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A decade ago, life for Wanyoike in Mathare, one of the largest urban slums in Kenya, seemed worlds apart.

"I was in crime, I was a gangster," said Wanyoike, 27. He described how he was shot and lost two friends amid the violence that rattled the area.

But a second chance at life came in the form of a fencing coach, who spotted Wanyoike while he was working out. The young man quickly became attracted to the novel sport.