About Us

Old is Gold Slum Youth (OGSY) Kenya was founded by James Waithaka on 28th, September, 2002 as a Self-Help Youth Sports and Community Development Project. The main aim of OLD IS GOLD SLUM YOUTH is to use sports as a tool for change in a community that is socially excluded from meaningful development that would guarantee enjoyment of human rights as enshrined in our constitution and international conventions on human rights. OGSY supports and empowers young girls that have found themselves in dangerous situations in the slums. Mathare Valley is the second largest slum in Kenya and for the last 20 years OGSY has gained experience working with girls and young mothers in its environs.

Our main motto is: "Doing small things with great love.".

Introduction

OLD IS GOLD SLUM YOUTH (OGSY) was incepted in 2002 September 28th as a self help youth sports and community development project for the slum in Nairobi by James Waithaka. The main purpose of OLD IS GOLD SLUM YOUTH (OGSYKENYA) is to use sports as a tool for change in a community that is socially excluded from significant development that would guarantee a secure future for the youths living in the slums. As of the current situation in the Slum and the past experience of OGSY for the last 18 years, we have been working with girls and Young Mothers in the target community. Our Slum's are characterized by overcrowding with inadequate housing, lack of clean drinking water, playing grounds, social amenities, poor drainage and sanitization also high unemployment rate among the productive age group. For many years, the area has experienced social exclusion and relative lack of support. The area is also... considered by authorities as an illegal settlement and as such, there are frequent evictions and fire outbreak to remove people by 'private developers'. At the family level, most families are female headed households while both women and men work in low income job sector which is unreliable. This has greatly affected parents’ ability to make or spend ample time with their children and also make meaningful contribution towards their children's upbringing and education. Through these children are left to spend a considerable amount of time with their peers who influence their behavior and self conduct. Young people (aged 13 - 25) are faced with uncertainty regarding their future as they are ill prepared for the challenges that come along with adulthood responsibilities. Young people lack adequate life skills and reproductive health information to make informed decisions regarding their sexuality. As a result there has been high rates of teenage pregnancies, crime, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), low level of education, low acquisition of employable skills and poor enrolment in secondary and higher education especially amongst the girls. Due to the high levels of poverty and unemployment youths in the area have been recruited into the local vigilante groups which are used by politicians as ‘violence tool’ during election period. All these challenges have a very big impact on the lives of young girls and women in the community. Poverty has ruined both personal and community development at large. The gap between literacy and illiteracy has withered due to poverty. After 18 years of existence, Old is Gold Slum Youth, has managed to develop a participatory and an interactive sport initiative to help arrest the situation with special focus on young mothers. Young people are engaged in weekly sports related activities while also participating in community service, health and life skills education, linked with centre’s offering vocational training skills and talent development. There is very low or no individual progress because the resources are limited e.g. education, proper health care etc. There is poor housing as the houses are made of mud, plastic materials and papers which are not of good quality. The roads are also bad thus making it difficult to access the slums due to lack of proper infrastructure and overcrowded houses. Since OGSY has worked in the slum for last 17 year, we have managed to atleast save some funds which we are helping our members with small loans, medical cover for both the members and their children, school fee for both member and their children, and we have secured a ½ acre land in Ruai ,Nairobi where we are building a settlement for our members, these houses are meant to support our members both in football and those who are not playing as a foundation in life start-up and later give a chance to others. They are facilitated with loans to start businesses, in other words these houses are transitional, they stay for a period not exceeding 3 years before they can shift. There is improper planning and implementation of personnel due to lack of proper training and high level of illiteracy. There is also business breakdown making the business owners poor. Loss of life through due to high crime rates, hunger and diseases is also persistent in the community. Residents have a low perception of themselves, self-value and self esteem thus unable to progress as they believe that they are poor and nothing good can ever develop from them. Poverty inhibits anti-social behavior like unhelpfulness, poor judgment and undesirable sexual activities among the young Girls. To be able to finance their drinking habits, such young people are also likely to start criminal activities and misbehavior. This may include stealing from family members, friends and relatives. Lack of education among the youth has also contributed to poverty in slum. Most residents of slum cannot send their children to school because they cannot afford school fees and uniform among the basics. OGSY has also used sports as an empowering tool e.g. Arranging as well as training soccer from different age groups i.e. Under 10, soccer team tournaments. This keeps the youths busy thus avoiding idleness which leads to early pregnancies, drug abuse and crime. Sport has also been used as a source of income for the youths in slums around the city of Nairobi. OGSY has promoted self-help groups which are essential and promising development approaches. This is done by giving the youth some loans to start up small businesses. OGSY has also helped the youth in exploiting their talents through various scholarships and sponsorships. Despite OGSY's persisted efforts to help the youth in slum to fight poverty, the state has _____. This is because of inadequate relief supplies and facilities in the slum e.g. food, rehabilitation centers, clothes, school fee, sponsorships, etc. The community feels that there is inadequate community health awareness to enable people take sufficient preventive measures and hope that OGSY will extend its services to offer good health care facilities. The community also feels that because of diseases like HIV/AIDS, people are too weak to be economically productive. There is also a problem of unemployment and absence of salaried jobs which leads to high crime rates and insecurity in the community.

