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Carolina for Kibera (CFK) Youth Sports Association - Kenya

Country

Kenya

Region

Global, Africa

Programme Summary

Founded in 2001, Carolina for Kibera (CFK) Youth Sports Association uses sports to promote youth leadership, community development, and ethno-religious cooperation. The project works with Kenyan youth in Kibera's 11 villages, providing them with sports equipment donated by Sportsendeavors, Inc. The project's mission is to prevent ethno-religious violence and to improve basic healthcare and education in Kibera.

Communication Strategies

This initiative uses sport as a core tool for youth development. "In Kibera, kids play soccer. They play amid the garbage and the crime of one of Africa's most notorious slums. They play even while their parents fight and die in ethnic conflicts." The project organisers believe in teaching youth that everything must be earned and that nothing is free. "In return for the opportunity to play sports, youth give back to their communities through garbage clean-ups and youth-led public service initiatives."

"CFK's philosophy is grounded in the concept of participatory development. Solutions to problems involving poverty are possible only if those affected by it drive development. Concerned outsiders can help by mobilizing communities, advising, networking, and providing resources. Ultimately, however, the community possesses the knowledge and motivation that are necessary to solve its own problems."

In addition to CFK's soccer games, the organisation focuses on issues impacting young people in Kibera such as the environment, reproductive health, and employment creation. Many of these efforts involve collaboration with USA-based organisations. For instance, through a partnership with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), residents of Kibera who participate in a long-term CDC public health surveillance programme will receive free medical care from CFK's Tabitha Clinic. The new clinic is designed to be "eco-friendly", in concert with CFK's dedication to environmental responsibility (e.g., by organising community clean-ups and recycling programmes). To cite another example, CFK has embarked on an employment-creation programme through partnership with Cornell University's Johnson School of Management. The project, called the Base of the Pyramid Protocol, is focused on co-creating opportunities between multi-national corporations and local community-based organisations to sell products and create job opportunities for young people in disenfranchised urban areas. Kibera, vis a vis CFK, is one of three pilot projects worldwide.

Development Issues

Youth, Health, Poverty, Education, and Conflict.

Key Points

In 2005, the Gates Foundation named CFK one of ten Heroes of Global Health at its Global Health Summit in New York.

Partners

Ford Foundation, American Jewish World Services, Reuters Foundation, U.S. Ambassador's Self-Help Fund, World Bank, Small Grants Program, Sportsendeavors, Inc., University of North Carolina (USA) Men's Soccer Team, MedWorld, Stop Hunger Now, CDC, Cornell University's Johnson School of Management.

Contact

Rye Barcott
President and Founder, Carolina for Kibera, Inc.
223 East Franklin Street, CB# 5145
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-5145 USA
Tel.: (919) 843-6842
Fax: (919) 962-5375
OR
CFK, Kenya
P.O. Box 10763-00100
Nairobi, Kenya
cfk@unc.edu
CFK site

Placed on the Soul Beat Africa site October 31 2003.

Ford Foundation, American Jewish World Services, Reuters Foundation, U.S. Ambassador's Self-Help Fund, World Bank, Small Grants

Source

CFK website; and email from Rye Barcott to The Communication Initiative on May 23 2006.


Placed on the Communication Initiative site January 08 2004
Last Updated May 26 2006

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