“Changing lives and communities through sports”
Our Initiatives
Sports for children and youths is the key implementation tool of Kitaji Ndoto Yetu Initiative (KNYI). A comprehensive Kitaji Sports Academy (KSA) complete with training/education, practice, marketing and income-generating components is the key target of KNYI. KSA identifies sports talents from children, youths and people from all KNYI coverage areas. Identified children and youths with talents are formed into various sports teams and developed through training and education at KSA by KNYI staff in cooperation with beneficiaries and partners. Established sports teams from a wide variety of sports are motivated through physical exercise/practice and participation in local, national and international sports tournaments. The best developed children and youth sports talent are eventually marketed in the national and international sports arena. KSA is geared towards production of world class sportsmen and sportswomen, players, coaches and sports administrators. Already two soccer teams for children and youths under the age of 10 years and under the age of 17 years (U10 and U17) have been formed and consist of both girls and boys. Ten members selected from these teams have been trained to support and protect younger children in children play grounds in six kindergartens in Musoma municipality as part of KNYI project to promote children rights to play. Several athletics, jogging and other outdoor teams have also been formed besides indoor sports teams in basketball, netball cricket and others. Several (?) teams of underwater sports have been formed to promote swimming, canoeing, fishing, snorkeling and underwater photography. Daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly sports events including training and tournaments are being organized for different sports teams.
Sports for rights program brings together Kitaji Sports Academy (KSA) sports teams with specialists from health and nutrition, environment conservation and economic field in regular tailored education and training sessions to learn about: (i) Child rights to play. (ii) Child protection. (iii) Children and youth rights to health. (iv) Youth economic empowerment. (v) Children and youths’ participation and (vi) Children and youths’ rights to a health environment. Educated and trained children and youth sports teams spread their rights knowledge to their peer groups in schools and villages scattered around the shores of Lake Victoria.A successful case of this program is the “Go Sisters” girls project in which a total of 12 Kitaji Sports Academy (KSA) sportswomen aged between 17 and 25 years receive regular rights education and training and have in the last one year extended their knowledge on HIV/AIDS, reproductive health, nutrition and entrepreneurship skills to five peer groups with whom they play football and netball. Sports for rights strives to reduce unemployment and dependency among youths who constitute slightly more than 12% of the Tanzanian population.
Apart from sports, Kitaji Ndoto Yetu Initiative (KNYI) through Kitaji Sports Academy (KSA) is currently orienting and will soon deploy sports teams especially water sports teams in Lake Victoria conservation activities. The focus of this conservation program/platform is twofold. One is to engage the water sports teams in surveillance, reporting and monitoring of Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing and illegal fish trade into neighboring country of Kenya. Two is to green the shores of the lake by planting trees along the shores of lake with the view to stop shore erosion and reduce flow of chemicals that cause lake water salinity. The Lake Victoria conservation program/platform is prompted by the fact that illegal fishing and environmental degradation are seriously reducing fish stock and trade to the disadvantage of dependent local communities and economy of riparian states. The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) reports that climate change (CC) could reduce fish stocks in global freshwater lakes by between 7% and 12% by 2025 depending on geographical location and Lake Victoria is no exception The Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute (TAFIRI) reports illegal fishing might have contributed up to 20% of Lake Victoria fish stock decline in the last decade. The National Environment Management Council (NEMC) has concluded that together CC and illegal fishing have reduced fish consumption among lake communities by 70% during the decade causing serious nutritional deficiencies especially among children and youths