Kibera Girls Soccer
Academy in
Worse Slum
By Shaun Lamory
March 6, 2008
Kibera is home to over one million people who provide cheap labor for multinational corporations such as Coca-Cola, General Motors, Firestone, and a host of British and other European businesses. Cement walls covered by barbed wire separate the slum from an up-scale golf course that entertains the President of Kenya, foreign businessmen, and others elites. Kibera faces a severe lack of adequate housing, running water, roads, and sanitation. There is no sewage system, no trash collection, no health care services, and no public secondary education. Crime, violence, and prostitution are commonplace. In short, Kibera is considered by many development workers to have some of the world's worst living conditions.
Kibera Girls Soccer Academy (KGSA) is the only free secondary school in the Kibera slums of Nairobi and the only girls' soccer academy in all of Kenya. KGSA first began to take shape in January of 2006 when two soccer coaches, Abdul Kassim and Salim Sebit, were sick of losing their best players to the harsh realities of slum life. They saw the toll taken by rape, violence, teen pregnancies, AIDs, illness, prostitution, and drugs. They decided to start a school to provide a safe place for their soccer players and to combat the oppression these young women faced.
Although Abdul and Salim had the will to initiate this grassroots effort, they did not have the initial capital. Salim donated his house to use as a building for the school, which left him homeless for four months. Both Abdul and Salim used their considerable charisma and leadership skills to motivate members of the Kibera community to join their efforts in building this school. They attracted donations from private individuals and began to make contact with NGOs. Through their hard work and commitment to their students and soccer players, Abdul and Salim managed to purchase textbooks, uniforms, stationary supplies, and pay for electricity and rent. It has grown from 11 to 70 students in two years.
None of the teachers who work at the school are presently compensated. They are unemployed teachers in the community who have families to feed as well and cannot afford to donate their labor forever. However, they love the students immensely and are extremely committed. If not for KGSA these girls would be left to struggle along with the rest of Kibera's street children, which is a lifestyle of great hardship.
KGSA empowers the female youth of Kibera physically as well as intellectually. KGSA's soccer team is considered to be one of the best in Nairobi having earned numerous trophies to prove it. Recently, the KGSA soccer team took part in a Football for Peace tournament organized by the United Nations. The soccer team continues to dominate all of the male teams in Kibera and have participated in East African regional tournaments as well.
Abdul and Salim also initiated a feeding program to ensure that the students receive breakfast and lunch daily. Prior to this many students went without lunch or breakfast and had only one meal a day, if even that. The feeding program is, however, expensive to maintain and unfortunately is one of the first things to be cut when the school is experiencing great financial difficulty.
Recently, KGSA relocated to an area of Kibera that is much safer than its previous location in Makina village. KGSA has a larger plot of land and the building is four times its original size, which has allowed for the growth in the student body. In light of the recent developments in Kenya's political situation, security is an even greater concern for KGSA. This is one of many reasons that KGSA is seeking to develop the school into a boarding school, a common form for Kenyan secondary schools. Traveling to and from school is a danger given the high rate of crime, violence and rape.
KGSA maintains a level of solidarity that one would be hard-pressed to find anywhere else in the world. In the outbreak of recent political violence throughout Kibera many of the students and their families were displaced and their homes were destroyed. Abdul, Salim, the teachers, and all of the friends of KGSA remain committed to ensuring every student's safe return to the school and assisting members' families in restoring their livelihoods. The most important aspect of KGSA is that it is a support network for these young women who have so much intellect and compassion to offer this seemingly unjust world. KGSA is not just simply a school - KGSA it is a community of love and solidarity.
In 2006 Shaun Lamory taught English at KGSA for four months, and since then has been assisting Abdul, Salim, and the teachers in fundraising for the school's development. For more information about KGSA or if you belong to an organization that is interested in partnering with or providing further support for KGSA, please contact Shaun at:
shaun.kgsa@gmail.com
413.687.0276
To make a tax deductable donation to KGSA please make a check payable to Kibera Girls Soccer Academy and mail it to:
KGSA Support Fund
c/o Shaun Lamory
214 South St.
Northampton, MA 01060
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