Beyond Sport

Mathare - Day eight

Sunday started with a leisurely breakfast for the first time this week followed by a day of (pseudo) safari across Nairobi. Little explanation is needed for the pictures tell the story; all I’ll say is that when it’s a choice between animals and Karen Blixen’s house, always opt for the former!

Having spotted 4 of the ‘Big 5’ we headed back to the hotel for our last sleep in Africa. Ten days had come and gone in the blink of an eye and before we knew it we’d be sitting on a plane back to England...

Mathare - Day seven

Nursing the slightest of hangovers Laura and I climbed into Tony’s car and were greeted by a smiling Tom. Tony had, of course, filled him in the on last night’s events. But assuming (or perhaps just hoping) that we’d have slightly more sense he’d thought Tony a wind-up merchant. Fortunately for us as we told Tom that ‘The Tales of the Red Light District’ were very much a true story he didn’t really digest what we said. He seemed slightly preoccupied: he’d been involved in a ‘show-down’ of sorts that morning – with a warthog. Needless to say the topic of conversation for the remainder of the drive circled between our experiences of the previous night and Tom’s encounter with a fearsome snarling beast...

Much laughing in the car had proved to be an excellent distraction from what we were about to do – 5-a-side football against the MYSA team, many of whom have played in the Kenyan Premier League. As we pulled into the front gates and saw some of the team already kitted up and raring to go our hearts sank. Football is most certainly not Tom nor I’s sport of choice, and I don’t think Laura has a sport of choice. Bringing a bit of our day-job to the table, we set about very clear expectation management up-front. This proved to be a good decision. For when the game kicked off it was quite clear that Tom in particular lacked certain attributes of a successful football player – speed, agility, and an ability to not completely miss the ball when trying to kick it. Thanks to a little engineering from the more capable players the game ended in a 1-1 draw and we headed into a penalty shoot-out – both Tom and I missed and the result wasn’t as important as the fact that everyone had fun.

Having had enough of embarrassing ourselves for one morning, George, Henry and Stephen took us out to visit another of the MYSA zones and watch some people that could actually play football. Before watching the game we were given a tour of the Bjorn Borg sponsored office, as well as the largest of the MYSA libraries. Give that it was a Saturday lunchtime we were surprised to see so many children of all ages sat around reading. Tom was in his element. Immediately he was surrounded by a load of kids all competing for his attention and wanting to read to him.. Leaving the library and walking toward the football pitch brought back uncomfortable memories of Monday’s trip to the slum – mountains of rubbish, desperate faces and quite frankly an environment that looked a little like a warzone. Again, though, as we stood on the sidelines of the pitch we were greeted by enthusiastic and hopeful individuals all of whom had come together to be part of MYSA’s footballing culture. The sense of community and levels of engagement that seem to be driven by this simple sport are a living testament to the value of the work that MYSA undertakes. 

We were late for lunch with Bob Munro – we’d spent much longer than we should have done watching football. A quick change of clothes in the back of the car clawed back a couple of minutes and fortunately Bob was understanding enough. After all, he’d spent many years watching football in the slums and appreciated why we’d found it so interesting. We enjoyed hearing more of Bob’s stories about his time working at the UN and how he had come to found MYSA. Whilst conversation ticked along as we discussed the charity’s work at length, i couldn’t help but feel like I was attending a family meal – Laura and I as the kids, Tom as the father, Bob the grandfather, and David (MYSA’s Executive Director) the cheeky uncle.

A friend of Tom’s had very kindly invited the three of us to a BBQ at his house this evening. Excited by the prospect of a hearty home-cooked meal we piled into the car and were on our way. After what seemed like the longest car journey in history (traffic was terrible) and the odd stick of sugar cane or two we arrived at Justin’s house and weren’t disappointed. The house itself was beautiful and the food that he and Annie laid on was just awesome – why is it that all South African blokes are born with the BBQ gene? Keen to build on the success of our first night out in Kenya Laura and I had planned to swing by a bar or two on the way home. But after we traded wine for coffee and moved to Justin’s sitting room to relax on the sofa there was little chance of this happening. Instead, we settled for a quiet drink and a film back at the hotel – what better way to end a Saturday evening in Africa than to watch The Lion King.

