Top football team rises from slum

廣東 袁丹純

When Erich Juma was 11 years old,he spotted a group of young boys training at a football pitch（場地） near his house in one of the Nairobi poor informal settlements Kariobangi.This particular team was too large for Juma because it seemed organized.

He would join the team soon after.Now he is 25 and the captain of the team.It is football that kept him busy after school because he never had enough money for his further education.So he had to join football,which has made him who he is today.Football kept him busy and far away from some other things.

Erich Juma could have done like any other person in Kariobangi,which is plagued by unemployment and crime.Juma says many of his childhood friends ended up in gangs.Most of those friends he says are now dead,killed by the police.Luckily,the Sharks kept Juma on the right side of the law.

But being a team from a poor settlement brought its own challenges.They never have enough money.They don't even leave enough money to buy the mineral water.So they used to carry water from Nairobi to Mombasa.As football players,sometimes they don't have football shoes.They have to borrow from other players when they are not playing.

But football saved the team and inspired them.In 2019,Juma had one of his greatest days as the Sharks defeated British football team Everton,winning the game 4-3 on post match penalties.They received donations from wellwishers and began competing in tournaments.The Kariobangi Sharks has gained a huge fan base in Kenya competing in the Kenyan Premier League with two dozen other teams.The players'lives have been transformed.

Whenever the society sees the Kariobangi Sharks football players officially,the team acts as a security and a force to the society.

Juma's dream is to lead his team to play in the Africa Cup of Nations.He hopes the youth of Kariobangi will find some hope when they look up to the players.He also hopes that the club will continue chasing after hope in the future.

Do you think it possible for Erich Juma to realize his dream?Why?What should we learn from him?

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