Schools in Kenya

Head Teacher Mr. Chumba and Founder Chris Cheboiboch.  Chris, who twice placed second in Boston and New York Marathons, used his running earnings to found the school.

Uhuru and Apollo attended Salaba Academy, a private school that includes preschool to Standard 8 (equal to 8^th grade).  I visited several times and had many discussions with people about education in Kenya.  Here are some of my impressions:

1)  The teachers’ role is different than in the United States.  The teachers would present a concept and assign work.  Then the teachers would go to the staff room, which is somewhat of a misnomer.  In the US the staff room is a teachers lounge.  In Kenya the staff room is a shared office.

2)  Discipline is very strict.  Students are expected to work, and if they do not, they get caned.  Students stand up when a teacher or adult enters the classroom.  The following dialogue occurs:

Teacher:  “Good morning class.  How are you?”

Class: “Good morning, sir.  We are fine, thank you.”

Teacher:  “You may sit down.”

Class: “Thank you, sir”

There is absolutely NO talking when a teacher is talking.  One morning I saw all 300 students at Salaba at an outdoor assembly.  There was no talking at all.  The head teacher spoke quietly to the students.  There was no background noise.

Salaba student body at the assembly

3)  There is corporal punishment in school.  One day Uhuru came home with a science practice test.  She had scored about 20%.  She was determined to study because the teacher said anyone who scored less than 80% on the final test would be caned.  (She scraped through with an 80%.)

4)  Information like test scores that would be private in the US are public in Kenya.  In fact, the semester final exam scores of every student in the school are posted outside the head teacher’s office for all visitors to see.

5)  There is a lot of rote memorization.  Students copy passages and information from the teacher and then put the information on their tests.  In math students in the United States draw pictures and use models to understand how to multiply fractions and why the method works.  In Kenya, students are taught: “multiply the top and bottom.”

Mercy and Hilda, two of Uhuru's classmates, studying.

6)  Kenyan students are very dedicated.  On my morning runs I would see Kenyan students walking to school at 6AM.  The distance they walked varied quite a bit, but many walked several miles.  Boarding students at Salaba are up before 5AM.  During the time between terms there is a special session called “tuition.”  During tuition students are in class from 6AM-9PM.

7)  Students take on other responsibilities.  Boarding students must wash their clothes by hand.  Students living at home do chores and help care for their siblings.

8)  No pampering.  In the assembly, the head teacher addressed two issues: “Look at your shoes.  Look at your shirts.  You are dirty.  You have time in the afternoon before supper.  You need to wash your clothes.  Wash your shoes.”  “The examination results for Standard 7 are not good.  You need to study more.”  Messages are not sugar-coated.  Grade inflation does not exist in Kenya.  The 2009 secondary school graduation scores for the Keiyo district are shown below: 2568 students took the exam.  6 students earned A’s and 34 earned A-‘s.  C+ is considered the pass mark to enter university.

9)  There are huge variations in access to quality education in Kenya.  Students who earn A’s and A-‘s on their secondary exams earn a full scholarship to university.  This should allow children from all over Kenya to access higher education, but the top universities are dominated by the wealthier children from urban areas.  There are huge differences in the funding and quality of schools in Kenya.  The 2009 analysis above shows that not one student from the bottom two schools passed the exam.

10)  There is a huge teacher shortage in Kenya.  In some schools there is not always money for salaries, or the school may run out of money.  I read an article in the newspaper written by a teacher.  He wrote that the head teacher admonished two teachers: “You need to have your lesson plans in order.”  The teachers responded “We have not been paid for three months.  Once we are paid, we will put our plans in order.”

Classroom.  Not many supplies!

11)  Even the wealthier schools, like Salaba Academy, have little compared to American schools.  Salaba actually had a computer lab with about 15 PCs.  But the standard classroom had desks and a blackboard painted on the wall.  That’s it.  We complain about school funding in the US, but even the most run down school in the US looks like a palace compared to most schools in Kenya.

Running with the Somalis

It’s July 4^th and we’re at home in Ellensburg.  We spent the entire month of June traveling, first in Kenya and then in Greece.  We arrived home on Thursday after a long day that started in Athens and ended here.  It’s good to be home.  Uhuru is reconnecting with friends and animals.  Apollo is reconnecting with friends and pursuing several passions: taking things apart, baking, and water fights.  Carey and I are enjoying seeing friends again and trying to simplify our lives.  After living with a small set of possessions for almost 4 months, we arrived home and thought “why do we have all this stuff?”

