I am my friends live just a few minutes away from this beautiful UNEP headquarters. My home is Mathare val-ley, one of Africa's largest and poorest slums. Although we live just down the road we have none of the things you have here. We lack clean water, roads, electricity, toilets, garbage collection, health care and security. We try to make the best of what we have but it's hard. Please make sure, in every decision you make at this meeting, that you give the poor, the environment and us - the next generation - a chance for a healthier, longer and productive life.

I joined MYSA when I was ten years old. You could say that I grew up in MYSA. It was through MYSA that I got the chance to play serious football and I also learned self-discipline early in life. Anything worthwhile that I've achieved either as a player or a person is all due to MYSA.

I don't really have time for boys. Also, as footballers we have to conserve our energy as much as possible. No one wants to let the team down …. In fact, playing football has helped me to get to know boys as friends. It's given me the confidence to say 'no' to boys who are interested in sex.

I used to think I was cleaning up somebody's else's mess but then there's this thing called shared responsibil-ity. If you want to play football, you have got to clear this garbage. And besides that, to play football well, you've got to be healthy. How are you going to be healthy when you've got a huge heap of garbage right next to your door?

People used to say that nothing good can come out of Mathare but now everybody, even the rich people, want to be associated with Mathare. Football brings people together. It is unique because the ball can be shared by so many people at the same time. It is very hard for 22 kids to share a bicycle, but a football, no problem. Football also takes them away from bad things such as drug abuse and stealing.

AIDS is a real problem here. Many of our parents have died of AIDS. The project is aimed at raising aware-ness among the younger generation. That is what takes up most of my time when I'm not playing football.

They call us a team of street kids and none of them expected us to achieve what we have achieved. No mat-ter who you are or where you come from, we have shown that football is all about having the spirit to prove to people what you can do.

If you ask every boy in Mathare what his goal in life is, he will tell you it is to become a professional footballer. The kids look to the team as role models, especially since the Moi Golden Cup victory. They are aiming to eventually play for Mathare United and even follow the lead of Evans Nyabaro and play professionally in Eu-rope.

I maintain a strict regular and disciplined exercise schedule for myself and colleagues .… As a matter of fact Kenya should be ranked with Cameroon, Nigeria and the USA who are among the best in the world in wom-en's football. Everyone has a talent that can be exploited and utilized. Let us shun hatred, drug abuse and fornication and exploit these talents.

When I started playing for MYSA my father would say that there is not football for girls and he would beat me up. So whenever I wanted to go and play, my mother would cover up for me by saying that she sent me somewhere. Then when I went to Norway, he started liking it.

What I like is the way they take these young children and not only train them in football but they are also taught about many things. For example, Lydia told me that there are usually programs where they are taught about AIDS, how they can take care of themselves as young girls. They also participate in cleanup activities and picking up rubbish.

I learned how to coach, how to referee a match and to facilitate a workshop. I have learned many things, es-pecially from the counseling sessions that we attend. We have learned a lot and we use this to counsel kids on the dangers of drugs, glue sniffing and other vices when they come for our drama shows on Saturdays.

I remember walking through the city for the first time in a MYSA shirt in 1990. Mathare valley was associated with drug use, theft, prostitution, rape and everything else that was negative. Many insults came my way. Atti-tudes have changed since our activities have become known, If people walk through the city now in a MYSA shirt they're complimented on our work and the performance of Mathare United. People aren't ashamed an-ymore to say they come from Mathare. Mathare United.

Thanks to Mathare United I can pay my sister's school fees and take care of my cost of living. It's improved my family situation. We've managed to prevent many people becoming street children or becoming drug ad-dicts. I would probably have ended up this way without MYSA.

Wherever I go in Mathare valley I'm recognized, especially now that I'm Captain. People respect me and ask me for all kinds of advice: some are having problems with drugs, others with school. I,ve become a role mod-el and children want to be just like me.

I withstood humiliating taunts from boys and girls alike when I first took up soccer. People who saw me playing with boys whispered that I was getting immoral. They did not understand that I loved the game and was willing to face anything, to enjoy it and succeed. I have influenced many girls to play soccer and I am proud of them and myself too …. My life would not have been like this without help so I want to make other children’s lives better. I owe the community.

My association with MYSA helped to instil self-confidence in me regardless of the challenges I was facing. I learnt to be positive about things. My focus now is to use my intellectual abilities to see how I can help MYSA to develop its mainstream activities.

My challenge is to work hard in class so as to reciprocate the honour I have received. Everyone has a dream and no one should lose hope in achieving his or her dreams and aspirations. No matter what the obstacles!

I used to just rap for my friends in the ghetto, especially when I would be sent away from school due to lack of school fees. MYSA helps young people in Mathare slums to recognise their talents. They discovered my tal-ent in singing and helped me achieve so much.

By the time I was 12 life changed a lot as some of my friends turned to crime while the females turned to prostitution. Many of my male friends who went into crime ended up being arrested or succumbed to bullets or lynchings …. I joined MYSA by chance and before long I started a new chapter in my life. Football and music gave me a new lease on life.

I got into a life of crime and due to some misunderstandings was arrested and went to jail for six years. After prison I went back to Mathare where I found my friends, they welcomed me and I later joined them to help build and improve the community. I am currently studying for a diploma in social work and am looking forward to graduate at the end of this year as I want to change the life in Mathare.

The hardship they face is incredible. Guns and drugs are rife in the slums. Diseases like AIDS, malaria and cholera make it worse. On top of that, three quarters of the young people there do not have jobs. It is easy to see why many are attracted to a life of crime. We provide an alternative.

I would probably be selling drugs if it had not been for football. Life is cheap here. Where I come from guns can be bought for $20. Gangs will kill a person for $100.