“LET THE CHILD PLAY” for a better world.
Location
Sports as the key component to create sustainable play, increase household incomes and conserve the environment in developing countries.
About You
Location
Project Street Address
Project City
Project Province/State
Project Postal/Zip Code
Project Country
Your idea
Sport
Soccer
Year the initative began (yyyy)
2007
YouTube Upload
Project URL (include HTTP://)
Positioning of your initiative on the mosaic diagram:
Which of these barriers is the primary focus of your work?
Few effective tools for personal improvement
Which of the principles is the primary focus of your work?
Social cohesion
If you believe some other barrier or principle should be included in the mosaic, please describe it and how it would affect the positioning of your initiative in the mosaic:
1. Sports is expensive. A good soccer ball costs not less than $20 way out of reach to majority of children born in house hold earning less than $ 1 per day.
2. My idea seeks to overcome the girl child disadvantages in sport development opportunities due to cultural barriers and gender barriers
3. My idea is using locally available resources (waste) to develop basic sports equipment that will promote a sports culture in developing countries.
4. Low household incomes inhibiting sports development and encouraging child labor will be improved and the environment cleaned of plastic paper menace.
Name Your Project
“LET THE CHILD PLAY” for a better world.
Describe Your Idea
Sports as the key component to create sustainable play, increase household incomes and conserve the environment in developing countries.
Innovation
What is your signature innovation, your new idea, in one sentence?
Sports as the key component to create sustainable play, increase household incomes and conserve the environment in developing countries.
Describe your innovation. What makes your idea unique and different than others doing work in the field?
It uses sports to overcome the numerous challenges in developing countries - child development, cultural barriers, poverty, unemployment, pollution while encouraging individual child innovativeness and entrepreneurship. my idea allows a child to be a child through sport and fun.
Current trends show that by age 18 most top athletes and sports men and women attain peak performance. This is in almost all disciplines. This is attained through sports academies that are well established in developed countries but unavailable in most developing countries.
My idea seeks to address this inadequacy by providing a platform that will allow children in developing countries develop their talents through play and fun while participating in learning, good citizenship and entrepreneurship activities.
By providing the right information and skills children will learn to design and make their own sports equipment and other products that can contribute in income generation at the household level.
What are the existing barriers, the biggest problem, your innovation is hoping to address/change?
Sports is expensive. A good soccer ball will cost not less than $ 30 way out of reach to a child being raised in a household earning less than $ 1 per day. My idea is that children should access sports equipment at almost no cost by making them themselves.
In Kenya and most developing countries the girl child is excluded from sports through gender and cultural stereo typing “ sports is for boys”.
Delivery Model: How do you implement your innovation and apply it to the challenge/problem you are addressing?
Through primary schools network, village sports clubs and street family groups in respective towns. This infrastructure already exists in Kenya. The idea is launched by having sensitization workshops for the respective groups, all the stakeholders and potential secondary funders in a given region.
This will be followed by concept training workshops for all groups involved in a given region to internalize the idea.
Marketing and advertisement will follow to make the public aware of what is happening and allow them an opportunity to participate and own the idea. Marketing will allow the idea to spread internationally.
After 6 months of workshop sensitization and training individual groups and participants will be given 6 months to allow application and innovation where by the outputs will be measured by competitions being held during “Let the child play” fun day.
Competition activities to take place for respective activities to encourag
How do you plan to grow your innovation?
After the initial piloting and introduction of the idea the idea is to take its own course and grow across Kenya and continents naturally since the problems my idea seeks to address are global and the methodology to deliver the idea is entrepreneurial.
Fun and acquiring sports equipment without necessarily buying them will encourage children to continue with the idea.
The potential for the idea to generate income and increase household incomes and self employment will allow the innovation to grow on its own accord as a legitimate enterprise.
Through sharing with other Ashoka Fellows and partners involved in sports, agriculture, enterprise and environment the idea will be replicated independently without an need of further financing or control.
Impact
Provide one sentence describing your impact/intended impact.
Children in developing countries will access cheap sports equipment that will allow sports development and develop talents without segregation
What impact has your innovation had to date/or what is your intended impact? Exactly who are the beneficiaries?
It is expected that children will be introduced to sports and fun at the formative stage of age 4 -14 years.
Cheap sports equipments designed by the children themselves will be developed.
The Girl child will be introduced to sports overcoming cultural biasness.
Household incomes will be increased through Small enterprises that will be developed.
The world will be cleaned of the plastic paper bag pollution/menace especially in developing countries.
How many people have you served directly?
During the pilot face it expected that 100,000 children of ages 4 years to 14 years will be served directly.
How many people have you served indirectly?
Indirectly up to 1,000,000 children may potentially benefit.
Out of this children 60% are expected to be girls and 40% boys.
Up to 50 street children are expected to benefit directly.
Please list any other measures reflective of the impact of your innovation?
