By Amos Kareithi

As the crowd cheered and jeered with each misplaced pass, one man kept shaking his head in displeasure. His sympathies were with the underdogs, and they were being given a thorough walloping.

When the final whistle was blown, the sweating teams retreated to the changing rooms.

Theodore Roosevelt, the heavily guarded 25th President of United States of America, who had been crisscrossing the plains between Nairobi and Mombasa with his Holland Rifle at the ready, wondered what it would take to establish a proper team, after witnessing the team of barefoot locals playing for Kenya Railways annihilated by the visiting Scotland soccer team.

Powerful Office

The venue of the mismatched game was in Nairobi’s present-day fire station on Nairobi’s Tom Mboya Street. It was March 1910, and Roosevelt had just vacated his powerful office.

"He donated $1,000 (about Sh80,000 today). This is how Young Men Christian Association was born," the organisation’s national secretary general Jared Musima explains.

When Roosevelt asked what the club would be called, he was told YMCA – by the officials of the then East Africa Protectorate for Kenya, as neither colony nor country had been established.

Social security

By this time, similar YMCA movements had been started in Liberia (1881), Ghana (1890) Egypt (1896) and Madagascar (1900).

YMCA national secretary general Jared Musima (left) and a colleague. [PHOTO: AMOS KAREITHI/ STANDARD]

The organisation had been founded in 1844 in England by George Williams, who had been touched by the plight of youths who lacked social security after being forced to migrate from rural to urban areas.

The guiding principles of YMCA were to improve the spiritual condition.

Spiritual Well-Being

Young men "engaged in the drapery, embroidery and other trades," whose recourse was brothels, taverns and other lodgings not conducive for their spiritual well-being.

Next month, on November 13, YMCA is poised to celebrate its 100th anniversary of its presence in Kenya, having moved from its original location at the Fire Station to Kipande House, and subsequently its current location on State House Road next to the University of Nairobi.

"We have a membership of 10,000 in the country and YMCA has accommodated more than 10 million people. At Nairobi Central YMCA alone, we have catered for four million people," Mr Musima adds.

The YMCA hostels along State House Road have survived one World War and numerous political and social upheavals since construction in 1947.

"We have a capacity of 138 beds at the Nairobi Central hostels. We have other facilities in Shauri Moyo (120) and Nairobi’s South C (115 beds). We also have other branches in seven provinces," Musima explains.

Nurturing Talents

Besides accommodation, YMCA has a raft of projects aimed at improving the lives of youths, nurturing their talents and honing their skills in leadership.

For a long time, Shauri Moyo YMCA was a favourite destination for boxing enthusiasts, where the likes of Wilson Ndolo (former Makadara MP) and former City Mayor Joe Aketch sharpened their sporting skills and plied their trade.

Determined to empower youths, YMCA has launched "One Million Youth March" scheduled to run up to August 2012.

The youths involved in the programme will serve as election observers in 2012, unlike in the past when politicians misused them.

"We want to empower youths to have a voice and influence policy in Government by engaging leaders in a constructive manner. We do not want youths to be used to unleash violence during campaigns," Musima adds.

YMCA is also involved in youth exchange programme to promote cultural understanding on the international stage. This year, Kenya is hosting 56 students from Norway. Six Kenyan members were sent to Hong Kong, Japan and Ghana.

　

Belie facility age

The magnificent buildings dotting the tree-covered five-acre compound, a stone throw away from the bustle and hustle of the city, belie the age of the facilities.

The swimming pool was constructed in 1947, just like the miniature chapel at the corner, with the walk away lined with sweet smelling flowers, making the Nairobi Central hostels a rare and enduring gifts from a nature loving ex-president, who remains immortalised, 91 years after his demise.

With his donation, Roosevelt bequeathed Kenya with the unique legacy of YMCA that continues to offer safe and subsidised accommodation to people from all walks of life.