Football in Kenya: Even after all that! We’re lovin it…
on Colm in Kenya (Kenya), 18/Feb/2010 16:10, 34 days ago
Iwouldn’t say I forgot about the result during the first few moments of Monday morning but I certainlydidn’t linger over the memory of it when I did think ofit.So when walking to work and a little chubby cheeked 3 year old girl popped her head out a door on the path throughMnaraniand sweetly shouted with a big smile‘Arsenali!’ to me, I reallydidn’t mean to turn and growl at her to “Get lost”. It was a simple reaction driven by depression.But I guess the poor girl wont understand that. I guess some of you wont either.Football has the ability to teach us some harsh lessons as my by now teary eyed friend has learnt.But this week I learned how it can be used to teach us some life saving lessons too.And I again learnt how it can grip a nation.On Saturday, at a‘Right 2 Life’ event aimed at demonstrating how football can raise awareness about the HIV/AIDS I was invited to attend, indeed as Guest of Honour no less (not because as some of you may think because I amauthoritativeand respected football mindJbut because theVSOProject leadercouldn’t be there and I was the only available stand in).The event was organised by and held at the grounds here inMnaraniof Moving the Goalposts, a genuinely fantastic local organisation that uses football to empower young toadolescentgirls.So afterafterspectating on a few games of football as (look at me I am) Guest of Honour, I joined the group of 70 or so children/teenagers to be split into groups and stand in one of three big squares marked out using cones on the football pitch.Each group had a peer educator from MTG–a peer educator is a respected peer who’s role is to teach the group about various health related or life skill issues and act as a role model.Our peer educator was a young confident girl called Lilian who explained to us how Condoms help us stay safe from HIV/AIDS.To illustrate she used agame: three volunteers wore green vests to represent the virus and four footballs which were to represent Condoms. The vests went to catch you– them being the virus – and if they caught you had to stand outside the square or you were ‘out’.The guys in the green could not however‘infect’ you if you had the football or a ‘condom’.To get the ball, if the virus was coming to you, you shouted‘KINGA!’ meaning ‘protection’ and someone in the square would pass it to you.So after much chasing and shouting, we were all left standing outside the square, clearly indicating, if you don’t use a condom, the virus will get you.It was a really effective and importantly fun way to illustrate asensitiveissue that of using protection during sex prevents infection to a mixed group ofadolescents.And there were various other football related games to illustrate for example how the virus attacks the immune system which was equally impressive.It was a reallyenjoyableday to learn how football can have a hugelypositiveeffect on young Kenyans and surprisingly maybe, for young girls.But it was another huge football story thatgripedKenya during the 1st week of February.MacDonaldMariga, a 22yr old talented Kenyan centre midfielder, was on the verge of joining Manchester City– the Worlds Richest Club! - from Italian clubParma, news proudly announced on the Sunday by his Mum on the front page of Kenya’s biggest news paper – The Daily Nation.However, disaster for MamaMarigaand her son struck when on Monday, the final day of transfers in the European football season, MacDonald was refused a work permit to join Man City as he failed to meetBritain'swork permit conditions of playing for a nation ranked in the top 75 in theFifaranking; Kenya are ranked 119.This work permit refusal causedenormousconsternation here asMarigawould have been the first Kenyan player to play in the English Premiership, which reaches more Kenyans than clean water does (exaggeratwfor effect). As his dream move to Englandslippedfrom his fingers,the player decided to join Inter Milan of Italy for€7m.This move will make MacDonald the first Kenyan to play in the Champions League and thus well on his way to become the countries best ever player.However the headlines and all the talk in Kenya was about Britain’s refusal to give their golden boy a work permit to play in the favoured premier league.One, of many vitriolic comments aimed at the British authorities in Tuesday Daily Nation was:“How dare they do this to MacDonald? It is a huge insult to Kenya.We should all turn our backs on English football in favour of Italian football”“Great!” I’m thinking. The more Kenyans who watch Italian football, fewer will watch Arsenal, thus fewer toddlers I will verbally assault on my work in future!Well, one less reason to do so anyway!http://www.mtgk.org/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/africa/8493889.stmhttp://www.nation.co.ke/sports/football/-/1102/853874/-/11kxdup/-/index.html