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It’s that time of year again—Carolina for Kibera’s soccer leagues are getting started, and it is obvious that players are excited!  For the last few weeks, Kiberan youth have been preparing on and off the pitch, practicing with their teams on clear days and stringing makeshift balls together with plastic bags and twine on rainy days.

Alongside teams’ regular matches, each team will participate in a series of small group discussions, called the “Caught Offside” forums. This initiative offers a safe, non-threatening space to talk about issues affecting players’ communities.  In the past, these forums have centered specifically on HIV/AIDS prevention within players’ communities, but this year, players will discuss a wider variety of topics, including substance abuse and sexual violence.

Not only do these forums reinforce the Sports Association’s mission to teach healthy life choices and break down barriers through sports, but they also work to address issues that keep Kiberan youth from pursuing their passions to begin with.  By building a sense of camaraderie through soccer, players can work together more comfortably to improve their communities!

The soccer program has lots in store over the next few months—tournaments will start, matches will be won and lost, important issues will be discussed.  Excitement is in the air, and youth throughout Kibera are eager for matches and programs to kick off!

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…meanwhile, across the Atlantic…

On a sunny Sunday in April, over 60 young women, ages 6 to 18, came to UNC’s campus to participate in a fun-filled day of sport, team-building, and community involvement.  It was time for CFK’s annual Kick for Kibera soccer clinic, run by UNC’s National Championship-Winning Women’s Soccer Team!

In its eighth year, Kick for Kibera seeks to connect young girls through soccer, demonstrating the power that sports can have to unite people of different backgrounds.  All of the proceeds from the clinic go to CFK’s Sports Association, specifically the women’s soccer initiative, which can then be used to provide supplies such as balls and cleats to CFK athletes.  So, before beginning the clinic, participants learned a bit about what life and soccer are like in Kibera.  Houses are typically smaller than a goal box.  Soccer balls are usually made out of plastic bags and twine or any other materials kids can find lying in the streets; they are also smaller, quite different from air-compressed balls commonly found in the United States.

CFK Executive Director Hillary Omala talks to participants about what soccer is like in Kibera.

The rest of the afternoon was then dedicated to the clinic’s athletic and training events.  And what better way to play than under the guidance of UNC’s 2012 National Championship-Winning Women’s Soccer Team?  Members of the team led the girls through warm-ups, skills training exercises, and a scrimmage.  As a bonus, the girls were able to take a tour of the UNC Women’s Soccer facilities, where they might have the opportunity to play one day.

Every year, Kick for Kibera helps provide resources to Kiberan youth who would not otherwise have the ability to play.  The Sports Association not only seeks to offer this opportunity and develop athletic talent, but also to cultivate creativity and trust among teammates.  We are thrilled that this year was such a success, and are excited to see it translate into more resources for our Kiberan players.

If you like this idea or have one of your own to make an impact in Kibera, send an e-mail to info@carolinaforkibera.org!

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“Talent is universal, but opportunity is not.”  In Kibera, entrepreneurs have great ideas, but do not have the funds to explore them.  Potential students often lack access to affordable education that could foster learning and lead to better careers.  Athletes may be able to play soccer or jump rope, but may not have safe, productive outlets to develop their skills.

Never has this phrase rung truer than when talking about Sophia Opiyo.  Upon learning about Carolina for Kibera’s jump rope program, the 9-year-old girl joined with just one month remaining before the program’s first in-house competition in 2013.  This competition is part of a larger process of assessing skill levels among the jumpers in order to determine placement for ongoing training.

Once given the chance to practice and develop her talents, Sophia began to shine; trained for less than a month, Sophia jumped 67 times in 30 seconds.  To put that in perspective, the international record for this type of jumping is 100 times in 30 seconds for the fastest boy, while the East African record for a girl is 80 times in 30 seconds.  With less than a month of training, Sophia has already come close to beating the East African record!  Her trainers and other members of the Sports Program’s staff immediately recognized Sophia’s talent and the potential she has to take this to a higher level—possibly as a professional jumper who performs for audiences.

Sophia balances her time with other activities.  With the encouragement of her coaches, she regularly attends the Darajani Primary School, with practice afterwards on Tuesdays and Fridays.  They also reinforce the idea that jumping rope is not just about speed—it’s also about teamwork, being creative, and having fun with the sport.

With the rapid growth she has already shown, it is clear that Sophia’s jump rope skills will only increase. Fortunately—and unlike many Kiberan youth—she has found an outlet to explore her passion, and supportive mentors to help her do it.  “Talent is universal, but opportunity is not.”  CFK continues to extend such opportunities to Kiberans with the hope that others will excel as Sophia has—and perhaps, to break records of their own.