Mathare - Day six

Mental note to self: Friday mornings and best practice approaches to HR policies aren’t the best mix. The good news was that MYSA already seemed to have a pretty decent set of policies. The bad news – multiple documents, numerous formats and a handful of gaps. Not the most exciting of tasks but the heavy lifting would be in consolidating and structuring existing material to create a single document explaining everything that MYSA’s staff might need to know.

With the approach to doing this agreed we moved on to the final session of the week – reviewing and finalising MYSA’s new organisation structure and mapping people to their new roles. What we thought was going to be relatively quick task turned in to a marathon exercise as we gained a new understanding of the concept of having a ‘flexible’ and ‘agile’ organisation. Tom appeared to be growing slightly exasperated as David moved his people around like pieces on a chess board, but at least his efforts to correctly pronounce African names provided a little bit of humour – Bonface being a particular favourite.

Having wrapped things up slightly earlier than normal so that Tom could head over to Karen for dinner, Laura suggested that we headed out to enjoy a typical Friday night. Contrary to all travel advice, I thought this was an excellent idea. So guided by our trusty taxi driver, Tony, we descended on Nairobi’s most popular bars. Having enjoyed a general sippers of the English faithful, G&T (slimline of course), Laura and I decided to quit whilst we were ahead and call it a night.

Little did we know that Tony was just getting started – cue trip to club in the middle of Nairobi’s Red Light District. His only advice: leave your valuables in the car! Following his orders we emptied our pockets and traipsed up a narrow stairwell into a very dingey club. Questionable tasting drinks, a selection of lovely ladies scouting for clients, and some charming African music made for an interesting environment that was only superseded when the dance floor was cleared to make way for a ‘traditional’ dancing show...

Mathare - Day five

Traffic, traffic, and more traffic. What should have been a 15 minute drive took nearly an hour. And the only form of entertainment our taxi driver very sincerely asking Tom if anybody ever calls him ‘Stain’. Our late arrival at the PwC office meant there was little time to set up and, to Laura’s disgust, not even time for a quick coffee

Today was the session that we had been most apprehensive about. It was time to try and pull together all of the processes that we had worked with the MYSA team to design, integrating them into their overall HR cycle. First up, a quick run through of the performance and talent management approaches to note down the key activities involved in each process. Then it was RACI time – it would be fair to say that this wasn’t the most successful session of the week as the team struggling to lock down who was responsible and accountable for different tasks. Mind you, Tom had managed to complicate matters further by adding the additional employee of ‘All Directors’. We navigated through confusion, experienced multiple mind changes and even doubled back to initial opinions; but by the time lunch arrived (shockingly nobody had ordered the ERIC sandwich) we’d created a fairly coherent RACI that mapped out MYSA’s future people processes. Not quite content with a cheese and tomato sandwich, Laura and I headed down to the PwC cafe to supplement our sandwiches with a slice of tasty cake – we were in for quite the surprise.

It was about 4 o clock when the hunger kicked. Amidst conversations around the merits of succession planning I couldn’t help but silently congratulate myself on my forethought – I’d saved my marble cake for precisely this occurrence. Taking care not to make a noise I carefully reached in to the paper bag and tore off a chunk of cake and popped in into my mouth. Horror. It tasted like gone-off sausage roll. Struggling to hold back my revulsion I caught Laura’s eye and saw her smirk widen – she’d tried her cake at lunch.

That evening we took the MYSA team to dinner at Carnivore. Since arriving in Nairobi we’d heard a great deal about the place and were looking forward to tucking in to a meat feast. Joined by founder and MYSA’s Chairman of the Board, Bob Munro, we settled at the table rather expecting an evening of polite yet formulaic conversation. To our surprise, this didn’t happen. Bob, it turns out, had worked for the United Nations for many years and entertained us with the odd story or two as well as telling us about some more of the great work that MYSA does and why the work that we were doing was so important. 

