Spotlight on Huracan FC Muwangi Uganda

Huracan Foundation volunteer Anna tells us more about Ken’s project in a remote village in rural Uganda and how his work is helping children like Pande return to school

Night falls on Muwangi Village. Many in the Community are gathering at the village hall to watch a European football game. In every corner, children are cheering as they play football, imitating their favourite players, kicking the ball with anything that can remotely be used as a football, be that plastic bags, banana fibres or just papers; and often barefoot.

Oroma Kenneth (Ken), 23, our Project Leader in the remote Muwangi Village, Luweero district, Uganda described this common scene in his application for support from The Huracan Foundation, reflecting a moment of normality and togetherness; and clearly demonstrating the importance of football in his community.

Ken is a maths teacher. During his first year of teaching, over half of his class dropped out of school. Teenage pregnancies, child marriages, child labour and poverty are all prevalent issues in the village and are leading to the high rate of school drop outs. Even though Ken managed to convince some of these children to return, this shocking experience drove him to find a solution that would prevent it happening on this scale in the future.

As an example of the issues Ken is facing, in Uganda, one in four 15-19 year old girls have begun childbearing and 12% of 10-19 year old girls are married. These figures will be significantly higher in rural communities such as Ken’s.

Why football?

Ken, a passionate football fan himself, planned to use the qualities that football can instill in children and the power of the sport, as an agent to keep children at school.

 As he has witnessed during his time in this rural community, “Football is the single subject in Muwangi which young and old, male and female or any other societal groupings engage in without paying attention to any personal differences”. 

 So Ken created a school football team, which was still in its infancy when Pande, aged 13, dropped out from school. Despite being early days, Pande had already embodied the values of a captain and acted as one even before wearing the bracelet.  Yet, not long after joining, he had to abandon the team and his school to go to the city to work in a garage, and help his mother quite simply put food on the table. When he left, with the guilty feeling of letting his teammates down, the team was tore apart.

What did Ken learn from Pande’s need to leave the team?

Luckily football was central in convincing Pande to return to school. But when Ken looked for a solution to prevent incidents like this happening again, he didn’t only focus on convincing the children to stay at school with daily football practice and personal development sessions, he also thought about how to change the parents’ mindset, making them aware of the risks their children were at, and re-enforcing  the importance of education for their children’s future. Ken persuaded Pande’s mother by explaining to her the risks of exploitation he would be at in the city and enlightening her on opportunities education will bring to her son. 

Since he has come back, Pande has never missed a day of school and he waits impatiently for his daily football training.

 “His academic performance has greatly improved. He could barely score 20% in maths but now scores more than 40%” says Ken, proudly. Pande seems happier, more confident in himself, and continues acting as a leader for the team. 

One of Ken’s biggest achievements has been to create a sense of belonging within this team. He made it happen by letting the children be a part of “every decision about how the team runs. They decide training times, who they play against, all the major activities of the team”. Whatsmore, he has empowered the older students to take over the development of the younger ones, ensuring the longer term continuity of the project. The whole community, including the parents, now take part in the project as they watch their children proudly perform in front of them. 

Ken had to overcome significant difficulties to set up his project. Uganda has not been spared from the pandemic, but he managed to keep organising daily football sessions despite the complète lack of technology and internet connection for the children. Even today, only one of his classes has been able to return in person to school. And besides the complications due to Covid-19, Ken is struggling to organise competitive games for the girls' teams as there are so few girls teams across the entire district.

How can you help the children of Huracan FC Muwangi Uganda?

Pande’s return to school really demonstrates how relevant Ken’s project is. In an area where, on average, 70% of children drop out of primary school, these kinds of projects are essential.

With the support of The Huracan Foundation, Ken hopes that he will be able to grow his project and help many more children like Pande. His work is vital in empowering children and helping them become responsible leaders in society and capable of solving the diverse challenges that they face in these very rural communities.

If you are able to contribute a small monthly donation to help the lives of children such as Pande, we would be hugely grateful. Please click here to set up a donation - Thank you.

Or if you have any old children’s football boots that are looking for a new home, these could make a huge difference to the children in Ken’s team who often play barefoot. Please email us at hello@thehuracanfoundation.org if you are able to help in this way - Thank you.

3 minutes with Pande

Could you tell me about your routine from you wake up until you go to sleep?  “When I wake up in the morning, I greet my parents, then wash my face, eat food and go to the garden. When I come back from the garden, I first prepare food, eat and then play from home a little before I go to play football. From football, I bathe and have the evening food before going to sleep.”

What do you like about football and how important is it in your life? “I like the togetherness. We will stay united as we grow up and change our village together when we are big.”

Can you tell me about your best memory in the team?  "When we were playing against Nabutaaka, I really dribbled past them yet I was playing number 3."

What do you feel when you are playing football? "When I start playing football, I feel very good. But when the game ends, I feel so bad. I always want us to play forever."