I didn’t get much posted on the blog in June.  It seemed that these three factors never came together: internet access, charged computer batteries, and time.  I’ve got several more reflections on Kenya and also on Greece that I want to post.  I figure I’ll try to post them over the next couple weeks.  After all, this blog has been like a journal and since returning home I’ve had lots of people tell me they’ve enjoyed it.  So, without further ado, another blog entry: Running with the Somalis.

Runners from all over Kenya, all over Africa, and all over the world come to Iten to train.  We had three neighbors from Somalia.  They were very friendly and had different backgrounds.

Abdi (Netherlands-Somalia), Rashid (Kenya) and Mohammed (Somalia) on a recovery jog

Abdi was living in our house when we arrived.  We moved into two empty bedrooms and Abdi stayed in the third while we were there.  Abdi is 21; he left Somalia when he was a small child and moved to the Netherlands where he is now a citizen.  (At the time there were both widespread famine and battles between warlords in Somalia.)  He played soccer until he was 18.  One summer his coach told him to run to keep in shape.  After one week of running a friend convinced him to do a 5k.  He won in just over 17 minutes.  Then next week he did another in about 16:20.  The next week, his third week running, he ran 15:50.  He decided to switch from soccer to running.  He has since run about 13:40 for 5k and 29:10 for 10k.

Abdi was very knowledgable about running and exercise.  One day while doing core exercises he spent several minutes helping another neighbor perform “Jane Fondas,” a core strength exercise, with proper form.  Although he often ran very hard, he was careful to take his easy days easy.  “If you run with the group every day, you will become overtrained or injured.  Someone in the group was resting yesterday and they will push the pace today.  When it is supposed to be an easy run, take it easy.”  I went on several easier runs and some hill workouts with Abdi.  I figured there wasn’t much point in doing the harder runs with him because we are such different speeds.  But one time we went on a run that kept speeding up.  I got dropped and Abdi kept speeding up and finished well under 5 minute/mile pace.  After a few weeks Abdi went back to the Netherlands for a few weeks to race.

Abdi returned with two friends: Mohammed and Bashir, both also 21.  Bashir had left Somalia as a child and moved to Belgium.  Mohammed had only left a year and a half ago.  It was their first time training in Kenya.  Mohammed moved into the room in our house and Abdi and Bashir stayed in a new apartment about 20ft from our front door.  The first week they were there Osama Bin Laden was killed.  Mohammed, who had left Somalia most recently, was very happy.  He said there was a recent influx of Islamic extremists into Somalia, and that is a large part of why he left.  He said that terrorists make it so hard for him: “I mean, my name is Mohammed!  These terrorists make people suspicious of me.”

Mohammed, Abdi, Yusef (Kenyan Neighbor), and Bashir offering to share their dinner.

Mohammed, Bashir and Abdi were generous neighbors.  Abdi bought a goat and had a barbeque.  They shared the meat with us.  Another day they came back from Eldoret, a larger city, and were excited to report that they had found someone selling camel milk.  They brought back a gallon, and shared it with us.  (I couldn’t tell much difference, but we drank it with tea so that might have masked subtleties.)  Bashir had a stomach ache, and he thought the camel milk would help.  His stomach ache persisted, so I don’t think it did.  They invited us for tea or to share meals often.  The Somalis serve their meals in a large serving dish.  Everyone washes their hands and then eats from the communal plate.  I joked that “if one person is sick, everyone is sick.”

Abdi, Mohammed (in the plastic bag shirt), and Bashir

In many ways, a 21-year old Somali is like a 21-year old anywhere.  They listed to hip-hop (sometimes in English, sometimes in Arabic.)   They watched Adam Sandler movies that Abdi had on his laptop.  They are on facebook.  They had silly ideas sometimes: one day Mohammed decided that if he ran wearing a plastic bag for a shirt he would lose weight.

Like the Kenyans, they were totally dedicated to their running.  They usually trained twice a day, and really focused on resting in between.  I went with them to the track one day and as they did their last workout before returning to Europe (this was about 4 days before a race): 3x800, 3x600, 3x300.  They were training with a New Zealander, a Sudanese guy, and several Kenyans.  It’s a good thing I didn’t try to run with them, because they were flying!

They got back and raced.  Bashir and Mohammed got new 5k PRs in 13:50.  Abdi was a few seconds behind, but he was ahead of them the next week.  These times are national level, but all these athletes need to get into the 13:10s to qualify for world events.  But perhaps we’ll see them representing Somalia, Belgium, or the Netherlands a year or two down the road.

Environment and Public Health in Keiyo County

David Komen (left) and Commissioner Joseph Kipsaina (right)

     I visited the Keiyo County Council building and met with David Komen, who heads the Environment and Wildlife department.  The department has a huge range of responsibilities, ranging from environmental management to public health.

Native forest just above Iten's water supply.  Notice the cleared area and farm on right.

