Third Soccer Prize Giving Day

Uweza held our 3rd Uweza Soccer Program Prizegiving Day this past Sunday, which awarded educational prizes to all of the players on our teams from under 8 years old to 18 years of age, including girls. Uweza holds prizegiving day for our soccer program at the end of each school term, three times a year. This Prizegiving Day was particularly special this time because it was the first time we invited the parents to attend with their children.

The day went amazing with many of our kids being accompanied to the field by their parents for the first time! The day started with the finals round of the U-18 league, with the coaches jumping in as one
team for good fun. The parents were cheering on for the players as they wrapped up their final matches for the term.

After the tournament finished, all the parents and children piled into the meeting hall to have refreshments and begin the prize awarding. At the end of the awards, each child who had been a dedicated Uweza player had received something toward their education. The top prizes for the most dedicated players included school uniforms, school shoes, and book bags while other players received school exercise books and pen sets. In addition, each coach brought up each and every player in front of the parents to say something about each one of them before being released back to their seats.

By attending prizegiving, parents were able to see the educational rewards that their child received from dedication, discipline and effort in the Uweza Soccer Program. In addition, they learned more about our organization and heard firsthand through speeches by players at the end, the impact the program was having on their children. All in all, the day was a great success!






More photos have been posted in a gallery here: http://uweza.org/gallery/mayprizegiving.html

Uweza Soccer Team Away Match

Our soccer kids have been training hard Monday through Sunday for the
last month during the school break of April where all school kids in
Kenya remain out of school. For the last week of their training
sessions before the start of school, Uweza provided funding for all of
our teams to attend a day of matches outside of Kibera to gain
exposure outside of the slums they live in. The kids traveled to
Githurai, roughly 45 minutes outside of the city and far from Kibera,
for a great day of fun, food and soccer.

We had around 130 kids in attendance and included all of our teams
from Under 8 to Under 18, and even our girls team. The kids had a ton
of fun as they met in the morning around 7am to begin traveling to the
match in two large buses, which were even equipped with tvs and music
for all to enjoy.

The kids had a full audience, as members of the community in Githurai
came to cheer on their home teams along the sidelines. Uweza players
had their own fanbase, as the girls and Under 8 teams did not have
matches, but instead came for moral support. The Uweza teams
performed well with our younger teams winning their matches! After the
games, the teams were treated to all they could eat lunch in the area
before returning to Kibera. The day ended with their return home to
Kibera—happy for their wins, full of food, and rested after their naps
on the bus on their way home.