GIRL POWER CLUBS IN KENYA: GIRLS CAN!
Increase girls awareness as community leaders through learning decision-making, sport and sportsmanship, assertiveness and peer support
About You
Contact Information
Title
Dr.
First name
Liz
Last name
Odera
Your job title
Director and Head Professional
Name of your organization
Sadili Oval
Organization type
sports, health, education and environment
Annual budget/currency
US$ 42,000
Location
Project Street Address
OFF KITENGELA ROAD, LANGATA
Project City
NAIROBI
Project Province/State
NAIROBI
Project Postal/Zip Code
BOX 8477 N
Project Country
Kenya
Your idea
Choose your sport: (check all that apply)
Other
If you chose "other" for Sport, please define in 1-2 words below
b-ball,soccer,n-ball,tenn
What approach does your initiative incorporate?
Advocacy
Year the initiative began (yyyy)
2008
Paste your video code here:
If your project has a website, paste the web address here:
Plot your innovation within the discovery framework:
Barrier
Girls internalize cultural stereotypes
Insight
Visibility multiplies participation
This field has not been completed. (333 words or less)
Name Your Project
GIRL POWER CLUBS IN KENYA: GIRLS CAN!
Describe Your Idea
Increase girls awareness as community leaders through learning decision-making, sport and sportsmanship, assertiveness and peer support
Innovation
What is your signature innovation, your new idea, in one sentence?
Increase girls awareness as community leaders through learning decision-making, sport and sportsmanship, assertiveness and peer support
How many people does your innovation serve or plan to serve? Exactly who will benefit?
300 girls from 28 public, private and non-formal schools in Langata and the Kibera slums
Do you have any existing partnerships? If so, please list and describe.
This field has not been completed. (1000 characters or less)
In which sector do these partners work? (Check all that apply)
Citizen sector (non profits, NGOs) .
How do you implement your innovation and apply it to the challenge/problem you are addressing?
Girls and women identify issues of ongoing concern to the community and formulate responses using persuasive communication and organizing for action. Through group discussions, and role plays, girls learn about the short-term and long-term effects of substance abuse, begin to recognize media and peer pressure to use drugs and suffer unwanted pregnancies and HIV-AIDS. Through netball, short-soccer, tennis and basketball (chosen because they can used the same space and boys/men are less likely to invade), they learn how to be both cooperative and competitive, how to discipline their bodies and their minds. Many girls face violence somewhere in their communities (street violence, no safe place to go, neighborhoods that fear kids rather than protect them); at home (family violence); at school (teasing, bullying, sexual harassment, verbal and physical fights). Girl Power helps them focus on this and help girls and young women find their own ways to avoid, address, and cope with violence.
Impact
Provide one sentence describing your impact/intended impact
Establishment of Girl Power Clubs within schools that will provide much needed peer support for girls and encourage them to take charge of their lives
What does impact/success look like? Please list any tangible measures of the impact of your innovation
Through Girl Power Clubs we intend to:
1. Increase the number of girls participating in sports
2. Increase the number of girls willing to become prefects in their schools
3. Increase the number of sports teams
4. Increase the number of women leaders adopting Girl Power and acting as role models in schools
5. Increase in community activities that actively incorporate girls
Is there a chance that your project could change policy (within an institution or government)?
This will definitely change policy: the involvement of women leaders in society will encourage civil society and the government to make policies that are more sensitive to serving the needs of women and girls in Kenya. To join every girl will commit to making a difference and as the number of active clubs increase, their presence within their schools and nationally will be felt.
Aside from financial sustainability, how do you plan to grow the initiative or expand your intended impact?
We hope to help show interested schools how to follow our example and set up Girl Power Clubs in their regions. We hope to partner with the Ministry for Youth and Sports to use their regional officers to visit schools around the country and provide support to these clubs. In addition, we will run sessions in the teacher training colleges and in teachers conferences, so that new teachers are aware of the program.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Sustainability
How is your initiative financed (or how do you expect your initiative will be financed)?
This year, we received support from women community leaders and Malezi Foundation for our pilot phase in 2008. We hope to seek funding from interested organisations as well as the Ministry of Youth and Sport. We hope to approach women's organisations and and university students to volunteer, but also adopt individual Girl Power Clubs each year.
