Scroll down and you will see that our team has women from all areas of Kenya, all tribes. This is quite unique for Kenya where traditionally teams are based around a tribe, or even a village. In Kibera the tribes usually stick to one village, hence you will see a team entirely made up of the Luo tribe. Not Shoe4Africa, we insist on a diversified team of well rounded individuals who themselves are peace ambassadors through the sport for Shoe4Africa.
Team Captain Josephine (right); By the age of six she had lost both her parents to the AIDS virus. By the age of nine she was looking after herself. And at ten she moved into Kibera. She would knock on the doors of refuges and churches looking for food. A Pastor helped her, but he chastised her for playing soccer, the game she loved to play to take her from life's cruel reality.
"Yes, many times I asked "Why me? Why is it me that has to face this life?" She pronounces the word Why with such passion, and with such length you cannot help but stare into her eyes, and they are happy eyes, eyes with hope.
A couple of years later her sister died, leaving her with a new born niece to foster. She lived in a shack with walls that were falling, where in rains the sewage would wash over her floor. "In the night time I would undress and my clothes became both my mattress and my blanket," she tells, "And for cooking the evening meal (and she ate just one meal a day) I would first cook the Ugali (maize meal) then empty the pan so I could cook the vegetables as I only had one pan."
In the evening she would tried to study to put herself through school, if she could afford five shillings for a cup full of paraffin to pour into an empty used tin that had been redesigned with a wick to use as a lamp. Life was hard. "I liked soccer too as when we play a match we get 100-shillings ($1.25) food allowance, so I can buy a piece a bread for myself, and take the rest to feed my niece and my daughter. And yes, I love to play soccer, it makes me feel alive..." 
Ruth Mueni is a player coach who captained the first Shoe4Africa match Vs the SoccerAde AllStars in the slums on December 13th. Ruth, who was born in Kibera, right by the soccer field in Laini Saba. Her mother would beat her for playing soccer. She received no support from her sisters either. But it remained her dream to be a soccer star. Her favorite team? Manchester United. Her favorite player? Cristiano. Imagine the thrill when she got a signed shirt from Cristiano!
The London Marathon reigning champion Martin Lel, captain of the SoccerAde AllStars poses for the press with Ruth Mueni before the kickoff. Ruth now usually plays for the first half of the match and substitutes herself to give others a chance and also direct the squad from the sidelines. Now when she walks around Kibera cries of 'Ronaldo' can be heard as she gained a new nickname.
Martin Lel was the captain and scored two of the three goals leading airport staff (who watched the match on TV before Martin had time to fly home after the game) to ask,
"My friend, are you a marathon star or a footballer?" Indeed, Martin had promised he would score the first goal, and he did!
Our team mascot is called "Computer" (Allison). She is soccer mad and her dream is to grow up and play soccer in Kibera like her big sister Lucy. In November when playing with her friends she fell and broke her arm. Although taken to the local hospital in the late afternoon she was not treated until the afternoon of the following day. Her braveness throughout this ordeal earned her the match ball!
Lucy is one of the stars of the soccer team... more of her to come!
SHOE 4 AFRICA KIBERA WOMEN'S SOCCER TEAM.
No FIRST NAME SECOND NAME AGE VILLAGE
1. BEATRICE ACHIENG
18 KIANDA
2. CLARISE AKINYI 18 LAINISABA
3. ALICE NYABOKE 20 MAKINA
4. LUCY AKINYI 21 SILANGA
5. JOSEPHINE ADHIAMBO 19 RAILA
6. SUSAN ALUOCH 19 MAKINA
7. EDITH MAVIA 17 MAKINA
8. AMINA ISMAEL 18 MAKINA
9. MERCY AKINYI 18 MAKINA
10. SOROFINE AKINYI 18 RAILA
11. JANE NAMAI 20 SILANGA
12. JUDITH MHONJA SIKONIA 21 KATWEKERA
13. IRENE AKINYI 21 KATWEKERA
14. MARY FLORENCE ATIENO 20 KATWEKERA
15. RUTH MUENI 20 LAINISABA
16. MARION MBATA 20 KATWEKERA
17. EVERLINE ATIENO 19 KAMBI MURU
18. ROSE ACHIENG 17 SILANGA
19. EVERLINE OYUGI 18 KATWEKERA
20. NELLY AUMA 17 SILANGA
21. ROSE ATIENO 18 LINDI
22. RUTH ATIENO 21 SILANGA
23. DORCAS LIDAHULI 25
24. NICOLE EVERLYNE OYUGI 19 SARANGOMBE WARD
25. CAROLINE BULIRO
26. MARION BATHA MWANGANGI 20 KIATUNI VILLAGE
27. ZAINAB SAKI KHAMIS MAKINA
28. SOROFINE AKINYI 17 RAILA
SPORT IS BONDING.
NOV: News from the Coach, "I hope you are doing fine,the girls soccer team were invited last Saturday 21st.11.09 for a six aside tournament at Imara daima estate on your way to Jomo Kenyatta international airport.
It was organised by International christian centre a church based instituition.The tournament attracted twelve girls soccer team around different area of Nairobi.The girls eliminated Makolandas at the semi finals level by 2-0,this is the best girls soccer team in Nairobi.
"On the other side Carolina for Kibera Queens thrash Black cats from Muthurwa by 3-0 to sail to the finals,whereby Both team from one area met at finals and Shoe or Africa soccer team won by 4-2 and lifted the overall trophy.It was an entertaining match because both teams werte underated as underdogs but they surprised the spectators.They were awarded trophy for winners and runners up with 2,500 and 1,500/.Currently the girls are participating at UNICEF girls soccer tournament,they played their first match on Sunday 22nd.11.09 against St. Alousciouse and thrash em by 9-0.Their second match will be tomorrow 29.11.09 against Ligi ndogo."
Kibera in Nairobi, Kenya is the largest slum in Africa with a population of approximately one million. The name "Kibera" (kibra) is a Nubian word meaning "jungle." The slum originated in 1920 as a Nubian soldiers' settlement on a hill outside Nairobi, with plots allotted to soldiers as a reward for service in the First World War. Kibera is one of the most high profile slums in Africa, there is a high rate of petty and serious crime, and the ground in much of this slum is literally composed of is composed of refuse and rubbish. Dwellings are often constructed atop this unstable ground and therefore many structures collapse whenever the slum experiences flooding, which it does regularly; a particularly bad mudslide in 2007 wiped out many thousands of residences.
Kibera is located southwest of Nairobi city center and is the same size as Manhattan's Central Park, approximately 800-acres. Soot, dust, and other wastes heavily pollute Kibera. Open sewage routes flood the passageways that lead from door to door, passageways that awash with human and animal faeces. The lack of sanitation accounts for many illnesses. Bare feet in such muddy conditions of a bog of human waste and infection lead to a fast rate of infection-spread.
Alioune Badiane, the director of the UN Human Settlements Program: "It has 3,000 persons per hectare; I do not see any other place in the world that has such a density". More than 25% of the population of Kibera has been diagnosed with AIDS, and most of the residents live in an atmosphere of despair and severe deprivation. Many of the children are orphans at an early age due to AIDS and other diseases. More than 50% of the population is under the age of 15, and approximately 80% of all youth are unemployed.