Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Empower My Life Training of Trainers Workshop Held at Sadili Oval



Sadili Oval Sports Academy in partnership with Swiss Academy for Development (SAD) held a 5-day training of trainers (ToT) workshop at Sadili Oval from 21st to 25th March 2017. The workshop brought together a total of 21 participants including students from Olympic High School, Nazarene Primary School and St. Catherine Primary School; 2 teachers each from Nazarene and St. Catherine Primary Schools and Sadili staff. It was facilitated by Marc Probst and Sarah Vogtli, both of SAD. 

The purpose of the workshop was to familiarize trainers with the new Empower My Life programme and train them on how they will help with its implementation in April 2017.

The discussions during the workshop were focused on Sexual Violence, HIV/AIDS, Health & Hygiene, Gender Equality, Bystander intervention and Life skills. Each of these discussions was accompanied by several games that were practiced in the field. Some of the games in the toolkit were also modified by participants after discussions to better suit the programme’s target group.

The schedule of the workshop was as follows:

Day 1: Introduction and presentation of Sadili and SAD; Brainstorming, Problem mapping, Sport and play based approach, Bystander approach; Applying learning cycle to the games (testing one of the games)
Day 2: Training on the coaching process; Designing and modifying games, presentation of Child Protection policy by Sadili
Day 3: Bystander intervention training, modifying games, testing of games in the field
Day 4: Presentation of training sequence, preparation of the timetable to be used in April during the implementation of the programme.
Day 5: Reviewing of topics and contents of the training, award of certificates 


Empower My Life is a sport and play-based, innovative and holistic 16-months prevention program contributing to the fight against sexual violence against girls and boys in Kenyan schools. It contributes to enforce the right for education and health for girls and boys.

Empower My Life works with three topical components: 1) Knowledge-transfer about sexual violence, HIV/AIDS and relevant health topics (e.g. hygiene); 2) the adequate perception of gender and construction of protection mechanisms as well as 3) supporting the increase of civil courage. Thus, the project aims to build support-mechanism for boys and girls (to improve the sense of community) as well as to make schools safer.

Through a partnership between the Swiss Academy for Development (SAD) based in Biel, Switzerland and Sadili Oval Sports Academy based in Nairobi, Kenya, the project will be implemented Kibera. It targets 200 girls and 200 boys from underprivileged backgrounds, 40 teachers and about 800 family members.

The project is in line with objectives of the Kenyan government to prevent sexual violence and HIV/AIDS and integrates relevant government institutions.







Monday, March 27, 2017

The Court of Dreams Improves Health and Schooling: Success stories Part 4



Emmanuel Mayaka 
Emmanuel Mayaka is a nine year old pupil at Kid Star Primary School. The class register indicates that he is one of the pupils in his class who has been consistently attending school. He is also one of very few pupils in his school who reported to school on 4th January 2017, the official opening day for schools. Many other pupils reported the following week.
Emmanuel is just one of the many pupils in his class whose general attitude towards school has improved since they joined the programme. “Emmanuel, just like many of his classmates, likes coming to the Kibera Tennis court to play,” says his class teacher. “Playing sports, specifically tennis, with guidance from trained coaches is not very common in Kibera. This probably explains the reason they are always excited about running down to the court. The result as we have observed is increased engagement and less absenteeism”.
“I live far from the tennis court, so I can only come there during school days with the rest of my classmates. I enjoy playing tennis. Whenever we are on holiday, like the one we had last December, I always look forward to reopening of school so I can play often,” says Emmanuel. “Football used to be my favorite sport before, but since I learned how to play tennis, it has become my favorite.”
“Sometimes simply saying it is mandatory for pupils to come to school every day does not work; they [pupils] should want to come to school,” says his class teacher. “The main reason we have chosen to remain as participants of this programme is that we have seen how much it motivates our pupils to come to school.”
Peris Akinyi
Peris is a standard three pupil who goes to Nazarene Primary School. She was introduced to us by her class teacher who says she is one of the pupils in her class who have remarkably improved in performance over the past one year. To confirm this, we borrowed her performance records over the past year from her class teacher who kindly gave it to us. To our pleasant surprise, we noted that Peris has been constantly improving in every exam, and not a single result showed a drop in total marks from the previous one.

“Peris used to be the timid, antisocial and underperforming one. She almost repeated std. 1, but we decided to push her forward since her parents were against it. Right now we can proudly say that she progressed to std. 3 purely on merit,” says her class teacher. “Her parents definitely have a role to play in her improved performance as they have been showing a lot more interest in her studies than before. But at the same time I give some credit to this programme [Court of Dreams] because I have noticed in her, just like in many other pupils in my class, an improvement in concentration. She, like the others, is usually at her best straight after a session with your coaches. I must therefore admit that those coaching sessions make my work as a teacher much easier too.”