Mathare - Day four

We were back at MYSA HQ today. First up – a power cut (not unusual in Africa by all accounts). A great opportunity to give MYSA all of the kit that we’d hauled out from the UK. Having been ‘on-the-ground’ in Africa for only a couple of days we already understand how much this would mean to them – they loved it. With the lights back on we dived into a discussion about the revised organisation structure and more specifically how the Academy was to be integrated with MYSA proper. Tasked with the role of providing consulting services to support the setting-up and running of similar NGO’s across the continent, MYSA’s Academy is a pretty unique organisational function. This certainly showed as nearly everyone had different ideas as to how this could best be built in to a structure that made use of shared resources whilst maintaining full flexibility. Eventually a consensus was reached and it was time for a break...

On Day 1, mid morning snacks at MYSA had left a lot to be desired. So today, I’d remember to come armed with supplies – Dairy Milk and Haribo, courtesy of Ole Sereni mini-bar. Little did I know that Laura and Tom were soon to discover and pillage my supplies. Sugar fix complete we got back to work and gave a brief introduction to talent management. Much more abstract than the topics we’d covered so far and the team’s preoccupation with a lunchtime meeting with representatives from their chief sponsor meant that everyone was seeemingly relieved when the clock ticked round to midday. Brief introductions with the chaps (Ned and Matt) from Laureus done, it was once again time to push and prod some food around our plates. Ready to feign fullness, Tom was given an excellent excuse to down his cutlery – a full explanation of MYSA’s new organisation and governance structures was demanded by Ned. Cue slightly hostile exchange defused only by Tom’s example of John Lewis...

That afternoon we handed the reigns over to the MYSA team. Adopting facilitation and presenting techniques that we’d shown them in previous sessions they worked together to develop a robust set of ‘High Potential Criteria’ that are at the core of their talent management process: thinking outside the box, leadership and coaching ability, teamwork, and commitment to taking next steps. The enthusiasm and energy with which they set about their task was refreshing, again demonstrating their commitment to MYSA and to their self-improvement – to use Tom’s analogy, we’d definitely gone some way to teaching them to fish.

After a quick gym session back at the hotel we headed to dinner in the expat district of Nairobi, Karen. The Tallisman was a great choice of venue, offering alfresco dining with plenty of stimulating conversation.

Mathare - Day three

Still reflecting on what we had experienced yesterday we headed to the PwC office in Nairobi’s business district. It wasn’t quite More London but a similar sense of corporatism (and the odd armed guard or two) filled the air – how could this be just around the corner from Mathare Valley? To our surprise the MYSA team filed into the office well in advance of the planned 09:00 start. First up, David and his team wanted to chat about our trip to see the MYSA project. They listened intently to our somewhat stuttering description of how it had made us feel, and then proceeded to share some of their own ‘stories’ about growing up in the slums – Stephen and George had played for the same MYSA team, and David went to school next to the football pitch we had seen.

After a quick refresher of what we covered on the first morning we split into two groups – Tom worked with David, Henry and Maqulate (or ‘Maque-latte’ as he liked to call her) to review and refine MYSA’s organisation structure, whilst Laura and I worked alongside George, Ismail and Stephen to develop a robust and meaningful approach to performance management. The OD session brought about much debate, but it was the discussions around the positive behaviours that MYSA wanted to encourage that gave us an insight into the culture of their organisation. Seven  core values sit at the heart of the organisation and they provided a solid foundation to build MYSA’s future competency framework – respect for self and others, fair play, and equality and fairness on and off the field to name just a few.

