August 10, 2018, by Charlotte Anscombe

Modern Day Slavery and Survivor Voices with the Maasai Cricket Warriors

Members of the public are invited to learn more about how modern slavery is impacting their own communities in Nottingham.

‘Modern Day Slavery and Survivor Voices’, is a day-long event being held at the Holy Trinity Church in Lenton in Nottingham on 22 August from 9.10am- 3pm.

The event is part of the famous Maasai Cricket Warriors UK tour, which has been organised by the Mojatu Foundation. The event is supported by partners including the Survivor Alliance and the Rights Lab at the University of Nottingham.

During the event a series of speakers, including representatives from the Survivor Alliance and the Rights Lab, will provide an overview of modern slavery and talk about what Nottingham is doing to tackle it and introduce people to survivor-led initiatives.

Minh Dang from the Survivors Alliance said: “The Survivor Alliance is very excited to partner with Mojatu Foundation and the Maasai Cricket Warriors. It is important that people understand modern slavery effects men as well as women and we need all members of a community to engage in anti-slavery efforts. Come out and help us strike out modern slavery!”

Formed in 2007, the Maasai Cricket Warriors team use their fame and love for cricket as an inspiration to educate communities on social justice and give young people a sense of belonging, support and hope through their community and school visits.

The warriors play in their traditional clothing, bloodred ‘shukas’ and bright, beaded necklaces, symbolising the importance of maintaining and promoting the positive aspects of their culture. They are famous for drawing on their skills of spear throwing and using a shield to bat and bowl.

In 2016 Mojatu Foundation was instrumental in getting Nottingham City to declare Zero Tolerance to FGM-  the first city in UK and Europe to officially do so. This led to other invitations to present Nottingham’s work outside the UK including at the United Nations in Vienna and Kenya. This tour will be instrumental for the End FGM campaign.

The event is ticket only. Lunch will be included and there will be fun after the conference where Dr Judy Muthuri from Nottingham University Business School, is putting together a team from the University to play the Warriors.

Veronica Pickering, the Chair of Mojatu Foundation and the Deputy Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire said: ‘I am very excited about this special tour because of the very many opportunities it presents to communities, organisations and businesses. It has involved a lot of work to coordinate but we look forward to having as many people as possible getting involved.’

For more information or to register for the event please visit the website.

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