Watoto Water Run 2011

Welcome back to Kenya! After a few productive and enjoyable days in New York City, I boarded the plane last Saturday for uneventful connecting flights that would cover three continents and the next 24 hours. Getting off the plane in Nairobi fresh from the piling snow and freezing temperatures was quite a shock. Though I was noticeably under-dressed for the weather when riding to JFK, I found myself almost instantly sweating and peeling off layers once on the tarmac in Nairobi, even at 9:30pm.

One of our top finishers in the 4km race, Apolo, finishing strong, with many more close behind

Despite the many uncomfortable physical adjustments needing to be made, it feels great to be here, especially under the current circumstances; after spending the past two years working so hard with so many others to make local access to pure, clean water a reality for Ilula, we are now mere weeks from seeing the water rush to the surface and bring this landscape to life. All of our efforts culminated with the events of yesterday’s 3^rd Annual Watoto Water Run here in Ilula, the perfect complimentary partner race to the 2010 Greenlake Run For Water in Seattle last November. This year’s Watoto Water Run welcomed nearly 100 young and energetic runners from three schools in the area, as well as several dozen spectators and supporters, including two local middle distance Olympic medalists. Just as the Greenlake Run For Water introduced new friends and connected local businesses, so too did this event. We saw new friendships and beneficial partnerships formed that I am sure will last a lifetime. Raising money for a project is one thing, but to do it while building synergistic relationships within and between communities is what I feel really sets ERace Poverty apart in its approach as an organization, and is why I love being involved in our work so much. The event was a perfect display of just how ambitious and committed these people are to this project. I thought the smiles, handshakes, and cheers of congratulations would never end. We even raised another $800 from people in the community to go toward potential additional projects associated with the well; a fish pond or two has been discussed. Though there was a delay in Tanzania with the rig we have scheduled to drill the bore hole here, we still had a symbolic ground breaking at the conclusion of the awards ceremony, and we have been assured that the truck will be here within two weeks to begin drilling, and nearly endless water will be flowing a month later.

Breaking ground! Since the truck couldn’t make it to drill, we filled up a few balloons with water and broke them with that first strike, causing much excitement and confusion among the children.

One of my favorite moments from the day was when young Emmanuel (many of you may remember him as my little Kenyan brother from the immediate family I have become part of here, the Kosgei’s) came screaming down the finishing straightaway, much like little Brian last year, nearly forgotten as we finalized the 4km race and set the 10km athletes at the starting line. Emmanuel, barely 4 years old, has not been able to compete in the past two races here, and the ear-to-ear smile on his face told the whole story of just how happy and proud he was to finally participate and finish the 4km route all on his own. I was told later by the driver of the trail vehicle that Emmanuel ignored, even adamantly turned down multiple offers to take a ride the rest of the way to the finish line. I was proud like a father or bigger brother must be to see him finish that way and to think, conceitedly and quite possibly incorrectly, that despite his young age and seemingly not understanding more than a handful of English words, my lessons in being disciplined and “finishing the race” had really become rooted in him.

Emmanuel displaying his strength for all to see after finishing the 4km route in his first ever Watoto Water Run

Outside of running around Ilula and Eldoret to get myself and everyone else ready for the race, I have also spent a good amount of time in meetings and walk-throughs with staff here to solidify plans for when water is flowing from the bore hole. The original plans have been expanded to include tree nurseries at the children’s home and Samro Primary School, rather than just Ukweli Training Center, a fruit tree orchard at the children’s home, and possibly even a small-scale water bottling program. All of these combined will financially support the children in their future education, as well as the various other programs here that reach to communities throughout the country, and play a huge role in reforesting the Rift Valley’s suffering landscape. While all of this is really exciting, it also requires a lot of work, more than I had even anticipated. In the next 8 weeks, prior to my departure for the first of my two month-long trips to southern Sudan, I will be working with the newly appointed managers of the well, tree nurseries, and gardens to map out the land and prepare it to host each program, develop a maintenance system for the well, secure reliable sources for seeds and sales of matured seedlings, reporting and evaluation system for the tree nurseries and gardens, and look further into the implications and potential of bottling water for sale in Eldoret Town. All of this will take a great deal of energy and focus, but with the crew we have here right now, including the welcome addition of Don Rogers, the founder and president of Empowering Lives International, who is a wonderful visionary and motivator, I am confident that we are equipped and primed to see great success in each individual program.

The impressive field of 10km runners, all set to go, receiving final instructions

On the personal end of things, I am finding the usual give and take of abandoning life in the states for life in a developing country, this time for a solid 6 months in East Africa. Most immediately, that means adjusting to a new time zone, climate, elevation, food, communication language and style, and just an overall change in day-to-day life. I find myself excited to be here and having a great time with everyone and everything, while longing for some of the comforts of home. There are a couple things now available here that have made this transition easier - a usb internet modem that makes it easy and pretty affordable to get online with decent speeds from nearly anywhere, and a cell phone that keeps me connected, even with calls to the states for just a few cents per minute. As time wears on here, I know I will settle in and get used to, even enjoy the lack of some of those other comforts. While that happens, though, I will miss the one comfort of home that is most dear to me – my wonderful family and friends. I know from my last extended journey that missing my interactions with all of them never goes away, and even gets stronger with time. I guess if I had to substitute all of them with another group, though, my Kenyan family and friends are a pretty darn good option. I also know that once I leave here and head back to the states, I will begin to miss everyone here in much the same way. A much improved level of comfort with the people and way of life here, and a very focused outline will surely help make things easier for me this time around, but I respect and expect the psychological and emotional challenges that are inevitably faced when immersing yourself, without anyone else from even remotely close to your cultural upbringing, in another area of the world. For that, I ask for your continued prayers and support.

All of the fierce athletes lined up for the beginning of the 4km race

Please do not take that as a grumble in any way; it is simply honesty with myself and with all of you. I am so excited to be here doing what I am doing with whom I am doing it, and I couldn’t ask for a better group of people back home supporting me. The 3^rd Annual Watoto Water Run was just the beginning, and I honestly am hoping there is no end to what I get to be a part of while I am here for the next six months. I believe these programs will have a positive impact in Ilula, throughout Kenya, and all of Africa for years, even generations to come. So, on that note, thanks for checking in and supporting me, and please be good to yourselves and those around you.

Kevin proudly displaying his certificate shortly after finishing the 4km race