Mission

To nurture talent and empower the youth in order to be self reliant and independent in decision making and participate in developing their community.

Vission

To ensure that the youth of the Slum and its environs reach their full potential To see the number of school going youths and young leaders in the slum increase, single women, orphan children, premarital sex, and poverty in the slum consistently reduced .and That everything we are doing we do it with all our heart happy.

Skills Nurturing

80%

Education

75%

Sports

85%

Poverty Eradication

40%

Community Support

63%

Values

By coming together as youths, who otherwise may have been hopeless with life, we believe in the long term rewards of developing our community, not only for ourselves, but to the benefit of the upcoming generations. Discipline, commitment, selflessness, happiness, to be our greatest values. We also believe in the spirit of togetherness and fair distribution of responsibilities and benefits to our members and the whole community regardless of the tribe, religion or even color.

Objectives

This organization was formed to impact social & economic changes at the community level and this will be achieved through;

i]. To improve girls participation in both sports and education

ii]. To create platforms where young people can actively participate in decision making and development of the local community.

iii]. To train and coach young people on business, vocational training and life skills

iv]. To mentor young soccer players into professional soccer hence helping them exploit their talents and become economically dependent.

Project Plan

Life Skills, Reproductive TOT

40 peer trainers will be offered training on Life Skills, Reproductive Health which will include family planning and HIV/AIDS. The training will be conducted for two weeks and it will be a non-residential training to cater for the needs of mothers with young children between the month of July and December.

Vocational and

Entrepreneurship

Training

In the next 2 years, 200 girls will be linked with courses that will enable them acquire employable skills. They will be trained in entrepreneurship skills and assisted to develop business plans and proposal to help them secure youth funds and bank loans establish their business.

Education

Youth generally have limited knowledge and experience to make informed decision. In Mathare, cases of teenage pregnancies, STIs, HIV/AIDS, unemployment are common in the community.

Sports

At OGSY KENYA we use sports as our main tool for change to educate our youth and uplift our community in various aspects of life.

Activities

OGSY has been able to sustain regular reproductive health dialogue circles before training sessions and during the matches. Through the dialogue circles forums, we have been able to identify needy cases such as pregnancies and education. Currently we have linked 150 youths with reproductive health services. Also we have been able to provide scholarships through friends of OGSY to cater for their school fees and uniforms. We have been instrumental in advancing girl child education in the community. We have supported 6 girls to access higher education both in Kenya and United States of America. On the field of sports, OGSY has managed to participate in various soccer tournaments both locally and internationally. The team has received the following awards:

Year 2021

OGSYKENYA football school 230 Participants Boy/Girls, 10-15 years Old

16 Members join High School and 3 join University

Year 2018

3 players Finished University

OGSY KENYA completed the entire school structures and seminars Hall

OGSY KENYA is promoted to 1st Division women league

7 members joined University for further studies

13 members of OGSYKENYA Join High School

Year 2021

OGSYKENYA football school 230 Participants Boy/Girls, 10-15 years Old

16 Members join High School and 3 join University

Year 2020

COVID 19 masks projects distribution

Year 2019

11 of our members completed different courses

Finished paying of our Football Field Loan

1 player Finished University

15 students Join High School

Year 2018

3 players Finished University

OGSY KENYA completed the entire school structures and seminars Hall

OGSY KENYA is promoted to 1st Division women league

7 members joined University for further studies

13 members of OGSYKENYA Join High School

Year 2017

OGSY KENYA becomes County Football Champion

2 of our players finished University after 4 years.

