Author Archives: Phurisa Phagudom

Project done by Atip, Phurisa, Waroch, and Pantita

Kenya’s long-distance runners

There are 17 American men in history who have run under 2:10 hours in a marathon, but there are 32 Kalenjins who did it in 2011. Sound fascinating isn’t it? Who would have known how Kenya produces such good long-distance runners. Through all the semester, we have been discussing and learning about Africa, mostly about how the media viewed Africa negatively and the stressful topics circulating the continent. There are a lot of political, racial problems, and health issues in Africa, but are more emphasized in media. How about the good things? It is sad how good things are viewed as a second choice because they do not ‘sell’ as good as the bad ones. For this last blog post, let us end up the semester with something amazing about Kenya: its Olympics and marathon runners!

Kalenjin is a small Nilotic tribe living in Great Rift Valley, Kenya. The population is about 4.9 million. There is no definite reason why they are so good at running. Scientist has proposed that it is related to their diet, socioeconomic, and the altitude they inhabit. They have high-starch diet and live in a high-altitude, which trained their lungs to be used to lesser amount of oxygen. Making oxygen at a normal altitude a power boost when they are actually on the racetrack. Also, it came form determination and training. Other beliefs were that because they have a unique body structure that supports them to run faster than others.

Surprisingly in the Boston marathon 2012, the first place winners for men and women were Kenyans, also the second and third places for both categories. Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich is a long-distance athlete specialized in marathon running. He was a former world recorder in 2013 Berlin marathon and he won the 2014 London marathon. He won a total of 13 gold medals from marathons since 2009 to 2014 as well. Kenya first participated in the Olympics in 1956 and they are very famous for long distance running events. In Kenya history, it won a total of 79 Olympic running medals, 24 of which are gold.

Pamela Jenimo is a Kenyan middle-distance runner. She won a gold medal in Beijing Olympics in 2008 at the age of 18, making her the first Kenya woman to win an Olympic gold medal and also the first to win the Golden League Jackpot. Growing up in a poor but supportive family, Jenimo attended Kenya’s distance running centre with help from her school’s headmaster. She kept improving throughout the season and became successful as she is now.

Another successful runner is David Lekuta Rudisha. He is the current Olympic champion runner for 800m. He was the first person to run under 1:41 minutes for the event. Thus achieving the world record. He went to a runners’ school as a kid and in 2006 he became a world junior champion. In 2010, he won Track & Field Athlete of the Year awards and IAAF World Athlete of the Year award.

I think I’ve learned so much in this class. My original thinking would be like other people that got tricked by the media. My views about Africa changed completely throughout the semester. It is scary how the media played a tremendous amount of influence on people’s behavior and views towards Africa. However, from now on, I know I would be able to view Africa more positively than before. After writing this blog, I’ve discovered something amazing about Kenya. They have the best runners in the world. Since I’m not a sports person, I do not keep track of the Olympics and wouldn’t have known. Not only they are the first, they are the second and third as well. I find it very interesting that Kenyan runners dominate these events. All the stereotype and bias doesn’t matter, because everyone, despite race, has the potential to be great at something.

“Someone who talked less and acted more.” is Ory Okolloh’s legacy. Okolloh is a Kenyan activist, blogger, and Harvard-lawyer. Okolloh inspires and uses technology to try to create a better life for Africans. She is considered to be one of the most influential by the TIME and one of Africa’s most successful women by the Forbes.

Born in a poor family, she knows and understands the hardships of being poor. According to her ted talk, her family couldn’t afford her education and she was kicked out from her elementary school from time to time until her tuition bills were paid. She missed the cutoff by only one point in her dream high school entrance exam and after a talk with the head, she still couldn’t get in because she doesn’t have the ‘right last name’. From that moment, she swore to herself that she would never beg anyone for anything.

That didn’t stop her from being a Harvard graduate student. Proceeding her education, Okolloh did not abandoned Africa and went back to create Ushahidi, an online service for crowd mapping data, where violent eyewitness reports were documented. She also had her personal blog, Kenyan Pundit, and is active in making the world better. Another of her projects is the Mzalendo, which is a website that keep track of the activities in the parliament such as analyzing speeches and bills. These websites help the people to understand, know what the government is doing, and able to decide whether it is accountable.

This caught Google’s interest, where she is currently working as a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader. She gives engaging speeches across Africa about her legacy, digital activism, and Africa’s tech ecosystem.