Improvement of agricultural output through innovative use of waste paper bags and development of art using waste plastic paper bags are some of the out puts expected. This will increase household incomes.
Ashoka Fellows and partners adopting what is relevant in their respective specialties creating a critical mass that will propel the world into “every one a change maker” will reflect a positive impact.
Awards in multiple disciplines through implementation of different facets of the idea
What are the main barriers to creating or achieving your impact?
The main barrier is lack of a platform with authority to engage the idea with the world. Avoiding the risk of launching the idea at the wrong time and place I have been waiting for 3 years for the right opportunity. Without a doubt I firmly believe that the Ashoka/Nike partnership is the right platform.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Sustainability
How is your initiative financed (or how do you expect your initiative will be financed)?
The idea needs a one off seed funding of $100,000 an investment of approximately $ 1 per child who will be impacted on.
There after it is expected enterprise and fun will propel the idea without the need of funding.
Stake holders and partners will have the opportunity to carry out their own independent activities based on the idea or modified versions without impediment.
If known, provide information on your finances and organization.
full time: 12 Part time:4 volunteers:2
What is the potential demand for your innovation?
The potential demand of my idea includes developing countries faced with poverty,
poor children who can not afford sports equipment.
Communities seeking to develop cohesion to brake tribal segregation and communities facing girl child sports challenges.
Environments facing plastic paper bags pollution and need clean up.
Corporations wishing to invest in corporate social responsible investments with sound results.
What are the main barriers to financial sustainability?
The idea does not need continuous financial support since after the seed investment the idea will support itself.
The Story
What is the origin of this innovation? Tell us your story.
Waste paper bags are a big problem in Kenya and most developing countries. Many initiatives among them recycling have been lunched without much success. Sustainability has eluded these initiatives.
After intense questioning and research in the last 3 years it has emerged that sports and entrepreneurship are a sustainable solution in getting rid of the plastic paper bags.
Involving school going children, street children and families will spread the idea across the country. This involvement will solve multiple problems children face in developing countries among them lack of sports equipment to develop talents. Notably the girl child will benefit immensely.
Entrepreneurship is one of the most powerful engines driving world development in the private sector. This is the secret my idea is using to ensure self sustainability.
The idea “Let the Child play” is not an end by itself. It does not replace actual sports equipment that the child needs but most importantly it allows a child to develop sport talent at the most important stage the “ formative stage”.
Please provide a personal bio. Note this may be used in Changemakers marketing material.
Elected an Ashoka Fellow in 2004 my passion is to use social entrepreneurship and appropriate technologies to allow communities overcome among others poverty and social inadequacies.
In 2007 I was elected an Ashoka / Lemelson Fellow for using appropriate technologies to transform communities economically on a social entrepreneurship platform.
Having grown as a sports person in multiple disciplines and still supports sports development combined with my passion to eradicate poverty in its all f
How did you hear about this contest and what is your main incentive to participate? (this is confidential)
How did you hear about this contest and what is your main incentive to participate?
I heard of this contest through Ashoka network having been a participant in an Ashoka/Nike Sport for Social Change Round table Workshop in South Africa.
My incentive to participate in the competition is I firmly believe that Ashoka /Nike partnership is the right platform that I have been looking for. I have been incubating and refining my idea to launch it with the right people, at the right place and at the right time.
It is my hope that by sharing at this level will leverage my idea to a global platform with a possibility of global application (global venture).
Affiliation (please list all that apply)
Ashoka Fellow
 | bene said: Patrick, I like the idea o behind your project of providing children in Kenya a cheap access to sport – in this case football. But to ... about this Competition Entry. - 1545 days ago read more > |
| danafrasz said: It would be great for you to get in touch with Trevor Dudley. Trevor is an Ashoka fellow and he has entered the competition with his ... about this Competition Entry. - 1551 days ago read more > |
| Pierre and Steffi said: Dear Mr. Gathitu, It is absolutely an interesting concept you are using to work on two main problems (poverty and pollution). As we ... about this Competition Entry. - 1556 days ago read more > |
| ccrush59 said: What is the price of the proposed workshops? Will they cost money to attend? If so, how much? When you say cheap equipment do you mean ... about this Competition Entry. - 1570 days ago read more > |
| skrelnick23 said: Dear Mr. Gathitu: I would love some more clarification on your growth strategy. As you mention that the seed funding and the idea is ... about this Competition Entry. - 1571 days ago read more > |
| ddalporto said: Dear Mr. Gathitu: I would love some more clarification on your growth strategy. As you mention that the seed funding and the idea is ... about this Competition Entry. - 1571 days ago read more > |
| ziba said: Hi Patrick, Have you seen Trevor Dudley's proposal? You guys should get together and use his organization as a pilot for your vision - ... about this Competition Entry. - 1580 days ago read more > |
| byars said: I, too, enjoyed reading your proposal, Patrick. You've obviously thought about your suggestions a great deal. One point that you ... about this Competition Entry. - 1582 days ago read more > |
| Tito Llantada said: Dear Patrick -- Thank you for sharing your proposal! I have one question that would help better visualize this program: could you ... about this Competition Entry. - 1584 days ago read more > |
Comments
Dear Patrick -- Thank you for sharing your proposal! I have one question that would help better visualize this program: could you provide more details on the potential impact to beneficiaries? Specifically, it seems like this proposal combines both job creation/skill development and sports for youth; I'd love understand more on how these two components could help directly help the youth you are targeting.
