to learn within a professional practice that is characterized by interpersonal, interdisciplinary and intercultural contexts The projected has received funding from the Alliance for African Partnership.

Project team: Nizar Lajnef (MSU, Project Lead), Leapetswe Malete (MSU), Philemon Odirile, Dan Tladi, and Gaofetoge Ganamotse (University of Botswana).  

Emotional Resilience during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Full title: Speech Production, Physical Activity as Predictors of Emotional Resilience During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Nigeria, Ghana, Botswana, and Tanzania

The goals of the PA and mental health during COVID-19 is to measure the impact of COVID-19 on physical activity and mental and physical health during the COVID-19 pandemic in three regions of Africa. The study uses SondeHealth vocal biomarkers alongside PA and mental health screening questionnaires to identify and understand the relationship among PA, mental health, and respiratory health of individuals living in of Botswana, Ghana, Tanzania and Nigeria during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the study will extend the size and diversity of Sonde’s vocal biobank, which will now include voice samples and health labels from people across four continents, multiple languages, and ethnic backgrounds, as well as socioeconomic classes. This project is funded by the National Research Foundation of South Africa.

Research team: Leapetswe Malete (MSU, Co-Project Lead), Dale Joachim (SondeHealth, Co-Poject Lead), Reginald Ocansey (University of Ghana, Co-Project Lead), Clement Adamba (University of Ghana), Dawn Tladi (University of Botswana), Joyce Ndabi (University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania), and Rosemary Muomah (University of Nigeria, Enugu Medical School).