| Legends & Supporters |
Kibera Celtic (Kenya)
(Article written by Jamie Doran. Forwarded to KDS forum by Jim Mullins who is also mentioned in the article (2010))
A football team, born out of the ashes of turmoil and violence, now stands as a beacon of hope for peace.
In late 2007 and early 2008, almost 1,500 lost their lives in what is referred to as ‘the post-election violence’ in Kenya. Politicians representing their own tribes paid gangs of young men to attack, maim and murder mostly innocent members of opposing tribes. The majority were hacked to death using machetes and pangas.
Many of those killings were in the slums of Nairobi and most of those in Kibera, sub-Saharan Africa’s largest slum, where 1.2 million people live in crowded, disease infested shacks in an area of less than two-square kilometres. Two gang leaders, feared by all, led the violence in Kibera. They were known as The General and Deputy General, real names: John Oyoo and Bernard Ngira. They led a gang of over two-hundred youths who roamed the sewage-ridden alleys of Kibera, high on drugs supplied by the politicians, looking for potential victims.
Both men are Luo and the targets of their wrath were mainly members of the ruling Kikuyu tribe. As the violence escalated, Kikuyu businesses were destroyed including the largest market in all Kenya which was controlled by the Kikuyu, the Toi Market.
It was at this point that John and Bernard’s lives were to change forever.
They had led the attack on the Toi Market, driving small business owners out of Kibera. Suddenly, there was a shortage of even the most basic commodities and, in particular, food. As local charities began emergency distribution, the gang surrounded the trucks carrying flour and demanded the cargo be handed to them. One aid worker, Andrew Onyanga, stood in their way. As Bernard raised his machete to strike, local women of all tribes surrounded Andrew insisting that they would die before letting the food into the hands of the gang. They knew that their families would almost certainly perish from starvation should they not act.
The machete was lowered.
This incident was to begin a process of healing which would transform Kibera itself. For Andrew had recognised a sense of desperation in young men who felt they had nothing to lose. In fact, they had nothing. And yet, faced by mothers who had been ready to die for their children, they had pulled back.
According to John: “We understood for the first time that everyone was the same; that they, like us, were just fighting to survive poverty and that when anyone died, the colour of their blood was the same as us.”
Just a few days later, as the Toi Market still smouldered, Andrew sought out those two young men to set them a challenge. If they would help rebuild the market and provide security from looters, he would ensure that they and other members of the Luo community would be given the opportunity to set up their own businesses there. Within three months, the market was not only restored, it had expanded to include not just Luo but many more tribes. And John and Bernard had created a thriving business building metal cases for storing books and documents in schools across Nairobi.
Film-maker Jamie Doran had been in Kenya producing a documentary about slum-dwellers when he came across them at their base on the perimeter of the market. The three had one thing in common – football. Kenyans are fanatical followers of the English Premiere League due to extensive coverage on television. But John, an Arsenal supporter, and Bernard who roots for Liverpool were riveted to the spot as Doran regaled them with tales of his adventures following Glasgow Celtic around the world. But it was when he explained why Celtic had had begun in the first place that recognition of a common cause spread across their faces.
That the team had been set up to help the poor of Glasgow’s East End struck a cord, and there began an almost conspiratorial collaboration between the three men which was to lead to the most extraordinary outcome. The aim: to build a football club along the same charitable lines as Celtic, but with an additional, crucial purpose. This must be a club which united young men from the rival tribes of Kibera.
Kenyan teams are split along tribal differences, the major clubs representing their own ethnic heritage. The dream, an impossible one most people said, was to create the country’s first football force for change – something to catch the imagination of youths brought up in an atmosphere of hate and mistrust.
They were in a race against time, knowing that with new elections planned for 2012, the violence would almost certainly return. They had to build something great that the poor of all tribes could rally to.
A team had dropped out of the Kenyan 2nd Division (Nairobi) and John and Bernard decided to apply to replace it. It was a long shot, as teams are normally required firstly to play through the lower leagues and gain promotion over a period of years, but the sudden chaos caused by the defunct team provided a unique opportunity and Kibera Celtic became the newest member of Division II.
Early in 2009, the team ran on to a bone-dry, strutted sandy pitch in front of the proverbial one-man-and-a-dog. Mostly barefoot and wearing Celtic tops with sponsors names dating back up to 20 years, they surprised everyone with their incredible skills, self-taught in the slums using rolled-up cloth as a ball and tree branches for goalposts.
