One Week and Counting....

It is only one week until Catherine heads to Boston for the 115th Boston Marathon and we will be right with her filming! We need to film Catherine in Boston. That race is such a part of her resume that it would be a sin not to film with her there. The campaign to raise money for filming in Boston has been going very well and we are just shy of our half way mark! However, with only 8 days left on the campaign, we really need to step things up. Please click here or on the IndieGoGo link on the right side of this page and do what you can. As little as $10 will help and don't forget to check out the perks! 

Ok...end of plug :)

A lot has been happening! Catherine arrived last Tuesday and the next day went right to one of her favorite places when she is in the U.S.; Dr. Johnny-King-Marino's office! She doesn't get the chiropractic care in Kenya that she gets from Dr. Johnny!

This past weekend, Catherine ran in the Cooper River Bridge Run and placed 5th. More important than the place she took was that she ran injury free and felt good! Hopefully she is getting a little used to the East Coast weather here in the U.S.; it's been a little crazy. We've had temperatures range from the upper 70's to the low 30's! But, this should only prepare her more for Boston!

WinCatherine has been mentioned in a new blog: MyRun Australia so please check out the site! http://www.myrun.com.au/

I'll try to post again before heading up, otherwise, I'll be posting from Boston!

A Birthday Home Then Back in the USA

July 21, 2009 Catherine's birthday celebration

Well here it is mid-July and it has been a bit unusual not having Catherine here in the United States.  Except for the year she had Jane, this will be the first year in 15 that she will celebrate her birthday on July 21st IN Kenya with her husband! She has been in the United States training and competing every other year. The photo here was taken at her birthday celebration in the U.S. last year and for fun I photoshopped Anthony in to the picture. I'm glad she'll actually be with him this year so they can celebrate his birthday a little early with her as well (his is July 25th). She will, however, spend part of the day traveling as she leaves that night and arrives back in Philadelphia on the 22nd. Fortunately though, she has been training in Kenya and nursing her torn muscle back to health and hopefully will be in top form again in no time!

As for the film, things are moving along but we are still feeling the effects of the economy and raising the budget is taking longer than expected. The good news is, we have extended our IndieGoGo campaign and you can still donate (even as little as $10) to help! Just think, if Catherine Ndereba's story can inspire one girl to pursue her dreams, one girl to make a better life for herself, you will be a part of that! Please check out the IndieGoGo campaign donate whatever you can to help.

We want to send out a very special thanks to Marathonguide.com for their generous donation to WinCatherine! Marathonguide.com is a great website for " Everything Marathoning - Information, Results & More" and you can check them out here: marathonguide.com

I'll be sure to post some new photos as soon as I see Catherine after her arrival!

Catherine Ndereba responds to her fans!

Catherine responds to all the prayers and well-wishes from her fans posting on Facebook and the blog here!

Catherine speaks to the fans 

 

Nyeri Half Marathon-Nyeri Town, Kenya

Only days after finally returning to her home outside of Nairobi, Catherine was off to her hometown of Nyeri with her husband, Anthony, and daughter, Jane to stand at the helm of the Nyeri Half Marathon. This is one race that she does not "run" as in compete; she "runs" it as in organizes the race with Anthony. This was the 13th year for the race and the event is held each year in the town near the village where she grew up and gives opportunity to runners that Catherine herself did not have when she was a young girl. It is a place where athletes can showcase their talents and possibly be noticed by one of the three organizations that employ athletes; the Prisons, Police and Armed Forces.

The race, however, is not limited to just locals, and athletes from all over come to participate.

Nyeri is located in the small Central Province of Kenya approximately 2 hours north of Nairobi. The course this year was more difficult than in past years and had more hills but despite the change, there were new course records set for both the men and women.  Ernest Kebenei (photo) won the men's race in 1:01:31 and he hails from Uasin Gishu district, which is the Rift Valley Province where Eldoret is the district capital and the training home to many elite runners. It is in Western Kenya. Gladys Kerubo, the women's winner with the course record of 1:11:44, is from Kisii which is the district capital of the Nyanza Province in Southwestern Kenya. (Here is a good map of the Kenyan provinces map)

Catherine mentioned that two boys she sponsors, Paul (her nephew) and John, did very well. She helps them with their training in Ngong and also provides them with uniforms. The boys ran 1:05 and 1:15 for the half marathon distance. Catherine's brother, Samuel ran the race in support of Catherine but he did not finish as it was not part of his training schedule at the time.

