FALSE: Photo does not show the drought situation in Embolioi, Kajiado County, in October 2022
Admin By Shadrack Andenga Odinga
Legendary, Kenyan former Olympian boxer Benson Gicharu is lighting up the slums of Mukuru in Nairobi County with teaching boxing as a sport of hope and a hobby.
The 35 year old who was raised in the slums has nothing to fear, but all smiles when he sees the young girls and boys taking up to boxing with zeal. Speaking exclusively to Ruben Fm, Gicharu also known as ‘Gich or Mabeli” was a determined lion.
“ After retiring I went into coaching and started coaching at Kenya police. But still there was a void in my heart feeling that I was not in my place to coach at top level. I have always felt that my home is in the slums. That push overcame me and that’s why I had to come back and form The Mukuru Fight for Life Boxing Club,” said Mabeli who also added that during this Covid 19 pandemic, most school going kids have stopped going to school and with his club, now they have somewhere to go to.
Gicharu who won a silver medal for Kenya at the Commonwealth games in New Delhi 2010 keeps a strict connection with the parents and guardians of his youngsters.
Occasionally when opportunity arises he takes them to participate in tournaments sponsored in local estates.
“We played our first game in Jericho estate and my girls and boys did fairly good, taking into consideration that they all started raw. Our main aim here is to teach them discipline so that we can shape their moral values through boxing,” said the former fly weight amature boxer.
Gicharu started his boxing career at national level in 2009 and retired in 2018 with no regrets.
He also won a bronze medal in the 2014 Commonwealth games, but before that he had qualified for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
In Mukuru slums, he enjoys his free time painting portraits and training boxing with his youngsters at Fuata Nyayo area.
The recently former Fight For life boxing club has attracted about 30 young girls and boys who now have found a home away from home.
