Drama, Dance, Music, & Sport for Kisumu Youth

The Kenyan general election is scheduled for August 8^th, 2017, and it is during these tense times that Manyatta Youth Resource Center in Kisumu, Kenya steps up its undertakings to promote peace and generate positive activities for youth. Now is a critical time to contribute, as the stability of our programs is crucial to keeping youth in the slums engaged in peace-building and making positive life choices. From making music, acting, dancing, and playing sports, the MYRC creates programs that youth want to be involved in and through this we are able to get educational opportunities as well.

A big reason the MYRC continues to exist and grow is because of our General Manager, Mr. Oballah. Oballah helped found the MYRC in 2009 and has dedicated his life to helping youth get better opportunities. The majority of Oballah’s work is volunteer. Though we wish to be able to provide a full wage, we need donor support to guarantee his pay. Your support will help us get Oballah the funds he needs to also build his own life.

Oballah works every day to make new connections, get new materials, and to ensure that all of our programs are operating to their full ability. From getting young Owiyo his first suit, to getting players opportunities to play at the highest levels, Oballah has been the backbone for our organization. Oballah is a former professional soccer player who played for Pan Paper Mills. Playfully nicknamed, “Coaches”, Oballah has been the foundation of our soccer teams and also promotes our performing artists.

It was thanks to Oballah that Kenyan legend and Harambee Stars ex-captain, Musa Otieno, donated new complete soccer kits to our teams. As our youth numbers grow, we are always in need of new gear for our soccer teams. Oballah reached out to Otieno who felt compelled to become involved. Oballah is the reason visitors from Europe have stayed for extended times working with the management board and youth at the MYRC. Oballah is also a champion of peace building. He has focused on getting trained in conflict resolution, so he can bring those lessons back to the slums of Manyatta and impart the knowledge to community members there. He has ensured that each year Manyatta holds a soccer tournament focused on peace, Pendo Moja. He also makes sure that our teams are involved in tournaments that promote peace.

This year Oballah, with the help of our Sports Director, Mr. Etabale, our youth took second place in the Kisumu Peace Tournament, which focused on promoting peace during the upcoming elections. Two of the boys who participated in this tournament had returned from the Gothia Cup in Sweden just the week before. Oballah has worked tirelessly to get opportunities for our youth to play internationally and participate in activities that not only help them gain experience in soccer, but also expand their access to education and opportunities for exposure.

Our u-18 soccer team got the opportunity to travel to Uganda to play in the Hope for Kids International Tournament. Our Sports Director, Mr. Etabale, traveled with the team where they also finished second only after going to a penalty shoot-out in the final match having drawn 1-1 in full regulation time. We want to thank Fire Soccer FC for hosting our players and coaches while they were in Uganda. For many of our youth, before joining the MYRC they had hardly left their home county. Today the MYRC has helped youth travel abroad each year. Our players have represented our team on Kenyan national teams, Kenyan Premier League teams and at tournaments from across Africa and also Europe.

Our semi-professional adult team continues to play strongly in the county league, extending their unbeaten run to 5 games, four of which were wins. They last beat Swat FC four goals to one.

Between matches and training, our players still managed to organize another community clean-up, this time tackling the huge rubbish dumps that can be found on many street corners. Oballah has always emphasized that our teams must give back to the community through volunteerism. Oballah uses soccer to connect youth to opportunities that promote healthy choices, volunteerism, peace building, personal growth, education and careers.

As our football teams stay busy, our performing artists also continue to stay active, promoting peace through their music. Our rising star, Gabiro Mtu Necessary, performed alongside Kenyan hip-hop legend Jua Cali at Moi Stadium. Gabiro’s music emphasizes the need for loving one another and staying together as a nation during difficult times.

We really need your support to keep our programs going. The support we get through GlobalGiving is crucial to seeing our programs succeed. Each month it is getting increasingly difficult to get enough funds to keep the MYRC going. Now during elections, it is imperative for us to be able to keep our youth engaged in positive activities. We believe in peaceful elections and we hope for the best on August 8^th. Still, we need financial security to guarantee that all of our hard work is not jeopardized.

Thank you so much for your past and future support!