Green-Kenya raises environmental awareness

Green-Kenya was originally an idea from David Mulo in the dusty soccer field in Eastleigh and in Kinyago slums.

I started playing soccer from the age of 9 years, the soccer field was like our second home, we played until it was dark in the evening. The game made us to be very popular in our community, my team mates and I earned a lot of respect from our peers. The sport prevented me and some of my teammate from engaging in alcohol, drug abuse and bad company in the slum."

In the process of dedicating their life to the game, they became role models in the community, many young people emulated how they played and wanted to be like them. After high school, David decided to volunteer with a local organisation that was using sports to teach young people how they can be productive and shunning all sorts of violence and thinking positively in the community.

In on 23 September 2014, Green-Kenya was registered as a community based organisation that uses sport to address social impact in the community. The organisation amplified voices to speak about what was ailing youths and how to create role models in the community.

The aim of Green-Kenya is to create a safe space for young people to have a platform to acquire knowledge and skills to conserve the environment through sports. This is done by engaging the youths in meaningful activity that positively impacts the community in Nairobi.

The vision of Green-Kenya is to have a world in which youth and adult learn, grow and work together as catalysts for positive change, while the mission is to give our children a green future through sports

Our core values are:

• Equality
• Respect
• Inclusion
• Health and wellness
• Transparency

The programmes that we are running in the community are:

• Girl Up/Wasichana Juu - Girls Up is a programme for adolescent girl’s that supports girl’s empowerment. The programme promotes the health, safety, education, and leadership of girls at the grass root level and build a community of passionate advocates who talks freely about the issues facing girl Child. Girl Up Club is a group of dedicated youth who have joined together with the common commitment to change the lives of adolescent girls at the grass root level and to empower the people around them to take action.
• Community Impact Program - comprises of different social issues that we address through sports. It teaches young people how they can conserve the environment by planting more trees or by stopping the pollution of environment through proper disposal of garbage. The programme uses sports themed activities that allow young people to explore issues concerning environment and how they can be change agents. The skills included decision making, communication and critical thinking, adult change makers in the community. The intervention is conducted by Green-Kenya volunteers, a conglomerate of community impact coaches and adult change makers in the community. Skills have proven to teach youths on how to achieve a happy and successful life.

Visit the Green-Kenya website for more information.

[This written by David Mulo article and was edited by the Operating Team]