My dear friends,

This is a day which I and the rest of my delegation (my Aids Forum) will always remember.

I want to thank you for meeting with us and sharing your experiences and the challenges of your daily lives. We have read and heard about MYSA, but this visit has shown all of us in a very real way the enormity of the challenges facing you - and the magnitude of your achievements.

Those of us who had a chance to meet some of you during Norway Cup have seen your talents on the football field. We have been equally impressed by your behavior off the field. This is an indication of the quality of MYSA's work in building character, confidence and consideration for each other, and the community at large. This, my friends, bodes well for the future - your future.

Equally important, your stay in the homes of Norwegian families – in Brummundal, in Øygarden and in Kristiansand – has also influenced the lives and attitudes of our own young people. Problems they thought were enormous become minor nuisances when seen from your perspective. This kind of exchange of experience and cooperation between young people in the north and south is what capacity building is all about. And capacity building is the goal in all our development efforts.

I especially want to mention the important work you are doing in fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic. During Norway Cup I was very pleased to see the campaign "Kicking Aids Out" and the enthusiastic response it received. The meeting we had during Norway Cup and the follow-up meeting here in Nairobi in November will give this important work fresh impetus. The efforts you and other young people in Africa are making are vital to the success of our battle against this terrible epidemic.

I also want to assure you of the admiration, friendship and support of all your friends in Norway through the networks in the local communities where you stayed - including the Friends of MYSA nation-wide network and the Strømme Foundation. Moreover, you have the support, admiration and respect of the government. I hope that the MYSA model can be transplanted to other countries and communities in Africa so that your good work can be spread farther afield.

With a little help from your friends, you have achieved, and will continue to achieve, the most amazing things.

Before I conclude, I would like to challenge you: to do what you can to start a football league for girls and women in Kenya, which could ultimately become a national team. From what I have seen and heard, the under-14 girls in the Mathare United team that won the trophy in Norway Cup would be a very fitting core for such a national team!

In conclusion, I would like to present you with some small tokens of our appreciation. I hope that these pictures will remind you of what you have achieved and of the goals you are aiming for, and that the footballs will be put to good use in the years to come.

From the bottom of my heart,

I wish you all the best.