Key Meeting with the Department of Sports

After the usual hour and a half struggling in the traffic we arrived at the NSSF Building, Floor 24, to meet Gordon Oluoch, the commissioner of sports,Stephen Karinga, his deputy and Alice Gekonde, the Director of Sports in the Nairobi Province. Imagine trying to set up such a meeting as this in the UK!

The commissioner had asked us to arrive early, by 08:30 becuase he had other engagements for the rest of the day. We first met him two years ago. He is very keen to work with SCI and will consider this when setting budgets for funding sports coaching clinics and other initiatives SCI has in mind to do.

We are delighted that he is willing to endorse the work of SCI:

I am delighted to endorse the excellent work of Sporting Chance International in equipping so many of our young people to be able to play organised sports, especially football. We continue to welcome any donation of kits and sports equipment to our needy youth.

After some final shopping at the Masai Market at the Village Market we are now awaiting the Kenyan trustees so that we can have a meeting before departing for the airport. Our flight is not until 23:55, so it will be a long day. Village Market is the equivalent of Cribb's Causeway in Bristol. It is the only time we have seen a lot of white folk. The Masai market takes up a roof area and all the items for sale are laid out on the floor. Downstairs the shops are just like any major city. Such a contrast feels strange when you know that such poverty exists close by.

Keep watching the blog for further posts which will include many more of the photos we took. Thanks for following the trip. Hopefully you now have more of an idea about us and the work that we do. Also, you may have a little more insight into the way of life here in Kenya.

Meeting up again

It’s Thursday 6:30p.m. local time. While Lesley, Rebekah, Emma and me have enjoyed the Maasai Mara to the full, Iona and Storm have been hard at work. They spent one and a half days at The Kibera Girls Soccer Academy and an afternoon with the standard 8 class at Peter Kibukusya Primary School. This is the same as our year 9. This is where the SCI Umoja Soccer Academy takes place. I say hard at work, but Iona assures me that they loved every minute of it. The pupils are full of enquiry about everything and anything to do with the UK.

Our return trip took about 8 hours. The roads are under major repair, but it looks like it will take years to complete this. In the meantime you can get your spine rearranged in a day. But it was well worth the journey. The safaris in the game reserve gave us wonderful views and we saw many animals.

Tomorrow we have a meeting with the Kenyan Sports Commissioner to talk about SCI’s future ideas. We first met him 2 years ago. However, he is a busy man and we have to meet up at 08:30. To do this we must leave the hotel by 06:15. After some shopping for souvenirs we will have a trustees meeting before flying home at midnight on Friday.

A Day in The Maasai Mara

After a long but beautiful trip we finally arrived at our lodge. Richard Branson has stayed here we noticed! Our tent is really not a tent at all. It has a bathroom as big as ours at home. The bed is huge. After a buffet lunch we headed off for an early evening game hunt. So far we have seen elephants, buffalo and lion close up as well as many other animals and birds. Emma is booking the balloon ride for 05:30 tomorrow.

Storm and Iona have decided to stay on in Nairobi and visit Peter Kibukosya Primary and Kibera again. We are having a break, my first visit to a game reserve after 10 years visiting Kenya.

SAIPEH projects and Football exhibition match in Mumias

Having woken early to the sounds of cockerels crowing and gospel singing, myself and Storm decided to explore the local surroundings before heading to breakfast. We have become spoilt by the friendly and welcoming attitude of the Kenyans and therefore it came as no surprise when the neighbours to the guesthouse invited us into their garden to meet their family. The children were yet again unbelievably polite and wellmannered coming straight up to us, shaking our hands and exchanging pleasantries.


After a fulfilling breakfast we headed to see various SAIPEH projects that Justin, Fred and many others work and volunteer for. We presented a number of orphans with new school uniform and one could see the amount of joy that this has brought them, when at home this is taken as a given. There are a number of life changing projects that SAIPEH coordinate that range from spreading AIDs awareness in school to donating livestock to families in the area. It is humbling to see many Kenyans giving up so much of their time, usually voluntarily, to help their fellow countrymen with such important issues, for little financial return but much personal gratification.


We then went on to St Mary’s Secondary School, a state boarding school. The school’s basketball team was warming up to play a match against another local girls’ team on arrival. The sports facilities within the school seemed more advanced that we had seen before but still for a school of 700 girls there are only 28 teachers, many classes having over 60 pupils. Yet again it became so apparent to us that we, in the UK, take for granted our facilities and number of teachers per class, amongst many other things. The girls not participating in the basketball match were collecting water from the local river and doing endless chores around the school with no complaint.

