Brandeis student Paul Norton traveled to Kenya this past summer to intern with the KIMbia Foundation.  Below, we continue sharing his journal entries, which will run daily for the remainder of the 2009.

Perhaps American investment bankers (if any of them still exist) could learn a thing or two from Kenyan athletes.  Paul Koech and Lornah Kiplagat serve as two of many examples where Kenyan athletes have operated successful businesses while giving back to the community around them.

Paul Koech’s school, Silgich Hill Academy, is the best-run primary school in the area.  The facilities are superior, the teachers caring, smart, and thoughtful, and the food filling, consistent, and good-tasting.  Paul even has plans to build a library at Silgich that will serve all the primary schools in the area.  In addition, Paul’s wife Zipporah has formed a partnership with a local stationary store her friend owns.  This partnership allows Zipporah to buy school supplies very cheaply for all of the schools in the area. Read the full article

Brandeis student Paul Norton traveled to Kenya this past summer to intern with the KIMbia Foundation.  Below, we continue sharing his journal entries, which will run daily for the remainder of the 2009.

As an economics major, I am always fascinated by how things like money and banking work in other countries.  Earlier this afternoon, I received an unintended lesson about Kenyan banking.  I was sitting in the main house/common room/lounge area having a cup of tea and watching Kenyan music videos when Mike (one of my speedy training partners), Nyanye (Swahili for grandmother, and the only name I have heard the caretaker at Silgich referred to) and a few teachers trickled in.  For a while, all of us were sitting around talking, watching TV, sipping tea and eating snacks. After about a half an hour, the TV went off, and between the people around me 1500 Kenyan shillings (about $20) and a half a kilogram of sugar were put on the table.  As all of the conversation coinciding with this was in Swahili, I was a bit confused as to what was going on. Read the full article

Brandeis student Paul Norton traveled to Kenya this past summer to intern with the KIMbia Foundation.  Below, we continue sharing his journal entries, which will run daily for the remainder of the 2009.

MY FIRST RUN
“Swing Paul, swing!” was what I heard from Mike, a worker at Silgich who used to train at one of the famous Kenyan camps told me the last 200 meters of our run.  It might have been the hardest end of a run I’ve ever had.  You hear it all the time, but you don’t realize until you get there that this country is seeping with running talent.  The two men living next door to me are both workers at the school, but also happen to be semi-elite runners in their spare time.  Sammy ran 2:25 in his marathon debut at the Nairobi marathon, which is an impressive time to begin with, let alone the fact that it was at 5000 feet. Mike has run 14:20 for 5000 meters, and at 6000 feet. Read the full article

Brandeis student Paul Norton traveled to Kenya this past summer to intern with the KIMbia Foundation.  Below, we share the first of his journal entries, which, on Monday, will continue running daily.

ARRIVAL

It didn’t take me long to figure out that things are a little different here.  I have never stuck out so much in my life, and although my long journey to Silgich has gone very smoothly, it has also had some interesting twists and turns.  Driving has been frankly terrifying (I even got the authentic experience taking a matatu (bus) from Nairobi to Eldoret) and time is, well, all relative.  I’ll use today’s journey as an example. Read the full article

It’s hardly headline news to hear of great runners coming from Kenya, but in a bit of a twist, a summer spent in Kenya helped launch American Paul Norton of Brandeis to a Top 10 finish at the NCAA DIII National Championships in Cross Country on November 21st.  Working for the KIMbia Foundation as an intern, Norton crossed the Atlantic to support all of the Foundation’s programs, from our education initiatives to, most particularly, the Bother Colm HIV/AIDS Training Program that strives to fight HIV/AIDS in Kenya through increased awareness and the sponsorship of individuals needing medical treatment.  Along the way, Norton also had the opportunity to train with some of the finest athletes in the world, paving the way for his 7th-place finish at Nationals, and sharpening his own awareness of Kenyan life: Read the full article