     I asked David what considered the major environmental issue in the area.  He replied that it was deforestation in water catchment areas.  Growing population has pushed people to clear forest for farming.  The forests are necessary to provide dependable clean water.  Significant surface erosion can occur after clearing.  The Keiyo County Council does not have a lot of power to prevent people from cutting the forest.  But the council does try to encourage farmers to plant trees and operates a tree nursery.  There is a permit system for gathering firewood, but there are problems with people cutting trees at night.  Komen hopes to build community ownership in the forests.

     A huge part of David’s job involves public health.  A major project he is working on is jigger treatment.  Jiggers are a parasitic flea.  Females burrow into the flesh of a person (usually on the foot) and feed on the human.  The jigger becomes engorged and can grow to pea sized.  The jigger is extremely painful, and can cause secondary infections.  Jiggers are a problem at the higher altitudes in very poor areas.  People who have no shoes and live in mud huts with dirt floors are most susceptible.

Community Action Day in rural village (photo courtesy Keiyo County Council)

    David organized a series of “Community Action Days” for treatment of people affected by jiggers.  The goal is to hold an event where hundreds of people come to a town meeting.  The jiggers can be killed by a 15 minute soak in a Lysol solution.  Surgical equipment is necessary to manually remove jiggers as well.  People need to be educated about prevention of future infection, which mostly means Cleaning supplies are provided for people to clean their dirt floors.

Children receiving treatment for jiggers (photo courtesy Keiyo County Council)

     The visits serve many purposes.  David also performs HIV education, distributes condoms, gives medication for intestinal infections, discusses sanitation, water quality and tuberculosis.  David also organizes community health days in lower elevations that are not affected by jiggers.  The focus is slightly different including malaria and distribution of mosquito nets for beds.  Malaria is not present at higher elevations, and jiggers are not present at lower elevations.

     Funding for these community health days comes from a variety of sources.  David showed me an application to the regional government for funding.  Condoms were provided by the Global Fund Program.  Non-governmental organizations in Kenya and abroad also provide funding.  One community health day costs about $2000.  David has a wide range of responsibilities and limited funding.  Looking after the environment and public health of an entire county is a huge job.  But David's efforts result in real benefits to some of the poorest people in Kenya.

Person with severe jigger infestation receiving treatment. (photo courtesy Keiyo County Council)

Child Labor and Water at Lake Naivasha

Delivering Water on the Naivasha Road

We are staying at Lake Naivasha, a large freshwater lake in the Rift Valley about 100km from Nairobi.  There is a huge industry here in flowers for export to Europe.  Huge flower greenhouses mark the flower farms in the area.  These farms use water from Lake Naivasha for irrigation.  There is also a large tourism industry, with several VERY expensive lodges.

Despite the proximity to a large freshwater lake, domestic water is an big issue here.  While running along the lake road, both Carey and I noticed large numbers of people filling jerricans with water.  People load the cans on bikes or donkeys to deliver to homes.

Last night I was reading the September 2010 edition of Naivasha News and I came across an article “Concern as Child Labor Hits Alarming Levels in Naivasha.” The article talked about the number of children 10 years old or younger working delivering water to houses.  A 20 liter delivered jerrican costs about 7 shillings, or about 10 cents.  A child can earn up to 400 shillings in a good day.  The article told the story of David Kimani, who dropped out of school in third grade when his mother lost her job.  Because David’s father is not around, David is the eldest male and therefore feels it is his responsibility to support the family for rent and food.  The water shortage in the area makes water delivery a lucrative business.

District Children officer Peter Kabuagi says that many children displaced in the post-election violence of 2008 have not returned to school.  They are working wherever they can.   Kabuagi says that there has been a sharp increase in the children who are involved in child labor.

Kabuagi also blames the flower farms for paying inadequate wages which do not allow men to provide for their families.  The number of people working in the farms struck me this morning.  I ran at 6AM and was surprised by the “rush hour” I found myself in.  Hundreds of flower farm workers were walking, bicycling, or being bussed to work.  By 7AM the streets were deserted again.

The child labor problem in Naivasha illustrates the complicated interplay of several causal factors: poverty, water shortage, post-election violence, and inadequate compensation for commodities for the first world.  This is another example where the people who are the worst affected are the poorest and youngest.

Athletics Kenya Meet at Kamariny

Womens' 5000m Final on Friday (There were no prelims)

Last weekend was the Athletics Kenya meet at Kamariny track.  It’s really something to have a world class meet at my local track.  Many of the top Kenyans were racing in the Diamond League meets in Europe, but this is Kenya, so there was plenty of talent on hand (world half marathon champion Wilson Kiprop, for example).  Most of the top people came through the ranks and raced this race in the past, so some of the people in this meet will likely be heard from internationally in the future.

