Drama, Dance, Music, & Sport for Kisumu Youth

2018 is here and we look forward with excitement to the continued growth of the Manyatta Youth Resource Center and its creation of more innovative programs to serve Kisumu’s youth community in the upcoming year. This will be the ninth year our group has been together and it is amazing to reflect how far we have come since we began. Equip Manyatta’s Co-Chair Keevan traveled back to Kenya in December and stayed through the beginning of January. As always, he was inspired by how much the MYRC has grown and what a broad array of programs are offered.

Keevan was able to bring over 100 pounds of soccer equipment to help the many teams fielded by the MYRC. A huge thanks goes to Second Touch Soccer in Davis, CA for making the donation of equipment. This is the second time that Second Touch has made a large donation. The positive impact of this infusion of equipment will be felt for many seasons by our players.

Nine years ago, the MYRC started as a single Under-14 soccer team and a group of performing artists. Now as Keevan travels back, it is heartening for him to see the same youths that started in the U-14 Manyatta United team playing for the MYRC on our semi-professional adult soccer team. The commitment from players like Joseph, Nyambogo, Barron, Nathan, Moha, Ian, and Sanya are a huge reason our teams have been able to thrive.

The Manyatta United Senior Team has had huge accomplishments since it started just a few years ago. The Senior Team played for the second time in the Kisumu County league this season and again finished as the second best team in the league. This normally would mean that they are promoted to the next league level up, the Nyanza Regional League, but we have lacked enough funds to pay for the costly league. As one of the top teams in Nyanza province, Manyatta United would perform well in the Regional League and the opportunities for our players to be recognized by larger clubs would increase. Our goal is to keep our players playing at the highest levels of competition. We hope that someday, our own team will be represented in Kenya’s premier league. Some of our players have already gone on to professional careers at the highest-level teams in Kenya.

Unfortunately, competing in these higher-level leagues is not free and the current level of competition will be our most expensive undertaking yet. Registration fees are only one cost that we will face. Players will need to travel greater distances to play against faraway teams. We hope to improve the nutrition our players have access to so they can be at their best fitness levels. We will have to pay for housing during the long journeys and also for increased medical expenses.  Having our youth reach this level of competition and beyond was exactly our hope when we started the program. We need your continued support so our players can play at the highest levels they are capable of attaining.

While Keevan was visiting, the MYRC hosted a well-attended year-end community celebration meal and photo exhibit. Close to 200 youth members and community supporters from the surrounding Manyatta area enjoyed the meal, the exhibit and the community gathering. Two groups of interns sponsored by the YWCA, who visited over several months time from Norway, spearheaded the photo project. Local youth Ramsey curated the exhibition. Ramsey also participates in MYRC drama programs, but he became interested in photography during our interns’ visit. The exhibition was titled, “As I See It,” and focused on how youth see their home in Kisumu and how it makes them feel. While some of the photos captured negative events and emotions, many showed the joy and happiness that you can find within the slums of Kisumu.

As the new year begins we are under a lot of pressure to find sponsors for our education support program. Unfortunately, we have received less funding for Education this past year, in spite of having an increase in need. As our program grows, we are faced with countless youth who are in danger of not being able to pursue their education because they lack school fees. Our goal is to see our program participants complete primary school and then go on to complete secondary school. Trying to budget for the number of youth that need support is one of the most difficult tasks we face. A donation of $200 will help us put a youth through secondary school for an entire year. Every donation you make touches a life and helps bring opportunities these young people otherwise would not have. Their education will open doors in the future and help Kenya reduce the poverty levels seen today.

When the MYRC began, its leaders had great hopes for contributing to their community’s future. The success and the broad diversity of programs offered to Manyatta’s young people through the MYRC has been beyond anything we could have imagined. We continue to hope for a strong financial foundation for the MYRC, a financial foundation equal to the strength of its programs. We have you to thank for our success!