Situated beneath the dominating Kgale Hill on the western edge of Gaborone, Botswana, a small group of boys congregate every Thursday evening, to develop their love and skill in the soccer game.

The program is coached by Mothusi Adam, a Kings volunteer and a keen soccer player. As the sun begins to set, the game commences and the dust flies.  The boys train for approximately an hour and then have a sit down session with Mothusi Adam about Christianity.  20 boys are reached through this program; their soccer skills and Christian beliefs are nurtured and developed each week. The team is competing in a local tournament on the 24^th July, organized to scout for talented under 15 soccer players within the local community. Good Luck boys!

You want us to come where? After figuring out where Diphuduhudu was on the map we responded to the request made by a local church from a village called Diphuduhudu.

This village has a small population of no more than 900 people and it is located approximately 150km out of Gaborone. It was a privilege for us to spend some of our Easter weekend with the people of Diphuduhudu.

Our team was represented by Oliver, Mukani, Shepherd and two of our “Rookies” from the Tsholofelo programme (Caroline and Chanda) and they proved to be geared up for the event as they went right into their programme after travelling three hours from Gaborone. Pastor Lee and Angie (the leaders of the church) have been ministering in Diphuduhudu since 1996 and have witnessed a number of exciting changes in their church and the village at large over the years. It was clear from their comments that our visit was special:

” We are so excited today that we have the King’s Foundation team who have dedicated their time to come and celebrate and express God’s love through sports during Easter’s and we hope this won’t be the last visit to out small village. We don’t have a lot of people coming this side because of our roads (which are not in good working condition) so we end up missing a lot of things.” Pastor Lee

We had a great time engaging the community (not just children) and enjoyed teaching on the significance of Easter along with the hope we have been given through Jesus’ death and resurrection.  All of our activities were adapted to fit the event and the theme of Easter. We were also able to talk to community members regarding village life and the specific issues they face in Diphuduhudu. These discussions will help us in the future when we return and as we visit other isolated villages in Botswana.

“The children, and older youth, enjoyed the activities and the drama – the pictures they’ve drawn are evidence of this. Your visit will not easily be forgotten. In these days it is so important to lay down the best foundation, the King’s Foundation in children’s lives.” Angie May

A new feature to this year’s King’s Camps has been the introduction of Regional Managers for our UK sites. 

The Regional Managers have been appointed to oversee and take ownership of the camps in their area. They are the first point of contact for the managers of the camps for any concerns, questions or queries.

The Regional Managers are:

Amy Parker- Scotland, Kaye Gill- North East, Katie Sowersby- North West, Heather Latter- Midlands, Lora Tallentire- South

A number of the Regional Managers have either progressed from management positions on the camps or have experience of this type of work from previous employment.

The feedback from the camps so far is that the Regional Managers have been a great benefit to the camps and have offered valuable support  and guidance for the staff teams.

We would like to thank our Regional Managers for their hard work and commitment over the Easter period and look forward to working with them for our summer camps.

This past week Darius, Oliver, Mukani and Shepherd converged on one of our newest partners – Arc for Children.

Ark for Children conducts 16-day therapeutic camps in game reserves throughout the country for early teen age children who have experienced varying levels of emotional trauma.  After the participants graduate from this programme they meet monthly with a community volunteer from their select communities. These women (Bommabana) are responsible for the Ark follow up programme and represent places like Maun, Okavango, Kasane, Hukuntsi and Mochudi. Darius & Co. were surprised by how enthusiastic the women were – energetic and full of life!

After a brief introduction and ice breaker activities our team conducted a session on Health and Safety.  After the theory section of our workshop we went outside for circle games and team building activities. Our games brought out specific teaching points like working together as a team, positive self esteem / confidence, assertiveness, behavioral change, perseverance and resilience. As we engage in various activities we are always deliberate to show how sport can illustrate important life skills.

On the last day we had a chance to talk with the ladies about the needs they have in their different communities. It was a good time of sharing thoughts and ideas and provided us with more insight in how we can effectively serve Botswana. We are excited about our partnership with Ark for Children and believe their “Bommabana” will be good stewards of the new skills they learned from us.

Thank You Letter

While people celebrated the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in their usual way, it was a busy Easter at the Old Naledi football grounds.

Eight youth teams battled it out in a tournament intended to raise awareness of healthy living. Our partnership with the Heart Foundation will be fundamental in promoting healthy lifestyles to youth throughout Botswana.