Lunch (slightly tastier than traditional African cuisine provided the previous day) came and again we split up into our groups to build on the progress we’d made in the morning. As we continued to discuss competency behaviours and SMART objectives Laura and I were slightly unsure that the key messages around why we were approaching performance management in this way were landing with the team. Although they sat in front of us seemingly engaged and often nodding their agreement we remained slightly apprehensive about their ability to ‘own’ the outcome and implement it successfully across MYSA. Any such fears were dispelled later that day. Having asked Ismail, George and Stephen to feedback to the other group they stood at the front of the room and very clearly articulated MYSA’s future approach to performance management, pausing at the right times to explain to their colleagues why they had made certain decisions. Not only did this convince us that they were capable of putting into practice the processes that we were developing; it also demonstrated the ability and professionalism of the individuals that we were working with – something that we were reminded of again and again throughout the week.

This evening’s dinner needs little explanation. The Zen Garden. Not the most traditional African dining experience but the quality of the food most certainly made up for this. Excellent dim sum and even better sushi – the prospect of which (fish in Africa?) had seemed rather unappetising to begin with.

Mathare - Day two

05:30 alarm. Far from ideal on a Bank Holiday (at least it was in Africa), and even less so when you get to the gym to find it closed – my first experience of the phrase ‘Africa time’. At breakfast, we were joined by our colleagues from PwC Kenya and gave them a high level brief about MYSA and the work we were set to do over the coming days. And then the roles were reversed – Mukami and James took on the role of unofficial tour guides on the drive to the charity. It was our first sighting of Africa in daylight and they pointed out all kinds of things that definitely don’t feature on the morning commute to More London; free-roaming livestock, buses with people hanging off the sides and questionable road markings (there were none).

When we got to MYSA their Leadership Team was waiting for us and gave us a whistle-stop tour of their headquarters. It was by no means a palace, but in comparison to some of the things we’d seen on the way there we immediately understood why over 25,000 kids see MYSA as a symbol of hope. With enthusiastic introductions and interesting facts (who knew Tom is a world record-holding hula dancer?) done, we were ready to kick things off. Tom, minus the grass skirt, explained the objectives and expectations for the week – drawing on his experience of archaic proverbs to explain ‘we’re going to teach you to fish’. It was then over to the MYSA team, and their leader David in particular, to tell us a little more about their organisation and the issues that they’re currently facing. By lunchtime we’d refined our focus for the week very slightly and felt confident that we were well placed to work with the MYSA team to achieve a great outcome.

After lunch we were taken to visit the project in the Mathare Valley, beginning with a trip to one of the charity’s libraries. Positioned on the edge of the slum, the small stone building looked cold and uninviting, but once inside a feeling of comfort and safety filled the air. Children of all ages sat silently doing their homework, studying text books, or simply reading for pleasure – activities, we were told, that they are unable to do in their own homes. Learning about the life of one library volunteer, Samuel, and the role that MYSA played in his journey from slum to university was particularly inspirational – his story personified the message that was etched into the library walls: ‘books change lives’. As we were about to leave two young girls not older than ten  appeared in the doorway and Samuel spoke quietly to them to Swahili. What followed was incredible – they simply looked at each, took centre stage, and recited poetry in English explaining what MYSA means to them. From that point on, the work that we were doing took on a whole new significance.

During the following couple of hours we experienced slum life first-hand – poverty and deprivation as far as the eye could see. Home to over 700,000 Kenyans; the landscape was unforgettable. Corrugated iron houses were jammed together, separated only by a river of raw sewage, and people intermingled with each other and animals alike in a manner that had scant regard for personal space. The helplessness of the situation was captured in a single instance as one lady offered her child to Laura whom, being rather slow off the mark, nearly accepted the ‘gift’. How very the remainder of this story would be had one of our guides not intervened...

Amidst the desperation that surrounded us, there was in fact a ray of hope – the children. Energy, enthusiasm and ear-to-ear smiles. They jostled with each to pose front and centre in our photos, before sprinting off into the distance only to reappear seconds later. They were the life and soul of the community, leaving a lasting impression in our minds.

Climbing into our taxi, I was conscious of the polarity of life that characterises Nairobi. Returning to our hotel to force down a good meal and a glass of wine or two was rather uncomfortable and made for an interesting evening of introspection. Indeed, it seemed to have affected Laura more than first thought...

Laura: “I don’t really like African food...”