After an impressive display of basketball in the scorching heat, we introduced the game of lacrosse to the two schools. Storm had brought over many sticks to give to these two teams in order to introduce a new sport to them and also to Africa. This is the only continent that does not play lacrosse so the girls were extremely excited to be the first in Kenya, if not Africa, to sample it and are looking forward to pioneering the sport in their country.

Now time to watch more young Kenyans on yet again an uneven and stony pitch but this time with permanent goals. It was the opening game of the season’s league which is sponsored by SAIPEH and SCI, who have donated playing kits and balls to the majority of the participating teams. The match had attracted a huge number of locals who cheered their teams from the sidelines, road, trees and they danced away to the singing of SAIPEH. The game went to penalties and was won by Mumias Muslim Boys School much to the delight of the supporters, creating a pitch invasion that would put premiership fans to shame. The day was a complete success and was topped off when four of the winning team were scouted by George Sunguti, an ex Kenyan international, for national trials. It is such a pleasure and so exciting to see the work of SCI potentially changing and improving the lives of individuals and the community alike.

Everyday Storm and I are amazed by the people we meet, places we visit and just the positive attitude of the Kenyans and think it cannot get any better than this… but each day manages to exceed our previous expectations and we are looking forward to what tomorrow entails.

Umoja Football Tournament

It’s Saturday morning. The server is down so I cannot upload the blog. It’s 07:00. It must be down to the terrific thunder storm last night. This is the beginning of the rainy season in Kenya.

Fred and Mike, the SCI-K director and the soccer academy assistant coach, spent until after midnight sorting kit for the Mumias trip. We had transferred it from our hotel on the return from Kibera.


We made our way to Peter Kibukusya Primary School where the SCI Umoja Soccer Academy. Hmm? SCI USA; not sure about that title. Football is always called soccer in Kenya. The 2 hour journey of about 8 miles passed a truck that had gone over an embankment. This added to the chaos on the roads. Such grid lock must have a massive effect on productivity in the city.

Steve Mucheru, the head coach, had planned well. He has an eye for every detail. By the time we arrived all four pitches were in use, with U.10, U.12 and U.14 competitions going on. Each group had 8-10 teams of 6. Many of the teams were wearing kits donated by SCI; some from a number of years back. This tournament was a celebration of the first use of the school facilities. The only ground was full of stones and all manner of debris, not really a pitch at all. It was so hard to find a school to work with.


Former SCIFC team members helped with refereeing and organization. A corner of the U.12 pitch was more like a duck pond after the rain. The boys loved the excuse to slide and splash around in it during their matches. All the games were well contested. We even had teams of Sudanese boys playing. They are refugees from war torn Dafur; very fit, tall and lean.

The whole day was a triumph, a worthy celebration of the ten years SCI has worked in Kenya, since meeting Steve Mucheru in July 1998.

The flight to Kisumu is only 30 minutes, but it saves a nine hour drive. From there we were driven on good roads to Mumias. This is the home of SAIPEH, Support Activities for the Intervention, Prevention and Education in Health, a hefty title, but an excellent CBO, recently turned NGO. CBO is community based organization, NGO is non government organization. The former has access to limited funding and is local. SAIPEH intend to increase their funding in their fight against AIDS and STIs.

We had a meal at the home of Justine and Linette. He is the SAIPEH director. We have worked with them for several years. Bonus: He has satellite TV and Man. Utd. were on, beating Aston Villa 4-0 as we left for our somewhat rustic accommodation. But we had a bed, a hot shower and a gecko on the wall to greet us. The end of a great day.

Delivery of kit to Umoja

As we embarked on the journey back from Nakuru we had no idea how long it would take. Along the open road which had been freshly tarmaced we could travel at reasonable speed. However, in Kenya it was becoming clear that it is best to expect the unexpected. Roads could be diverted for accidents or road works or the inevitable traffic jam when anywhere near Nairobi. Half way back our driver Stanley wanted to stop at a roadside fruit and veg stall. In fact it turned out to be lots of stalls selling fresh fruit and vegetables that looked so much better than what we would find in a supermarket back in England; huge colourful delights. It was therefore no wonder that it was more desirable to Stanley to stop and get supplies there. When the minibus pulled over more or less all of the stallholders came rushing over to sell their goods. This was a real culture shock as these people were clambering to get a sale and were desperate to receive some money. Men and, young and old gathered around the minibus. One man called through the glass, ”Come on sister, give me some money”. There must have been about fifty people huddled around the van trying to sell while our driver got out and picked out his shopping. As Stanley got back in and we continued with our journey, it made me reflect on what we had just experienced. While this was slightly disconcerting and if this were England maybe I would have been scared, I realize that the gap between the rich and the poor is so immense. Those expats farming the land in mass production were living comfortably yet these people were clearly on the breadline. I can’t even imagine how these people cope especially if they have families to support. The cost of living doesn’t appear to be a great deal lower than that of England yet even those Kenyans doing what you would expect to be well-paid jobs earn a fraction of us teachers in the UK.

