May Update

The highlight of this past month was 12 of our secondary students accepting Jesus as their savior during our reunion in April, and then 15 of our football club girls accepting Jesus in May during a team devotion time. It is deeply rewarding to play a part in seeing someone begin a new life in Christ.

Our reunion for secondary students was very successful in April. We were privileged that 11 University students sponsored by Compassion International came and shared with us. Our students related well because of their shared backgrounds as orphans and being sponsored through their education. The team led Bible studies, group discussions and taught about academic improvement, life skills training, sexual purity and character development. Much of it was done through small group forums where students were given the opportunity to open up and ask questions. They also took time to individually counsel some students, mentor them and pray for them. I love seeing young people who have been blessed, giving back to be a blessing to others. We hope it is the beginning of a strong relationship between CGA and Compassion.

Also, the girls from our football club had a special visitor recently when a Member of Parliament came to mentor them for a few hours. For more on these stories and others you can check out my blog at www.joekenya.blogspot.com

I want to share with you an article from a magazine called THE EYE. It was written by Richard Bett and Habil Onyango in Homa Bay, Kenya and published in the April edition.

USING SPORTS TO RETAIN GIRLS IN SCHOOL

It is a few minutes after five in the evening and pupils stream out of classes for extra-curricular activities. Some, especially older boys, head to a dry dusty patch of land that acts as a football pitch. Clad in school uniforms rather than sporting attire and shod in ordinary shoes in place of football boots, or running barefooted, the pupils scramble for the one improvised ball available so that they can while away the hot evening, as they wait for the time to go home.

From the sports uniforms and boots, or lack thereof, it is evident that rural public primary schools are not adequately prepared for sports, which is an essential part of the school curriculum. But while boys can make do with improvised footballs to test or sharpen their sporting skills on the only football pitch around, their female counterparts are usually left on the sidelines watching the boys play or making up their own games with stones or whatever else they can find.

Football , in particular, has over time come to be seen as a preserve for boys, although schools are expected to present girls’ teams during the annual ball games competition as well as other tournaments. In Suba and Mbita Districts in Homa Bay County, the picture is no different as a lot of talented girls drop out of school to get married at a tender age. Others, especially those orphaned through HIV/AIDS and other causes, are thrust into motherhood as a result of pre-marital sex in their attempt to get money to meet their basic needs. Others, who are not lucky, get infected with the disease.

However, two teachers have resolved to change the situation in the two districts through developing football among girls in secondary and primary schools in the area. The pair of Joe Peterson and Paul Onundo, both teachers at local primary schools, three years ago decided to form the Suba Lakers Football Club for girls talented in the area. The aim of the move was to tap talent among girls with interest in football as well as help in addressing factors that lead to the high rates of school drop-outs among teenage girls.

“We conceived the idea of a girls’ football club after realizing there were a lot of gifted girls who did not get a chance to play their favorite game beyond their respective schools,” said Peterson, who is a teacher at Christ’s Gift Academy in Mbita. This came about, he said, while he and his colleague Paul Onundo of Wanga Primary School in Mbita, were coaching district girls’ football team at the Primary School Provencal tournament in 2008. They were given the assignment by the District Education Office. While they undertook the assignment, it struck the duo that most of the talented female football players would drop out of school before finishing 8th grade, hence terminating their pursuit of the sports as well as their studies and the hope for a positive future.

“It then became necessary to bring the girls together, train them during weekends and keep them busy, as a means of keeping them from falling prey to randy males,” they said, adding this would help the girls avoid premature and unplanned pregnancy.

Onundo, who is the club’s chairman, said the fact that the area is endowed with several beaches means that chances of girls engaging in casual sex is high, hence the need for the club. We have several beaches in Suba/Mbita and these, though a blessing to the community economically because of the fishing, are a threat to the education and health of innocent girls,” said teacher Onundo.

But the club, founded some three years ago, is not a club in the usual sense of the word since its membership is drawn from players in various primary and secondary schools in the area. We have a secondary team with 15 girls, a primary school team with 25 girls, and a junior primary team with 30 girls. The club uses facilities offered by local schools such as Mbita High School to train with the 70 girls during weekends.

Apart from being the only girls’ club in the area, the Suba Lakers Football Club does not preoccupy itself entirely with sporting but also trains its members in other aspects of life such as academics, spiritual nourishment, child rights, and reproductive health among other areas.

According to Peterson, who is the club’s coach, secretary, and co-founder, the type of approach is essential in shaping all-around members of the society, not just good sports people who are lacking in other aspects of life. This, he adds, shatters the widely held myth that academics cannot go hand in hand with sports, adding that several members have joined prestigious provincial secondary schools, such as the mission-run Asumbi Girls, after performing well in KCPE examinations.

The club has not only helped individual members develop their talent but it has also assisted them to obtain chances to join national clubs and get help in paying for their secondary education. Peterson told THE EYE during an interview that three girls have joined the Kisii United Club where sponsors have luckily offered to pay their secondary school fees.

Club assistant secretary Eunice Olwanda explains that as a means to keep the girls from venturing into risky sexual relationships with fisherman and getting pregnant and infected, the club organizes lectures on social relationships. The lectures, given by successful individuals, are geared at educating girls on matters that affect and motivate them to pursue their dreams more aggressively. Recently Member of Parliament, Millie Odhiambo, came and mentored the girls for several hours.

The club also provides basic needs such as sanitary towels to the girls as well as textbooks at times for their studies. Eunice says a lack of such basic needs has been known to drive girls to sex for little money, exposing them to HIV/AIDS and other dangers.

The club has earned itself a place among champions during the short period it has been in existence including being crowned champions during the 2010 Coca Cola regional championship. They scooped the Inter-Consituency Championship title during competitions for teams from Ndhiwa, Rangwe, Mbita and Suba constituencies in 2009. And also, the junior team claimed the Galactico/KYFA Championship in 2009. The club, as well, organized a tournament for under-13 girls that attracted 14 teams on October 20th last year. Recently they won the County Sakata Tournament and in a playoff defeated the winner of Migori County. They are proceeding to Kisumu to play in the Regional Finals on 4th June.

The fact that players are drawn from various schools in the area has made it difficult to organize training sessions, hence the need for a hostel. If and when established, the facility would also offer shelter for members, some of whom do not have parents. Club chairman Onundo has appealed to local leaders, well-wishers and organizations to continue supporting the club to enable it to succeed in its mission of developing football for girls as well as promoting the rights of the girl-child.

He observed that the club has received support from Patron Millie Odhiambo, founder of CRADLE and Nominated Member of Parliament, as well as Mbita area MP and Immigration Minister Otieno Kajwang’. Onundo urged other stakeholders to support the cause.

No one knows what the future holds, but the club officials hope they will be able to continue to use the club to help transform the lives of young girls around Mbita District.


Prayer Requests;

1) Pray for those that have recently given their lives to Christ to passionately follow Him. Pray that they would be mentored on how to live out their new lives.

2) Pray for the Suba Lakers success on the field and off the field. Pray for God's covering and protection around these girls in their homes, schools and out in the community so that nothing will derail their future ambitions. Pray that they would learn to be leaders who are bold and brave.

3) Pray for my future as I seek God's direction on what to do at the end of this year.