NO PAIN NO GAIN

I want you to imagine yourself in this situation, you are an 8-year-old child born in a poor family and you are forced to go for two to three days without food, you love football and want to enjoy the game while at the same time you have to go to school, study and pass exams. What do you do?

This is the story of our Founder and CEO (Omondi Peter) who was born and raised in such a background. Peter after completing Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) had to say out of school for one year due to lack of school fees, in 2009 Timu Rafiki a UK Charity accepted to sponsor his Secondary education which he completed and joined the University of Nairobi for his Bachelor Degree in Agriculture (Animal Science Major)

Peters’ greatest painful memories included, not being able to proceed to Secondary School immediately after completing his primary education and the lack of sports equipment to enhance his football skills. In secondary school, Peter was punished for sneaking out to play for the school team during one of the inter school games in the region. (Not being the best, he had to negotiate with his playmate to give him a chance to showcase his ability during the games).

Joining University in 2010, Peter was deeply involved in Student leadership, his greatest success being the establishment of CAVS Rover Scout Crew which grew from a membership of 2 to 68 members at the time of his graduation in addition to being the most active student organization with the Campus. During his term as the Scout crew leaders Peter successfully planed and executed a Visit to Nairobi Children’s home raising Kenya Ksh. 12,500 for the visit.

EMBRACE YOUR PAST TO FUEL YOUR FUTURE 

In 2013, Peter was invited by the local Scout Association to serve as an International Service team member for the UKenya camp comprising of 68 British Scouts, this opportunity enabled Peter to network and learn from the British Scouts with whom he has continued to collaborate with.

Graduating from the University in 2014, per interned at Jaffery Institute of Professional Studies (JIPS) as resource center manager and was letter employed as a full-time Resource Center Manager and Marketing officer in addition to serving as the Institutions Football Team Coach. It is at this role that Peters passion for football was fully exploited, he led the Rotaract Club of JIPS which he established to plan and execute AMANI FOOTY tournament raising Ksh. 500,000 which was donated to a drag rehabilitation center in Mombasa Kenya.

Upon completion of his contract in 2015, Peter founded Global Youth Forum, hosting the first Inter – County Futsal Championship comprising of 16 teams from across the coastal region.

WITH PASSION NOTHING CAN STOP YOU

In 2016, Peter was selected for the Young Africa Leadership Initiative (Entrepreneurship Track) programme immersing himself into the transformational leadership and entrepreneurship training and capacity building, upon completion of the programme Peter lead the second Inter Country Peace Futsal Championship Mombasa mobilizing 16 teams and promoting peaceful coexistence for all within the coastal communities. It is this same year that Peter was accepted at the Essex International Jamboree 2016 (Largest Scout Jamboree in Europe) as an International Team Member for the HR Travel agent team. In 2017 he traveled back to the UK following his acceptance to the UK Scout Adventures Programme.

Since his return to Kenya in 2018, Peter has led a number of Youth initiatives focusing on football as a vehicle to mobilize the young and to inspire and drive change in their communities.

Supporting the United Nations Volunteers in delivering High Level Political Forum on Re – Imagining Volunteering for 2030 Agenda and the United Nations Action Campaign as a Digital Influencer delivering Global Week to Act for SDGs and Turn It Around campaign in 2021 & 2021, widened Peters Global network and experiences.

GIVING UP IS NEVER A SOLUTION TO ANYTHING WORTH WHILE

In 2022, the United Nations launched Football (Entrepreneurship Track)

For The Goals Initiative, and in 2023, Global Youth Forum was selected to conduct the Football For The Goals Inaugural Tournament in Siaya county in collaboration with United Nations Information Service Nairobi, engaging 16 teams from 5 different counties.

Peter believes that Poverty should not stop anyone from achieving their dreams but be used as a fuel to inspire change in the communities we all leave in and that no one can stop anyone from achieving great things if they are willing to put in the needed work and ready to learn how to get things done.

“A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.” – quote by Franklin D. Roosevelt. The jouney of Peter have shaped our programmes from just only football to now, Ordinary Voices, Moulding4Work, Sports4SDGs focusing on Football and Archery.

As Global Youth Forum, our objective is to eradicate Poverty in communities ensuring young people have equal chances to realize their full potential.