Ghetto youth in Embakasi East brush off politics to play their favorite game in a mud turf

Sports is what brought Kenyans together when divisive politics around October 26th repeat presidential election threatened to tear the country apart.

Kawangware was turned into a war zone on Saturday October 28th as Kenyans turned against each other in a politically motivated violence.

Interestingly on Sunday October 29th Kenyans shunned divisive politics to cheer our athletes who won various marathons across cities in Europe.

There was a sense of a united Kenya when Edith Chelimo won Marseille-Cassis 20km race and when Bernard Rotich won Dublin Marathon. The same Sunday Kenya’s long-distance great Vivian Cheruiyot won Frankfurt marathon, even president Uhuru joined Kenyans in congratulating her.

Well, that same Sunday ordinary Kenyans in informal settlement in Embakasi East constituency also shunned divisive politics to play their favorite sport – volleyball.

Politics had taken the center stage since Thursday October 26th but ghetto youth in Tassia slum had no time for politics on Sunday.

Youth drawn from various tribes gathered at their makeshift volleyball court to play their favorite game. Not even heavy downpour could stop them from playing, they kept on enjoying their game even as the turf became muddy.

Volleyball great like Janet Wanja, Jane Wacu, Mercy Moim all started out playing volleyball at tumbledown volleyball courts like the one in Tassia before they made it. Determination is what drove them to greater heights, they believed in themselves and defied all odds.

Sports like volleyball has been neglected by the government and private sector. For instance, SportPesa is the only gaming company that sponsors volleyball in Kenya while all other gaming companies only focus on football.

SportPesa came through when Kenya women’s national volleyball team was locked out of their training facility in Kasarani following wrangles with Sports Kenya – the state corporation that maintains Kasarani Indoor Arena.

SportPesa intervened and made sure Kenya women’s national volleyball trained at Kasarani Indoor Arena before they flew out to Cameroon for African Women Volleyball Championship.

The ghetto youth in Tassia can also make past their muddy volleyball court if we support them. Our voices can be loud enough to make area MP build them a standard volleyball court. We can only achieve this when we came together. Tujiamini tu!