Managed to open our School where we support the kids of our members and the community

Year 2016

OGSY KENYA and Vigor from Norway became partners

3 players in the National Team

5 players complete University studies

3 of our members get Employed, 1 KAA Airport and 2 in Judiciary

Year 2015

OGSY KENYA ACCUIRED A TRAINING FIELD

Year 2014

3 Player enrolled in University

2 of our members Joins Barclays Bank

OGSY KENYA Kindergarten is 80% complete

OGSY KENYA joins Kenya Women Premier League

113 youth's joins in different education institutions the biggest since 2002

Year 2013

OGSY KENYA sign an agreement to buy a training field

OGSY KENYA start plans to build a kindergarten

50 of our youth get scholarships, from in, primary, secondary, college and in university

Year 2012

4 player Finish their O levels

3rd runners up in the Kenya Women premier League

7 OGSY house are complete

OGSY gets their First Project Bus.

Year 2011

3 players finish their O level

30 young mothers and football players in OGSY receive loans

1st housing blocks (ALTA/OGSY) village are finished

1st time Football tournament in Africa organized by OGSY

Year 2010

4th in the Kenya Women Premier league

8 drop out Girls enrolled in secondary school both in form 1((5girls) and form 2(3girls)

Year 2009

One player from OGSY Joined University

May 23rd Champions –Starehe Community Soccer

Feb 28th Champions 3rd Edition UNICEF KICKING AIDS OUT OF KENYA

April 13th 1st Runners up in MYSA International Tournament in Nairobi

Year 2008 and Before

Kenya Football Federation Women League Champions

9th Dec Champions World corruption day tournament

10th Dec One member Graduated on Web Design

Two (2) new students managed to resume high school

Runners up- 8th edition of the East and Central Africa Youth Football

Aug 30th Champions - Samba Not Bamba Slum soccer Tournament

23rd Aug- Champions - Global Peace initiative

2007

16th march to21ts march -Runners-up in the Chrisc Tanzania National Camp

September runners up in Vera Beauty College tournament

December Runners up National Women League

5th May to 1st June -Runners –up in the UNICEF tournament

2006

August 20th - champions in local women tournament UNICEF

2005

Acquired some two (2) laptops for the girls training from SWB group

12th December, champions in national women tournament.

2004

Runners up in the women's league

Champions in, Exodus initiative soccer tournament supported by DSW. On April we were eliminated in the quarter final at MYSA International Tournament

June- we came fourth in Moshi, Tanzania East African cup UNICEF

12th December- second place in Mombasa National Day Tournament

2003

Runners up in the National Women's Premier League

April- we became the runners up in a local tournament

July- the team become East Africa women champions in Tanga Tanzania

September- the team lost in the finals through penalties in a local tournament

December- we became runners up in a National Day Tournament at the Coast

2002 SEP 28

September- awarded most disciplined and promising in local tournament

Our Team

OGSY is managed by 5 key volunteers who also acts as core staff and work on daily basis. Other volunteers such as coaches and young mothers work as part-time.

James Waithaka

Founder/CEO

"I believe in doing small things with great love".

Florence Kadzo

Secretary

"We are a team made with love."

Joan Ohanga

Treasurer

"Initiating support is the backbone to solid growth"

Mary Wangechi

Head Coach

"dedicated training makes amateurs winners too"

Support team Ogsy

Contact Us

Current Projects

Life Skills

Youth generally have limited knowledge and experience to make informed decision. In Mathare, cases of teenage pregnancies, STIs, HIV/AIDS, unemployment are common in the community. Therefore OGSY integrates reproductive health education and life skills through daily soccer practice sessions and weekly matches. Trained peer educators mainly single mothers engage players (young people) in dialogue circles on reproductive health education in the middle of the practice sessions and before matches during weekends. So far OGSY has managed to reach 1,500 young people yearly mainly girls through reproductive health dialogue circles. However demand for accurate and factual information on reproductive health, VCT, HIV/AIDS, Nutrition is on the rise. Facilitators (Single Mothers) relay on their experiences how they have coped with the situation. OGSY wish to train more Single Mothers on Reproductive Health Education as trainers. This will help OGSY to reach more youths and especially young girls. This will assist in curbing cases of teenage pregnancies, engagement in unprotected sex and HIV infection.