By the end of 2009, the slum of Kibera had awakened. Now playing in brand new football strips and boots donated by Jim Mullins, a friend of Doran’s, they had taken the league by storm. Despite having to play two matches per week (to make up for fixtures missed by the defunct team) they came fourth to win promotion, watched now by crowds in their thousands.
In November that same year, Kibera Celtic played their first game in the Kenyan 1st Division. Today (June 2010), against unimaginable odds and far richer teams, they stand top of that league by six clear points. Promotion to the ultimate goal, the Premiere Division, beckons.
Outside the top league, fans get in to grounds for free. So John, Bernard and Jamie (with help from many friends) have financed the entire exercise themselves. Their key target is to purchase a second-hand bus which would not only provide transport for the team to travel ever-greater distances required through promotion, but would also provide regular income for the club when used for carrying fare-paying passengers during the week.
Whatever happens, for two young men who grew up in extreme poverty and violence, the real promotion they seek is that of peace. When Doran visited recently, he bluntly asked the entire squad of players to raise their hands dependent on which tribe they belonged to. Out of thirty young men, twelve separate tribes were represented.
These days, Kibera Celtic are a regular feature in the Kenyan sports pages and even television reports. As election year draws closer, the SlumBhoys want the true message behind their motto to reach the widest possible audience: ‘MANY TRIBES, ONE TEAM’.
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Kibera Celtic tackles poverty on the pitch
Jamie Doran encouraged villagers in Nairobi’s Kibera slum to model the team on the Glasgow club set up by an Irish cleric in the city’s east end to raise money for charity.
Doran, who made the documentary Lord of the Wing, about Celtic player Jimmy Johnstone’s battle with motor neurone disease, inspired two members of the Luo tribe to start the team while documenting the plight of the 1.2m inhabitants of the Nairobi’s most populous ghetto.
Kibera Celtic players started playing in flip-flops and 20-year-old Celtic strips but have now been accepted into the Kenyan second division and compete before crowds of more than 3,000.
Doran, who has been appointed chairman of the club, said he had been astonished by the success of Kibera Celtic, which was formed by John Ouma and Bernard Onyango Njira.
“We got chatting about three months ago and the guys already know that I’m a Celtic fanatic and are aware of the history of the club,” he said. “Both guys can relate to this easily and John suggested establishing Kibera Celtic. They then dragged me into the local radio station to announce the formation of the club.
“The progress since then has been incredible. Kibera Celtic were admitted straight into the Kenyan second division, without having to go through the lower leagues.
“Five weeks ago, they played their first game in front of a handful of supporters, in second-hand Celtic jerseys, some of them 20 years old with sponsors like CR Smith and NTL on them, and wearing flip-flops because they didn’t have boots.
“They’ve now played nine matches, losing just once, and are being tipped to win promotion. Two weeks ago, for a game against Mattina which they won 1-0, over three thousand packed into their little ground.”
Since its threadbare beginnings, the club has received new strips, boots, shin pads and goalkeeping gloves thanks to Jim Mullins, from the salmon supplier Lighthouse Caledonia, who sent the equipment after being told about the club.The team’s success has already benefited some of those most in need. With the proceeds from the matches played so far, Ouma and Njira have started a chicken farm, with all profits diverted to the needy.
“Conditions are horrendous in Kibera, with human waste pouring through people’s shacks,” said Doran, who is back in the UK. “The biggest problems are dysentery, malaria and typhoid but progress is slowly being made, thanks in part to the football club.
“I’ll be going back over to Kenya at the end of August to see my first game, by which time I expect them to be top of the league and heading for promotion.”
A spokesman for Celtic said: “We congratulate Jamie on all the work he has done with the team in Nairobi, this is a fantastic initiative.
“Celtic Football Club has a rich charitable tradition. The Club itself has carried out considerable community and charitable work in Kenya and other parts of Africa and it is great that through Jamie’s work, Celtic’s colours are being put to such good use and that the club’s important charitable ethos continues.”
Shanty Fc (Aug 2 2009)
Daily Mail
Byline: Ewing Grahame and Jody Harrison
IT is the largest slum in Africa, where unemployment runs at 50 per cent and lawless gangs control basic services with threats of murder and mutilation.
For many, Kibera, in the heart of Kenya’s capital Nairobi, is the place where they will be born, live and die – the intervening years nasty, brutish and short.
But one group of young men have turned their backs on a life of crime and are taking the first steps towards a brighter future – in flip-flops and with Scottish football strips on their backs.
It is all thanks to a Scottish film-maker, his passion for football – and a chance conversation about his lifelong support for Celtic.
