Kenya Trophy

Partille Cup has started a handball tournament in Kenya in cooperation with the local handball club Mount Kenya HC. The tournament is played between young people 10-15 years and the players come from villages around the area of Mt Kenya. This year  50 teams and 800 players are expected to participate in the tournament being played in the month of December.

Many of the players come from really difficult family situations. They may be orphans, live with their old grandparents, lost parents in AIDS or even be homeless. By day the young people often seek temporary jobs, which is not easy to find. When they get a good job it is usually not giving enough money for food for the day.

Mount Kenya HC is trying to start up handball in the villages. By exercising a sport they can for a moment forget their situation. By handball, they can get to know each other, feel fellowship among them, exchange experiences and give each other hope for the future. The club also helps with food and education for the most vulnerable children. The education is very important to have a chance to move forward.

Partille Cup Mission:

”To spread handball international and with Partille Cup as a meeting place create understanding and knowledge of different cultures and religions among the world’s young handball players. ”

This tournament is one of the projects Partille Cup arrange to achieve the mission.

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The Background of the tournament

In year 2003 Kenya attended Partille Cup for the first time. The team was Mount Kenya HC and its leader, Julius M Ndirangu, had planned this trip for many years.

Julius had long worked to start up handball in the villages in Kenya and they often played friendly matches between villages. After the Partille Cup visit Julius was filled with motivation and in 2006, when several villages had begun to play handball, he organized a tournament with 29 teams and at least one team from each village participated.

In 2007, riots broke out in the country after the presidential election. Violence spread in the country and those who lived in the villages had for a long time, not the help they have previously received as food and other necessities. Julius then asked Partille Cup for help and since there is close collaboration between Mount Kenya HC and Partille Cup which now is starting the handball tournament called Partille Cup – Kenya Trophy. The idea is that the tournament will be the highlight of the year, especially for those players who are unable to travel to Partille Cup in the summer.

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Fact about Kenya

Kenya is named after the extinct volcano Mount Kenya, which is the country’s highest mountain. In the north Kenya is bordering to Somalia, Ethiopia and Sudan, in the west to Uganda and south to Tanzania. The landscape is varied. Africa’s major valley cuts through the country from north to south. Along the valley is several lakes and extinct volcanoes. From the coast of the Indian Ocean in the east  the country is raised at a high plateau, the so-called White Highlands, which became the center of plantation farms during the colonial period. The capital Nairobi is situated between the temperate plateau and the southern savannas.

In the west there is also a high plateau which levels off towards Lake Victoria. Here tea and coffee are grown. Greenery is lush and there are some tropical rainforest. The low-lying areas at Lake Victoria occasionally experience flooding during rainy periods. In the north is steppe and semi desert. Rainfall is low and the drought is a constant threat to the nomadic cattle population. Lake Turkana on the border with Ethiopia dominates the landscape. The lake is home to Nile crocodiles and birds. On the savannah, which continues into northern Tanzania are some of the most famous national parks: Masai Mara, Amboseli and Tsavo. Among the country’s natural resources include gold, limestone, ruby, garnets, and hydropower.

Climate and Environment

The climate varies from tropical along the coast to dry inland. Sometimes there are long dry periods, and during the rainy season between March

and May floods can occur. The country receives a great deal of sunshine all year round and summer clothes are generally worn all year round. However, it is usually cold at night, at dawn and at high hight.

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