Stuart: “Well what’s your favourite English food then Laura?”

Laura: “Hmmm.... Pasta”.

Mathare - Day one

The hottest day of the British summer – and we were about to fly to Africa. It wasn’t until the departure gate that we realised we had very few expectations of the trip. Flying to Kenya to work with an organisation that uses football to drive social improvement within the Mathare slum isn’t exactly something that you can picture in your head – especially as Laura and I had never been to Africa. The flight came and went in quick time (last minutes preparations and planning was done) and it even offered a little light entertainment: Laura had the privilege of sitting next to a passenger with aspirations of being an acrobat and  I had beer spilt in my lap by a rather rotund chap occupying the seat in front.

Nairobi international airport: cameras, crowds, drums. Unfortunately, this reception wasn’t for us – Kenya’s Olympic Gold Medal winners had returned from  London at the same time as us. With attention focused on Ezekiel Kemboi and a little help from Tom’s smooth talking we made it through customs with our ‘bounty’ (hundreds of t-shirts, shorts, and other goodies to leave with MYSA). Our jovial mood, however, was cut short. Our taxi driver, Tony Miano, suggested that we walk to his car; having spent 8 hours sitting upright on a plane we thought this an excellent idea. A 20 minute stroll along the hard shoulder of a dark motorway (not to mention the strange chap that was keen to ‘help’ Laura with her luggage) wasn’t exactly what we had in mind – but it was definitely an unforgettable start to the trip.

Having made it to the hotel in one piece we ordered a midnight snack and chatted through our approach for the following day. We were good to go. Laura excused herself to head for bed...

Tom: “Are you feeling prepared for things this week?”.

Laura: “Of course – I’ve been to Italy”.

Day three

When I arrived at The Grange Hotel this morning it was hard to believe that the final morning of the summit had arrived so quickly. Meeting a multitude of inspirational individuals that inject every ounce of their energy into their organisation has been a truly humbling experience... not to mention the incredible amount that they have taught me about the voluntary sector.

Joined (again) by what were quickly becoming familiar faces from PwC, we took our seats in the auditorium that was buzzing with anticipation. Proceedings kicked off with a lively discussion between prominent figures from the worlds of business, sport and politics. Tony Blair (former British Prime Minister), Lonnie Ali (founder of the Ali Institute), Richard Scudamore (CEO of the Premier League) and Francoise Pienaar (South Africa Rugby World Cup winner) debated the role of sport in a changing world. Drawing upon experiences from their own spheres of influence, the quintet championed the prominent part that sport can play in driving positive social change. It was particularly interesting to hear Francois’ lamentations that South Africa had been unable to leverage the legacy of the 1996 World Cup victory. This was particularly poignant for many present as Britain will strive to ensure that they do exactly this in the aftermath of the Olympics... 

Conversations about the role of sport in today’s world overflowed into the coffee break with almost everyone having something to add to the debate. After such an emotive opening it was difficult to see how the following panels were going to trigger equal excitement. But as had been the case with so much of the summit, the best was yet to come. Speakers from diverse backgrounds brought different experiences to the party that combined excellently to trigger multi-faceted and thought provoking debates throughout the day.

Shortly after lunch, members of the Young Advisory Panel summoned their courage to stand centre stage and relive their ‘story’. Hearing about their troubled past and their motivation to transform their lives was the highlight of today for me. With enthusiasm and energy etched on their faces, these inspirational teenagers are a living embodiment of the ability of sport to change lives for the better. Building on the theme of sport as a catalyst for change, we were soon joined by four inspirational sportsmen and women... an ‘hour of inspiration’ that contrasted brilliantly with the previous accounts of the youthful hopefuls. John Amaechi, Bob Beamon, Michelle Kwan and Ian Thorpe each revealed what sport means to them and how it has impacted them at different stages of their life. Choosing to emphasise the hidden power of sport by focusing on its ability to exclude (as well as include), John Amaechi espoused a very powerful message: sport itself is not something that transforms lives for the better... there must a structure in place to help release its power in positive fashion.