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Every woman deserves a healthy life, no matter where she lives or what she has.  This applies to all sorts of healthcare treatments: proper nutrition, sexual and reproductive health issues, as well as avoidance of temporary and terminal illnesses.  One such terminal illness is cervical cancer, to which many Kiberan women are susceptible.  Since affordable care and screening services for cervical cancer in Kenya are few and far between, the Tabitha Medical Clinic (founded with a mere $26) has now scaled up its services to offer cervical cancer screenings.

A large number of women in Kibera have never been able to be checked for cervical cancer, whether it is because of day-long work and business or local myths and fears about the screenings. However, no woman in Kibera ought to die of cervical cancer; it develops slowly after the initial infection and, unlike most other cancers, is preventable when precursor lesions are detected and treated.

Screening is now available to all women of reproductive age in the community for prevention, early diagnosis, and treatment. Launched in December 2012, the program has cumulatively provided the services to over 70 women, also extending services to women infected with HIV/AIDS or who are at high risk for being infected.  The clinic also provides education on cervical cancer to ensure that more women know about the benefits of early detection and can participate in cancer control and prevention.

Carolina for Kibera has responded to a significant need in Kibera.  In this resource-limited setting, healthcare funding and infrastructure are typically inadequate for primary care and prevention programs like cervical cancer screenings.  As a result, women are significantly more vulnerable.  The Carolina for Kibera Cervical Cancer Screening Program supports women and healthcare providers to help ensure that as many women as possible benefit from these new life-saving services. It also works to dispel the previously-held, discouraging idea that such services are only available in big hospitals and come at a great cost.

Each woman is counted and counts. Every woman merits the opportunity to avoid cervical cancer, no matter where she lives.  This is what CFK, through its Health Service Department, stands for through this noble program, and we are proud to be developing functional strategies to see that all women have access to the healthcare services that they deserve.

SFF strives to develop and deliver reproductive health, food security, and youth engagement programs to communities primarily in East Africa.  They partner with a wide variety of organizations (including CFK) and encourage international networking and collaboration among them.  Fittingly, the winner’s reward included a trip for two to visit another SFF partner!  At the beginning of February, Hillary, CFK’s Executive Director, and Ben, a program officer in our Sexual Reproductive Health Program, began their five-day trip to visit AGE Africa in Malawi.  Check out their documentary-style blog post on SFF’s website to read about their travels and experience with AGE Africa!

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Sometimes we may take some of life’s simplest pleasures for granted, thinking of them as facts rather than privileges.  Things as simple as working and feeding ourselves become routine because we have the opportunity to do those things.  For a staggering number of Kiberan children, malnourishment and chronic hunger are instead the norm.

In 2012, the Tabitha Medical Clinic identified hundreds of cases of malnourishment in Kiberan children, which hinders healthy growth of educational, communicative, and social skills.  According to the World Bank, good nutrition is also “the first line of defense against numerous childhood diseases, which can leave their mark on a child for life.”  With limited resources, the body will always prioritize survival and neglect growth (Sagan and Druyan, World Bank). Given that nutrition is an essential element in the development and overall health in children under the age of five, the Carolina for Kibera team decided to create a nutrition initiative in the Kibera community.

CFK launched its nutrition program this year and hit the ground running; the team is already working with over 200 children and their families in Kianda village, one of three areas where the CFK Health Department works.  Additionally, a new nutrition center will open this month!  It will be called “Lishe Bora Mtaani,” which can be loosely translated as “good nutrition for the community,” and will serve as a place where families can bring their children for assessments, supplemental nutrition services, and information on practical and affordable ways to augment nutrition in families.

Due to CFK’s long-term partnership with the community, families are excited about the nutrition program; they are eager to have more information, access to counseling services, and support on other health related issues that the new center will bring.  Several community members have spoken in favor of the center:

“[The aim of my work is] to reduce the incidences of child mortality because of lack of information on simple food preparation, negligence on the importance of breast-feeding, and poverty experienced by the residents of Kibera.”

~Esther Opana, CFK nutritionist

“I am thanking CFK for coming up with such a noble idea of a nutrition support program and they should continue because many people are hard hit with many challenges, so if they educate and equip us I will appreciate.”

~Sarah, 23-year-old day-laborer and mother of four

Sarah also shared that three of her children are below five years of age.  She is understandably concerned with the welfare of her children and therefore very interested in the construction of the new nutrition center.   With proper nutrition, Sarah and others look forward to a future where their children will be healthy and able to pursue their studies and live more fulfilled lives.

