Hello, my name is Katie, I’m volunteering in a village called Ngeri, located near Lake Victoria, Kenya. Currently I am working with Fredrick Oduol, founder of FOFA (Fredrick Oduol Football Academy) — an academy created in 2023 that trains young people in football with the goal of helping them obtain exemption from secondary school fees.

In Kenya, public primary and secondary education is not free. The annual fees of secondary school range between 45,000 and 53,000 KSh (around £266–£314), an exorbitant amount for most families. However, it is possible to obtain fee exemptions. The State supports student athletes who stand out in local tournaments.

Part of the goal of the foundation is to help the children achieve fee exemption to attend secondary school.

However, FOFA operates without any infrastructure: most children train barefoot or shirtless and use makeshift balls made from condoms and string which need to be replaced every 40 minutes or so. They have one worn out ball for games. There’s about 45 children in the foundation. The children train everyday.

My goal, for my short time at the foundation, is to help raise some funds to purchase the essentials; uniform, football socks, trainers or boots and hopefully a few footballs.

Below are the local prices with rough conversions fees;

2000 KES / £ 11.85 one pair of shoes,

150 KES / 90p for a pair of socks,

3000 KES / £17.77 for one football,

1000 KES / £5.92 for one kit, (shorts and top).

I will inform donators about how much is raised and where is penny is spent.

Hopefully together we can get the team some much needed resources.

Asante / Thank you!