“I only knew about tennis when you [Sadili staff] started visiting our school,” says Peris. “Now I have learnt how to hit the ball and I always enjoy doing it. I wish you could come to our school every day so we can play more,” she adds smiling.

We are happy that the Court of Dreams has had some positive impact on Peris’ performance, and we are even happier that her class teacher recognizes this. It is our hope that her performance curve keeps going up.


Shanice Mansur
Eight year old Shanice is a pupil at Karama Academy who lives with her parents and two siblings a few meters away from school. She tells us that the lessons she has learnt have already made a big difference in her life.

“I practice good hygiene in school and at home. I used to think brushing my teeth every night was not important. Now I understand how important it is and I do it every morning and night, unless I forget or become too sleepy after dinner. I also use soap every time I wash my hands.” She says.

More importantly, Shanice thinks it is necessary to share her knowledge with her friends and siblings. She encourages them to practice good hygiene.

“I teach my friends and siblings to be hygienic too because they can also get sick from dirt. I am proud of myself, because I am helping other people and showing them the right way to wash their hands.”

We are excited about Shanice’s success story, and hope that there will be more stories like hers next year.

Thursday, March 16, 2017

Huge Turnout for First 2017 Sadili 8-Series Tournament


On Saturday 11th March 2017 a record of eighty-one kids gathered at Sadili Oval and the Kibera Tennis Court for the 8-series Junior Tennis Challenge 1. This was the first tournament since 2017 began and the kids, mainly from Kibera and part of the Court of Dreams programme, braved the hot sun in Nairobi to showcase their talents.

The tournament, run under a Sadili/International Inspiration partnership, was sponsored by Wilson Sporting Goods, Sadili Oval and Comic Relief among others.

The following are the results:

U-6 Boys
Blue Team
Eugene Michael vs Lawrence Opiyo 6/7
Eugene Michael vs Ramsey Fred 10/11
Lawrence Opiyo vs Ramsey Fred 11/10
Ramsey Fred vs Joseph Odhiambo 11/10
Joseph Odhiambo vs Eugene Michael 4/11
Lawrence Opiyo vs Joseph Odhiambo11/7

Winners: Lawrence Opiyo, Eugene Michael, Ramsey Fred

U-6 Girls
Red Team
Shantel Adatia vs Michelle Akinyi 9/11
Shantel Adatia vs Mary Noel 11/3
Mary Noel vs Laureen Adongo 7/6

Winner: Shantel Adatia
Runner up: Michelle Akinyi

Blue Team
Effie Achieng Vs Nicole Stacy 11/7
Effie Achieng vs Shany Akasa 9/11
Effie Achieng vs Hellen Nabiso 8/11
Nicole Stacy vs Hellen Nabiso 8/11
Shany Akasa vs Hellen Nabiso  6/11

Winner: Hellen Nabiso
Runner up: Effie Achieng

Green Team
Stella Muhaya Vs Linet Akoth11/10
Stella Muhaya vs Sheila Awuor11/8

Winner: Stella Muhaya
Runner up: Linet Akoth

U-8 Boys
Red Team
Michael Owino vs Stephen Oduor 11/10
Michael Owino vs Fidel Odhiambo 10/11
Michael Owino vs Solomon Oduor 11/9
Stephen Oduor vs Fidel Odhiambo 10/11
Stephen Oduor vs Solomon Oduor 10/11
Fidel Odhiambo vs Solomon Oduor 11/5

Winner: Fidel Odhiambo
Runner up: Michael Owino

Blue Team
Austine Ochieng vs David Omondi 11/10
James Collo vs Austine Ochieng 3/11
Brighton Shikokoti vs Austine Ochieng 7/11
David Omondi vs Brighton Shikokoti 11/8
David Omondi vs James Collo 8/11
James Collo vs Brighton Shikokoti 8/11

Winner: Austine Ochieng
Runner up: David Omondi

Yellow Team
Newton Ochieng vs Hope Nicodemus 7/11
Newton Ochieng vs Desmond Elliot 9/11
Newton Ochieng vs Javan Onyango 3/11
Hope Nicodemus vs Desmond Elliot 5/11
Hope Nicodemus vs Javan Onyango 10/11
Desmond Elliot vs Javan Onyango 4/11

Winner: Desmond Elliot
Runner up: Javan Onyango

Green Team
Dennis Odhiambo vs Emmanuel Omondi 10/11
Walcott Otieno vs Dennis Odhiambo 11/8
Brian Odhiambo vs Dennis Odhiambo 11/7
Emmanuel Omondi vs Brian Odhiambo 6/11
Emmanuel Omondi vs Walcott Otieno 11/4
Walcott Otieno vs Brian Odhiambo 11/10

