SOS soccer teams take part in Eldoret league

The SOS Football Club was initiated in March 2006 by Edwin Mugoha as the team’s Captain. This is a formidable club made up of different fans from various European Football namely Man – U, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool. They disagree over the seniority of their clubs, and while facing their competitors they tend to emulate foot stars such as Ronaldo and Drogba in order to trounce their adversaries. Best amongst our players is Wilson Burugu the Menace; he is in tune with Manchester United and nothing has ever stopped him from marshalling support for the team.

In regard to the league, there were three categories of teams: senior boys over 14 years, junior boys under 14 years and girls.

So far the SOS senior team has won two games and drawn one while the junior team has won one game and lost two. The league table standing is to be published after every 5 games. The league games are continuous and have been playing over the weekends from April to August 2008.

The boys were quite motivated to play in the league and interact with other youth from the community and their football skills have been improving tremendously. They even hope to do much better during the secondary school football tournament come second term. The girls' team on the other hand has not resumed due to physical fitness. They look forward to competitive games soon.

The major challenge facing the team is professional coaching and friendly matches with other teams. In addition, most of the players are our own students, and this combination of training and studies has proven to be a stumbling block to the sport. We are however grateful for the purchase of the sports kit that has been of great help to the boys.

Inter SOS Children's Villages Games which had been planned were unfortunately rescheduled due to post election violence. These games therefore were a boost to the team’s morale in preparation for the inter-village sports competitions in the coming months. The tournament coincidentally took over the opportunity to keep our youth busy during the holiday season. With the kind of attention given to sport our youth need encouragement and support to reach their desired levels. Perhaps with proper guidance, it’s most likely that they would also improve in their educational activities. Its all thumbs up for Mr Mugoha the Youth Leader who has tirelessly worked hard for the success of this team.


By Simon M Mudi Youth Leader

Success at a youth workshop

Following the holiday program of activities, we organized a youth workshop to address some fundamental youth issues. Based on personal testimonies from the youth, four key areas were highlighted for assessment: Relationships, Sexuality, and Reproductive Health (HIV/AIDS).

Having identified the relevant topics for study, one of the Youth Leaders was mandated to source for the facilitators. She proposed the National Organization for Peer Counsellors (NOPE) as the constituent body that could effectively reach out to the youth in an endeavour to address their issues.

On 19th April, 2008 we set out for Pastoral Centre at about 9.30am. All the youth were in jovial mood anticipating fun and lots of entertainment. As it’s the tradition, the convoy was delayed by a group of girls who took the their time adorning themselves for the occasion. Due to limited time, we ran out of patience and left behind about ten girls who were still undergoing manicures in their rooms. They were brought later by other means of transport.


We found the venue and due to the large number of participants in the forum, we opted to split in two groups. The discussions began at a high gear causing another group to launch a formal complaint that youth were interrupting their lectures through giggling. According to the facilitator, youth discussions ought to be vibrant and enthusiastic otherwise you risk losing the objective of the meeting. Therefore, we relocated to some distant room to allow the youth to vent their feelings. The nature of the discussions was flowery and open. For the few occasions we stood away from the groups, a lot of information was given without withholding anything. We learnt that our children harbour so much and need a constant psychological therapy from trusted counsellors to heal. We can't be their counsellors per se.

The most interesting topic and well discussed was on relationships and sexuality. Facilitators came down to their level in language, style, mode of dressing and so forth. They felt close to one another setting the mood of openness and trust amongst them. The slang language adopted carried the day; most learning was effected through it. Youth felt more embarrassed to talk about sensitive issues in English than in sheng. It was amazing how artistic the youth were while drawing reproductive organs; they gave it their best in talent show! On the contrary they quickly got bored when the subject on HIV/AIDS surfaced; it’s an area often talked about and they feel that nothing new can be reintroduced within its realm.

The day was not complete without tea breaks and lunch. Youth felt professional and prestigious to be served a nice tea with cakes. Lunch out was superb! Everyone was served with chicken accompanied with different dishes based on ones needs. Most of the participants enjoyed the well fried local chicken served with French fries and a soda.

It is worth mentioning that the youth expected to attend the occasion with eagerness; this gave the facilitators an ample opportunity to pass across their teachings making the workshop a success.

by Simon Mudi

Learning how to manage HIV/AIDS

It’s my heartfelt appreciation to (OFID) The Opec Fund For International Development and The Foundation for Professional Development (FPD) for their dual support and sponsorship ofthe HIV/AIDS workshops in Nairobi, Meru and Eldoret. The two bodies have worked tirelessly in support of various social and educational workshops around the globe zero in on HIV/AIDS pandemic.

From 17 to 19 March 2008 all roads led to Sirikwa Hotel in Eldoret for the above forum. Through the Family Health Options Kenya (FHOP) the above mentioned bodies managed to reach quite a substantial number of youth and middle aged people from other organizations to attend the workshop. The opening remark from the facilitator that got most of the young people off balance was about the rate of infection among the middle aged people. He reiterated that the global figure of People Living with HIV stands at 46 millions and if there is no determination towards behaviour change, especially amongst the youth, then the figures are likely to sky rocket.

The mood of the workshop became gloomy once the theory surrounding the origin of HIV was brought to the fore. It was unpalatable for some youth to learn that the two viruses, HIV1 and HIV2 are traced from the African soil. It was alleged that HIV1 has its roots from chimpanzees in Central Africa and HIV2 was found in Sooty Mangabey Monkey in Western Africa. It sounded more humorous for the young people when they heard that at some point while skinning the monkeys, blood crossed over to the humans through open wounds! After an exhaustive discussion it was apparent that no one is pretty sure about the origin of HIV in human beings.
From the group exercises, it emerged that most people living with the virus had defaulted taking drugs due to various reasons, chief among them poverty. It was indicated that some drugs from the First Line Drugs (introductory drugs within the antiretroviral therapy) were too strong and could not be taken without food. Therefore, those families that could not afford the food taken along with drugs, had no option other than avoid the treatment altogether. This scenario has cost lives, though the majority have also benefited heavily from the food supplies from Ampath in Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital.

Youth were also encouraged to go for VCT (voluntary counseling and testing). This would enable them to know their status and if necessary change their behaviour and live their life to the full. The three day workshop closed with practical skills on counselling. Participants were made to understand the approaches they need to develop before they offer counselling services to their clients. At the end of it all a vote of thanks was given to the facilitator, the organizers and the participants for the successful workshop.


by Simon Mudi
Youth Leader Eldoret