Drama, Dance, Music, & Sport for Kisumu Youth

July 2019 marks the ten-year anniversary of the Manyatta Youth Resource Center in Kisumu, Kenya, primarily funded by Equip Manyatta. Ten years ago a group of community members from Kisumu, the third largest city in Kenya, and two interns from universities in the Western US sat down to create an organization dedicated to serving the under-privileged youth in the slums of Kisumu. Over the years, the MYRC has moved from its base in a corrugated metal shed, to hosting community events, classes, meetings, and art shows at its compound. Its sports program, which started as a single Under-14 team, has been built into an academy for both boys and girls ranging in age from youth into young adulthood. We have developed players from that original Under-14 team, and today many of them have professional soccer careers. Many have traveled within Africa and Europe pursuing their dreams of playing professional soccer thanks to opportunities created by the MYRC. Our dance teams and drama teams have all been recognized for their creative energy and originality. Our recording studio has helped produce and sponsor some of Kisumu’s most well-known musicians.

Through all of these successes there have also been major challenges. As our organization grew, the finances necessary to keep our programs running also surged. We needed to help support the adults in Kenya who were keeping our programs active. We needed to help keep our youth in school by supporting them with school fees. As the level of competition grew for our soccer club, the costs and travel associated with that level of play increased. As artists worked to become better recognized, they needed sponsorships to travel to interviews and produce music videos. Thanks to the support from donors on Global Giving we have been able to keep our dreams alive, but it has not been easy. Please continue to support us with your donations, but also by spreading the word about our organization. We are urgently seeking individual and organizational donors who can help us with a single or repeating grant that will help guarantee our sustainability and stability.

 A testament to the hard work of our players and coaches through the years is our recent performance in the Chapa Dimba na Safaricom tournament. After a series of local and regional tournaments our men’s Senior team, Manyatta United, reached the Final stage at Kinoru Stadium in Meru on June 8^th and 9th. As part of the process leading up to the Finals, two of our male players and one of our women got the chances of a lifetime through their performance at the Nyanza Regional Finals. In these semi-finals, Manyatta Ladies forward, Cynthia, aged 20, scored a hat-trick (three goals) and was named Player of the Match. Although the Ladies Team came in Runner-up in the Regionals, Cynthia was included on the Chapa Dimba All Stars. On the men’s side, Ibrahim, aged 20, was awarded the Most Valuable Player in the Regional finals and Benson, aged 17, was given the title Top Scorer of the Regional tournament securing their places on the All Stars. These All Stars, the top performers in the various regional matches, were taken to a training course in Spain as a result of their performances. They trained at Complex Esportiu Futbol in Salou, Spain where they were trained by La Liga coaches on world class playing fields. They came back in high spirits and ready to help propel their team to victory in the Finals.

And We Won the Chapa Dimba na Safaricom! Benson scored again during the Final match and Manyatta United became the National Champions after beating Rift Valley’s Al-Ahly FC 2-1 on June 9^th. In front of thousands of onlookers, our players were proud to see that fans of Manyatta United had made the long journey across Kenya from Kisumu to Meru to support their team. This tournament has helped Manyatta United get national recognition. Through their participation with the MYRC, our players on Manyatta United will be given new opportunities to travel and compete at high levels. You can read about Manyatta United’s victory at: https://chapadimba.safaricom.co.ke/news/manyatta-united-kitale-queens-win-chapa-dimba-na-safaricom-national-finals/ and you can watch the full final match by following this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Is2qOhJA8As&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR2XxlCR7mjSYdM1-cVPh9G-IG8-VoiwmUTuejm-VONTix7iNszPvLKdhgI. Our match starts at the 2 hours and 18 minutes. You can watch our semi-final victory here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmXeudm2GEU&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR2K04hcEVlkghFPuYbr3Fp1nPPgPsQohO_9y2F4f2j8sOf-DA0uZniQzHU.

Through these successes, we also have to be diligent in raising funds to support our education program. The MYRC serves close to 200 youth at a time and most of those youth are in difficult and vulnerable positions. The support that the MYRC provides for education can be a small amount to help a student get school materials like books and shoes up to full tuition scholarships. We believe that a good education should come first so that our youth are equipped with a variety of skills to meet life’s challenges.

We need your support to help keep our students in school. Joseph was a former student who was sponsored by the MYRC. While with the MYRC Joseph helped found the MYRC drama team and also played as goalkeeper for Manyatta United. After finishing school Joseph went to work at two different elementary schools, eventually started his own business selling cutlery and other kitchen items, and is currently a DJ at a local radio station in Kisumu. The MYRC doesn’t want a lack of funding to be the reason a youth like Joseph misses out on a series of opportunities. Please help us keep our students in school by donating today or contacting us to arrange an individual sponsorship program.

