he story of how I originally got to Kenya is convoluted; it was really by mistake. In 1995, I wanted to come to America, but a running friend of mine really wanted me to go to Kenya. He was from Ireland and he kept on saying "No, no, Kenya is the home of running - not America", so I turned up in Kenya and he didn't. I didn't know a single person on the continent, so I had to make friends quickly. Also, my luggage didn't arrive, so I was down on my luck. Fortunately on my first day, I met the national training team by pure coincidence and they took me in. They were really kind to me. Then I managed to get lost on the Masai Mara, but a group of German tourists wouldn't help me. Later that evening a group of local people, certainly with no money, killed their last hen for my dinner. These kind of bitter reflections and lessons that I got in Kenya made me realize I wanted to give something back.
nderneath my kitchen table back in Sweden I probably had 30 pairs of shoes, so I called a friend and told him to break into my apartment and send them to Kenya. With the help of Moses Tanui, who won the Boston Marathon in 1996, I started giving them out to runners and then sponsored a number of local races for young athletes - "Shoe Races" - to bring attention to, and raise money to help these young boys and girls succeed in this sport. It took many, many turns as you will see.
hile I was in Kenya in 2000, an unfortunate incident happened which played a pivotal role in changing the direction of my life. I was running along a beach by myself and stopped near two local men. Suddenly they jumped me: one had a bat and one had a machete. They knocked me down and I was unconscious for a few moments. They were trying to steal the shoes off my feet! I woke up and I had only one shoe left. After a struggle, I managed to grab the machete and they ran off. But the price of that one stolen shoe was a fractured skull and a life-long balance problem that curtailed my running career. The doctor said I was lucky to be alive.
fter months of fruitless training to get back into top form, combined with my inability to afford the extensive treatment that might have helped, I knew that my career as a professional athlete sponsored by shoe companies was over. So that one stolen shoe became the symbol for my organization SHOE4AFRICA, and the injury turned me to the more gratifying career that I have now taken up.
here were lots of good years working with Kenyan athletes and raising donations (often in the form of slightly used shoes by runners such as yourselves). But it was another traumatic story of violence and destruction that turned me to another direction and an expanded agenda.
arrived there about 3 weeks before the election and stayed till January, and then returned in March of 2008. I was working with groups of young athletes when the violence broke out, and we had to go into hiding at times to protect some of the young people from tribes on both sides from being killed. The worst of the worst that happened was practically next door; a church where a number of villagers (mostly women and children) had taken refuge, was burned to the ground by rival tribesmen, killing most of those inside.
e also learned that Lucas Sang, a renowned athlete and Moses Tanui's best friend, had been killed. I organized a major demonstration of runners from all the tribes. First I recruited two renowned athletes (Douglas Wakiihuri, World Marathon Champion in 1987 and Luke Kibet, World Marathon Champion in 2007) from rival tribes and 42 well known Kenyans runners, one from each tribe. They marched together under the Kenyan Flag followed by 600 school children waving Cyprus branches to promote a "Run for Peace". With the two "big names" involved, we managed to get good press coverage.
wo days later I visited the church that had been burned. There was nothing left but ashes and the gristly remains of the victims. A grieving woman was there praying. She had lost her 3-year-old daughter in the fire and kept saying, "There's a meaning for this." But I would not, could not accept this fatalistic notion. As I walked back into town, I was thinking what can I do? ... what good would rebuilding the church do? ... what to do? ...
hen I finally got back to town, I went into Moses Tanui's cafe and sat down. My friend Lornah came over to me and gave me a proposal to build a children's hospital, I thought "Wow, for this to come on a day like this." I remembered the Indian doctor who treated my head injury back in 2000 had also said, "There's a meaning for this." Next day I read a story in the paper on my best friend in New York, Anthony Edwards who played Nick "Goose" Bradshaw in "Top Gun", and had played a doctor in a TV series. There was a picture of him saying, "Come to my hospital." With that "invitation" I called him and asked if he would help, and he said sure! And so started the hospital project.
'm beginning to think there IS a meaning for this.
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From the Editor --
Toby wanted me to mention his appreciation for the many members of the New York Flyers (especially Jo Ann Mannino, Christine Morgenroth and Pat Duffy) who have been long time big supporters of the program.
Toby's web site: http://www.tanser.org/ |