Donate African made balls to children in Africa

The last three months of the year have gone smoothly for Alive & Kicking in Kenya and Zambia. Both our workshops have continued making and distributing hand-stitcher leather footballs to schools and youth projects in disadvantaged areas. Below are some of the stand-out achievements from the period.

Wildlife conservation balls into Kenyan supermarkets

Alive & Kicking Kenya's newly designed animal print footballs of Cheetahs, Lions, Crocodiles and Tortoises aim to promote awareness of wildlife protection and can now be purchased in Nakumatt stores in Kenya. As with all Alive & Kicking balls sold in Nakumatt outlets, the margin that the store makes is donated to projects in Kenya and all A&K’s work remains not-for-profit. 

Zambia plans first ever roadshow in 2012

Alive & Kicking Zambia has spent the past 6 weeks planning its first health awareness roadshow, which is scheduled to take place in 2012. Based on the model developed by Alive & Kicking Kenya, A&K Zambia plans to hire a bus and deliver HIV/AIDs education alongside sporting activities in the Copper Belt region of the country. Balls will also be donated to participating schools.

Kenya plans Peace Roadshow in year of the elections (2012)

In Kenya plans are also underway for a roadshow next year, although this time with a twist. In 2012 the roadshow will focus on peace and is targeted to coincidence with a general election year. Previously, elections in Kenya have led to outbreaks of violence, so the Peace Roadshow will be aimed at encouraging peaceful attitudes and behaviour amongst young adults.

Football Clubs working with Alive & Kicking

Alive & Kicking is pleased to be receiving assistance from two professional English football clubs. Kenya's partnership with Arsenal in the Community has continued, with the club sending coaches to deliver training to local Kenya schools alongside the donation of Alive & Kicking balls. In Zambia, the workshop has been lucky to receive assistance from Swindon Town who are purchasing balls to use in their project in Mozambique.

East African Safari Rally

In November this year the CEO of Brightside Group, a UK company, completed the East African Safari Classic: a gruelling 9-day drive in a classic car. The 4300km journey started on 19th November in Mombasa, looped through Tanzania, and finished back in Mombasa on November 28th. Brightside Group plc is hoping to raise £100,000 for Alive & Kicking.

Thank you

Thank you to everyone that has donated to us in the last three months, and throughout the year. On behalf of everyone at Alive & Kicking we wish you a very Happy Christmas and a great 2012.

Links:

• More news from Alive & Kicking

Over the past three months, Alive & Kicking's stitching centres in Lusaka and Nairobi have continued producing quality leather sports balls by employing local people on a fair wage. The two centres produce and distribute over 1,000 footballs, rugby balls, volleyballs and netballs each month, and to provide health awareness road shows in local areas. This are targetted at schools, sports clubs, orphanages and refugee camps.

Other news from the last quarter is focused on 3 different 'World Cups': the Homeless World Cup, the Orphanage World Cup, and the Rugby World Cup. More on each of these below..

The Homeless World Cup

Juliet Auma Anibo, a stitcher at Alive & Kicking Kenya, was given the opportunity to represent the Kenyan womens team at the Homeless World Cup in Paris. Juliet is not actually homeless herself, but the competition is aimed at uniting those who are, or have been, homeless or marginalised at some point during their lives.

Juliet had a fantastic tournament, helping Kenya reach the final where they beat Mexico 4-3 to clinch the trophy - with Juliet scoring in the final. Asked about the chances of being noticed by an international scout she said

"There is no women’s league in Kenya so I feel this is the only way we can showcase our talent to the world. Based on previous years 1 or 2 players will be selected by professional clubs for trials. If not selected I would definitely come back to Alive and Kicking to work as I feel it is the only place I know that I could get between Kshs 9000 and 15000 ($100- $170) in a friendly environment."

You can read more about this story on the news section of our website.

The Orphanage World Cup

In Zambia, local staff have been helping to organised the Orphanage World Cup throughout the year. This project has been focused on bringing together groups of young Zambians from different orphanages to play sports against each other, and to be given some basic health awareness lessons as part of the process. The tournament was successfully completed this summer, with help from coaching staff from Tackle Africa - one of Alive & Kicking's partners.

The Rugby World Cup

The Rugby World Cup kicked off in New Zealand in September. This is relevant to Alive & Kicking as we have been using the global event to encourage people to donate rugby balls to schools in African countries that cannot afford to play the sport. This has been done through our rugby initiative. We have also produced a sweepstake for the tournament, which you can do in your office or home to help raise money for the charity.

Thank you

Thank you once again to everyone that has donated to Alive & Kicking recently, and we look forward to updating you again in 3 months time.

Links:

• Juliet news story
• Rugby Initiative Page

• Rugby World Cup Sweepstake Pack (PDF)