I sent a Kenyan crew to film Catherine and Anthony out among the locals to capture them in action and see how they interact with the villagers and athletes, and I can't wait to see the footage! When I spoke to Catherine, she said the event went very well however she was disappointed that the Vice President, who was scheduled to be their special guest, had to cancel and did not send an official in his place. I have found that this is a common occurrence with Kenyan officials; they are often canceling appearances and sometimes send a replacement but other times do not.

When I spoke to Catherine today, she was back in her home outside of Nairobi and is looking forward to time at home with her family which includes nieces, nephews and siblings. Her sister, Esther, also just had a baby girl named Maryanne and I know Catherine will enjoy helping out with her newest niece as well!

Farewell for now dinner...11/12/09

I really should have posted this a few weeks ago when it actually occured but I somehow missed it. I guess with all the postings on Facebook and twitter I neglected to post to the blog! Anyway, better late than never because I think everyone will enjoy some of these photos.

Three days before Catherine was to leave for Japan she invited me to dinner at the home where she lives while training in the United States several months each year (Norristown, PA). Most of the other athletes that normally share the house had already returned home to Kenya having finished their racing seasons before Catherine. There was only one other athlete still living in the house, Kellen. It was a great time for Catherine to spend some time with her best friend, Helen, who lives a few hours away in Maryland. They are extremely close (you may remember seeing Helen in some photos posted from our filming last year) and they used to train together. Helen is great; she's funny, smart and she and Catherine pray together almost every day and they can call each other any time even if it is in the middle of the night. They just don't get to spend much physcial time together because of the distance and Catherine's race schedules. Oh, and I forgot to mention, because Helen makes it so easy to forget, she is blind. You'd never know it though. She talks about "I have to see this" or "I loved the pictures; thanks for sending them" and she is an amazing person. She's also a very talented runner and has both bronze and silver medals in the Para-Olympics. Anyway, the point is not that she is blind, it is that she does not let it define who she is; similar to how Catherine did not let the village people define who she was as a young girl.

So, Catherine called me up to invite me and in order to entice me said she was making Mokimo; as if she needed to bribe me to come visit! Catherine's Mokimo is a real treat. It is her favorite meal and she doesn't make it very often while in the US so I was quite flattered to be invited! When I arrived, she and Helen were upstairs and when they came down, Catherine went to work making the preparations for the Mokimo.  
Catherine prepping the Mokimo

 



  














 only fresh ingredients

catching up with Helen

Making Mokimo the way Catherine likes it is hard work! It seemed like she mashed forever and her arm even got tired! (She said she's out of "Mokimo-making-shape" living in the US!)

I always have so much fun just hanging out with both Helen and Catherine; they are like two little giggly school girls! Don't get me wrong, I always enjoy being with Catherine but when the crew isn't around and we're not filming, there is a different level of relaxation and we all just revert into gigly schoolgirls. We had a blast and there were times that the two of them would slip into Swahili and Kellen and I would just watch them laughing and talking. I teased Catherine that we needed to take lots of photos for me to post on Facebook to tease her husband that the Mokimo was ready and make and waiting for him!

it's ready, come and get it!

 yummy!

Catherine and I shared a story with Helen (that I won't go into) but it had to do with an "interesting" day of filming a few months ago back in Catherine's hometown and the laughter was just incredible! We all know the public Catherine and how graceful, poised and humble she is but I wanted to share a more personal side of Catherine with the world which is one of the reasons I am making the film WinCatherine! I hope you enjoy the photos!

L to R: Kellen, Helen, Catherine

Post Yokohama Report

I spoke with Lisa, Catherine's manager, last night. Ahhh, the wonders of the internet! We chatted briefly via facebook before she had to leave for the airport to fly back to Philadelphia. She has been traveling with all of her athletes on and off for the past six weeks and is very anxious to get back home! Catherine will remain in Japan with her coach, Mostafa and travel to Chiba for next weekend's Ekiden. Catherine's husband, Anthony, left Tuesday night (they are 14 hours ahead of where I am in Philadelphia, PA)

Since Catherine had not seen Anthony is many months, I did not want to call her and take up time she could be spending with hubby so I asked Lisa how Catherine was feeling and how she felt the race went. She said Catherine was extremely pleased with her run in Yokohama, especially since she had not been able to conduct her speed workouts in the weeks leading up to the race due to a nagging hip flexor problem. She was being treated for it by her amazing chiropractor (Dr. Johnny King-Marino) and through massage therapy but had to back off of the speed work. I am happy to report, however, that she was pain free throughout the race and feels great afterwards! Many people wonder, and many also ask if she is disappointed if she does not take first place in a marathon, but those who know her know that she is never disappointed as long as she runs well and is healthy. She is always happy for whoever wins and is content to know that whatever happens was Gods plan for that day. This is what attracted me to Catherine's story in the first place. She doesn't just "say" those words; she BELIEVES them and you can tell it is completely genuine! She also never uses excuses and has never dropped out of a race; she listens to her body and adjusts. Rather than look at her hip problem as the reason she did not take first place, she is pleased that she has recovered from a common problem among runners, was able to run well and pain free and still take  third place. Not too shabby in my book! (notice I did not say she didn't "win", I said she did not "take first place" because first, second, third or 100th, she is still a winner in that same book of mine!)

