From Kicking Balls to Sewing Masks – The Wadadia FC Story

Wadadia FC are better known for their football.

They are top contenders in the Kenya Women's Premier League and were in fact intent on winning the title this season before Covid-19 pandemic occurred leading to the suspension of virtually all sporting calendars.

These included the Kenyan football season suspension in March forcing the girls to temporarily shelf their title ambitions.

But it was not hard for them to shift gears and engage in another activity they are lesser known for, tailoring. Thus, it was very easy for them to also begin sewing face masks whose wearing has become a mandatory requirement in Kenya for anyone venturing into a public place. This is to help fight the spread of the coronavirus.

The club's mother company, Wadadia (Women And Development Against Distress in Africa) is in fact an organisation that gives hope to victims of obstetric fistula and sexual abuse in the country through conducting sensitisation programmes during their football matches.

The 30-member Wadadia team, which comprises survivors of obstetric fistula, finished eighth on the league last season.

Margaret Muniafu, a tailoring tutor at Wadadia said she trains the players and the fistula survivors tailoring.

"After treatment, they come for skills here and we train them how to make different clothes and wears. Following the outbreak of the coronavirus we have switched gears to making face masks due to the high demand.

"Apart from playing football, the girls are good in tailoring and making face masks is easy for them. We hope that after this pandemic, some of them go for attachment at least for a period of three months, after which the organisation might fund them so that they start their own businesses," Muniafu added.

She indicated that their main aim was to make the girls self-reliant and self-employed.

Monica Odato, the team captain and goalkeeper, said that they distribute the face masks free of charge to vulnerable people in and around Mumias who are unable to afford them.

Source: Nation