ChesSDGs Kenya Walk 2019

Parents and teachers want students to develop problem-solving alongside digital skills so they will be prepared for future jobs. The benefits of teaching chess to children in building skills, resilience and self-esteem. Chess is a cheap and tactical game, and is claimed to develop the part of the brain responsible for planning, judgment and self-control and even to prevent dementia.

The ChesSDGs Kenya Walk 2019 initiative, is of chess volunteers, who shall do a walk on the subject mentioned above. The Walk will start from Nairobi and end on Nakuru,by the 4th October,2019.At the Robert Education Center . Where we shall donated a chess board,re-start and energize the Robert Education Center Chess Club. Plant about six trees of the following varieties: Avocado,Neem,Moringa,Bamboo,Mangrove, e.t.c .

The new curriculum will encompass and pay attention to :Arts and Sports Pathway, Physical and Health Education , Life Skills Education , Performing Arts, Indoor Games .Chess is beneficial to learners with special needs for example autism. Skills which are pertinent, eternal and intrinsic value to the game.

Chess is a two player strategy board game board with 64 squares arranged in an 8 X 8 grid. The game is played by millions of people worldwide. Chess has so many facets – It is a great pastime, a valuable tool for education and rehabilitation, a bridge between generations and cultures, and above all a sport.
Chess is excellent for boosting children’s cognitive development and academic skills. Emphasis is put on the fact chess is a sport which improves attention, problem-solving skills and time. It doesn’t matter about your ability; chess is some thing everybody can access.

Chess is of the most powerful educational tools available to strengthen a child’s mind. It’s fairy easy to learn how to play. Most six or seven year olds can follow the basic rules. Some kids as young as four or five can play. Like learning a language or music an early start can help a child become more proficient. Whatever a child’s age however ,chess can enhance concentration ,patience, and perseverance ,as well as develop creativity ,intuition, memory ,and most importantly ,the ability to analyze and deduce from a set of general principles ,learning to make tough decisions and solve problems flexibly.

General studies indicate a positive correlation between being introduced to chess in childhood and performing better in subjects like math and science, as well as showing an enhanced soft skills and language skills, all of which are valuable and increasingly have assets in the job market.
The findings are supported by empirical research conducted over case studies and dozens of countries globally, over a period and duration of time. Culminating it being part of the core curriculum in over 30 countries in the world namely
Russia, Spain, Turkey, South Africa, Finland etc. That shows several local governments, schools, and student organizations all over the world are implementing chess in schools programs
.
Chess reaches boys and girls regardless of their natural ability of socio-economic backgrounds. Given these educational benefits, chess is one of the most effective teaching tools to prepare children for a world increasingly swamped by information and ever tougher decision.

In the spirit and letter of the Kenya Constitution (2010) and the need for the community service. The Chess in Schools Kenya Initiative shall, endeavor to:


i) Promote Chess in School national wide project

ii) Advocate for chess to be introduced as an indoor game alongside: badminton, squash, table tennis and lawn tennis. In the Ministry of Education Research and Technology, Calendar of Sports event the year 2019/20 and beyond.

iii) After the submission of the Chess Kenya Federation Primary Chess Instruction Curriculum Grade 1-8 (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Kt7HWRpFF-ikNtAQtyJzjDOaTBOEW0AF/view?ths=true ),that the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development should at least consider the subject and or discipline to be in the : core-curriculum,elective,enrichment and after school activity. It should be taught at least once weekly during the Physical Education lessons. At the designated places or ICT Laboratories.

iv) Do crowd-funding to raise funds, with at least a donation of $10 USD (Ksh .1,000 ) and above to target more than $400,000 USD (Ksh.40,000,000 ) to buy at least one chessboard for over 30,000 schools,communities,colleges,universities,prison,libraries,social halls,hospitals,children homes, rehabilitation , refugee camps,Ajira Digital Centers e.t.c

v) Target over 1 million new chess players in the country.

vi) Have over 5,000 student players in the next Kenya National Youth and Cadets Championship year 2020 (https://kenyachessmasala.com/2019/04/knycc-2019.html ).

vii) Plant trees to help attain the national 10 per cent cover by the year 2022.especially during the International Chess Day, celebrated yearly (https://www.chess.com/news/view/international-chess-day-2019 ).

viii) Donate blood to the Kenya National Blood Transfusion, especially during the World Blood Donation Day

ix) Lobby the Kenya National Assembly and The Senate to enact chess as a tool for education, health and social ( http://chng.it/fvtY4C4r ) .

xi) Advocate for the establishment of at least two Chess Kenya/FIDE academies (https://www.facebook.com/ChessKenya/ ) in all the 47 counties ,public/private schools,on gender equality basis.

xi) Celebrate the United Nations Global Week as from 20th-30th September, 2019 to #ACT4SDGS ( https://www.act4sdgs.org/partner/SolarSmartKE ) , the global goals ( https://www.globalgoals.org/ ). By encouraging majority of chess players to live sustain-ably, when participating in events and tournaments by:

a) Saving water
b) No plastic bags
c) Bring a water bottle
d) Metal straw over plastic
e) Eat local and seasonal
f) Walk more
g) Save paper
h) Eat plants
i) Save electricity
j) Use public transport
k) Board carbon friendly aircraft
l) Participate in the UN's #ActNow Climate Action Campaign ( https://trello.com/c/6BA2hjWP/5-uns-actnow-climate-action-campaign ) The Climate Action ActNow.bot recommends everyday actions to reduce our carbon footprints – like traveling more sustainable, saving energy or eating less meat.