Many thanks, Tito Llantada
Changemakers.net
I, too, enjoyed reading your proposal, Patrick. You've obviously thought about your suggestions a great deal. One point that you raised caught my attention, though I have to admit that it's not your main theme. You note that many athletes in various sports reach their prime in their late-teens and early-twenties.
I don't know enough about soccer, or fusbol, to comment specifically about it. However, I know that other sports permit a more graceful aging with one's skills intact. E.g., distance runners often don't reach their peak till their late-twenties. (I recall that the gold medalist in the marathon in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles was a thirty-seven-year-old Spaniard.) And in baseball, pitchers and designated hitters often retain many of their skills even into their early-forties. It seems as if wisdom and canniness help them compensate for declining athletic prowess.
Still, I think that your argument is well-taken in that we need to make the tools and opportunities of sports available to the world's youth at a very young age. Good thoughts!
Steve Byars
Hi Patrick,
Have you seen Trevor Dudley's proposal? You guys should get together and use his organization as a pilot for your vision - he has identified the same barrier ! I also think that you have a particular competitive advantage in the vision you have for a sustainable venture leveraging plastic bags. Many of the organizations on this competition and many others in your immediate geographic vicinity, could be clients of the sports equipment you seek to produce. This could enable you to focus on your core competency of business/ entrepreneurship as a skill to pass along to the young people enabling partner organizations to focus on delivering many of the other program elements that you have identified.
Best of luck!
Ziba
Dear Mr. Gathitu:
I would love some more clarification on your growth strategy. As you mention that the seed funding and the idea is self-supporting, how has it indeed become so? What is it about your idea, your model that has made replication so strong as to be self supported? I think others can be enlightened by your response, and we would love your thoughts on this.
Thank you in advance for your response!
Best,
Changemakers Team
Dear Mr. Gathitu:
I would love some more clarification on your growth strategy. As you mention that the seed funding and the idea is self-supporting, how has it indeed become so? What is it about your idea, your model that has made replication so strong as to be self supported? I think others can be enlightened by your response, and we would love your thoughts on this.
Thank you in advance for your response!
Best,
Changemakers Team
What is the price of the proposed workshops? Will they cost money to attend? If so, how much? When you say cheap equipment do you mean cheap as in price or quality?
Charles Rush
Center for the Study of Sport in Society
Northeastern University
Dear Mr. Gathitu,
It is absolutely an interesting concept you are using to work on two main problems (poverty and pollution). As we understand it, you intend to serve 100.000 children and indirectly reach 1.000.000 children in 6 months with 18 people working for the project. This sounds very ambitious to us and we were wondering what strategy you are using to reach this goal. Our second question concerns the street children involved in the project. Do you have a reason why you intend to include only a small amount of street children (50 on 100.000)? In our view, they might be the ones with the greatest lack of accessibility to sport activities and the ones with the highest need to generate income.
We are looking forward to see the implementation and the effects of this project. Good luck.
Pierre and Steffi
It would be great for you to get in touch with Trevor Dudley. Trevor is an Ashoka fellow and he has entered the competition with his “The Kids League KIT 4 KIDS” entry that is working to develop sports equipment in Tanzania. Together perhaps the two of you could come up with some great ideas of how to make each of your project thrive! His email is thekidsleague@yahool.com.uk We hope that you will get in touch!
Also, part of your delivery model response was cut off due to the word limitations. Perhaps you could edit the response to be sure that the most important information is included? What is your concrete strategy? How do you plan to sell the goods that are produced? What is your business plan for marketing and distribution?
Could you tell us more about what is involved in the concept training workshops?
Lastly, can you explain how the bags are used to make balls?
I hope to hear from you soon.
Dana Frasz
Changemakers
Patrick,
I like the idea o behind your project of providing children in Kenya a cheap access to sport – in this case football. But to what extent do you mean should those kids contribute to the household income by producing sports equipment? Are there any restrictions plant? Otherwise this concept could backfire. Also you mention numerous and rather different goals regarding child development, cultural barriers, poverty, unemployment, pollution – how do you plan to combine or meet all those goals?
Thanks a lot for your answers,
Cheers Benedikt
Spirit of Football Project Group
University of Erfurt
www.spiritoffootball.com