Let us not forget that the one of the main purposes of the summit is to crown a new cohort of Beyond Sport award winners. Throughout the day as many as 8 representatives from different projects scattered across the globe received recognition for the work that they have already done in the world of sport for development. Ranging from football in South Africa to skateboarding in Afghanistan, more information about each of the winning projects can be found on the Beyond Sport website.

As formal proceedings drew to a close, a handful of key representatives were whisked off to a celebration dinner in London to further acknowledge the achievement of the award winners. For me, this was the closing chapter in what had been an extremely exciting week.

Having only been in the firm for about 12 months, this week has been a bit of a personal journey for me. I’ve heard firsthand accounts of the difficulties that the voluntary sector is currently facing – engaging effectively with potential beneficiaries, made more difficult by the sheer number of NGO’s with similar target groups but equally important causes and of course the current economic climate. I think that being part of the so many special events over the course of the summit will help me to do a better job of coordinating our relationship with Beyond Sport...

Day two

Another early start... but at least the sun was shining again. This morning I was joined by six colleagues that have all been heavily involved in Beyond Sport over the past couple of years. It was this group that helped to run the ‘PwC Drop in Centre’. Drawing upon their vast experience, they were set to offer ‘mini’ consulting sessions that gave NGO’s the opportunity to discuss key business issues.

Upon our arrival to the hotel we were shocked to find out that we were to be based in a small double bedroom. After multiple conversations, as well as a couple of rather confused and concerned looking faces, we found ourselves relocated to the much more appealing hotel atrium. And it was in this setting that the fun began to happen. Throughout the day we saw around twenty very different ‘clients’, ranging from large NGO’s to small community projects and even the Managing Director of the Grange Hotel (he was keen to learn more about the measurement of social impact). Although each discussion presented unique complexities, our consultants were able to make the short appointment time (about forty-five minutes) as valuable as possible by framing discussion around our ‘proposition’ to the Beyond Sport projects – guidance around the typical areas that PwC could help with:  

1. Positioning & Strategy for Growth
2. Measuring Social Impact
3. Delivering Sustainable Programmes
4. Achieving Financial Control
5. Maximising your People
6. Risk & Governance

We provided this advice at the same time as a range of ‘roundtable discussions’ were being held, all of which were highly oversubscribed. This apparent thirst for knowledge, and desire to learn and share experiences was a prevalent theme of the three days. Everywhere you turned people gathered around different speakers, listened intently, and responded with engaging questions. 

The afternoon quickly came and went... but the atmosphere remained electric. It was nearly time for the TIME Interview with legendary sprinter Michael Johnson, as well as the presentation of the inaugural Generation Ali Beyond Sport Award. Taking advantage of the summit being held in London we were joined by a whole host of friendly faces that have supported Beyond Sport projects, for what would surely prove to be a highly enjoyable, exciting and emotional evening.

After anecdotes and Olympic predictions from Michael Johnson, as well as introductory speeches from David Beckham and Lonnie Ali... something remarkable happened. Mohammed Ali himself emerged from backstage, greeted by standing ovation from the packed auditorium that only subsided when quiet was called for. He was here to present his award, designed to recognise and celebrate a young person who has embodied the essence of leadership and inspiration through sport. The shortlisted candidates were announced... and then the winner: Matiullah Haidar. 19-year-old Matiullah lost most of his family in the conflict in Afghanistan and came to the UK as a refugee, not being able to speak any English. Through the Cricket for Change programme, he now coaches cricket and supports refugees as a skilled translator. It truly was an inspirational moment, and I felt very privileged to be part of it. Two of the most iconic sportsmen of all time had come together to present an award that recognises Service, Leadership, and Action. In doing so they illuminated the power that sport can play in transforming communities and lives.   

The party soon moved to the hotel bars. People chatted, drank and enjoyed one or two canapés... all of the time trying to process what they had just been part of. And as the early hours of the morning approached it was finally time for bed. I’m promised that tomorrow will be even better... but at the moment I can’t even begin to imagine how!