A little diddy about Kipchoge and Phyllis Keino.
Africa. Kip....... age 5. Both parents deceased, he lived with his grandmother and a sister in a mud hut, no electricity, no running water........ school was 4 miles away. Nope. No bus. He ran. Barefoot, each way. Some days, he had to return to eat lunch, thus, 16 miles total, to and fro. "A normal African life," he deemed it.
Phyllis, at a young age, naturally inherited maternal instincts. Her family poor as well. "There were 6 of us, I had three brothers. Unfortunately, we lost three... one to Aids, one to suicide, and one to an accident. My stepmother had two boys and two girls. While we were poor, our family was stable. Because of us being so poor it made me want to help others one day. I ended up going to nursing school and that's where I developed a love for working with children."
Kip, he kept'a runnin. He stopped once at age 12, but only to climb a tree to spend the night. Otherwise, he would have been dinner for the cheetah that was chasing him. Once he made it out of school, he became policeman, and actually played rugby before he started his running career.
At age 22, Kip started his fer real running career, finishing eleventh in the three mile in the 1962 Commonwealth Games in Perth, Western Australia. He ran in the 5000 meter in the 1964 Olympics, only to finish 5th, one place outside of qualifying for the final. By the time the 1968 Olympics came around, Kip improved dramatically, including setting world records in the 3000 and the 5000.
In Mexico City, the Olympic site in '68, he entered the 1500 meter race, which, some US 'rummy' (aka World Record Holder) named Jim Ryan was heavily favored. Kip won, finishing 20 meters ahead of Ryan, the largest margin ever in the event, and, oh, he picked up a Silver in the 5000.
Not done yet, at the '72 Olympics in Munich, he was the flag bearer for Kenya in the opening ceremonies - oh, and he picked up Gold in the 3000 meter steeplechase and silver in the 1500. He retired from running in 1973.
Victor, this is OK and all, but, we too can rummage thru past Olympics and pick out many Tom, Dick or Sams who have done similar, get on with it wouldya. Eh, go choge on an avocado why don'tya?
Kip, met, fell madly in love with Phyllis, a nurse. One night on his police watch, he found two abandoned children - a little boy, 5, and his sister, 3. "They were so emaciated, hungry, they were eating earth by the roadside. I sought, gained permission to care for them and I took them home."
Phyllis asked Kip, "What is going to happen to these children. They don't have anything to eat, they don't have any clothes?" . . . 'and so she got them something to eat. Then she put them in the shower and cleaned them up. They were miserable. Then she got them something to wear. Later on there was worming, hair cut, all these other things. She did a good job . . . The boy is now a policeman, and the girl is a farmer's wife and mother to several children.
Help they did, and visions grew greater. In the 80's, the Keino's opened the Lewa's Childrens Home/Baraka Farm/Kipkeino School combo. Amazingly, in the years since, they've fostered over 600 children, there are currently 284 pupils in the high school they founded, and, 316 children in the primary bearing Kip's name.
Phyllis, when asked, what do you consider the most beneficial thing you've given these children? Education, food, family, a shelter, or, something else entirely?
"Life. All of that comes into it. I cannot describe it. Life must be the number one thing. Mothers abandon their children, and also there is poverty, and when children are going to school and they get pregnant they do not want to keep that child, and their parents do not want them to keep that child either. And you find the young girls abandoning their children, even at the hospital. Even grown up mothers don’t know what to do about it. It’s hard when there’s even one more person to feed, there’s no food and then they need to eat well and it’s difficult. A common age for a woman to give birth is 14, very young mothers."
The operations are funded by both their own money, donations, alignment with groups such as AfricanRelief... the kids always have food as they too help with the farm. The kids come in all shapes, sizes, ages, and, sadly, sometimes, in poor health. Many other homes in Africa turn away HIV positive, Sickle Cell Anemia or kids with heart problems, thus, the Keino's take them in.
The Keino's, citing differing opines on how to utilize all the facilities separated awhile back, but, each division has grown, enhanced, and, has remained open since and obviously, their joint care and concern has not waned. As age is setting in, they now work with the Government in trying to find adequate fosters for every child that becomes available and they are still highly involved in the screening process.
A little diddy about Kipchoge and Phyllis Keino, two African kids doin' the best that they can.
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