Kibera Football: Kibera Mpira Mtaani
The translation of Kibera Mpira Mtaani is 'Kibera Village Football'. However, this project is about a lot more than just football. Over the last 10 years, Kibera Mpira Mtaani has coordinated football tournaments and community work in the slums of Kibera. Vision Africa is a strong supporter of the work of this Community Based Organisation and provides funding for three tournaments a year, rent of an office & workshops and seminars for coaches.
The concept of Kibera Mpira Mtaani is that football can be used as a tool to reach out to the youth of Kibera and educate them on a variety of subjects including HIV/AIDS, the importance of education and alternatives to crime. For some children in Kibera there are no parents to check up on them, or their parents are too busy trying to make ends meet to worry about performance at school etc. Some of the football coaches are able to step into this role and check up on children on a weekly basis. There are also rules that each team must sign up to before taking part in a tournament. These encourage children not to smoke or drink alcohol, to attend school and to behave in a respectable manner.
In the past couple of years, Kibera Mpira Mtaani has grown from strength to strength. In 2008 and 2008 each of their tournaments involved more than 100 teams - in fact they were oversubscribed and had to turn away teams. This means that more than 40 coaches and 2,500 children are involved in the football tournaments along with referees and volunteers, and entertainers on finals days. Vision Africa’s support extends to paying for the hire of pitches and referees, trophies and awards such as footballs, bibs and cones and allowances for committee members. The reputation of our tournaments and of Mpira Mtaani has contributed to the success of this project.
In February 2009, Mpira Mtaani took the next step in the development of their organization with the opening of a resource centre. 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. On Saturday mornings, the centre is open to younger children and offers them the opportunity to draw, watch DVD's or write in order to improve their language skills.
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. Committee member Isaac told us 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”.
The coordinators of this programme also organise community clean-ups to teach children the importance of looking after their community. Armed with rakes and wheelbarrows donated by Vision Africa, teams are encouraged to take part in the cleaning of an area of Kibera. Our donation was made to replace equipment which was stolen. Additional donations of wheelbarrows, rakes and spades would allow clean ups to take place on a bigger scale, assist more communities and involve more individuals.
Kibera Village football is giving so many children a sense of hope in a desperate place to live. Kibera is one of the biggest slums in Africa and without Kibera Mpira Mtaani thousands of destitute children would have no outlet for their energy.
For supporters in Kenya, donations in kind are also welcome at this project. If you have books or stationery you can donate to the library or items that can be used at the football tournaments please do get in touch. Alternatively, let us know if you have some time to volunteer with this project.
50p gives a child a main meal every day they are at school.
£1 a week pays for a child’s education.
Updated: September 2009