Introduction

In one of the largest slums in Kenya, where Drug and substance abuse is on the rise, as HIV and AIDS is overpowering the present, one would assume that this is a likely site for motivated youth who act as forces of change to dwell. This community has been struck by poverty as children are dying of malnutrition problems, teenage pregnancy, crime and poor housing. In 1987 a Canadian friend Bob Munro visited the slums of Mathare. Little did he know what to expect. He found some young boys playing soccer with a football made from rags and waste papers tied together with string.

The eye catching thing is that they played in the street using 4 stones as goal posts and no rules. He saw one boy playing unfairly to the other and intervened.
After several visits he got acquainted with the boys and became a friend. One day he asked them, what do you want? Expecting them to ask for basic needs such as as clothes. food or shelter, he was surprised when they asked for a bouncing ball. The only time they had played with a bouncing ball was when they made a ball with the usual materials, but covered in a condom. As the ball was kicked up it bounced back and hit the hard dusty road - and burst. That was the end of the experiment! They had only heard of bouncing balls or seen pictures of them. Bob replied," if you want me to do something, you must also do something. If you do nothing I will do nothing" The young boys were held with a responsibility of mobilising the youth to come to play a game of football. Thus, the Mathare Youth Sports Association - MYSA- was formed as a self help sports and community development project. The first office was a rented room in the midst of other rooms operating as a bar and club in Eastleigh.

To date MYSA has grown to be one of the largest youth sport and community development organisations in Africa, with a registration of over 14,000 youth participating in its activities. The main aim has been 'linking sports, community leadership and sustainable development in Africa'. In 1998 since the youth were too poor to pay to be in the league, they were expected to clean their neighbourhood instead, thus the Slum Environmental Clean-up project was formed, with the main aim of cleaning and opening neglected drainage system. In fact, the project has been so successful that in 1992 MYSA was recognised by UNEP, and was awarded the UNEP 500 Global Award for Environmental Innovation and Achievement in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Sport to date has acted as the entry point to other MYSA organised activities.

Manchester United in Kenya

As part of the British High Commission's UKenya project (celebrating 40 years partnership with Kenya) Manchester United under 15 team made a 10 day visit to Kenya to have an exchange programme with various youth sports clubs and organisations. MYSA was one of these. This was a memorable event for many Mathare youth and children as they got an opportunity to interact with the future stars of Man Utd. Even though Paul Scholes and Roy Keane were not present, the impact created and the mark left in the hearts of the Mathare and Manchester Youth and children will remain for eternity.

Other MYSA programmes include:

Jailed kids Project or Outreach- dealing with the feeding and repatriation of kids in jail. The main aim has been freeing the juvenile kids from the juvenile court system and linking them with their families as well as feeding them in the court and remand home. They also do sports activities in the homes.

Shootback Project - dealing with photography, videography and skills development.

Sports and leadership Academy- dealing with Sports and leadership training for top MYSA leaders, coaches and referees .

Leadership Award Project - Provides scholarship for top MYSA volunteers

Youth Exchange - dealing with various Networking and Exchange programmes (North to South, South to South)

Anti-Child Labour Project - carrying out campaigns against Child Labour and creates awareness of children's rights.

An effective HIV and AIDS Prevention and awareness project - which promotes healthy living and behaviour change among the youth. Alas creates awareness of substance abuse, Reproductive health, HIV and AIDS and other vices in the community.

Art Culture Support - dealing with Art, Drama, Music and Puppetry

Community Libraries - providing all members of the community with access to information and knowledge. Encouraging youth to use their imaginations, to write and draw their own stories, and to have a safe place to study.

MYSA has been recognised worldwide for its efforts in using sport as an entry point to community development. They have won various awards including being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003.

MYSA

P.O.Box 69038 Nairobi, Kenya

Tel:+254 20 583055.

Web page: www.mysakenya.org

E mail: info@mysakenya.org