Of course as we neared Nairobi the traffic began to slow and the driving of those around us became seemingly more erratic. The condition of the roads in Nairobi, the largest city in East Africa is what I can only describe as eye opening, large potholes and near bare road surfaces appear to have had a major impact on the capital city’s infrastructure. Coupled with high volumes of traffic entering and exiting the city not only at peak times but throughout the day means that a great deal of our time is spent sitting in traffic pondering over what else can be done to help.

After a quiet evening we showered, relaxed and crashed out and waited in anticipation of our visit to the equatorial town of Nanuki to watch a football tournament supported by Sporting Chance International that was due to take place in the area. Having woken up and prepared ourselves for the three hour journey we discovered that there had been some problems in gathering the teams up. There had been difficulties in reaching the various parties involved as mobile phone credit had been low or completely out and people had struggled to top up credit following. Therefore the tournament had been postponed.

Keen to make the most of our time in Kenya we quickly decided that we would visit Peter Kibukosya Primary School who had been supporting SCI in providing pitches and sharing amenities with us. We arrived in Umoja mid morning having once again sat in a jam for well over an hour. However, when we arrived there it soon became clear that we were not to be disappointed. We received a warm welcome as we presented the head teacher Lona with a gift and the boys’ football team with a kit donated from Essex. The goalie of the team has actually been selected to play for the Nairobi youth team. We toured the school which is to play venue to the SCI football tournament tomorrow and had an opportunity to meet pupils and answer their questions about life in England, something which was very valid as it sparked an interest in several of the pupils and led to them asking lots of questions about sport and school life in the UK. Given their enthusiasm Storm and I both thought that it was a shame to let it stop there. I felt positive that pupils in my school back in Cornwall would be really excited to have correspondence with some of these pupils, as did Storm. We therefore leapt at the chance to meet these pupils again outside the classroom. We took some photos of them and the senior teacher Rose said that she would assist the pupils in setting up an e-mail address at the local cyber café. Brilliant! I really hope that this will provide these kids with even more motivation to continue working hard at school. Again the stark difference between pupils in the UK and Kenya was obvious. These suburban pupils were learning in conditions that would have been deemed unacceptable in the UK yet their commitment to their education and their impeccable behaviour stood out and just made me feel that I wanted to do more to help and that pupils in the UK really don’t know how lucky they are.

Next stop was a charity that we have enjoyed good relations with for some time now, Alive and Kicking. The charity which was established by Martin Barnard employs local men to print and stitch leather footballs thus providing much needed employment to the locals but also spreading important health messages regarding sexual health and malaria. Martin shared with us his vision for the future and again fuelled our desire to support those who are making all efforts to positively shape the lives of young people in Kenya.

From Alive and Kicking we again joined the highway and sat in what was now becoming a hugely frustrating traffic jam. How do locals manage to live with this chaos day in day out? This time our destination was once again the Girls Academy in Kibera. By the time we finally crossed the city and approached Kibera the rains had set in. Pelting on the roof of the van I stopped dozing and looked out of the van to see streams of water gushing down the sides of the already muddy roads that lead into Africa’s third largest slum. This was going to be interesting. Last time we were here we had had the benefit of good weather and although the scene at that point was shocking and heartbreaking we were now going to see what happened when the open sewers overflowed. This time we were less precious about our footwear. Having been there already and seen those adorable girls dancing bare foot in the dirt we stayed in flip-flops. Storm had gathered a huge amount of equipment and kit destined for the girls in Kibera. Now that her bag had been sent over from Heathrow we were all keen to return to the girls to see their reaction to Storm’s gifts donated by her pupils. As the rain continued to pour down we entered the classroom and noticed immediately that poor weather like this where thunder and lightening is crashing overhead and the pounding of the rain on the corrugated iron is a major hinderence as when the presentation was made many struggled to hear. However, the girls and teachers alike were ecstatic to receive pens, pencils, highlighters, mini whiteboards and sport kit. Seeing pupils living in such conditions as we had seen a couple of days previously and learning in stretched facilities yet seeing them being so positive was a real lesson to me and reinforced my belief in the importance of counting your blessings. These girls are a real inspiration. Caked in mud and streaming wet we made the long return journey back to the hotel safe in the knowledge that tonight we knew that we would have food and a warm dry place to sleep, something that few of the Kibera girls would be doing. As we sat in the jam, the poem that one of the girls had recited on our first visit echoed in my head, “African girls, why me?”

