Kenyan Football Team Emerges from Slum to Rise to Top
NAIROBI – In the year 2000, a football team was founded in a slum of Nairobi plagued by crime. The football team would later be named Kariobangi Sharks, Kariobangi being the name of the informal settlement the team members hailed from. The team became a source of hope, an escape for talented youth with an interest in football, some who might otherwise be involved in criminal activities. In the last two decades, the team has risen to the top of Kenya’s football league, nurturing talent and giving hope to a new generation of players. When Eric Juma was 11 years old, he spotted a group of young boys training at a football pitch near his house in one of Nairobi’s many poor informal settlements: Kariobangi. This particular team stood out for Juma because it seemed organized. He would join the team soon after. Juma was then 11 years old. Now he’s 25 and captain of the team. “Football has really helped me as an individual,” Juma said. “First it kept me busy. We never had enough money for my further education, so I had to join football. Football has made me who I am today…