If you have ever wondered how sports can change the lives of young people, this article will give you an insight in to just what can happen. I was chatting to my colleague, Vincent Kegode, about the upcoming music festival that his organisation Kibera Mpira Mtaani is facilitating. As he explained about how the committee of KMM is now divided in to the “sports desk”, “education desk” and “environment desk” I asked to hear more about the work of the environment desk as all I knew was that they organise clean ups in the community.
After talking about the most recent clean up that had taken place, Vincent started telling me about how the environment equipment (including wheelbarrows donated by Vision Africa) was helping transform the lives of a group of youths. These young people have been known to KMM for some years but having left school there is nothing for them to do in Kibera. Some have completed their secondary education but cannot find employment, others dropped out of primary school. At their age, they cannot compete in most of the football tournaments which are organised in Kibera as the tournaments target younger children.
This group was left with nothing to do and were viewed with suspicion by their local community. If ever a crime was committed, the chances were that someone would try and blame this group. Determined to change the attitudes of their elders, the youngsters sought advice from committee members at Kibera Mpira Mtaani. After some discussion, KMM donated one football and a set of strips to the group and offered them the use of their environment equipment on Sundays.
The team, now known as Gullyside, began training and when time allows, Vincent and his colleagues spend some time coaching them. They have also started using the wheelbarrows and rakes to do weekly clean-ups in their local community which has earned them the respect of their elders. Although they don’t ask for payment, some of the local traders have given them small tokens of appreciation for their efforts and this allowed them to collect the entry fee to compete in a tournament for their own age group. The Kibera Mpira Mtaani committee were invited to watch them play in their matches and have also continued to provide weekly mentoring for the group.
As this story unfolded, I became more and more aware of the power of sports development and people working together in a community. It is truly inspiring to hear how our colleagues on the ground are transforming the lives of people in their community and how Vision Africa donations are assisting in some small way.
If you would like more information about Kibera Mpira Mtaani, please get in touch by selecting “Kenya” on our contact form.