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New York, New York

I've been debating whether or not to come up to New York for the NYC Half Marathon for a few weeks now. Last year I came up with a crew and we filmed Catherine shopping at Niketown, one of her favorite activities :) I also filmed her at a Q&A/Autograph session but I was not here for the actual race. So I really wanted to be here but I was torn between obligations at home and this. With both of my sons leaving for college in a week, there is much to be done to get them ready. To top that off, the younger of the two had his wisdom teeth out yesterday at 3pm. He was feeling REALLY good immediately after it was over, but once the novocaine and anesthesia wore off, he reassessed and was definitely NOT feeling very well at all. I won't go into the details but let's just say that he was quite under the weather. A few weeks before, he was urging me to go to NY and do what has to be done, assuring me he would be fine to take care of himself after the "minor" procedure of having all four wisdom teeth out. I finally agreed and scheduled the trip. I was very excited knowing that the field for this half marathon was excellent to begin with, and at the last minute Paula Radcliffe announced her entry as well. But after seeing my son around eleven last night, I was not so sure he would be ok. After a bout of hugging the toilet bowl, he began to feel better around midnight and I knew my trip was still going to happen. After all, he could always call his father, my friends, his grandmother or if need be, I would only be 90 minutes away. So after finally getting to bed at 2am, 5am came all too quickly! (should I have gone to sleep at all?)

Well, I got packed and ready to go and headed out to the train. Fortunately, traffic was good to me and I caught the intended train and off I went! I arrived in NYC around 9:20 am and hopped a subway to the Warwick hotel where Catherine, Lisa and Hosea Rotich were staying (as well as the other elite athletes). I ran into Catherine just as I arrived and she was headed out for a nice pre-race massage. I hung out with Lisa for a bit and we stopped into the hospitality lounge to say hi to some of the NYRR organizers and then I headed down to pick up my credentials for the press conference. Originally, the women’s elite runner press conference was scheduled for Thursday August 13th, but since Lornah Kiplagat had to withdraw they moved it to Friday along with Deena Kastor and Ryan Hall who were originally scheduled to have a separate press conference on Friday anyway.

It was a small group of reporters and the elite runners in an informal, round table format. There were three tables; one athlete at each table; Catherine Ndereba, Hendrick Ramaala (South Africa) and Tadese Tola (Ethiopia). Later, Deena Kastor (USA), Ryan Hall (USA) and Paula Radcliffe (UK) joined as well. It seemed a lot of the reporters were interested in asking Catherine (as well as the other athletes), what they thought of Paula running the NYC Half Marathon this week and then potentially the marathon next week at the World Championships in Berlin. They also seemed very interested to know how Catherine felt about the fact that Paula was running. As usual, Catherine graciously stated that it doesn't matter to her; the better the field the happier she is to be among good competition and that it would not change the way she races at all. She runs her own race no matter who is in the field.

What I found most interesting was what happened after the press conference was officially over and the athletes left the room and went about their business. I was having my lunch at a table with some journalists and I overhead a discussion between two journalists about Catherine's career and her consistency and how there isn't anyone else out there right now that has the consistency to sustain a career over such a long period of time the way Catherine has. I wanted so much to grab my camera and ask "uh, excuse me, could you repeat what you just said and oh, can you look into the camera as you do?" I refrained but it was interesting to listen to them discuss all of the current women on the racing circuit and agree that Catherine’s ability to maintain such a high level of competitiveness over such a period of time in this sport is highly unusual.

After the press conference, I met up again with Lisa and Catherine and Catherine relaxed for a bit and spoke on the phone with her husband, Anthony. They were not speaking English but the conversation was very jovial and filled with a lot of laughing and smiling. Soon it was time to head over to the Hilton where Catherine sat for an interview for a local television station. While there, we met Liz Robbins, author of the book A Race Like No Other which is about the NYC Marathon. She was very nice and seems to be a big fan of Catherine’s.

