A community-driven football programme in Mathare is reshaping local youth engagement by combining sport with social development, offering structured mentorship to more than 200 children while reducing crime rates and strengthening community cohesion.
The initiative, supported by C through its Safaricom Hook platform, has invested in equipment and branding at MCEDO Beijing Grounds, creating a safer and more organised environment for training and competition.
Safaricom’s involvement has gone beyond sponsorship, with the company donating football kits, bibs, balls, goalkeeper gloves and tactical boards to four local teams, while encouraging participation in its broader Chapa Dimba youth tournament.
“We have youths who have got talent in this space, and we’ve come to support them. It’s not a journey that we began today,” said Linda Adika, Nairobi Regional Marketing Lead at Safaricom.
She added that registering teams for Chapa Dimba would open pathways from grassroots to regional and national competition, offering exposure and career prospects for young players.
The football programme is anchored by Kambi Safi, a community organisation established in 2012 when crime rates in Mathare were high and youth mortality was rising.
According to Chairman Paul Peter, the initiative was conceived as an alternative to criminal activity, providing employment and structured activities for young people. “Often, we try to talk to people about the criminal life, but we don’t give them an alternative.
So, we thought, why not start something that would employ several people and maybe they and their families would be saved by extension,” said Peter. Over time, collaboration with local administrators, Nyumba Kumi members and police officers has reinforced the programme’s role in improving safety.
The True Colors Football Team, supported by Kambi Safi, now trains boys and girls aged 8 to 18, combining physical activity with psychological support for children who have experienced trauma.
“True Colors is a community initiative that I also grew up in, and we provide children with a platform to engage in football and other positive activities during their free time,” said Richard Nga’ng’a, coach of the team. The programme instils discipline, teamwork, resilience and confidence, values that extend beyond the pitch into daily life.
The economic and social impact of such initiatives is multi-layered. By reducing crime, the programme lowers community costs associated with insecurity, while creating opportunities for youth to pursue professional football careers or related employment.
Safaricom’s investment, though not disclosed in monetary terms, reflects a broader corporate strategy of aligning brand engagement with community development, positioning sport as a tool for both social transformation and market visibility.
For families in Mathare, the provision of kits and equipment represents tangible value, equivalent to thousands of shillings in savings, while the psychological and social benefits are harder to quantify yet deeply felt.
For many young players, the dream extends beyond local matches to professional careers, scholarships, or simply the chance to grow in a safe environment.
“Safaricom holding an event in such an area gives hope to the community,” said Peter, noting that the presence of a major corporate sponsor validates the efforts of grassroots organisers.
Nga’ng’a added that Chapa Dimba has created a valuable platform for young players to showcase their talent beyond their local communities, reinforcing the link between grassroots sport and national opportunity.
In Mathare, where opportunities can often feel constrained, the football pitch has become more than a recreational space; it is a site of economic, social and cultural renewal.
By combining corporate support with community leadership, the initiative demonstrates how targeted investment in youth sport can deliver measurable outcomes in safety, cohesion and opportunity, while offering a model for similar interventions across urban settlements in Kenya.
