Our creative accelerator The Kennedys have created the official launch campaign for KLABU (meaning “club” in Swahili) – an Amsterdam-based non-profit organization, run by young people in Amsterdam and Kenya. Powering sports together with young refugees, the foundation is building sports clubs where they are rebuilding their lives: in refugee camps, settlements and cities.
KLABU opened its first sports club in the Kalobeyei refugee settlement (population of 36,000) in northern Kenya, where previously sports initiatives were near non-existent. The club provides facilities, sports equipment and clothing through an innovative library system. On average, 500 new members are joining every week, bringing young adult refugees (from 13 African countries) and local Kenyans closer together.
The campaign featured KLABU’s first sportswear collection and included a 30-page print booklet, a series of films, creative assets for the @theklabu Instagram channel and portraits of refugees and locals living in Kalobeyei, captured by photographer Coco Olakunle (an ex-Kennedy).
The design of KLABU’s sportswear line symbolizes key elements of African craft, with a contemporary look that gives the main shirt of the collection a double functional-fashionable appeal. All proceeds from sales go towards the community-led foundation, which has plans to replicate the simple and sustainable concept in other refugee settings across the world.
Although sports cannot solve all challenges refugees face, they do bring people together and can ultimately make ‘away’ feel more like ‘home’.
Visit www.klabu.org to find out more and discover the webshop. It’s time for change. Welcome to the KLABU!
