Let's Build the VSA Kenya Education Centre
I met Coach Dennis in 2010 and ever since I have been following and supporting his community-based association in Kenya. The purpose of this campaign is to help him and his Victoria Sports Association (VSA Kenya) to build an Education Centre in the Gamba village. VSA already has a piece of land on which to construct the building, and has started to fence the area. WHY SHOULD YOU DONATE TO THIS CAUSE? ↓
Disadvantaged boys and girls often do not have the means to go to school or to have a healthy activity in their spare time. And, especially if their parents or relatives are not home to look after them during the day or the evening, children tend to spend time on the streets, where it’s easy for them to fall victims of abuse, drugs or other problems.
The building will be named in loving memory of Rocco Marotta, who was one of the first supporters of the cause and one of the most committed friends of Victoria Sports Association.
Thanks to the Education Center, Coach Dennis and Victoria Sports Association will be able to:
· Have a safe space where the children of the village can gather in their free time, a place where they can play, study, read, watch educational programmes/movies and sports on TV.
· This is also a space where the children can meet after their soccer activities, where they can engage with new activities regularly organized by VSA such as theatre/acting lessons and themed workshops.
· The laptops and printing station will allow VSA’s children and their parents to access school documents online and to print documents (otherwise, they have to walk 4km on a dirt road to reach the nearest WiFi source – something that can be especially dangerous for children).
· Members of the local community will also be allowed to use the photocopying/printing station for a small fee that VSA will use to fund its activities and maintain the education center.
Meanwhile, Coach Dennis and the volunteers of VSA will continue to organize football trainings, to participate (when possible) in the league matches, to assist children that do not have the means to pay for their school fees, to arrange workshops on various themes (such as recycling and the environment, leadership, HIV/AIDS awareness, women’s empowerment).
Click here to see the costs of the labour and materials to build the Education Center .
Click here to open a larger version of the image below.
WHAT IS VSA?
Victoria Sports Association (VSA) is a community-based Youth Football Team and Association for disadvantaged young people; it operates in the Gamba Village (Gem Constituency, Siaya County of Nyanza region). It is registered with Kenya's Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, and also with the Football Kenya Federation (FKF).
WHY I SUPPORT VSA
I met Coach Dennis Otieno in 2010, while he was attending a Coaching Course in Rome, Italy. He had started his project in Kenya back in 2006, and spoke passionately about his dream of helping children to play sports as a way to stay away from the streets, to stay in school and to gain scholarships. In 2012, I travelled to Kenya to see how VSA operated, and was very happy to meet some of the many children that Coach Dennis had helped and was helping with his association in the slums of Nairobi (where VSA operated at the time). I have continued supporting VSA throughout the years, regularly receiving updates from Dennis through photos and video calls. You can see some of the VSA activities and news here .