The interesting thing about this meet for me was to see the range of speeds of the Kenyans.  When I am running behind them, the Kenyans all seem more or less equally incredible.  After all, they can all leave me behind on a run they call “moderate.”  But seeing them race and even lap each other showed how different they are.  I suppose it’s like seeing a bunch of superheroes battle it out.  Superman might win, but even Robin is amazing.

On the first day I arrived on Kenya time and didn’t see the whole meet.  We arrived during the men’s 1500 heats which were won in around 3:50.  Remember this is Kamariny, a slightly long dirt track at 8000ft altitude, so that would be in the mid-3:30s on a modern track at sea level.  But there was always a runner or two struggling in far behind the pack in 4:30-4:50.  The next event, the womens’ 5000m, really showed a spread.  Margaret Masai, little sister of world 5000m champion Linet Masai, won in 16:51.  She lapped about half the runners, most of whom had dropped out at this point.   The men’s 5000m preliminaries were similar, with winning times around 14:20 but there was always someone finishing way behind in about 16:40.  I hope I would have been duking it out with these guys if I’d raced.  Godfrey pointed out a runner who had run 13:01 in Europe; today he ran about 14:30.  (I told you this track is difficult!)  Even in the finals, which were won in about 14:07, one runner was almost lapped. 

So then I started thinking that I should have raced!  I would have been lapped in the 5k for sure, but I might not have been dead last… But I ran hard yesterday.  Registration was free and open to anyone.

Well, the other problem with racing is the quick pace.  All the mens’ 1500s went out in about 55 seconds.  Although the last place people (I kept track of them) in the 5000 finished averaging about 80 seconds per lap, they all started with about a 70 second lap.  I would have really stood out if I’d run an 80 second first lap!!

Men's 5000m Final on Saturday

There was a huge difference between the numbers of men and women participating.  There were 4 heats in the men’s 5000m, with about 140 total runners, but there was only one final of the women’s 5000m.  There were about 9 heats of the 1500m, but only about 3 for the women.  There just aren’t as many women running here.  A woman has a better chance of winning prize money because the field isn’t as strong.  But there are a lot of challenges facing women runners, including a lot of chores at home and a culture that hasn’t traditionally encouraged women athletes.  I hope there is more gender equity in athletics in the future; there is no TITLE IX in Kenya.

Many times world champion Vivian Cheruiyot being introduced to the crowd.  She wasn't racing.

There were many stars on hand who were not racing or retired.  Many times world champion Vivian Cheruiyot, 3000m world record holder Daniel Komen, and multiple time Boston Winner Ibraham Hussein were just three of the dignitaries introduced.  There are several people at this meet who, if they were American, would might be considered the "greatest American distance runner ever."  The young runners can see the great runners all around them.  They can see that they are human, and not even all that rare around here.  I think that makes it easy for the young runners to believe that they can become great runners as well.

The headline in Monday’s newspaper was “Juniors Prove Their Mettle at Kamariny Meet,” as several of the winners were about 20.  We’ll probably be hearing several of these names in the future.

The Science: Groundwater and Surface Water

Collecting a sample from a well.

The scientific side of our trip to Kenya is a research project involves a study of precipitation, surface water, and groundwater.  Carey is also working on writing up papers, one of which involves (guess what?) studies of precipitation, surface water, and groundwater in Kittitas Valley.  I am also working on looking at the resource use and environmental impact of Kenyans.

Our project is aimed at answering two questions: How does the chemistry of the water change as it travels through the ground?  How do the changes in chemistry tell us about how the water interacts with surface water and travels through the ground?

A residential borehole with precious water about 10m below ground level.

First of all, why should we care about this?  Access to adequate clean water is a basic human need.  We use water not just for drinking, but for agriculture and food production.  According to the World Bank, in 2007 1.1 billion people do not have access to sufficient water for basic health.  The World Bank estimates that 50% of the world’s population will live “under conditions of severe water stress,” with most of these people living in Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia.  Even in developed areas like Kittitas Valley, water rights are fiercely fought over.  Groundwater accounts for almost one third (most of the other two-thirds is ice) of the freshwater on Earth, but because it is underground, it is difficult to study.  In Washington State, the Department of Ecology has ordered studies of the impact of groundwater use on surface water.  Understanding how groundwater moves is a key part of understanding this important water resource.

Another reason understanding groundwater is important is that groundwater plays a role in moving elements around the Earth in what are called biogeochemical cycles.  For example, some of the elements in the ocean that make it “salty” came from chemical weathering of rocks on land by water.  Understanding groundwater is important to understanding how elements move through Earth systems.