Housing

OGSY as an organization gives its members an opportunity interact with different communities in the county and beyond through sporting and other activities in support of the community like clean up HIV and AIDS awareness in the slum, it through this that they are able to understand and accept each others cultural practices and beliefs. It is comprised of members living in the slums.

As we all know life in the slum is not made up of bread and butter and people living in the slums are exposed to all forms of risks including drug abuse, illicit brews, child labor, school drop outs, different kinds of diseases, tribal and political clashes as witnessed in the previous election period, torched houses by influential people among others, early pregnancies, among others.

OGSY believes in change, and housing as a basic need it thought it was important to shelter the members so it decided to start a housing construction project for its' members in order to relocate the members from the slums to more decent houses together with their children away from all the vices mentioned above. Currently it has been able to relocate some of the members to the already completed houses and the process will be on going until all the members are moved before the commencement of the general election in March this year.

Sports

OGSY KENYA uses sports as a tool for change, it's in this line that OGSYKENYA have acquired 60 by 80 meters sports filed for the same, although it's a football field not meant only for the football but other social activity such as HIV/AIDS workshops, football Academy, football school training as well as community activity, this will go along way helping our youths transform in a positive direction.

The main sport activity at OGSY is soccer. Youth Teams aged 12 - 25 participated in daily training sessions in five community grounds. The teams are divided into categories of (U-12 and U-14) they are all registered with OGSY. Every year, every team is required to bring its own football. Currently OGSY has a Membership, of 300. Each team is assigned a recognized OGSY coach and a Facilitator.

Through soccer OGSY has managed to mobilize young people to participate in health education, participate in community service through which they have acquired life skills. OGSY is seeking support in monitoring and documenting lessons learnt working with young mothers through sports and dialogue circles. Monitoring will assist in capturing key information for the development of the project and also for sharing lessons learnt together with people from outside the country.

Vocational Training

Cases of school drop-out due to school fees and pregnancies are common in the slum areas and OGSY has been adversely affected. Currently OGSY has 50 young mothers who were forced to drop out of school due to pregnancy. Their children are aged between one month to 5 years. With time, need for employment has arisen due to demand to meet basic needs. Unfortunately young mothers lack skills to access reliable jobs.

OGSY has managed to link 14 young single mothers (aged 17 - 23) with courses like computers, hairdressing, dressmaking and catering. OGSY would strengthen provision of vocational skills for employment and entrepreneurship target both boys and girls in the project. Selected OGSY members will be trained in entrepreneurship skills and supported to engage in social ventures that create more jobs within the community. OGSY will also establish a job placement centre for the community to link skilled youth will potential employers.

FRIENDS OF OGSY

1. OGSY-KENYA- NORWAY

2. SFO-ROSSELAND SKOLE- NORWAY

3. FK VIGOR - NORWAY

Testimonials

Subscribe to team OGSY YouTube channel.

"Special thanks to coach James for believing in my abilities an not giving up on me. My passion in football would have been void were it not for OGSY KENYA."

Florence Kadzo
Team Manager OGSY

"After years of struggle and almost giving up on talent, OGSY picked up my dreams and polished my skills in football. I'm a proud product of OGSY through ALTA community."

Joan Ohanga
Founder Players

"I thank OGSYKENYA and our partners, for my dream come true. I started from Bench to first 11 and then Captain through to junior and Senior coaching staff. Working with OGSYKENYA and our partners, makes me feel, good and happy working with Youthful talented players at OGSYKENYA FOOTBALL Academy."

Mary Wangechi
Coach

Get In Touch

email

info@ogsykenya.org

oldisgoldslumyouth@yahoo.com

oldisgoldfc2002@yahoo.com

web

www.ogsykenya.org

call

+254 202 181 040

+254 722 376 399

+254 733 868 650

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OGSYKENYA

@ogsykenya