Sadili Oval - an award-winning sports camp for children from
the slums around Nairobi, Kenya - is one of the first nature and sports camps set up by UNEP and the Global Sports Alliance. These give children the chance both to learn many sports with
the proper equipment and training they would not ordinarily
be able to obtain, and to become environmentally conscious
and responsible.

The children take part in all kinds of activities - such as debating, drama and dance - that teach them valuable skills and build up their confidence. By discussing and looking for solutions to such environmental and social problems as waste, water, sanitation, pollution, health and HIV/AIDS, the young people become aware of things that are important in their community and can work to improve them as they grow older. Already they are hard at work cleaning up natural areas, planting trees and recycling.

The results are promising. Drug taking and truancy have decreased. Girls are performing better in school and staying there. Twenty-six children have reached the national tennis leagues. The Sadili Flames is the youngest team in the Premier Basketball League, and the camp has provided a number of national chess champions. And besides all this there is the fun
the children are having, the lessons they are learning and the cleaner environment they are creating where they live!