Carey recording GPS coordinates after sampling a river.

In our study we will sample precipitation, wells, streams and lakes in the Iten area.  We will bring these samples back to the U.S. to analyze them for their isotopic and elemental composition.  Isotopes are atoms of the same element with different numbers of neutrons.  Water is H₂O, but there are three different isotopes of oxygen.  As water moves through the ground and interacts with soil and rocks or when different water bodies mix, the amount of these different isotopes can changes.   The water also dissolves elements from the rocks and soils.  By comparing the precipitation with the groundwater, we can surmise how long the water was in the ground and what types of rocks it interacted with.

For example, if the precipitation contains very little sodium and the groundwater contains a lot of sodium, the water interacted with rocks containing sodium.  If the surface rocks contain very little sodium, then the water must have traveled to a deeper layer.  Streams and lakes have different isotopic compositions; measuring the groundwater's isotopic composition can indicate where that water infiltrated the ground.  In a way, our chemical analysis is like an “x-ray” that shows the way water moves where we can’t actually see it (it just doesn’t make a neat picture.)

So we have been scouring the countryside, looking for water.  Locals have been very helpful in pointing us to springs, rivers, and lakes.  We also have a precipitation collector made from a 2-liter pop bottle (I can imagine all the 9^th graders remembering their precipitation projects!).  Whenever it rains we collect the precipitation for analysis.

Pipes (there are about 8 here) bring water for household and irrigation.  This location is on a bench about 200m down the rift valley.  Next to the people are banana trees.

Water availability is a common topic of conversation here, and access to purified water is the exception rather than the rule.  Many people spend a lot of time and effort carrying water from a spring to their house, or installing pipes to bring water.   It will be interesting to learn more about the behavior of the natural water system that these people depend on. 

Lake Victoria and Tea Country

                This weekend we (our family and Paul Bergman) made the trip to Kisumu, on the shores of Lake Victoria.  We made the tourist stop at the equator sign.  We had to try three hotels before we found one that had two available rooms.  We spotted a bakery and chose a variety of treats for dinner.

                The next morning we went to the Impala Sanctuary on the Lake.  The sanctuary is more like a zoo, with lions, a leopard, hyena, baboons, monkeys, ostriches, parrots, and more in large enclosures.  There is a herd of impala who wander freely about the sanctuary grounds.  We met a young student who was studying to become a biologist.  He let us into the cheetah cage and we got to pet the cheetah.

                In some ways a cheetahs are more like dogs.  They have coarse hair and their claws are not retractable.  But they have a deep and loud purr that is definitely cat.  The two cheetahs clearly enjoyed the attention, and one began playfully biting our friends hand in a kitten-like fashion.  For Uhuru, who enjoys all things cat-related, this was a real treat.

Apollo's favorite animal here, the hyena

                We took a boat ride on the lake.  Lake Victoria is the world’s second largest freshwater lake, but it is nowhere deeper than 81m.  Our guide told us that a recent re-survey showed that it is now only 68 meters deep at the deepest due to sedimentation.  We were only on Winam Gulf, a “small” bay, yet the lake stretched nearly to the horizon.  One of the lake’s problems is the introduced water hyacinth, which appeared in the lake in the 1980s.  Water hyacinth is the cheatgrass of Lake Victoria, and is choking the shores of the lake.  We saw hippos, fisherman, and many birds.

Water Hyacinth, Lake Victoria's answer to cheatgrass and knapweed

                After a bakery lunch, we headed home via Kericho, Kenya’s tea center.  The dependable afternoon showers that are so good for tea arrived shortly after we did.  We enjoyed some chai and mandazi (like a donut) while the rain fell.

                Our drive back to Iten took us down from Kericho and back up through a spectacular road through the Nandi Hills.  The Nandi Hills are also tea country, and in retrospect we should have come here instead of taking the time to go to Kericho.

Tea field in Nandi Hills

                We ended up finishing the drive in the dark, which was an adventure in itself.  The middle of the road is not marked, and many Kenyan drivers seem to think they are saving energy by driving with their lights off.  Others seem to want to demonstrate to all oncoming traffic how bright their high beams are.  The most scary thing is the “invisible cyclists,” cyclists riding on the edge of the narrow road in the pitch dark wearing dark clothes and no reflective gear at all.  The only way I could even see these people was if their silhouette happened to show in the lights of an oncoming car.  Somehow we made it back without hurting anyone.

The Dark Side of Kenyan Running

                Since we have been here there have been two deaths of high profile runners.  The night before Easter Peter Cherus drove off the road a few kilometers from Iten.  Then, last Sunday, Samuel Wanjiru fell from his balcony.  Both deaths illustrate a darker side of Kenyan running.