Okolloh says technology and social media cannot solely change anything, it is the people walking on the streets that can make actual change. Even the encouragements and hashtags can make a huge impact in the online world; it is no use if people are still inside playing with their computers all day. Technology acts as a facilitator and motivator, which is why she calls it “Digital Activism”

Okolloh has 3 goals to improve Africa’s society. First she wants to make sure that more Africans are getting online access to get people more connected. Second, she wants to ensure that the content Africans see on the Internet in reliable, meaningful, and relevant to them. She also encourages the government to put more content online and create more opportunities for technology developers. Lastly, she wants to focus on the role of technology and how it is connected to the ecosystem. She wants to work with the government and industries to make a broader and more affordable access to technology.

Okolloh sees so much potential within Africa and wishes to see people tell their own story to the world.

For me, Ory Okolloh’s tool for advocacy is quite unique from other people. She utilizes technology to its potential to benefit people, which is a very modern way. I had a lot of fun researching about her and I Hope that she will be able to achieve her goals someday.

As interest about Africa grows in the late 18^th century, explorers and missionaries settled in Africa in hope to spread religion and learn more about Africa. There were land expeditions and movements to abolish slavery and they did be able to abolish slavery the 1807. However, the abolition doesn’t stop oppression and racism towards black people. Also, the shift from slave trade to raw materials trade caused a huge change in the economy and industries. Similarly, the colonization period of US history also focuses on trade and caused oppression to the native inhabitants.

First we will start off with Colonial Africa. As we all know, the British colonized all African countries except Liberia and Ethiopia and they were ruled under either British or French system as well as other European systems. The British found out that the most efficient government system to earn revenue was to let tribal authorities lead their own subjects.

Under European colonization, Africa became more developed through construction and got more involved in the world economy, trading crops and mining goods. Although, colonization brought a lot of improvement to Africa, Africans were taken away their land and power, which is one of the disadvantages of the colonization.

For the American colonial period, the first successful English colonization of US history started in 1607, when the British settled in James town, Virginia in hoping to get rich. The leader of the colonization, however dislike farming, causing half of the colonists to die out of starvation. Replacements were assigned but most died after winter of 1610, reducing the number of colonists to a little more than 60. In 1619, twelve years after the founding of James town, the first shipment of African slaves arrived in Virginia. However, tobacco became a dominant trade item and by 1624 Virginia produced more than 200 pounds of tobacco per year. The growing industry played a huge role in shaping the social hierarchy, because at that time, ¾ of the people who came to Virginia were servants, making the population consists of few high-class citizens and a lot of low-class citizens.

Starting the 17^th century, settlers came to New England to escape the religious norms. They were the puritans and pilgrims. However, they didn’t prepare enough supplies and half of them died in the first winter. Some of them survived with the help from Native Americans.

Following the New England colony was the Massachusetts Bay colony started in 1629 by London merchants in hoping to make money. Since the merchants were serious about their business, the board of directors relocated themselves to Massachusetts creating a much more organized self-government and social unity. The first slaves were recorded to arrive in Massachusetts in the 1640s.

The colonists maintained a trade relationship with the Native Americans, in which they exchange guns and weapons for fur and food. However, as the need for fur grew, Indians started to neglect their crops and some fight with each other to acquired the resources they need. Conflict arises as time goes by and the relationship began to deteriorate when the English started to steal Indians’ crops.

The first similarity between African and American colonial period is they were targeted for raw materials such as gold and crops. The Europeans were attracted to the raw materials and land available. So they thought that coming to America and Africa would increase their profit, which was true. The second similarity is Europeans colonized them both. European countries were interested in new countries, ways to expand their territory and to spread religious beliefs. Lastly, the native inhabitants got oppressed for the colonists’ personal gain, such as the slave trade and the destructive relationship between the settlers and the Native Americans.

The difference is probably how the colonial period in America was more brutal. Native Americans were killed and forced to get out of their homeland. Moreover, they were robbed and women were raped and killed. Before the abolishment of slave trade in Africa, many Africans were killed and oppressed. However, during the colonial period, it lessened because slave trade was no longer the dominant business.

I find this assignment very challenging because I’m not American, which means I didn’t learn as much U.S. history as most people. I had to research all about US history of colonization and try to compare to Africa’s. It was a great opportunity to learn discover more truths more world history.