Location: Mathare, Nairobi, Kenya

Centre Host: Mathare Youth Sports Association (MYSA)

Status: opened on August 4, 2010

Sep. 4, 2010: World Cup legacy comes to life as 2nd Football for Hope Centre opens in Kenya

The Football for Hope Centre is situated right next to the MYSA headquarters in Mathare, which is part of the Nairobi Eastlands. Two of the biggest challenges in the area are poverty and unemployment, which is estimated at 42%. With few opportunities after leaving school, young people are particularly vulnerable to this situation, which contributes to the high crime rates in this area. Young people without opportunities often feel shut out of society and seek quick ways to make money. MYSA specifically targets these individuals, engaging them in a positive lifestyle and providing them with practical job and life skills.

Founded in 1987 to address sanitation and environmental issues in the Mathare slums, the Mathare Youth Sports Association (MYSA) has grown to encompass a wide range of activities that invest in disadvantaged young people. Alongside a football programme with over 14,000 young people in 16 of the most deprived slums of Nairobi, MYSA also involves young people in leadership training, environmental cleanups, peer-to-peer education, HIV/AIDS awareness programmes and other community service activities. MYSA's vision is to create opportunities for young people on the physical and personal level. The organisation empowers young people to contribute to the development of the community and encourages them to act as role models for their peers.

The main focus of the centre is a voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) centre. MYSA peer educators have been trained in counselling and referring but MYSA participants are still hesitant to visit a clinic or testing centre. MYSA now offers in-house testing facilities in a youth-friendly environment. The NGO Liverpool Voluntary Counselling and Testing Care and Treatment (LVCT) supports with setting up the testing structure in Mathare.

MYSA’s core educational facility at the centre is a new library, including IT rooms. MYSA has so far set up 6 libraries in different zones in Nairobi, where participants engage in reading, IT and homework programmes as well as adult literacy programmes.

Until recently, the MYSA headquarters had been a purely administrative and sports-oriented facility. The Football for Hope Centre now embodies the holistic concept of MYSA’s programmes at the headquarters. Professional players can easily be involved in the educational activities and use their potential as peer trainers and role models for young people who come to the centre. From the headquarters, the educational programme can then spread to the various MYSA zones.

Stephen Muchoki
Mathare Football for Hope Centre Manager
stephen.muchoki@mysakenya.org
+254-722-921402

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