“Isaac Pitch” : A new Isaac pitch in a slum: Improving access to Sports and Culture for social change

Context 

Kibera is one of the largest slums in Kenya hosting about 250,000 people (UN-HABITAT, 2020). This big number of people lives in precarious homes deprived of electricity, running water, and sewage and garbage disposal systems. Sporting and cultural activities is a luxury for the innumerable children in the town.

“Isaac Pitch”, a field located in the downtown areas of Kibera is a safe haven, far from the depravity you find in some these slums’ areas. Thanks to this field, hundreds of children engage in the practice of sports and cultural activities in a healthy environment. The field’s strategic location enables the girls and persons living with a disability to take part in the various activities.

This partnership between “A Human Rainbow” and the “Kibera Black Stars” targets the young and provide them with the possibility of practicing sports and cultural activities in adequate conditions through the renovation of this rain-destroyed pitch.

Goals

• Reinforce social cohesion without any form of discrimination;
• Keep the children away from the dangers of street life thanks to the practice of sport;
• Improve access to sport in a difficult environment, notably for the girls and the youngsters living with a disability;
• Offer a wide range of cultural and sporting activities often out of the reach of the people living in a slum;
• Promote healthier living conditions and advocate sustainable development in an extremely polluted environment.

Activities

• Fixing an appropriate run-off water drainage system to reduce the heavy rains’ impact on the pitch and the homes;
• Building and renovation works on the field (slab, screened perimeter, bleachers)
• Supplying equipment and purchasing materials to practice various sports in good conditions;
• Building locker rooms with showers, toilets and clean water tanks;
• Developing a hybrid lighting system (with solar energy)
• Organising events around sport, art, and culture
• Life skills sessions

Impact

• 800 youngsters will be able to practice sport in good conditions, especially the girls and persons living with a disability;
• The community members shall be healthier;
• More and more people may be taking part in events and cultural activities;
• The members of the community shall be living together in harmony, in a healthy environment.

Photo credit : A Human Rainbow