Kibera and the Girls Academy

It took us over 2 hours to cross Nairobi city centre to get to Kibera. We were treated to poetry, dance and drama by the girls. We then walked through Kibera.

Lesley writes:

Our first full day in Kenya saw us visiting Kibera. The hotel manager called it “The largest estate in Nairobi”. We were taken to the girls’ school where we have provided football kit and a classroom. As it is the rainy season the ground was nothing but mud which was being taken into the classroom. At no time did any of these children show anything but happiness at being in school and gratitude to their teachers (most of whom are volunteers) for teaching them. They were very proud to treat us to some very poignant poems and drama. All this is in surroundings that the children in our own schools will probably never see. They were so pleased to see us and showed us great respect. Having seen these children I know that it is a link that we have to keep going.

The presentation is of Storm presenting a gift for the building of a new classroom to Habbakuk, the 21 year old volunteer head teacher of the school. The classroom wil allow A level students to complete their courses.

After a quick turn around at about half past two we left for Lake Elimentaita where we would stay over night. After spotting several herds of gazelle and impala on the way, we came across a group of zebra, who obliged us with lots of photo opportunities. Some of the road was still under repair and we engaged the mud of the dirt track. This gave me memories of the last two years. Finally, we arrived at the lake t a perfect sunset after quite a few showers of rain.

Thursday morning. I jogged along the shores of the lake while Iona and Storm practiced lacrosse. Storm has an international match in three weeks. The home where we stayed has 5 dogs, 2 cats, turkeys and chickens. About a kilometer from the House of Plenty street kids home was a primary school. I last visited it with Matt Upsher, my colleague at Hayle Community School. Then only the foundations were laid. Now there is a building for 320 pupils aged 6-14, but they have over 150 IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) and the class sizes average at about 75. We visited each class to simply encourage them to work hard and make the most of their opportunity. SCI has previously given kit to this school.

Then we visited Greensted’s School, one of Kenya’s top private schools with 280 pupils. After Kibera yesterday, this is in stark contrast. It is where our host, Fran Kaime, teaches. We met their girls’ PE teacher, who it turns out, was at college with Shelley Burne, my girls’ PE colleague at Hayle. It’s a small world.

This is the only available PC with internet access for miles. I am looking forward to food once this is loaded. It is usually chicken, stew, potatoes, chippati, rice and vegetables. Very wholesome. Tomorrow is a football tournament at Nanyuki, a 6 hour round trip.

Safe arrival and Visit to Playway Education Centre

We arrived at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport at 0527hrs, over an hour early. All this was lost and more. One of Storm’s bags, the one with all the gifts and presents, had been left at Heathrow airport. Even after this was reported there was no sign of Fred. We called him and were informed that the taxi had got stuck in the mud. It’s the rainy season in Kenya – just started a few days ago. Eventually after an hour driving in traffic jams and on excuses for roads we reached our hotel.

In the afternoon we visited The Playway Education Centre, a school for 6-14 year olds, about 280 pupils in all. The day begins at 0630 and ends at 1700. At three they attend full time. This is the school which we have an email exchange with. We were able to pass on photos of the UK participants to the Kenyans; all except Collins, who was absent. The head teacher thanked us for coming and requested that we continued to keep the exchange programme going. The pupils don’t actually email themselves. They type a short letter which the ICT teacher copies one by one onto one document. One of the SCI trustees, James, is given this document which he then emails to Hayle Community School. The school does not have their own internet connection. They are hoping to get one in the next 12 months.

This evening all the SCI workers and their families met informally for a meal at our hotel. It is encouraging to see it growing.

I am grateful to Iona for her photos. She has come with an excellent Canon digital camera. Everyone has survived the first day. Tomorrow we visit Kibera.

Places and faces from 2007

The map shows the places we are going to be visiting. Check them out on Google maps


Here are a few picutures from the last trip.

At last the packing is almost over. I think it will all fit, but we'll find out tomorrow with a 09:00 start. We fly at 19:00 from Heathrow by Kenya Airways. It's a 9 hour flight. Kenya are 2 hours ahead, so we arrive at 06:30. Later on Tuesday we hope to visit the Playway Education Centre, where we have an email exchange programme with students from year 9 at Hayle Community School.

I might get a chance to give an update on Tuesday. Keep watching this blog.

