SPORTS INITIATIVES

The Youth Sports Program also promotes other initiatives consistent with its core goals.

SKILLS TRAININGS AND WORKSHOPS
The program offers workshop and training to participants in order to develop leadership skills on and off the field.  The program’s partnerships with local Kenyan businesses result in trainings and employment opportunities for Kibera youth.  Additionally, CFK referees and coaches participate in youth development seminars, and the Youth Sports Program rewards its most active members with educational or small business grants.  Fifteen of the most involved leaders of the program were selected to participate in a national referee training and are now licensed to work in any division of the Kenyan soccer league.

CONSULTING and SERVING AS A GLOBAL MODEL
CFK seeks to expand its presence in Kibera and already serves as a model for other community-based organizations in difficult, disenfranchised, and often dangerous places worldwide.  For example, CFK Youth Sports Program Officer Abdul “Cantar” Hussein traveled to the Gambia in May 2007 to advise a nascent organization interested in applying CFK’s sports model to its own program.  Cantar trained his colleagues on mobilization skills, community involvement, operational structure, coaching, tournament organization, and gender equality.

DR. KATE H. KOHN COMMUNITY LIBRARY
Additionally, the Youth Sports Program Officer coordinates the Dr. Kate H. Kohn Community Library, which is housed with the CFK-Kenya offices. Two CFK Summer Fellows – Melissa Anderson ’03 and Peter Dixon ’04 – led the library's establishment and initial development. The main challenges facing the library include securing funding to expand the library's collection and community presence, as well as finding a trained individual to run the library on a full- or part-time basis.