Jamie Doran was filming his latest documentary, focusing on the appalling conditions in Kibera – a shanty town with one million inhabitants crammed into an area of less than two square miles – when he fell into conversation with two local men.
John and Bernard had been involved in the riots that blighted Nairobi following the 2007 presidential election. Having turned their backs on violence, they were looking for something which could help them and others move away from the lawlessness which is routine amid the shacks and sheds they call home.
From this idle discussion came the idea of forming a football team and Kibera Celtic was established with the simple goal of helping the poor – reflecting the charitable origins of its namesake in Glasgow.
Doran, who has made films for the BBC, Channel 4 and Canal among others, said: ‘We spoke about ways to invigorate and bring attention to the slum, highlighting the conditions in which people live. However, they also wanted to show the people themselves are capable of bringing about change.
‘The guys already knew I am a Celtic fanatic and were aware of the history of the club. Both guys can relate to this easily and they suggested establishing Kibera Celtic.’ More than geographic distance separates the Kenyan club from its Glasgow namesake. While one can spend millions on new players, the other has just managed to scrape together enough profit to buy a chicken farm. With flip-flops on their feet and wearing decades-old Celtic strips, the team has been cobbled together from local youngsters who have found an outlet for their energies in sport.
While Kibera Celtic might lack the history and pedigree of its Scottish twin, the impact of the latest addition to Kenyan football will be felt far beyond the terraces.
Like Brother Walfrid, who set up Celtic to help the underprivileged of the East End of Glasgow in 1888, Doran’s efforts will ensure a better life for young men who would otherwise face a bleak future of crime, disease and premature death.
Despite their lack of proper kit, Kibera Celtic have staged an unlikely assault on the second division and look set to win promotion.
Their fan base has swelled from the handful who attended early matches to the thousands who now pack into their dilapidated ground.
Such is the demand for tickets, the club is actively looking for a new ground and the gate receipts swelling its coffers have allowed the owners to buy two businesses.
Doran, 53, added: ‘The progress since then has been incredible. Because of the potential they showed, Kibera Celtic were admitted straight into the Kenyan second tier without having to go through the lower leagues.
‘They have also been able to use the unexpected success to both highlight and alleviate the poverty of their area.’ The cash raised by these ventures may be modest but it is a lifeline to those living in Kibera and will help the players, their families and their neighbours pave the way to a better life.
But the success of the club cannot be measured by financial gain alone.
With the team made up of people from all over Kibera, the club is helping to restore a sense of community to an area wracked by storms of political violence only a year ago.
Age-old tensions between members of the ruling Kikuyu and the minority Luo erupted after President Mwai Kibaki’s victory over challenger Raila Odinga in 2007. During riots, homes were burned to the ground, hundreds were killed and thousands made homeless as supporters of the two politicians – divided along tribal lines – turned on each other in an orgy of bloodletting.
Doran said: ‘Like boxer Barry McGuigan in Belfast during the 1980s, the club is bringing different factions – in their case, different tribes – together in a common cause.
‘Five weeks ago, Kibera Celtic played their first game in front of just a handful of supporters, in second-hand Celtic jerseys, some of them 20 years old with sponsors such CR Smith and ntl on them, and wearing flip-flops because they had no boots.
‘T h e y h a v e played nine matches, losing just once, and are being tipped to win promotion. Two weeks ago, for a game against Mattina which they won 1-0, more than 3,000 packed into their little ground.
‘Demand has soared so much that there is concern that they need a bigger stadium.’ While the violence that followed the election has died down, Kibera remains lawless. Women, fearing the gangs that roam at night, are often home by 7pm while the police only enter the shanty town in force.
With no opportunities, many young men become involved in crime. The cheap drink Changaa – which is 50 per cent alcohol – is a constant presence in their lives.
The criminal Mungiki sect, which bases itself on the Mau Mau, also operates in the slum, where it is notorious for running illegal electricity and water supplies, charging others for their services and protection, and is capable of beating, murdering and mutilating any who step out of line.
Petty crime is a daily occurrence, and the incidence of rape and muggings is among the highest in the world. Yet although the outlook is bleak for many, teams such as Kibera Celtic are providing a focal point for many to rally around.
The club’s impact is being felt already. As well as buying a chicken farm, which will raise cash to be shared among poor supporters, co-founders John and Bernard have invested in another business, employing eight people construct-ing clay stoves and secure metal storage boxes.
Now the club’s chairman, Jamie Doran has been working in Scotland to raise cash for the team. A consignment of strips and boots has already been collected here.