We know that the MYRC has the potential to continue to grow and evolve over the next ten years. The successes we have seen this past decade thanks to your contributions confirm to us that our mission is valid and that our programs are important. We wish for our programs to continue to grow and our success stories to keep coming. We can’t do it without your help! Thank you again for your support, which has been so crucial to the MYRC’s success over these first ten years!

As the year presses forward, so do the youth and adult leaders at the Manyatta Youth Resource Center in Kisumu, Kenya. The MYRC is not a seasonal program-- its activities run year round. Since our founding it has been our goal to keep youth active in a safe and nurturing environment. The slums of Manyatta are a difficult place to grow up and youth need positive outlets and opportunities to build on their talents.

The MYRC gives youth a place to gain exposure to new ideas and new methods for approaching their challenges. We continue to host international interns and guests, and most recently ten people visited from Iceland while working on a documentary. Our general manager, Oballah, hosted them during their tour and also accompanied them to the town of Butere to assist them in their mission. While in Kisumu, they offered advice to our Performing Arts Group about film production and provided business ideas that might help boost our ability to fund projects and become more self-reliant.

The Performing Arts Group also recently had the opportunity to meet with the Kenya Film Classification Board Regional Manager at our resource center to discuss projects and explore new opportunities. The Regional Manager wants to work in partnership with the group to help make projects that promote Kenya and emphasize the positives that exist.

The Performing Arts Group continues to make new episodes of their miniseries, “Anita,” and is currently working on the tenth episode. Though the topics of this miniseries are often not cheerful, the group hopes to show some of the difficult realities many of them face everyday. They did take the Regional Manager’s advice though, and have started a project called UWEZO, which will be an informative and educational film that highlights talent in the Manyatta slum and how the community can embrace and support that talent’s growth.

Our young soccer players were excited by the recent visit of Patrick O, a former Manyatta United player, currently playing for Kenyan Premier League side Sony Sugar FC. Our former players always stop by the training ground to motivate our young players and they often suit up and practice with their former team. Patrick brought a new pair of boots with him and donated them to the captain of our junior team. As our younger teams prepare to start their season in the Kisumu Youth Football League, they were inspired to train their hardest for Patrick and show off their skills. It is motivating for our youth to see success stories and Patrick feels great to be able to give back to his community.

Our Senior Team continues to demonstrate that the Manyatta United training system helps develop strong soccer players who can compete at high levels of competition. The ManU Senior Team recently won top position in their semi-professional league. Now, this team has won first place at the Safaricom Chapa Dimba tournament and our Senior Ladies team won runner-up in their competitions. This was the largest competition either team had played and well over 1,000 people attended most matches at the Moi Stadium throughout the tournament!

Our players were also recognized for their skills and feats on the playing field. In the semi-finals, Manyatta Ladies forward, Cynthia, scored a hat-trick (three goals) and was named Player of the Match. Manyatta Ladies cruised to the finals after winning their semi-finals 6-0, but were defeated by a strong side there, taking home the second place title. After the tournament’s final, in which Manyatta United Men beat Nyamira Springs FC by 5-0, our striker Benson won the Golden Boot, an award for the top overall scorer of the tournament. Benchidi was given the award for Most Valuable Player, and Ibrahim O won the award for Best Goalkeeper of the tournament. Each player was given a trophy and a check for KSH 30,000. This was not only a huge motivating moment for our players, but it will also have a huge impact on their ability to support themselves and their families.

Chapa Dimba is a series of tournaments in which the top teams win a trip to Spain to play there. Having taken the Nyanza region championship, our Senior Team has the opportunity to participate in the next level of the tournament in Nairobi. This is a major challenge for our group. Even though we are highly successful on the pitch, funding transportation to Nairobi and costs, including meals and accommodation, is extremely difficult. We need your support to help take our teams to the next level!

When our youth are given the opportunity to show off their skills they are highly successful and favorably recognized. It is only the financial restrictions that hold back our achievements. You can be the person to help ensure that our Youth Teams finish their seasons this year without any hold-ups. You can be the reason our Senior Team gets to travel to the next level of the Chapa Dimba tournament and eventually win a trip to Spain. Your support can mean so much to our youth and their futures. We thank you now for the support you have given and ask that you continue to give so that our programs will continue to thrive.