                Peter Cherus was a world class runner who was best known for pacing two world record marathons (run by Paul Tergat and Haile Gebrselassie).  He was about 30, with three young children.  He was drinking with some friends in Tambach, about 10 km down a windy road from Iten.  He left alone and drove off the road.

                Samuel Wanjiru was the 2008 Olympic gold medalist and one of the top names in modern running.  His death was reported all over the world.  Wanjiru had two young children.  Wanjiru reportedly lived a decadent lifestyle, picking up the tab for many of his drinking buddies and sometimes spending over $500 an evening.  His coaches reported that he was always up early and working hard in training.  He had reportedly wrecked several cars. 

                The circumstances surrounding Wanjiru’s death are still under investigation, but many Kenyans feel that the investigation will be corrupt.  The media reported that Wanjiru was at home at his house with a “lady friend.”  His wife returned home unexpectedly and locked Wanjiru and the lady friend in the bedroom.   Wanjiru then fell from the balcony, which was about 10 feet above a concrete patio, sustaining fatal internal injuries.

                I wrote previously that for Kenyans, running is like the lottery.  When a person wins the lottery, he or she is rich beyond any of their peers.  Kenyan runners who have had to manage on only a dollar or two a day suddenly have hundreds times that. Many runners who have made it internationally have abused alcohol and ended up in poverty.  This is not a recent phenomenon.  Henry Rono broke 4 world records in the spring of 1978 while at Washington State University.  He became alcoholic and homeless.  He recently made a comeback, training to break the age group world record for the mile.

                A recent editorial in Kenya’s Daily Nation argued that athletics coaches and managers need to teach athletes how to manage their wealth.   There are plenty of positive role models.  Many runners use their winnings to found schools and charities.

                I asked Peter Langerhorst, who is a former manager living in Kenya, if Wanjiru’s death would change anything.  He was skeptical.  He argued that all the young guys still want to make it.  They don’t believe it will happen to them, and once they are rich they won’t necessarily listen.  In many ways the situation isn’t different than with American professional athletes in major sports like football, baseball, and basketball.  These athletes are ridiculously rich, and some don’t handle it well.  American runners aren’t ridiculously rich by American standards.  But an international runner is rich by Kenyan standards.

                For now, we can hope for the best for the runners’ families as they deal with their losses.

Matatus

Local transportation in Kenya consists largely of matatus, which are minivans or pickup trucks.  Well, actually most transportation is on foot.  But for trips that are farther than walking distance, a matatu is the option for most Kenyans.  What is walking distance?  That depends how much money a person has.  Some people will walk miles and miles, while others will take a matatu for a trip of only a mile.  Car prices are similar to car prices in the developed world, so a private car is out of reach of the vast majority of Kenyans.

Modern matatus are usually a minivan that holds 9 people, 3 in the front, 3 in the middle, and three in the back.  There are laws that require one seat belt per passenger, and there are police checkpoints to make sure there are an appropriate number of passengers in the vehicle.  The passengers don’t have to be wearing the seatbelts though…

Matatu operators sometimes dodge these checkpoints.  There is frequently a checkpoint at a switchback on the road heading east from Iten.  A few weeks ago I was in a minivan with about a dozen people.  The driver stopped above the switchback and 3 people got out and walked down a trail that skipped the switchback.  We passed the checkpoint and picked up the passengers.

We were in one matatu that had about 16 people on board.  There were two in the driver’s seat!  This was on a minor road, so we had counted ourselves lucky to get a vehicle in the first place.  Apparently so did all the other folks!

Two in the drivers seat.  I think the guy on the right is actually driving!

Most matatus have a staff of two: a driver and a conductor.  The conductor opens and shuts the doors and collects the fares.  Somehow he (I’ve yet to see a female driver or conductor) remembers where everyone got on and off and charges the correct fare.  The fares are standard and we have not been overcharged for matatu rides.  The conductor alerts the driver to start moving by hitting the outside of the vehicle.  Invariably, the conductor is still standing on the ground.  As the vehicle starts the conductor jumps on and closes the door.  When the matatu gets filled the conductor often stands with his butt to the door, bent over, closing the door behind his back as the matatu roars down the road.

Some matatus are “direct.”  If we want to travel quickly to Eldoret, a major city about 30km from us, we will walk to the center of town and catch a direct matatu.   Alternatively, we can stand beside the road just about anywhere and flag down a matatu.  On our road the average wait time is about 3 minutes.  These “local” matatus will stop frequently to pick up and drop passengers, so the trip to Eldoret might take a little longer.

A matatu will rarely leave a city empty.  A direct matatu will always be full, so sometimes we have sat in a matatu waiting for others to arrive to fill all the seats.  Now there seems to be an informal line so that matatus fill in order.