  By: Suzanne Thomson, Organizational Consultant, CFK Kenya

On March 4^th, Kenya will have its general elections.  This is the first general election since the now infamous 2007 election that erupted into violence.  It’s also the first one under the new constitution, the first time some Kenyans in the Diaspora will be able to vote, and the first time that there are candidates who will soon be on trial at the International Criminal Court for their part in the 2007 chaos.  This is a significant election for Kenya for many reasons, and in Kenya, everyone is talking about it – all the time.  The fact of the matter is that no one knows what will happen. Will the elections go smoothly? Will there be a run-off? Will people fight? Will everything be sorted out in a week?  Two weeks, a month, three months? Everywhere, there’s a good deal of speculation about what will happen flying around – in newspapers and magazines, in security briefs, on the streets, over coffees, on matatus…

And so it’s in this context that the Carolina for Kibera (CFK) team continues on with their work in the community of Kibera, one of the so-called “hotbeds” for political and ethnically-charged violence.  But this post isn’t really about the election or violence per se; rather, it’s about what is happening programmatically at CFK in the context of the election.  As anyone can imagine, it’s difficult to plan and implement programs when a significant and somewhat unpredictable event is just around the corner.  How does anyone plan to move forward with a community when it’s not clear what that community will look like in a week or two?

With all the question marks lined up for the times directly before and after the election, this has become a pivotal moment for CFK’s work. The first quarter of 2013 will see several key trainings and activities taking place.  First, many principal staff members have been training with partners from Curamericas to prepare to roll-out intensive work with community health workers in the area of sanitation and health.  Second, the education program is conducting home visits to interview potential new secondary school scholarship recipients and their families.  Third, the sexual and reproductive health team is training its newest youth peer educators, who will do the important work of disseminating the latest information about reproductive health to their peers in school and around the community.  And finally, the sports team has organized for a week-long training with youth peer educators sourced from all CFK programs. There, youth will learn more about civic duty, the new constitution, their rights under the constitution, the upcoming election’s implications for the future of Kenya, peaceful conflict resolution, and more – all in order to share this information throughout the community prior to the election.

This time has also been key for the various candidates vying for seats in the government.  In fact, they recently held the first Presidential debate — the first ever —in Kenyan history.  There’s so much going on in Kenya right now it can make your head spin.  With a staff of all Kenyans and a vested interest in seeing Kibera – and Kenya in general – change for the better, CFK is paying careful attention to everything that is going on and integrating all that is happening into its work with the community.

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How else is CFK fostering peace in Kibera? The documentary film Without a Fight tells a story of peace-building through sports, featuring players from Carolina for Kibera’s Champions League. Get your copy today… All proceeds go to support CFK’s Sports Association in Kenya!

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 Several months—or for a student, an entire semester—have passed since we announced the first recipients of our new Alan Cross Memorial Scholarship.  Dedicated to our late friend and board member Dr. Alan Cross, this scholarship is designed to provide financial aid to passionate and hardworking students interested in healthcare.

Laurine Oloo Otawa is one such student.  Faced with economic hardship and familial obligations throughout her life, Laurine was fortunate to have been able to complete her secondary education.  The only thing stopping her from pursuing a university degree was the cost.  To help provide for her family and to start saving for college, Laurine began working as a janitor at the Tabitha Clinic in Kibera.  Her diligence and eagerness to work at the clinic were strong motivating factors in her selection as a recipient of the Alan Cross Memorial Scholarship.  (Read more about her and our other scholarship awardee, John, by clicking here.)

Now, with your help, Laurine is one step closer to her degree!  Thanks to the scholarship, she now attends Kenya Polytechnic University College where she is pursuing a diploma in Health Records and Information Technology.  With one semester under her belt, Laurine reflects on her experience:

“So far I have gone for one semester which has eight units and has really motivated and enlightened me.  During this period I have experienced numerous positive and negative challenges that include:

“Positive challenges: I underwent my first semester smoothly without any fee balance due to the fact that my fee was paid on time.  The lecturers and my fellow students were very much understanding and supportive, hence creating a perfect environment for learning.  My fellow colleagues at work were also very supportive, a fact that has contributed a lot towards the completion of my first semester.

“Negative challenges: Given the fact that I have to be in school by 5:00 pm, I found it a little bit hard because I at times had to arrive at school late due to the [traffic] jam experienced in the evening.  Another fact is that I dropped physics [in high school] and now it’s one of the units that I found a bit challenging catching up with other students who had done the unit while in high school.”

“In conclusion, I pray and hope that next semester I will overcome some of the challenges and God willingly pass in my second semester and proceed to the next level.”

