Monday!
Another day started with a run for Beth and Danna, before the sun woke up. 5:45am out in the tarmac main road through Iten, we were greeted with runners of all kinds already getting their kilometers in. Due to an earlier departure to Eldoret for an athlete clinic, we were up and ‘em early had more company than any other part of the world at such an hour. Comically, it was only a fraction of the Iten population who would eventually be out on the paths with run shoes on.
The drive to Eldoret never disappoints with what we witness. From weaving motos carrying everything from coaches to insane amounts of rice bags, donkeys in sets of 3 pulling carts of produce, school bus vans with children, and vehicles packed with carpooling workers to job sites…the Kenyan commute is unique.
In Eldoret our RTR Team met with Moses, local coach and head of FCA (Fellowship Of Christian Athletes) in the area, who shared our clinic evaluation services with his coaching and athletes in the Eldoret community. RTR frequents visits with Moses and his outreach and our veteran RTR members enjoyed reuniting with him. Our 3 physicians (Dr. Tracy, Dr. Chad, Dr. Carole) performed evaluations in outdoor tents while Beth, Danna, and Virginia carried out therapy services on the outdoor basketball court for the various sport athletes who came to see us. We met 18 male and female basketball and futbol and running athletes and enjoyed getting provider assessments, treatment, and faith filled guidance for their struggles now and the light ahead for each athlete. The gratitude and appreciation for our work continues to shine through these amazing humans and it is so humbling to witness the maturity they have for a world so big.
A key member of the RTR Team and Kenya roots is Kip Byron. He serves as the Director of Operations for RTR in Kenya and continues to be the voice and control center for where we go, when, and always carries a zest for everyone he interacts with. Kip also serves as director of the elite professional training group KIPRUN in Iten and has graciously connected us with his runners for training partners already this week and injury guidance and education. Certain people in life can make you feel like you have known them forever… Kip is beyond that. Papa Kip is a hugger, a joker, horrible at time management, while making time for the right things for the right reasons. He is a true gift to our team and the entire Iten community.
A quick stop back at home for Mama Mary’s home cooked lunch of spaghetti vegetable noodles, coleslaw, and cooked pumpkin before our 5 minute walk down the road to Iten Community Referral Hospital for our daily afternoon clinic. Here we serve local runners of all levels who learned of us through their coaches we met our first evening in Iten. We continue to run a similar flow of 3 physicians evaluating and 3 therapists providing education and rehabilitation exercises that each athlete has access to moving forward from our RTR website portal.
We continue to feel God’s presence with each athlete and individual we have had the opportunity to meet with today. The ability to combine faith, run passion, medical profession, and fellowship with friends for an entire week is an opportunity that doesn’t come around often – if at all, in a lifetime. We are all so grateful for the good God is working through us and our mindfulness for the welfare of others.
Our final stop away from home tonight was a walk to the KIPRUN house camp, tour led by none other than Papa Kip himself. The pride he has for the athletes and the continued devotion to their profession in sport shines so bright. The athletes are young, vibrant, and will be fun to follow as they continue to develop with goals of moving up in the ranks of Kenya Athletics and Olympic level dreams to represent the Kenya uniform one day.
We ended our evening with beef, white rice, and roasted vegetables prior to evening mixed tea (milk, tea steeped with spices) paired with our Bible study on the outdoor guesthouse patio. Philippians 1:1-26 opens our eyes to the connections in our role in Iten but also applying it to life beyond our mission work…each theme connects to provide the next:
mindfulness of the welfare of others =
recognition of partnership =
gratitude =
contentment =
joy.
God is so good and continues to protect us from storms that can always linger. The sun continues to shine in Kenya and our body and mind batteries are charged by this. The Lord knows we need His charge as down time has been little, but human connection has been so beautifully big in these 48 hours here.
Adventure on!