Old Style Matatu- still loading more people!

Carey’s experiences with matatus in the 1980s sound more like the wild west.  Matatus were the old truck type.  There are a few of these around still, and it looks like about 25 people can fit in the covered back of an old pickup truck.  Conductors would compete to herd potential passengers into their matatu.  Occasionally there would be “decoy” passengers to make Carey think the vehicle was about to leave.  Once she got in, the “decoy” passengers would leave.  Once the driver started the packed matatu and then slammed on the brakes.  As everyone slid forward in the back of the pickup, the conductor squeezed a few more people in.

The safety record of matatus is not great.  Our friend Anders observed “Kenyans never seem to be in a rush unless they’re behind the wheel of a matatu.”  We’ve heard many stories of people being injured or killed in matatu accidents.  The new laws have increased safety, but some of these drivers are very aggressive.  Kenyan roads are not well marked or maintained.

Overall, the matatu network is quite effective.  We have not spent much time waiting, and are able to go just about wherever we want.  Our per capita fuel economy is high, as matatus usually have a lot of people on board.  The cost of transportation is much lower than buying, fueling, and maintaining a car.  I wonder if some kind of system could be adapted to the U.S.  We really like our cars and our independence in the U.S., but driving all over the place with one person in a car is a big part of our environmental impact.  But the thing that makes the matatu network function is that nearly everyone uses it.  If half the people used it, the wait times would be twice as long.  The root of the matatu system is a country where people can’t afford private cars.  But that also means that Kenyans spend a lot less and have a smaller environmental impact than Americans getting from place to place.

Running as a Career

“Why are the Kenyans runners so good?” is a question that has been asked thousands of times.  Some part of the answer to this lies in the economics of running.  In Kenya, running is a career choice.  Almost every runner here is trying to run professionally.  In a country where the per capita GDP is about $1600, the average person is living on about $5 per day.  Many are living on significantly less than that.  The prize money from a major road race can be $10,000.  A major marathon win can bring in $250,000 not counting appearance fees and sponsorships.  Dedicating several years of time to training seriously can pay off for the fortunate ones.  In the U.S. a post collegiate athlete who decides to postpone a career to pursue athletics is taking a serious pay cut.  In Kenya, the aspiring athlete is pursuing a financial opportunity unavailable to them in any other endeavor.  In Iten almost everyone with a fancy car is a successful international runner.  The richest people, those who own the businesses and have founded schools, are runners.

My neighbors are fully dedicated to running.  Their days are filled with running, resting for the next run, eating to fuel up for the next run, more running, more resting, more eating, etc.  These athletes train two or three times a day.  I met Daniel Kipkoech whom I had started with at the Columbus Marathon a couple years ago (I won’t say raced with, because he was a minute ahead of me by the mile mark!).  He said he would come visit us sometime.  After about 4 weeks, he did.  He lives about 600m away.  He said he hadn’t walked to town here in that time; his training was so hard that he needed to rest for the next session.  He is headed to Italy this week for racing.  Although many people take Sunday off, many others treat it as a light day.  One runner I talked to said Sunday was a rest day because he ran only once!

Training hard is exhausting.  I used to think that being a professional athlete would be a dream career.  Now I am pretty thankful for my job.  After all, there are not hundreds of people doing everything in their power to take my teaching job!  And, as tiring as teaching is, it is not as exhausting as full-time training.

A career in running is a bit like lottery ticket, but the odds are probably better for the runners.  Still, there are many runners who will not make it out of Kenya, as there are many who will never win the lottery.  I figure any man I pass in a hard workout is not going to make it (and of course many who are far faster than me will never make it).  When I introduce myself as a runner here, I tell people that “I am not a professional.  If I were a professional I would be starving!”  (I am pretty much the slowest man out there.)

The racing season is really getting underway.  There are European track races, American road races, spring marathons and half marathons.  I went to a group workout the other day.  Where there were about 150 runners in early April, there were about 60 runners now. These races are the payday for all the tough miles run over the hills at altitude over all those years of dedicated training.

So, why are the Kenyans so fast?  There are no recreational runners here.  The only Kenyans I see running here are full time runners whose whole life is dedicated to being fast.  The only Kenyans you will see running in the United States are the very fastest of those dedicated runners.

School Meets

Girls 3000m at the primary school meet

In the past two days we saw two school meets: a primary school meet and a secondary school meet.  As the Ellensburg Track teams have districts, regionals, and state, I thought it would be interesting to share my impressions of meets on the other side of the world.