Winner: Walcott Otieno
Runner up: Brian Odhiambo

U-8 Girls
Yellow Team
Stella Achieng vs Stella Mokaya 10/11
Condoleezza Atieno vs Stella Achieng 11/10
Stella Achieng vs Mariam Rabayo 11/9
Condoleezza Atieno vs Stella Mokaya 11/6
Condoleezza Atieno vs Mariam Rabayo 11/5
Mariam Rabayo vs Stella Mokaya 9/11

Winner: Condoleezza Atieno
Runner up: Stella Mokaya

Green Team
Cynthia Atieno vs Sheila Awuor11/9
Cynthia Atieno vs Michelle Atieno 11/9
Cynthia Atieno vs Alice Achieng 11/10
Sheila Awuor vs Alice Achieng 9/11
Sheila Awuor vs Michelle Atieno 11/7
Michelle Atieno vs Alice Achieng 7/11

Winner: Cynthia Atieno
Runner up: Alice Achieng

U-10 Boys
Red Team
Emmanuel Onyango vs Eliah Obaa 0/2
Emmanuel Onyango vs George Otieno 0/2
Emmanuel Onyango Newton Otieno 2/0
George Otieno vs Newton Otieno 2/0
George Otieno vs Eliah Obaa 0/2
Eliah Obaa vs Newton Otieno 2/0

Winner: Eliah Obaa
Runner up: George Otieno

Green Team
Stephen Oduor vs Christopher Oluong 2/1
Stephen Oduor vs Samuel Otieno 2/1
Stephen Oduor vs Fidel Otieno 2/1
Samuel Otieno vs Fidel Otieno 0/2
Samuel Otieno vs Christopher Oluong  0/2
Christopher Oluong vs Fidel Otieno 2/1

Winner: Stephen Oduor
Runner up: Christopher Oluong

U-10 Girls
Red Team
Rosemeline Akinyi vs Phelina Vaga 2/0
Phelina Vaga vs Trisha Atieno 0/2
Trisha Atieno vs Rosemeline Akinyi 0/2
Rosemeline Akinyi vs Angela Alwanga 0/2
Trisha Atieno vs Angela Alwanga 0/2
Phelina Vaga vs Angela Alwanga 0/2
Winner: Angela Alwanga
Runner up: Rosemeline Akinyi

Green Team
Audrey Achieng vs Margaret Atieno 1/2

Winner: Margaret Atieno
Runner up: Audrey Achieng
U-12 Boys
Red Team
Julius Wanjala vs Fred Rooney 2/1
Fred Rooney vs Isaac Ndambuki 2/0
Isaac Ndambuki vs Julius Wanjala 1/2
Julius Wanjala vs David Oluoch 2/0
Isaac Ndambuki vs David Oluoch 0/2
Fred Rooney vs David Oluoch 2/1

Winner: Julius Wanjala
Runner up: Fred Rooney

Green Team
Allan Felix vs Patel Otieno 0/2
Allan Felix vs Michael Arize 0/2
Allan Felix vs Brian Ochieng 1/2
Michael Arize vs Brian Ochieng 2/1
Brian Ochieng vs Patel Otieno 0/2
Michael Arize vs Patel Otieno 1/2

Winner: Patel Otieno
Runner up: Michael Arize

Blue Team
Sanchez Odhiambo vs Henry Otieno 0/2
Sanchez Odhiambo vs Mecky Okendo 2/0
Sanchez Odhiambo vs Samson Mike 0/2
Mecky Okendo vs Samson Mike 0/2
Samson Mike vs Henry Otieno 0/2
Mecky Okendo vs Henry Otieno 0/2
Winner: Henry Otieno
Runner up: Samson Mike

Yellow Team
Edward Odogo vs Vincent Otieno 2/0
Edward Odogo vs Samuel Onyango 2/0
Samuel Onyango vs Vincent Otieno 1/2

Winner: Edward Odogo
Runner up: Vincent Otieno

U-12 Girls
Red Team
Mary Asiko vs Fanice Achieng 7/11
Mary Asiko vs Aphline Britney 11/7
Mary Asiko vs Anne Katile 11/1
Aphline Britney vs Anne Katile 11/4
Anne Katile vs Fanice Achieng 4/11
Aphline Britney vs Fanice Achieng 6/11

Winners: Fanice Achieng & Mary Asiko

Green Team
Scovia Nafula Vs Lydia Valery 2/1

Winner: Scovia Nafula

Congratulations to all the winners!

The day was then topped off with lunch for all the kids and some refreshing beverages. 

The Sadili 8- Series Junior Tennis Challenge is a tournament for U6, U8, U10 & U12 kids (all levels), with Tennis Africa Cup ranking. It is intended to encourage beginner-intermediate juniors to play competitions and was initiated by tennis professional, Dr. Liz Odera.

We are grateful to everyone who took part in the tournament, our sponsors and those who helped organise and run the event – Sadili Oval Staff.