The tournament was organized by Mothusi Adam who also heads up our Naledi Football Project. His motto / challenge to youth is, “Can anything good come from Old Naledi?” The answer was clear this past weekend as we saw young men doing their best, performing at such a high standard and displaying good sportsmanship. Every day over two hundred people came to see the games – everyone was impressed with the football talent on display. Great thanks to the Naledi Police who were present throughout the tournament.

In the semi finals Amakipkip FC defeated Chibobo 3 -1 and Young Sharps FC defeated Happy Boys in a game that went to a penalty shootout 4-3. The final match saw Amakipkip defeat Young Sharps 4-1 to become the champions. They walked away with a soccer kit that had been donated by a church in Canada. Congrats to the following players for their individual awards.

Top goal scorer – Koo (Sharps)

Best keeper – Tlamelo (Amakipkip)

Player of the tournament – Tinti (Sharps)

Most Sportsmanlike Player – Moreri (Manchester)

In the near future we hope to have visiting coaches from local club teams and development officers from Botswana Football Association so that top talent can be recognized. We also hope to see local businesses getting involved so that the overall event can grow.

On the 13th and 14th March the Uganda team held their first training event of 2010. Weeks of preparation had gone into this two day module with a lot of excitment gathering from the KSMU National Office. There were 15 volunteers of projects signed as partners of KSM. The volunteers came from around the country up to Kampala. The event was called “Training the Trainers” as these leaders who have been trained will spearhead training in their district and surrounding areas as KSM moves out to hold 2-day training events in 5-7 other districts later in the year.

The training focused on a practical side gave the leaders a solid understanding and practical experience of how to run a sports mnistry outreach. We had the morning in the class room then the afternoon in the field, it was an exciting event as we launched a brand new project at the same time.

An important part of the training was teaching the art of preparation. One solid hour planning and practising what they were going to do later in the field gave the team a clear understanding of how easy it is to plan and how effective the results can be.

Luke Cheeseman – our outreach coordinator said: “The training has been a huge success  – over the last two years we have held many events but I really feel this was our best yet. We had a few leaders but chose them wisely and I am just excited to see how their projects go throughout the rest of the year. We are also looking forward to joining up with each other in the different districts as we use these leaders to train hundreds more.”

This week saw four of our 31 camps open for the Easter holidays.

With camps running all across the UK from Aberdeen to London over the next three weeks we are sure there are going to be lots of excited children looking forward to swimming, uni hoc, lacrosse, parachute games and a number of other activities.

This despite the fact that we still appear to be stuck in the arctic weather which has engulfed the UK over the past three months. With camps currently running we have snow falling and our camp in Aberdeen has been particularly hard hit, but the staff and children have all managed to get to camp and are having a great time.

Lets hope that next week brings weather more befitting Spring and the 25 camps running have a dry, warm time!

Luke Cheeseman has recently been involved in a new project called Abaana Ministries.

They are a street kids program based in the centre of Kampala. They have over 150 children from the slums of Kampala - some of the toughest conditions you can imagine. 

“I am looking forward to getting stuck in and challenging these children to have better lives through Jesus Christ. Being able to go to the field and get involved in the projects myself has been so much of a blessing to me. They have encouraged me and stirred up a greater passion in my heart to want so much more. I came to Uganda to do two things coach sports and share the love of God with as many children as I can.”

Over the last month one volunteer has really stood out and made a huge difference in my life. Ivan is apart of Calvary Chapel Kampala, he is the leader of the sports ministry at the
church.  He is new to the program but has shown such enthusiasm to learn and grow as a
person and in the team. His passion to improve has challenged me to also give 110%

Next month’s activities – from the 13th-15th March we are going to be holding our first training seminar of the year for 15 volunteers. This training is designed for our partners. Calvary Chapel will be looking at kicking off their second project as part of a link with Abaana Ministries another street kids organisation working here in Uganda.  Finally plans for reaching the north of Uganda are going to be laid out later in March which is exciting news for us here at King’s.

St Stevens Kisugu has had to expand there area for Sunday school adding an extra shelter to there existing building.

Since they started sports ministry back in May 2009  after a number of their leaders attended King’s Foundation training, there has been an increase from 200 children to now 380 children attending Sunday school every week.

Upon his return to Uganda after a few months in the UK, Luke Cheesman said: “We praise God for the impact that sport is having on the children’s lives at St Stevens.”

Catch up with Luke’s work on YouTube