Financing source
Annual budget
2008 Pilot costed US$ 4000. Roll out of project will cost US$ 200 per club annually and US$ 8000 for an annual conference and competition.
Annual revenue generated
This is a largely volunteer project, and minimal revenue is expected through club membership that would assist with communication and support.
Number of staff (full-time, part-time, volunteers)
3 part-time staff, 12 volunteers
What are the main barriers to financing your initiative, and how do you plan to address these barriers?
1. Following Kenya's post-election crises in December 2007 and part of 2008, many companies are wary of investing in long-term projects
2. The global financial crunch is being felt in Kenya by many companies
3. We plan to approach women in universities and organisations around the world to sponsor each club each year and adopt at US$200 only per year.
What are the major challenges with regards to partnerships?
1. Working with girls is considered likely to fail, and many organisations are shy about being actively involved.
2. School teachers are slow to understand the problems girls face and act positively, many do not recognise the urgency for change and instead become part of the problem
3. Stereotyping has kept many women leaders from seeing their role as leaders for change through supporting girls actively
4. Counselling in schools is often unavailable
The Story
What stage is your project?
Ongoing project .
What was the motivation or defining moment that led to create this innovation? Tell us the story.
Our work amongst the youth has shown that, although the number of female athletes is growing, too many girls still sit on the sidelines watching boys score goals or sprint toward the finish line. As spectators they miss the chance to develop skills that will help them succeed and habits that can keep them healthy. Girls tend to be less assertive than boys and are too shy to get fully involved in leadership and in making positive changes, as a result, they have often slipped through the cracks, with many fearing to take up more challenging subjects in school that can lead to successful careers, and many succumbing to peer pressure that lead to early pregnancies and HIV-AIDS. Kenya has many sucessful women in almost every sphere, as our government gives equal opportunity to all to get educated. However, young girls lack the role models that can encourage them to take charge of their lives, and begin by staying in school and making positive decisions that will impact on their communities. By learning to change their immediate surroundings and peer-to-peer counselling through the Girl Power Clubs, girls will be encouraged to change the stereotype and become more proactive.
Please tell us about the social innovator behind this initiative
Dr. Liz Odera initiated award-winning programmes at Sadili Oval 11 years ago and has continued to run them personally, bringing in various partners including UNEP, KNOC, IOC, GSA, France SFD Programme and PTR. She has instilled professional and financial discipline in all her projects and often works as a consultant for UNEP where she has successfully piloted UNEP's Nature and Sports Camps, which is expected to roll out to other countries around the world.
(Optional) To be eligible for an additional prize, please select age range
14 – 18
 | 219 weeks ago Liza-Melina Drewello said: Hi Liz, Boxgirls managed to become finalist. It would be fantastic if you support us with your vote. Maybe you can encourage others to ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 222 weeks ago Liz Odera said: Dear Liza, thanks for your comments! And yes, we would be very happy to exchange ideas and work together in any way. I am very keen to ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 223 weeks ago Liza-Melina Drewello said: Hi Liz, I really like your project- it is great! I see that you already use basketball und soccer, what about boxing? Boxing helps ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 223 weeks ago Liz Odera said: Dear Ruth, apologies for not getting back to you immediately - have been totally out of touch. 1- I would like to adopt the project in ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 224 weeks ago Ruth Riley said: liz- thanks for your response, i have a few more questions for you. -you want to adopt this program in schools for 10 week phases, ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 225 weeks ago Renata Affonso said: Liz, Women Win would like to invite you to join its group at http://sportforchange.changemakers.net/en-us/group/womenwin. Just click ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 227 weeks ago Milka Omukuba said: Hi Liz, I sent myself a copy and I haven't recieved it either. I believe there must be a problem with the system. To be on the safe ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 227 weeks ago Liz Odera said: Hi Ziba! There is a dearth of basketball coaches here at the moment. Three years ago, we recieved funding from the Social Fund for ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 227 weeks ago Liz Odera said: Dear Ruthm thaks for your comments! Our sports teams are mainly affiliated to the schools, but we do accept girls who are drop-outs, as ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 227 weeks ago Liz Odera said: Thank you Omukaba, I haven't received it yet, perhaps you can resend again? about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
