Dr. Liz Odera

I have a strong passion for young people in Africa, and their strong desire to create a future full of acceptance, and achievement, a need to get a job that will improve their livelihood, and their willingness to share what they have with others. To ensure that I can, contribute to their welfare, I have had to take on national and international bodies, sometimes to life-threatening levels, to ensure that there is a level playing field. And the best way to get this done is through sports. Our organisation has helped improve the lives of over 7,000 children and youth through HIV-AIDS workshops, treeplanting, regular cleanups, weekly training and establishment of an academy sport training system, that not only trains more than 700 talented children a week, but also has trained and certified 56 youth in sports in order to get job opportunities. We have also established competitions that create a level playing field, but also provide an opportunity for children from the underpriviledged communities of Kibera to sociaise and learn from the neighbouring upmarket communities.

I love the desolation of the African bush. Just sitting there amongst the wild animals in the dead heat and soaking in the smell of grass and dung and listening to the incredible bird life, followed by a rich and colorful sun down helps rejuvenate me.

I wish to continue to help children and youth use sports to improve their lifestyles, no matter where they are. Sports can change the world,and we have seen it happen through our centre.

Liz was one of the top seeded ladies in tennis in Kenya up till late eighties, having won many national and university awards. Liz is also a trained PTR International Professional, clinician and tester (Africa's first woman to achieve this) and is a director a top sports centre (Sadili Oval Sports Academy) and school (Malezi School and College) in Nairobi. Liz has received numerous awards that include the Spirit Of The Land Award from the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2002; the G-ForSE Award in Japan 2003 and the PTR 2004 Humanitarian of the Year Award in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, USA. Government of France awarded Liz the French Medal of Honor for her work with children and youth in 2008. Liz studied in Kenya and Denmark for her degrees (up to PhD). As Kenya's first lady immunologist, Liz has published in international peer-reviewed journals. She is also a sports scientist and teacher by profession and is also currently running the high performance training for Kenya’s National rugby teams (both 15’s and 7’s) in preparation for the World Cup, as well as developing some of East Africa's top tennis juniors, many who have graduated to play college tennis just like she did. Liz is married to Architect, Abok James Odera and has two children, Joab and Terry, both of whom are top tennis players.