The Second Edition of the Annual She Can—I aM a sHERO) Football Tournament and Life Skills @Wilsen Initiative (Wi).
When we launched the 2nd edition call for support together with my sister, who's the co-founder of IAM a sHERO—She Can, we had many doubts if we could make it considering all the challenges that come with resource mobilisation.
I'm very delighted we did it, and I have learnt that if you have a goal, work on a strategy, and don't be distracted from the silent inner voice that sometimes tells you that you won't make it, just give up, this isn't going to work, and so on.
I'm very pleased with the outcome of the second edition, and I don't take any support offered for granted, but indeed our network is our net worth. Currently, our main sources of support are family, friends, well-wishers, and personal contributions from the founders. My wish is that one day we will get more long-term support that will allow us to target many young people all through the calendar year.
The next event will be in December 2025, but we have a series of activities that we conduct all year that you can support us, namely:
š Play Safe With Dignity - A campaign running through the year to support young people (U10-U15, boys and girls) from the underserved community of Mathare North to acquire the football equipment and materials, the main ones being football shoes and footballs.
š Skills Up Master Series - Sponsor a session that seeks to equip young people with the skills they deserve based on the 21st-century skills, which are, for example, communication, creativity, and problem-solving, just to mention but a few.
š Football For Hope - Hosting periodic football clinics, friendly matches, and exposure visits outside the neighbourhood to play in other tournaments or learn a new skill based on our program dubbed Plus One Talent (POT).
DID YOU KNOW
Wilsen Initiative (Wi) is a true reflection of my journey, which opened a new chapter for IaM a sHERO—She Can, having mentored my sister to a level of attaining a degree and employment.
Our journey in football, education, family, and dreams is the spark that ignited the fire in us, as the founders, to provide a platform that will give us a chance to inspire young people through our story but also, more importantly, learn from each other's stories on how we can make things better, especially living in the underserved communities. The connecting factor is based on the philosophy of Self Made, where we advocate for doing more, being more, and being different.
The second edition took us to the next level of engagement and achievements. We had a memorable day packed with insightful speakers focusing on motivational talk, education, football, health, wellness, and life skills. We also had a competitive football competition, refreshments, awards, and more.
š Inspirational Quote
"You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you." - John Bunyan
What Next?
In case you missed contributing during the second edition, the next one will be in December 2025, but in the meantime we look forward to reaching out to girls football clubs for skill-up sessions. You can donate a pair of football shoes or a ball under the ongoing campaign, the Play Safe with Dignity Football Shoes campaign, that seeks to equip the youth (girls and boys U10-U15) from underserved communities with football equipment.
š Appreciation
I want to take this opportunity to thank my co-founder, Esther Mazira; Esther's friends; my family; Ineke; Ernesto; Schola; and Grasso, just to mention but a few, for the support offered in different ways that led to the success of the second edition. May God bless the work of your hands, and thanks for believing in my dreams and supporting my efforts of creating a ripple effect of positive change using football, skill-up season, and mentorship.
#SafeSpaces #FootballForHope #SportsMentorship #FootballForDevelopment
#PlaySafeWithDignity #Right2Play #SheCan #IaMaSHERO
#theChampionInYou
#SelfMade#
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