Cambridge-Kenya

Football for Development

 
 

Football for Development brings together soccer enthusiasts in Cambridge, MA with members of the Society Empowerment Project in Oyugis, Kenya, organized by Festus Juma.  The collaboration involves several initiatives:

  1.   Tournaments and Collaborations To promote community development, the SEP organizes regular football/soccer tournaments and collaborations with others, both in Kenya and abroad.  The Cambridge participants raise money to support these efforts.  For example:

  2. Coaches Across Continents

  3. Premier Skills Coaching Course

  4. Unicef WASH program and Travel2Change - more photos

  5. Youth Self-Help Agriculture Program

Read the report on the 3rd Annual Soccer Tournament and Educational Camp held August 11-14, 2011 in Oyugis.  Photos can be viewed under the “photos” tab above.

  1. Female Empowerment Through Football is an SEP project focused on incorporating life skills training into SEP’s girls soccer league. The goal of Female Empowerment Through Football is to train girls in leadership skills, inspire them to use football for overcoming challenges experienced by women in their local community, and create clubs where girls feel comfortable openly discussing personal issues and seeking advice from one another.

  2. The training educates girls on their basic human rights and equips them with knowledge and self esteem that enables them to make healthy choices, empowering them at home and in their future relationships. In addition, the project works to connect the girls to their peers in the East Coast of the United States.

  3. Cleats for Kenya is an initiative organized in Cambridge.  American soccer players often have several pairs of cleats/boots and Kenyan soccer players may have none at all.  We collect used cleats and other soccer gear to send to the SEP as a way to support the teams.  Isaac Yablo organizes this effort.  If you have gear to donate, please contact him at isaac.yablo@gmail.com.

  4. FFD Youth Exchange Program is an initiative that provides opportunities for Kenyan youth to visit the United States and Cambridge youth to visit Kenya.  Funds are needed to support this project, and fundraising projects are underway in Cambridge.

Do you have doubts about the power of football to make a difference?  Think again!  Here is more information on the international effort.

For more information, contact Sally Haslanger (shaslang@mit.edu) in Cambridge, or Festus Juma (festus.juma@yahoo.com) in Oyugis.

Thanks to Joe Agoada, the Two-Wheeled Foundation and the Boston Black Spurs FC for their support.  Photo on this page thanks to Travel2Change.

 

Social Empowerment through Football (Soccer to Americans!)

updated: 10 Oct 11