The primary school meet was held at Uhuru and Apollo’s school, Salaba Academy.  About 3 other primary schools attended.  The event began at 11:00.  Classes were held until about 10:30.  Primary school means standard 1-8, which is the same as grades 1-8.  However, especially at public schools, there are many students who are “old” for their grade.  It can be hard for families to raise school fees, and sometimes children stay at home to work.  One of Apollo’s friends, Alan, is 13 and is in 5^th grade.  Some of the primary school students from other schools looked to be almost 18!

The teachers had painted lane lines around a grassy field.  The field wasn’t quite large enough for a 400m track, so it was perhaps 350m.  The field, which is also used for soccer, has a distinctly uphill side.  The surface is fairly uneven.  The 100m was held on the uphill portion of the track.

The girls 3000m began with a mad dash for the first lap.  Soon, students began dropping out.  About half the field dropped out!  As in all the races, only one or two students wore shoes, and all the students wore their school uniforms.  The girl who won took of a sweater with about a lap to go.  I didn’t catch her time (and of course I’m not sure about the distance), but she looked like she would make the Ellensburg varsity cross country team.

Boys run the uphill side of the track during the 800m at the primary school meet.

In the boys 3000m a young man with shoes, running shorts, and a hi-tech shirt sprinted to the front.  He was absolutely flying.  Although he slowed during the race, he still lapped nearly the entire field.  He looked to be much older than the other boys, and some of the teachers said he was training already.  He also won the 800m later.  It was good that Apollo didn’t run; it would be like an 8 year old entering a high school race!

The hurdling kung fu high jump technique.  When you have to land on your feet.

The equipment for the field events was different than in the U.S.  The javelin was a sharpened stick.  I saw one of the officials get hit with it.  Fortunately he was not hurt.  The shot put was a large brick.  The discus was a flat slab of concrete.  The high jump was amazing to watch.  The landing was dirt which was harder that the long jump sand.  Students had to land feet first.  Still, they would run full bore and leap, lifting their feet up in a kung-fu-esque maneuver and clear the stick.  They were jumping over 5 feet with this technique!

Tambach Track

The secondary school meet was much better equipped.  This event was the Rift Valley Junior Championships.  It was held at Tambach Teacher’s College, about 10km from Iten and at a lower (but still over a mile high) altitude.  The Tambach track, although still dirt, is a 400m track and the surface is in significantly better shape than Kamariny in Iten.  It's a little strange to explain that there are two all weather tracks in Ellensburg, the same number as in the entire country of Kenya.  Brother Colm used to bring his elite athletes (including 800m world record holder David Rudisha) there to train, but rumor has it that the track is not open to the public for training.  There were actual javelins and a pole vault with mats (still a lot less mat than you’d see in the U.S.).

The wide range of athletes struck me.  There were athletes wearing their school uniform, which for girls meant a skirt.  Several athletes were barefoot.  There were also athletes with Kenya national team jerseys and the newest spikes.  These athletes had represented Kenya internationally, at world junior championships or African championships.  None of the athletes had school athletic uniforms; they wore whatever they had.  Numbers were handwritten on pieces of paper and stapled to their jersey.

Girls 110m Hurdles.  Only one athlete has shoes.

 The girls’ 3000m steeplechase was crazy to watch.  The first time over the water jump almost all the girls hurdled the rail and landed in the deepest part of the water.  They struggled out of the water, many falling and crawling out.  By the third lap they had all figured it out and were sailing over the water jump.  A friend pointed out that they might not have had access to a water jump to practice.  The winner ran 10:31; 3000m steeplechase times are roughly comparable to 2-mile times.

In the boys’ steeplechase one boy, barefooted and wearing the long shorts and button down shirt of his school uniform, was off the back the first lap.  As he approached the chaos of the water jump, he turned around and jogged off the track.  There was laughter and shouts from the crowd.  In the U.S. this kind of laughter would be seen as mocking and cruel.  I’ve learned that the Kenyans view this as laughing with you, not at you. 

Lead boys clear the water jump.

 The top boys, meanwhile, were flying.  Three boys formed a lead group, with one boy chasing a few seconds behind.  The winner broke away with 600m to go and ran 8:41, which remember, is roughly comparable to a 2-mile time.  He was of course, wearing a Kenya jersey.  I didn’t catch his name, but perhaps by the 2016 Olympics we’ll all know it.

Boys 800m.  Note stapled on paper numbers.

The boys 800m was won in 1:49; the girls in 2:13.  The relays tags were a little shaky, but still the 4x400m was run in 3:13 by the boys and 3:58 by the girls.  The second place girls team, all wearing skirts, ran 4:03.  Overall the secondary school meet was a very high level meet, but still there was a huge discrepancy between the future national team stars and those bringing up the rear.

Good luck to the Ellensburg Team in your upcoming school meets!