EMPOWERING YOUTHS THROUGH FOOTBALL

 

 

Kifaru Football Sports League was founded in 2014 and we are very pleased to say the league is quite a success! 

The games bring villagers together to cheer on their team and our young people gain respect and dignity.  We believe our league will help improve community views about our young people and will help improve basic human rights for our entire community.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are proud to sponsor and promote the ten-team league.  In our first season Chelsea, Viwawa, Ngorongoro and Serengeti dominated.  Here the winning playoff team receives playing Jerseys and two footballs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our games have been so popular that even senior government officials turn out for league finals.  The Honourable Provincial Commissioner Felix D. Ntebenda and District Education Officer of Vocational Training inaugurate the event (pictured below left with KYCC founder Kilian on right.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Given the reaction to our first season and the start of our second season, we expect that the League will prove to be a very effective strategy for supporting and improving the treatment of our youths and children.

We are observing first hand what Nelson Mandela said about sports:

“Sport can create hope where once there was only despair.  It is more powerful than governments in breaking down racial barriers.  It laughs in the face of all types of discrimination.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

POVERTY RESEARCH AND PLANS:

KYCC is conducting a comprehensive review of existing social protection policies so that more effective policy strategies can be introduced; a review of existing training structures will also be required.

We believe a response system needs to be put in place that strengthens national data collection and enables the design of projects that actually reach the many who suffer from severe insecurity.

Most disturbing about our existing government data is that it may significantly underestimate the number of orphans and abandoned children.  Only a small number of children (16%) are registered.  In Karatu District, only 8% of children under-five have a birth certificate.  This suggests that throughout Tanzania, the number of orphaned and/or abandoned children may be much higher than the 3 million suggested by the data.

Sadly, these children are likely to help perpetuate the cycle of extreme poverty unless we can break it.  Over a fifth of our country’s children between the ages of 5 and 17 are engaged in child labour, a factor that limits their ability to gain an education.  On the other side of that child labour “coin”, orphaned and abandoned children without income or support, live in grave danger of an early death. On top of this, these children risk contacting and spreading HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases to others, especially their own children.

Significant foreign investments and volunteers are needed to improve our young people’s basic rights:  Access to food, education and health services. And while studies show that this investment is urgently needed in the more remote parts of Tanzania, there has been little focus on identifying and responding specifically to the needs of children. 

KYCC aims to put in place a coordinated program between the local government and community to approach and break the cycle of poverty by implementing adequate public and social protection measures at all levels.

KYCC is developing a policy campaign to use good governance, monitoring and preparedness and establishment of contemporary natural disaster and peacekeeping strategies to assist victims of both natural disasters and armed conflict.

GROWTH STRATEGY:

KYCC is helping to explore strategies for growth in our region using a balanced scorecard approach to work with the international organization sector.

OUR TEACHING STRATEGY

KYCC teaches through discussion and practical example, often using internet-based exercises.  This strategy enables a multitude of users to learn to apply theory to real life situations.  It also helps people in rural areas gain an understanding of how to use computers and other technology.  Our education and skill development programs

KYCC and its staff and volunteers are certified by the Government Institute of Education (attached) as educators with experience in community development management and leadership.   

KYCC provides for the mental health of slum children by enabling them to participate in activities and enjoy life as other children do.  This includes participation in Children Right Club (CRC), a program we sponsor.  CRC provides numerous activities including music, acrobatics, art, and drama as well as opportunities for travel and adventure, football and other sports courses, a marathon and festivals.

Our goal is to ensure that our entire community of vulnerable people becomes familiar with KYCC so that all youths can find a way to climb out of extreme poverty.

For PROJECT updates:

Please send your email address to info@kifaruyouth.org.

 

TO DONATE:

Donations can be made via credit card, PayPal or M-Pesa on our donation page.

 

Thank you in advance for your support.  It is only with the help of benevolent organizations and generous individuals like you that we can continue providing support to the children who are vulnerable, especially those living with HIV/AIDS.

OUR TEACHING STRATEGY FOR CHANGE:

We honor and practice the teachings of leaders such as Nelson Mandela including these famous quotes from Mandela’s autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom:

“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for the love comes more naturally to the human heart than it’s opposite.”

“For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”

“And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same”

We teach our children to let their “own light shine” by helping them develop seven basic human skills.  These are exemplified by a New Years game we played as children. 

Try our New Year’s Game:  Divide a sheet of paper into seven columns.  Label each column with the name of one the following seven human qualities: 

• Physical - Moving, acting out and playing

• Social - Interacting with others

• Personal – understanding thoughts and feelings

• Logical - Reasoning, problem solving

• Musical - Making music, using rhythm

• Verbal- using language

• Visual- Noticing shapes, creating art

Under each heading, write examples of how your own human skills are used. Then write a new year’s resolution saying which abilities you wish to improve.

Our vulnerable children need to access and develop these seven abilities while they are still young.  This will help them grow into healthy, confident and caring young adults capable of self-reliance and self-sufficiency.  To connect them with these seven human abilities, they’ll need the basics (shelter, food, water, clothing and healthcare) but also education, access to creative and physical activities, and loving people to provide them with support and encouragement and an example.

OUR HANDICAPPED CHILDRENS PROGRAM

We have over 230 handicapped children in Karatu District including kids suffering from vision impairment, hearing loss and autism.  We have no special school for these groups in Karatu District.

KYCC’s research program coordinators (pictured below) are working with our District Primary Education officer to implement a program enabling all disabled children to attend specialized schools and complete their education.  This program is in the initial stages.  We are currently involved with taking a census to determine where all our disabled children live, including those not identified in the initial survey, and what their disabilities are. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Each week we do advocacy work for disabled children both in and outside the Karatu District.  It is often difficult to determine a child’s level of disability and need.  Some speak only their mother’s tongue and, in some cases, the child is deaf or is too ill to communicate effectively.   We understand that poverty limits the ability of parents to send children to school but we believe the problem runs much deeper.  What we encounter time and again in our work with communities is an overall lack of parental concern and care for these children.

Picha wa kiziwi------------Photos of deaf Children

KYCC sponsors several handicapped children, each of whom require special education.  Our major problem is a lack of materials.

To improve parent involvement, KYCC has mobilized an advocacy campaign to help the Community understand that education is the best way to break the cycle of poverty not just for the handicapped, but also for all children in our community.As Nelson Mandela said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world” and we take those words to heart. 

We teach the community using online teaching programs centered on children with disabilities.Through this medium, parents can see by example, how disabled children learn, grow confident and, in many cases, become productive members of society.