Mathare Youth Sports Association

MYSA is a self-help youth programme linking sports with environmental cleanups, AIDS prevention, leadership training and other community service activities involving approximately twenty thousand young people. Started in 1987 as a small self-help project to organize sports and environmental cleanups within Mathare slum in Nairobi, the organisation has grown from a small youth group to an internati

MYSA promotes human rights and citizenship. The implementation of projects is based on respect for others and social responsibility. The participatory management style used is transparent, promotes democratic principles and nurtures accountability. The organisation aims to:

• create opportunities for young persons to develop physically and personally while engaging in community development
• promote life skills and empower young people to participate in activities that affect them and their environment
• mainstream citizenship and promote responsibility in environmental issues
• Encourage many females to participate in sports thus providing many sporting opportunities and opportunities through sports for the girl child. This also promotes healthy gender balances within the organization. (see attached annex).

MYSA is run by young people, most in a voluntary capacity as coaches, referees and organizers. The MYSA league is run by local committees of the coaches and captains. The Chairs of each local committee constitute the Sports Council, which is responsible for all MYSA sports programmes. The Community Service Council consists of local community and youth leaders who organize slum cleanup projects.

Both Councils elect several members to the Executive Council, which is responsible for the overall management and budget of MYSA. That it is run for and by the youth themselves in the 16 zones of the city is the main reason for the success of MYSA. The average age of elected officials and volunteer organizers and coaches is 16 years.

Through youth driven leadership initiatives, young persons in MYSA contribute positively to the wellbeing of their community. They earn points for their performance in different sports and community activities. Each year the best young leaders by age and gender in the 16 zones in the slums then receive MYSA Leadership Awards, which also consist of educational bursaries/scholarships, worth Ksh 10,000, which are paid directly to their schools in support of school fees. In 2004, 400 young MYSA leaders received awards.

As a self-help youth programme, the basic organizational principle in MYSA is "You do something, MYSA does something; you do nothing, MYSA does nothing". So through the MYSA Leadership Awards, young leaders are identified, motivated and supported to engage in positive community building initiatives and enables these best leaders who might otherwise not be able to get pay for their school fees stay in school.
The Mathare United senior and junior professional teams each do a minimum of 60 hours of community service a month and have proven to be good role models and heroes of other youth in the Mathare slums.

The other projects in MYSA include the photography programme through which the youth acquire photography and videography skills, the children at risk programme which helps feed kids in the juvenile courts and the Kabete remand home; the anti-child labour programme and finally the drama, puppetry, music and dance project which imparts life skills messages through entertainment.