Aspire Football Dreams Selection in Kibera

by Mathew Musyoka Muema 

On Thursday 31st May, Kibera football players gathered at Uweza's field at Toi Primary School in hopes of being selected to receive a scholarship to the Aspire Academy for Sports Excellence in Qatar.  The Aspire Football Dreams scouting program is the world's largest-ever football scouting program.  It began in Africa but has since spread to 16 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

The Aspire program is run in East Africa by Vision 21 Sports Consulting.  Uweza met one of Vision 21's staff in 2009 and was able to become one of 100 centers in East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda) tasked with recruiting players to go to Qatar. 2012 is Uweza's second year of participating in the program.

Aspire staff member, Uweza Assistant Team Manager, and Aspire scout

Aspire scouts visit each of the 100 centers to select 50 players to attend the Final 50 Camp, held at Kasarani stadium in Nairobi from 6th to 9th June. This year, a very impressive four Kibera players (including one from Uweza's team) were scouted from Uweza's center to be part of the 50 to move on to the next stage.  Only a few players will be selected from the Final 50 to travel to Qatar.

Players participated in a series of matches to showcase their talent

I had the chance to interview some of the people involved on Thursday, here is what they had to say:

Coach Said, Uweza Aspire Center Coordinator: 

"We have held this Aspire program for two years now and I am happy our center produced four players.  Last year, only one player was selected so this means we are working hard and we have talent."

"We did have challenges, like the event being held on a school day, which meant that the turnout of players was low.  The program asks for players who are 13 years old but if you bring players that age, they are too young so we learned the lesson from last year and brought older players this year.  All of the players should continue to believe in themselves and coaches should encourage them."

From left: Uweza Sponsorship Coodinator Mathew, Uweza TM Stam, Kibera Stars Coach Ken, Uweza Aspire Coordinator Said, Uweza Aspire Physiotherapist Mobi, Uweza Aspire Assistant Coordinator Joash, Uweza Assistant TM Tilen

Charles Omondi, Uweza Senior Team Assistant Captain and Selected Player

"I enjoyed playing today and being selected to go to Kasarani," Charles told me with a big smile on his face. "The advice from our coaches was the best advice.  I am disappointed because some of the best players from our team were not selected and they deserved to be. I wish all the players would always follow the coaches instructions, because it helps."

Coach Stam, Uweza Team Manager and Senior Team Coach

"Charles is very lucky but I will express my feelings if he becomes one of the top three at Kasarani.  I'm happy our center was able to produce four players and have a lot of talent.  The scout mentioned that we have a good team of players which was very encouraging." 

The four selected players, from left: Felix Onyango, Charles Omondi, Joshua Kitheka, and Douglas Nyangareli

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Mathew Musyoka Muema is Uweza's Sponsorship Coordinator. He formerly coached the Uweza Under-16 team and still volunteers as a coach regularly.

milk & honey shoes for Uweza

Kate Mara has created a shoe for milk & honey and ALL of the proceeds from the sales of the shoes will go Uweza.  We are so excited and grateful to Kate for selecting us as her charity recipient and hope you will check out (and buy) her beautifully designed shoes!

Check out the shoes on milk & honey's website : http://www.milkandhoneyshoes.com/signature-collection/kate-uweza.html. 

Kibera Connection Project - Hawaiian and Kenyan pen pals

As part of our Kibera Connection Project, students that study at the Uweza Community Center have been exchanging letters with students in 7th grade at Punahou School in Hawaii. Both groups are really excited to have pen pals so far away and are learning a lot about each other and their respective countries!


Here are some examples of the letters the students have written:

Teava, Ke’ala, and Alana from Punahou School, Hawaii


Hello, we are your new pen-pals from Hawai’i! Aloha means hello in Hawaiian. Our names are Teava, Ke’ala, and Alana. We are 7th graders from Punahou School. We are extremely excited about being your pen-pals for the coming months and we have many questions. We look forward to learning a lot from you!

Keʻala is 13 years old, and loves to play American football, basketball and volleyball. He also enjoys going to the beach. He has an older sister. His favorite subject in school is P.E and he would like to be an engineer when he grows up. His favorite food is hamburgers. Alana is 12 years old and likes to go to the beach, read, and horseback ride. She has a older sister and her favorite subject in school is science. She wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up. Teava is 12 years old and his favorite hobbies are swimming, reading, and playing video games. He has a younger brother. His favorite subject in school in improvisation and he hopes to be an actor when he gets older. His favorite food is Sicilian pizza and he wants to live in Italy one day.

Hawai’i is an island in the middle of the Pacific ocean that is part of the United States of America. Our state is known for our beautiful beaches, many tourist attractions, and unique Hawaiian cuisine such as plate lunches, loco mocos (hamburger with rice and gravy) . A popular hobby many Hawaiians have is going to the beach and doing things that take advantage of the fact that we are surrounded by water such as swimming, surfing, or getting a tan. Surfing is an ancient Hawaiian sport where you stand on a board and ride a wave.

America is a large country on the equator with 50 states. Our president is Barack Obama and our capital is Washington DC. We use dollars and cents and inches and feet for money and measurement. Some things many Americans love doing are playing sports, watching TV, and eating. America is known for freedom, football, and food. Some foods America is know for are hot-dogs, hamburgers, and pizza. America has also pioneered the film and fast food industries in the 1900s. We look forward to learning more about Kibera from you.

We had a great time writing this letter and sharing with you. We do have a couple of questions for you. How old are you? Are you a boy or girl? What are your favorite hobbies? What is your favorite food? We thank you for your time and we canʻt wait to hear back from you!

Sincerely,
Ke’ala, Teava, and Alana

David Johnson from Uweza Community Center, Kibera

Dear friends Keala, Alana, and Teava,

I am greeting you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. How are you all. I hope you are all fine. My name is called DAVID MUTHUWI JOHNSON. The main purpose for writing this letter is to appreciate your letter that you sent to us.

Furthermore, am so happy to know your names and how life is in your country. I would also like to inform you how life is in our country Kenya. Here is full of happiness, full of joy and also peaceful. This is because every body here is allowed to do his/her commitments and hobbies in peace.

First, I would like to introduce my hobby to you before telling you any other thing else. My hobby is to watch cartoon and practice my favorite subject maths. I also like eating chicken which is my favorite food too.

In our country, we have got so many interesting things e.g. wildlife and also cultural ceremonies. These are the most leading producers of government revenue. In our country, we also have cool and hot climate which can also be good for you too. For more information, you are invited to our country in order for you to see the big five which are also part of the wildlife. You will also be able to see the lakes with hot springs e.g. Lake Bongoria.

Yours Lovely,
David M. Johnson

Partnership with Kora

Uweza recently teamed up with Kora Designs, a jewelry company that "merges the worlds of beautiful jewelry and sustainable business development in the belief that both can and will benefit. Our handmade pieces feature recycled materials found and used by local artisans in African developing communities." Kora means "work" in Kinyarwanda, Rwanda's native language. One of Kora's artisans is based in Kibera and uses bone and horn collected from local butcheries to create jewelry.

This year, Kora has created the Uweza necklace, which features dyed recycled cow bone with aluminum wrapping and was designed specifically for us! 100% of the proceeds from the sale of the necklace will go directly toward supporting the Uweza Community Center.

The necklace comes in two different colors, and can be purchased on Kora's website. Be sure to browse through the rest of their beautiful pieces as well!