How many kids do you know that would ask to go to school or extra classes on a Saturday morning? Not many? That wasn’t the case this week as Kibera Mpira Mtaani (Kibera Village Football) launched their Saturday morning classes in their office in Kibera.
Having set up one of the two rooms of their office as a resource centre and with donations of books, exercise books and pencils, it was time to take the Mpira Mtaani programme to the next level. Teachers for the day included Lucy and Polly from The Banda School (an exclusive independent preparatory school in Nairobi), 2 local ECD (Early Childhood Development) teachers, Judy Atieno and Jane Owiso, from Kibera and Isaac Aringa, one of Mpira Mtaani’s committee members. Also on hand were MC GG Spice and coach Charles.
Having engaged the kids through football, it was decided that the next step was to try and use the resource centre to assist the children in their learning. Most of the children who play in Mpira Mtaani tournaments attend informal schools and many live in houses with no electricity so the opportunity for studying at night is limited. By opening up the centre the committee felt they could offer children facilities to study and, with the assistance of volunteer teachers, extra tuition which will hopefully help improve grades.
The expectation for launch day on Saturday 28th February was that a group of 20 kids would attend and spend time improving their English language skills. In reality, 80 kids took part and many more were turned away. The management of the building in which the office is situated offered up their office as an extra space and the kids were divided into 3 groups. One group of older children read books in the management office under the supervision of Isaac who told us that “Education is the key to success. We want to cultivate a reading culture with our kids”. The other two groups were split between watching TV and language and art sessions with the teachers then rotated round halfway through the session.
The reasoning behind focusing on English language in these sessions is that children in the local area have been performing poorly in school because of language. From an early age, children in Kenya are taught all subjects in English. If they don’t have a good grasp of the language, this can lead to difficulties in the other subjects such as Science, Maths and Social Studies as well as English. Isaac feels that by improving language, school grades and ultimately the number of children offered places at good secondary schools, “the local community can be changed within 5-6 years”.
In addition to the Saturday morning classes, Class 8 students in their final year of primary school will be offered study facilities and tuition from 6pm – 7.30pm on weeknights. On hand to tutor on those nights is Melvin Kariuki who referees at Mpira Mtaani tournaments as well as playing for a premier league team, and Isaac’s brother David who is volunteering his services.
Although resources are limited, Kibera Mpira Mtaani is striving to make a difference in their community and it is inspiring to see so many individuals volunteering their time to support them in this endeavor. As well as reaching out to the children of Kibera chairman Vincent Kegode told us that these classes are “bringing parents closer to the organization”. Many parents are of a generation where academic studies are the priority so they haven’t taken an interest in their children playing football. Now, they are beginning to see an organization that uses the football as a tool to reach out to the children and assist them in education. This can only lead to greater support of the organization…as well as greater expectations from the community.
If you are interested in supporting Kibera Mpira Mtaani in either their football tournaments or resource centre, please use our contact form to get in touch. Together, we can help Mpira Mtaani make that difference and change their community as they dream of doing.
