Soccer Unites! For the first time ever, youth from the Kibera slum of Kenya participating in Carolina for Kibera’s Sports Program have been invited to participate in the prestigious Norway Football Cup 2011 in Oslo, Norway. We must raise $25,000 in order to send them. The world-wide soccer tournament is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that brings together children and youth between 12 and 19 years from around the world for a week of fun, sporting, education, and cultural exchange.
Many know the Kibera slum for its poverty, mounds of garbage, and high rates of crime and violence. Half of Kibera’s population is under the age of 15. To empower future leaders in Kibera, it is critical to expose them to educational and inspirational experiences. The invitation for Kibera youth to participate in the 2011 Norway Cup offers the Kibera team the special opportunity to engage in a global experience that will benefit the other participants and allow them to see beyond the slum.
Funding the travel of 10 youth will make possible an extraordinary learning opportunity. The Norway Cup offers international youth the rare opportunity to meet and interact with youth from diverse cultures and backgrounds, where they can celebrate diversity through music, art, and exciting stage performances. These Kibera soccer players will develop confidence and independence by traveling outside the slum and showcasing their soccer skills at a prestigious international tournament.
These youth are more than just soccer players, they are leaders. Football offers a neutral platform (non-ethnic, non-political, non-religious) through which youth from all around the world can engage in positive empowerment and interaction with one another. Upon returning to Kibera, these players will serve as role models – sharing what they learned in Norway about teamwork, ethnic cooperation and globalism– and promoting a more peaceful Kibera.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
