Essay Sample on Serving the Community: Managing the Istanbul Football Academy in Nairobi, Kenya

Introduction

My most important extracurricular activity is to manage the Istanbul Football Academy in Nairobi, Kenya. A Somali refugee founded the academy after they noticed a lack of activities to engage refugee children and youth. The academy is located in Eastleigh, Nairobi, and it offers football training to children in 5 age groups; under 10 years, under 12, under 14, under 16, and 16 and above. The academy has a total of 200 players, both boys, and girls, and a large number of them are Somali refugees (80%) and the rest (20%) are from the host community. Training sessions at the academy occurs in the evening after school hours, on weekends and during holidays at a field donated by the PCEA church in Eastleigh since 2009.

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Election

I was elected as the academy’s president in January 2018, and I manage the academy alongside 6 coaches, and voluntary parents and teachers. Istanbul Academy is registered with the Football Federation of Kenya (FFK) which enables its elder team to participate in national competitions. Istanbul Football Academy is my most important extracurricular activity because it does not only improve the skills of these children but also give them a sense of belonging, and protect them from the challenges of refugees in the community.

Numerous Challenges

Like most other parts of the world, children and youth refugees in Eastleigh are presented with numerous challenges, and they need a helping hand to overcome them. In the Eastleigh community, children are exposed to numerous risks: a large number of children and youths have dropped out of school, live on their own or in foster homes, subjected to radicalization, and the police often harass and arrest them arbitrarily. Many Somali boys attempt to migrate to Europe by sea or to South Africa to search for better lives, which expose them to abuse and detainment, and traffickers along both routes. Girls also face challenges like early pregnancy and marriage.

However, the academy has helped address these challenges in various ways: first, it ensures that the youth remain occupied, which decreases the risk of radicalization and emigration. Second, through fundraising, the academy pays school fees for the players who do not afford, and coaches ensure everyone in their team is attending school. Also, the academy promotes community peace by involving national authorities like police, leaders of the community, teachers, and parents. Istanbul Football Academy is a life-changing program that must be upheld to benefit the youth and the community.

Significant Improvement

Since its foundation, the academy has made a significant improvement in the protection challenges of the community. The number of youth emigrants has reduced substantially alongside early marriages and pregnancies, and radicalization. Under my leadership, we have made several achievements: first off, we have increased the number of players from 167-200, especially female players (43-60), and the program has expanded to accommodate children with disabilities and a special coach and medical personnel to cater for special-needs players. We have rented an indoor field for safe engagement of players with disabilities which improves their engagement. Also, we received a $9,900 fund from the ‘UNHCR Youth Initiative Fund,’ the biggest fund ever, through which we have updated the academy’s stocks to facilitate ‘away’ matches countrywide.

Conclusion

Lastly, we organized 4 Town Hall meetings involving national and local leaders to discuss, analyze, and implement ideas on common community challenges including; early marriage and pregnancy, radicalization, migration, SGBV, health, education for girls, and issues affecting disabled children and youth in the community. We are hopeful that this will improve the wellbeing of all children and youths in the community and more meetings will be held to evaluate and advance the measures. The academy is my most important extracurricular activity, and there is nothing else I would rather be doing outside the academic curriculum.