Integrating Fun into the Learning Process

The change we intend of effecting in the community is that of awareness. We believe that through football, a sport that resonates with many, we can communicate a message of abstinence, and alert them on the struggles they may face later in their lives so that when that time comes, they will have the necessary tools to stand up to drugs and alcohol, choose abstinence over momentary satisfaction.

In doing so, United Football Club believes that the community will not only benefit from long, healthy lives, but they will be ready to usher in a generation of change, because as they have been enlightened, they too will enlighten others.

The brain child of one of Kenya’s Global Changemakers—Freddy Mulli— UFC works with children between the ages of 11 and 14, and in doing so will instill values and principles that are applicable both on the football field and off it, in the way they lead their lives.

Let's Maintain the Silence

Let us maintain the silence,

Like a gentle snowfall,

It has brought moments of self actualization,

Exposing us to the much dreaded cold,

Giving us time to reflect,

In essence we realise who we are and ought to be.

Let us not condemn this new practice,

For it is not worth it,

 To part ways when we’ve just met,

This silence will be the reason we shall be here to testify,

Of the glory,

The wonder that is our love sojourn,

It might be too long,

It might be too short,

But in our hearts,

 Let sovereignty reign.

Ours is a quest,

To maintain the silence that has prevailed over the months,

The end unknown to many,

Yet the memories of this time,

Like a shining star shall brace us ready for the future ahead,

In your insolence,

You failed to realise why the high and mighty tend to tumble from glory,

Had you realised,

You never would have courted arrogance,

But then we all need a shoulder to lean on,

And mine is that shoulder that readily offers you the comfort.

Goodbye is not a word we all want to hear at times,

 The coldness of your heart,

Isn’t any different from this warm goodbye I want to bid you,

My heart learnt how to embrace the coldness you showed,

Year after year,

I held on,

Five years down the lane and you have not changed the attitude,

Why should I suffer any more?

Touching Society’s Cornerstone, Empowering Girls on Social Entrepreneurship

Uhai Binti 'Girl Alive' is a project by one of Kenya’s Global Change Makers, Deborah Chebet.

The project is committed to fighting rural poverty using social entrepreneurship. 

By equipping one girl with the social and financial skills necessary to set up her own enterprise Uhai Binti believes this same girl can go on to impact herself and her community as well.

 Driven by a vision to inspire hope and create change the project advocates for the right of young girls aged between 14and 18 to education and against early marriage. 

What is Creativity?

While many define themselves as creatives, it is astounding when you ask them to elaborate on what they mean. Pegged on this simple word yet difficult for most to explain it, Sinema Hotsun hosted an evening where this theme was explored on July 14, 2012 at Goethe-Institut.

Through photography, films and live performances and discussions both young and old interacted in a lively show that brought an understanding of creativity. As artists pelted out songs of love and hope, dance troupes presented electric moves.

Few clips created by students at the Kibera Film School brought a whole new meaning to creativity, though some left the audience questioning about story development in film as well as titling of films.

According to the Hotsun programmes manager Josephat Keya the Sinema Hotsun event will be hosted every quarter of the year and this was the first of its kind to be held.

So what does creativity mean to you? 

University of Nairobi Set to Become a Peace Hub in Eastern Africa

A peace conference bringing together peace practitioners in and academicians in Kenya and Uganda ended with discussions with a suggestion that the University of Nairobi becomes a hub of peace in the eastern Africa region. 

Speaking to a few members who discussed the way forward for the summit that was held on July 11 and 12, 2012; Henry Mutoro of the University ofNairobi said he was in support of the idea and he would work towards the establishment of a secretariat for the peace network of those who congregated at the conference.

This is one of the many other developments following the successfully design and development of a Masters programme in Peace studies at the University that was launched on June 29, 2011.  The University of Nairobi is one of the two universities working in collaboration with Coventry University in the UK.

The other is Makerere University that has designed a degree programme that has been hampered by a lot of bureaucracy at the University but is set for a launch in September 2012.

Participants at the conference learned from various practitioners at grassroot levels in building peace in their communities. Also attending the two day seminar was Kenya’s Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka who urged the participants to embrace their diversity. Citing Mauritius as the only place where democracy seemed to be functioning, he said Kenya was working regain its lost glory and beat Mauritius to become a democracy after the next general elections.

Additionally, he said that unemployment had created a sense of exclusion among the youth and said the solution to this was expansion of existing enterprises to create employment.

“If we fix poverty, we will have fixed a lot of social ills,” the vice president remarked.

Dubbed Community tensions, Dialogue and Peace Building, Professor Paddy Musana of Makerere University presenting a paper on ‘Creating Space for Dialogue’ wondered when we as individuals had held dialogues. Faulting political leaders he said the leaders did not face reality when it came to matters pertaining to cultural diversity. He further said that most African governments never aspire for national unity; instead they tend to embrace the ‘winner takes it all’ attitude which leads to divisions in the society.

Saying that new technologies have brought to the human race new forms of interaction, he questioned how much society had incorporated dialogue into the new technologies.

“We are so tied to the present, when will we dream about the future?” Musana further queried.

Young Voices around the Globe

 Welcome to the world of changing making. They might be young, restless but they are ambitious and agitating for change. In their own little ways they are bringing about change in the societies they live in. 

Whether it's through football, film, women awareness or peer education theirs is a quest to achieve a society with young people who are ready to take charge. Their stories tell of endless journeys. Journeys that will take you to the remotest of parts in Kenya where you will not only discover but also realize what it means to be a social entrepreneur and a change maker.

Global Changemakers is a British Council funded global youth network of social entrepreneurs and community activists from 126 countries worldwide. Its mission is to empower youth to catalyse positive social change, something which it achieves through:learning and teaching; Global and regional summits, community and personal capacity building supported by free online curriculum.

Kenya has more than 15 young people who have been trained in different parts of the world and will be sharing their stories in the forthcoming weeks. Look out for what they say and how you might be part of this movement!