President Barack Obama recently launched Sauti Kuu Sports, Resource and Vocational Training Centre in Kenya that is expected to serve at least 1000 young people weekly.
Sauti Kuu foundation is an initiative of Dr. Auma Obama, sister to President Obama aimed at empowering disadvantaged children and young people living in rural areas and urban slums to positively change their lives and their communities.
“As I went round the Centre, I saw something more than concrete. I see a lot of possibilities…that we can be bigger than we are…that young Kenyans can discover their strengths to realize their full potential right here,” said President Obama.
According to the foundation’s website they work together with young people and their families to develop sustainable socio-economic structures that will guarantee financial independence. “We support and assist the children and young people to actively participate in the development of their communities. Most importantly, we help them and their families utilise locally available resources to improve their living conditions”.
“Those aged between four and 25 years are welcome to read, browse the internet, play and get hands-on knowledge on eight different disciplines, including farming at the Centre”, said Dr Auma Obama, the foundation’s director.
The resource Centre has a library, an IT lab and a vocational centre in addition to football, basketball, volleyball, netball, boxing and table tennis pitches.
The Centre located at Alego in rural Kenya, has employed 80 young people and 87 parents and 470 children have been registered.
The Centre will be open to all Kenyans but for someone to use it, she said, they have to pay an annual membership fee of Sh50, which will be used to carry out other projects.
Sauti Kuu is a Swahili phrase which means ‘Strong Voices’. True the foundation’s name, their dedicated team is working tirelessly both in Germany and in Kenya in areas of personality development, education and training and sustainable economic growth.