6 posts tagged “kibera”
No one could have predicted the degree to which chaos, destruction, and fear would sweep across Kenya last month. The Kibera slum of Nairobi has been one of the places most adversely affected by the ethnic violence gripping the country for nearly two months. We at Carolina for Kibera (CFK) received countless messages and phone calls from concerned supporters and friends across the United States, Canada and Europe, asking “What can we do to help?”
The youth in Kibera are now telling us what we can all do to help: demonstrate our solidarity with the Kibera community by spreading their unique message of peace and healing.
This week CFK staff and volunteers in Kibera launched the JAMII YA KIBERA (Community of Kibera) peace campaign throughout the slum. For the next four weeks, campaign organizers will be covering the community in JAMII YA KIBERA logos, posters, billboards, t-shirts, and stickers. Radio spots in Swahili will run on local stations. A team of youth leaders in Kibera has completed a one-week, intensive mediation and counseling training, and is reaching out to residents to bring people together at community forums. The team is facilitating critical discussions about issues of ethnic tension, cooperation, and conflict resolution. The JAMII YA KIBERA campaign will end with a Kibera-wide clean-up project, as well as a CFK sports event, which will bring together residents from all different ethnic groups.
CFK staff and campaign volunteers on the ground in Kibera have been working with local artists and community leaders for the past several weeks to develop a distinctly Kenyan campaign message in Swahili that will resonate with Kibera residents. The artwork was tested in youth focus groups in order to select the most impacting images. The youth are very excited about the JAMII YA KIBERA logo because it gives them ownership of the Kibera community and of the peace campaign. This is a message of peace by Kenyans, for Kenyans.
As friends and supporters CFK, or just as concerned global citizens, we are all part of the Kibera community. Please show your solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Kibera by spreading the JAMII YA KIBERA campaign message through e-mail, Facebook, blogging, and personal websites, as well as inviting your family and friends to do the same, over the next four weeks.
Add the JAMII YA KIBERA FACEBOOK APPLICATION to your Facebook profile.
Download the JAMII YA KIBERA LOGO to use on your blog, personal website, in your e-mail signature line, or as your profile photo on social networking and other websites where you maintain a profile.
CFK's Kicking AIDS Out (KAO) project empowers 32 young Kibera leaders trained as peer educators to help thousands of youth in the community tackle the challenges they face, including poverty, HIV/AIDS, gender, rape, substance abuse, tribalism and conflict through alternative means of education. KAO peer educators use sports-related games, theatre, community forums, and informal school discussions to discuss these difficult topics, as well as the life skills young people need to develop in order to lead healthier lives.
Managed completely by the Kenyan KAO peer educators, this program builds the leadership skills and confidence of youth in Kibera so that they may have a vision for achieving their goals, while also supporting them through secondary and post-secondary scholarships to further their education.
This film is a short overview of the project, including interviews with some of the peer educators, and action shots of how KAO integrates sport and education to spread information throughout the community. The film was produced by CFK Youth Development Officer, Rehana Tejpar.
The Triangle Business Journal profiled Carolina for Kibera in its Oct. 5 article "UNC nonprofit aiding in Africa aims for $4M endowment." The article highlights CFK's new relationship with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and how the two are working together to create a unique, sustainable model for grassroots, community development. Interviews with Rye Barcott (CFK founder and president), Daniel Lebold (director of development for the UNC FedEx Global Education Center), and Jon King (president and CEO of UNC Management LLC) reveal how the endowment will be built upon a partnership between a major research institution, students, and a marginalized community half a world away. Read the article here.
"Talk Straight," directed by University of North Carolina professor Hap Kindem, won the Gold Award for Best Music Based Video at the 2007 Everglades International Film Festival. The award was presented on Sept. 29 in Dargle, South Africa. The video intertwines footage from Carolina for Kibera's Youth Soccer Program with footage of the national-championship-winning UNC Women's Varsity Soccer Team and scenes from the internationally-acclaimed "Bend It Like Beckham" movie. The video is set to the song "Talk Straight" by Chapel Hill, NC indie rock band, The Old Ceremony. Through "Talk Straight" Kindem demonstrates how girls in Kibera, North Carolina, and England can all be connected through the sport of soccer, despite being half a world a part.
The Senior Class of 2008 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill chose Carolina for Kibera as the Senior Campaign for Carolina's endorsed class gift. Go here to read the Daily Tar Heel report.
Many seniors are supportive and excited about the choice. "I think it's a good thing to leave a legacy behind," senior Bola Omitoogun said. "The fact they're giving money to service is more meaningful than, say, putting up another statue."
The senior class also said they were interested in supporting the University's growing international focus through a gift to Carolina for Kibera.
Other seniors are concerned that the gift will not go towards a physical gift on campus. CFK Summer Fellow Laura Williamson, a senior at UNC, is working with senior class president Ashley Shores and the senior class marshals to brainstorm ways in which the gift could be used in Kibera for the purchase of a physical gift that would be donated to CFK in honor of the UNC Senior Class of 2008.
Carolina for Kibera is excited to make the connection between UNC students and youth leaders in Kibera stronger through the senior class gift.
"By naming CFK the beneficiary of the Senior Campaign for Carolina, not only are the seniors demonstrating an incredible commitment to service," said CFK President and Founder Rye Barcott, "but they also are embracing their role as leaders and partners with their counterparts in Kibera in making the world a better place. Carolina for Kibera is honored to work with the UNC Senior Class of 2008."
Carolina for Kibera entered the Changemakers "Sport for a Better World" competition sponsored by Nike and Ashoka today. The competition seeks out innovators in the field of sports-for-social-change, and CFK submitted the youth sports and leadership program developed by CFK Founder Rye Barcott and CFK Executive Director Salim Mohamed as a model for ethnic and religious violence prevention in marginalized communities worldwide.
You can help CFK in the competition by registering with Changemakers, reviewing and commenting on the CFK competition entry, voting in December if CFK is chosen as a finalist, and telling your friends + family to do the same! Also, please add the RSS feed Widget from the CFK competition entry to your personal webpages, including Facebook, MySpace, or weblog. That way, you will be in-the-loop when others post comments about CFK. Comments will help us to revise and improve our competition profile. Voting for our innovative youth sports and leadership model in December could help us win one of three $5,000 prizes!
Are you a student, faculty or alumni of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill? UNC-Chapel Hill is one of a select group of universities that will act as Official University Commentators for the Sport for a Better World Competition. There will be prizes for student commentators and an award for the university with the highest level of participation. Sign up for the UNC-Changemakers listserv to receive details and announcements about the competition, UNC’s role in the competition, and how you can get involved. Through this listserv, we will send “how to” details, resources, and helpful reminders to the UNC community. Sign up by sending a blank email to: join-unc-changemakers@listserv.unc.edu.