Kit Sorting Day

Yesterday Lesley and me spent all day and part of the evening finding, sorting, recording and packing kit. Our garage needed tidying first. Kenya Airways have increased their baggage allowance. We can take 2 X 23kgs, plus 10kgs hand luggage. That's about 16 stone or 2 hundredweight in old measures.


How do we weigh it? I stand on the bathroom scales without and then with the bag. We calculate the difference. But we intend going to the post office for help because their are costly penalties if we end up over the limit.



So with four of us going from Cornwall on Monday we were carefully weighing the four biggest holdalls we had until they were as close to 23kgs as possible. These will be exclusively kits for distribution in Kenya.


These pictures show just some of the kits recently distributed or in the bags ready to go.

If you select view all images you can find out where they came from.

Back to Mombasa

SCI had contacts in Mombasa as far back as 1999. Some of the kits we gave out are still being used. The Kenyans treasure any gift they recieve. Yesterday I had an email from Obongita Osore, Fred to you and me. He is the director of SCI in Kenya. Anyway, he has got some sponsorship from DHL so that together we can run another football tournament.

The group of boys play with makeshift goals on the Kenyan Airport Authority ground, not a proper pitch. We will distribute several sets of kit while DHL provide food, medals, first aid, a trophy and some proper footballs. Now some of you may be thinking,

"But this is Mombasa. It's a popular holiday destination."

Let me assure you that the poverty there is huge, although largely hidden from the tourists.

It is encouraging when we get any support, especially when you know it is going directly to the people who need it most. Check out last Friday's video if you have not watched it yet.

More kit for Kenya

Thanks to Judy our spare bedroom is once again full of bags of kit ready to be packed at the weekend into various holdalls. This is the stuff Keith phoned up about last Friday. I have never seen so many little size shirts. Kids in some of our link primary schools will be overwhelmed. The bigger lads are going to be jealous. They find it difficult to accept the younger ones will have the benefit of the gifts we bring. SCI are hoping to have an Adopt-A-Club programme where UK clubs or schools fund the basics for a team such as a few footballs and a first aid kit. Our 60 strong football training school costs £5000 a year to run, so "Every little helps". This lad is showing off an Alive and Kicking ball especially made for African grounds. They cost about £7.50 and are made in Kenya.

One of the things I find as I talk to people is how hard it is to get the name and work of Sporting Chance International to be well known even within the local commuity where it all began. This is something that we try to work at a lot, but it never seems that way to those who have not heard of us. In Kenya we are the leading supplier of redundant kit and have NGO (non government organisation) status.

Thanks also to the lads and girls who intend to do a sponsored walk from Hayle to Lands End for SCI as a part of their Citizenship coursework. Which reminds me, I must respond to their letter before the end of term. Not many days or hours go by without an SCI job having to be done.

My next idea is to add a podcast to the blog, but that takes a bit of technology and I'm only an ICT teacher these days, so what chance..... We'll see. Meanwhile you will notice the navbar to the next blog is not visible to keep it safe for any young readers.

It's getting closer

Kassim Abdul is overseer of The Kibera Girls Soccer Academy. SCI have a strong association with them. We will be visitng their school during the next visit. Kibera is the largest slum in Africa. Here he speaks out about the direction support needs to go.

As the days go by and the latest trip to Kenya gets closer, there are always stresses and pressures from various places. It's as though everything is working against the trip happening. For weeks I was concerned about the political unrest in Kenya and the violence that flared up all over the country. Sporting Chance International works in a number of the areas that were worst hit; Kibera, Nakuru, Western Kenya. Relative peace appears to have returned and all the vaccinations, visas and malaria tablets are sorted.


Today I had a phone call from Keith. He has some kit from three different sources. Baggage allowance has gone up to two bags of 23kgs plus hand luggage. With six of us going, that's a lot of sports kit and presents we can take out.


Today is Sport Relief. I am, as always, touched by the stories of poverty, loneliness, abuse and sickness, especially in developing countries. This is exactly why SCI exists; to make a difference in the lives of those effected by their circumstances. They rarely have a choice about this.


I am looking forward to taking a team with four young people who have not travelled in Kenya before. I am sure you will get to know them a little during the unfolding of this blog. Everyone I have taken to Kenya over the last ten years has somehow recieved more than they have given. We have an amazing itinerary that will take us to many different places. Excitement mounts.

Kenyans love trophies.

With departure date only 11 days away we have a busy time of preparation ahead. This picture was the end of a special 6-a-side football tournament at SCI's junior training ground in Nairobi. This was last August. We now run daily a football training school for 60 boys. This is one place we will be visiting at the end of March.