In this new semester, Laurine continues to work hard to complete her degree.  Her enthusiasm, even when faced with new challenges, speaks to her perseverance and passion for a career in healthcare.  In addition, Laurine still holds her position as a janitor at the Tabitha Clinic.  Working there not only helps her earn money for her family, but also allows her to spend even more time in the professional environment of which she hopes to be a part.  And knowing Laurine, we have no doubt she will.

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If you’d like to support the Alan Cross Memorial Scholarship, we welcome you to donate online here.

By: Nick Johnson, CFK Communications Intern

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Everyone deserves an education.  While this statement seems simple enough, the reality of providing access to affordable education across the globe is significantly more complicated.

In Kibera, an overcrowded community where extreme poverty is the norm, children’s prospects of attending school are often sidelined by the need to help support their families, either by working or doing household chores.  School fees are expensive, and that cost—combined with the burden of losing a set of extra hands— can be too much for families to bear, making education a thing of dreams for many Kiberan youth.

But these dreams are never forgotten.  Rebecca Wanyama certainly didn’t forget hers of graduating from college, and in December of last year, she turned that dream into a reality.  With the help of a scholarship from Carolina for Kibera’s education program, Rebecca overcame her family’s economic and emotional hardship to not only complete her degree, but to earn top honors as well!

We recently opened our inbox to find this email from her, thanking us for our support.  We wanted to share it with you:

“My name is Rebecca S. Wanyama.  Being one of the beneficiaries of your education sponsorship program, I’d like to convey my sincere gratitudes for your 2 years partial financial sponsorship that you offered me that enabled me to successfully complete my diploma course in business administration at the Kenya Polytechnic University College.

I graduated on the 17^th December last year with a credit (upper class honors) and am writing to thank you so much for your financial support that enabled me to fulfill and recover my long lost dream of finishing college education, after having dropped out 10 years earlier due to my father’s death (he was the sole provider for my family).

May the Almighty God bless you all: donors, volunteers, the management and staff of this noble organization (Carolina for Kibera).  Thank you and God bless you richly.”

Resilient and determined, Rebecca prevailed against the odds to achieve what she once thought was impossible due to her family’s circumstances.  Her authentic gratitude serves as an additional testament to her remarkable character.  Rebecca’s story reminds us that many in Kibera yearn to explore and foster their talents, but often lack the opportunity to do so.  If given the chance, they will excel, finally turning dreams and aspirations into reality.

by Leah Berolzheimer

I watched the documentary, “Without a Fight” this past year when it came out. Although I knew at the time that I would soon be in Kibera, I never imagined what it would be like to witness the soccer finals in person. Saying it is a community event doesn’t do it justice. On that Sunday in December, the community came together in so many different ways. There were dozens of teams, hundreds of fans, referees, half time performers, and more.

Most of all, I was impressed by how CFK has made the soccer finals such a desirable event. People truly want to be there, teams will do anything to win, and as a result, a large portion of the sprawling Kibera slum has felt the impact of this tournament.

In my first month volunteering in Kibera, I spent many evenings with CFK’s “Carolina Queens” girls’ under 14 soccer team. I watched them train together; developing as a team, as players, and as people. All of their hard work, as for many of the other teams participating, was in preparation for the December tournament. They had sixty minutes to prove themselves.

Stellah, age 12, and the captain of the Carolina Queen’s U-14 team was proud of their outcome. Although they tied 0-0 with their competitors, The Red Cross girls’ team, she felt like they were well prepared and played to their best abilities. Stellah joined the CFK league last year, but has been playing soccer since she was in class three.

Mueni, who is the Carolina Queens team manager, has been involved in CFK’s sports program since she was a young girl. She was a member of CFK’s first girl’s team, and now she helps to run and coach the team. She has truly had the chance to see the program grow and evolve. Mueni mentioned that she was personally proud to see that everyone involved in the girls match was a female; the coaches, managers, team members, and referees.

Lydiah, a captain of The Red Cross girls’ team, is 15 years old and has been playing soccer since she was in class two. However, this was her first year participating in the tournament. Speaking about what has drawn her to the tournament, Lydiah says “it’s a good thing; the matches are competitive, which makes people want to be a part of it.”

CFK’s tournament is rapidly expanding. More community members and teams want to be involved, and are willing to commit themselves for an entire year to regular practices and matches, to make their way to the tournament.

Yet again, the tournament ended ‘without a fight.’ The soccer program has largely been a foundation for how CFK works as an organization; empowering the community by including people of diverse and different backgrounds. Seeing this community of people working together and managing their problems in a controlled manner is impressive, to say the least.