Doran is also planning to contact Kibera’s Scottish equivalent to see if they will help, while his next documentary will feature the club’s rise through the ranks.
He said: ‘I was surprised and honoured when John and Bernard appointed me as chairman of Kibera Celtic and I will be going back over to Kenya at the end of August to see my first game.
‘During the next few weeks I am hoping to approach [Celtic chief executive] Peter Lawwell to see if Celtic can offer any help to this club which they have inspired.’ While Kibera Celtic may have started from nothing, their rapid success shows how much can be achieved when there is a will to change things.
Yet there is still a great deal to be done.
Mr Doran said: ‘Conditions are horrendous. The biggest problems are dysentery, malaria and typhoid but progress is slowly being made. ‘I know most people are hurting in the global recession but no one in the West has to survive on under a dollar a day, which is the average income for people in Kibera.
‘That is extreme poverty and anything which can be done to alleviate that – even a chance conversation about my favourite football team – can only be a good thing.’
2010
Celtic’s new partnership with Kibera Celts
By: Paul Cuddihy on 11 Jan, 2012 09:38
CELTIC Football Club today announced a new partnership with Kibera Celtic, a Kenyan football team borne out of the ashes of turmoil and violence and now standing as a beacon of hope and peace.
The new partnership will strengthen the ties the club already has with Kibera Celtic, and which has been forged over a period of time, with Celtic giving the Kenyan club kit and equipment.
And during the recent visit to the country by a Celtic Charity Fund group, some of the supporters visited the Kibera Celts (pictured above)
Kibera is one of the world´s biggest slums and is located on the outskirts of Nairobi. It is home to around 1.5million people. Over many years, tribal violence has characterised the area and starvation, malnutrition and disease are a tragic way of life. The average life expectancy of a man is 56 years of age and for a woman is 57 years. Some 20 per cent of children die before their fifth birthday.
Among the tribal violence of 2008, two major figures in the community, John Oyoo and Bernard Ngira, came together and decided that things must change.
Film-maker and Celtic supporter Jamie Doran had been in Kenya producing a documentary about slum-dwellers and realised that the three men had one thing in common – their love of football.
While the two leaders, John and Bernard, were followers of Arsenal and Liverpool, Jamie regaled the two men with tales of Celtic´s exploits around the world. However, it was when he explained Celtic´s founding principles, Celtic´s ethos and the reasons for Celtic´s formation, that a common cause was realised.
And there began the birth of Kibera Celtic. The objective was to build a football club along the same charitable lines as Celtic but with the crucial aim of uniting young men from the rival tribes of Kibera.
The dream was to create the country´s first football force for change – something to catch the imagination of youths brought up in at atmosphere of hate and mistrust.
Early in 2009, the team ran on to a bone-dry sandy pitch. By the end of 2009, the slum of Kibera had awakened and were starting to take their league by storm – now playing in brand new shirts and boots donated by Jamie´s friend, Jim Mullins.
In March 2010, Kibera Celtic played their first game in the Kenyan First Division (Nairobi). This year, they finished third in their league and the club is now hopeful of reaching Kenya´s First Division.
Celtic´s connection with Kibera will be in the form of assisting with achieving publicity and awareness objectives, the sharing of information and news with our supporters’ groups, on the work of Kibera Celtic and the sharing of information relating to and support with football coaching matters.
We will also undertake the provision of clothing, kit and equipment, not just by Celtic but by Celtic supporters. This would not only be for the team but for also for kids in the Kibera area.
And through Celtic Charity Fund, the charitable arm of Celtic Football Club, to provide assistance in raising funds for the Kibera Celtic Charity Fund.
Celtic´s Kenyan midfielder Victor Wanyama was delighted to welcome the project and said: “This is a magnificent idea and one which I totally support.
“Since coming to the club, it is very clear to me that charity and community is what Celtic stands for. Celtic has such a wonderful history of helping others in need and
“I’m honoured that the club, together with many others will be doing so much work in my country to assist so many people.”
Celtic´s Chief Executive Peter Lawwell added: “The work which has gone into developing Kibera Celtic is magnificent and all those involved should be applauded – it is a club and an initiative which we are delighted to support.
“Celtic´s charitable origins mean we will always be much more than a football club and it is important to Celtic to help as many good causes as we can, both at home and abroad.
“We already have a connection with East Africa due to our support of the Famine Appeal last year and it is a connection we are delighted to continue.
“We cannot imagine the harsh realities of life in Kibera and we do not pretend to, however, this is a project which directly uses football as a force for good and one which aims to bring people together and help those in need – it is one we are delighted to be associated with.”