Once the interview was finished, we headed back to the Warwick again and just chatted until it was time for Catherine to go to her technical meeting. It was at that point that I decided to bid them farewell for the day. I filmed her at a technical meeting last year and from there they would go to a dinner which I know they would not spend much time at because Catherine was itching to get to Niketown! I didn’t mind getting back to where I was staying (my younger sister’s place) early; it was a very long day on only 3 hours sleep! I found an excellent sushi bar and grabbed dinner and called it a day. It looks like the weather all weekend will be nice but by Sunday it will be much hotter and more humid so it’s a good thing the race is early!

Deena Kastor

L to R: Deena Kastor, Catherine Ndereba, Paula Radcliffe

Training Continues

Today I caught up with Catherine at Costco where she was with Lisa and the 8 other Kenyan athletes on their weekly shopping expedition. The usual Wednesday routine is to hit Costco on the way back from their chiropractic adjustments with Johnny King-Marino at Advanced Health and Performance Center. The car was quite full today because Samuel Ndereba and Hosea Rotich both arrived from Kenya yesterday much to the delight of Linus who was the ONLY male in the camp for the past several weeks with the 6 women: Catherine, Jane, Caroline, Irene, Nerri and Kellen. Pretty soon Lisa is going to need a bus; the 3-row car is getting really crowded! Everyone seemed very tired and anxious to get back home to get ready for their afternoon training runs.


Catherine returned late Monday from her race in Bogota where she placed 5th with a time of 1:16:07. Bogota is a very tough race because of the high altitude and she ran at a comfortable pace. She is looking forward to her next race in NYC at the Half Marathon. Unfortunately, it was announced late yesterday that Lornah Kiplagat had to pull out of the race due to an ongoing knee problem. When I interviewed her in Kenya she was still rehabilitating the knee from an injury in March. She was hoping to be back in competition soon but evidently she isn't ready. It is a shame since it would have been only the fourth time that she, Deena Kastor and Catherine would be in the same event.

What's next

Yesterday Catherine left for the Bogota Half Marathon which will be run on Sunday August 2, 2009. She had a short layover in Miami to collect her visa and she should arrive in Columbia later today. The Bogota race is not an easy one because it is held at such a high altitude. For comparison, Catherine trains in Ngong, Kenya which is a hilly area with an average altitude of just over 2000 meters or 6500 feet. The altitude in Bogota is 2600 meters which is just over 8500 feet! Catherine won this race in 2006 but she will tell you that it is definitely not easy to run at that altitude.

Here's hoping she has a good race!

photo: Catherine Ndereba at 2005 World Championships courtesy of Victah Sailer

The Birthday Girl!

I can attest to the dedication of Catherine and the other Kenyan athletes; I decided to visit Catherine on her birthday and take some new photographs during the track workout this morning. At 6am near my house it was raining quite steadily so I checked with Lisa to see if she was still planning to take the athletes to the track for their speed work. She said it was not raining out near Norristown and called the athletes' house to be sure they were still on schedule to do the workout. Everyone discussed it and deferred to Catherine who said yes they still wanted to go. I wasn't sure if it would be worth the drive considering it was still raining very steadily but after checking again with Lisa at 7am I decided to make the trip since she said it still was not raining there. Besides, it is a good 50 minutes away so the weather can be very different, I was already up and ready to go AND it IS Catherine's birthday so I went.

When I arrived, the athletes were just finishing their warm up and it was quite chilly but at least it wasn't raining. The crew today was Catherine, Irene, Caroline and a new girl in the camp, Kellen as well as Linus who is not new to Lisa's camp but was not here last summer when we did our filming.

The Nike outfit Catherine was wearing today was awesome! Ok, I admit to being partial to pink but it was a very vibrant pink and I think you'll agree that it just looked gorgeous on her! I just had to take photos regardless of how bleak and dreary it was. Part way through their workout the rains came; it started as a light rain and then got fairly steady but they kept on training. They did their speed work and cool downs and the rain seemed not to even bother them. At one point Catherine said to me: "It is a good day out." I looked at her obviously puzzled. She stared back with a straight face and said "yes, it is a good day out" "FOR SLEEPING"! Aha! So I was not the only one who thought it was a great day to just not get out of bed. It was nice to know that Catherine at least thought it even though she would not dare let herself submit to the temptation!

Everyone was wet after the track workout so Lisa drove them back to the house so they could change into dry clothes. She also picked up Jane and then we all went out for breakfast to celebrate Catherine's birthday.
starting lower left and going clockwise: Caroline, Catherine, Lisa, Linus, Kellen & Jane

I teased her about forgetting to bring a candle to put into her omelet but we all sang happy birthday even without the candle! When we were finished breakfast, Catherine asked me which way I was headed and when I asked her why she mentioned that she would like to go to the dollar store.....uh oh.....how could I pass up the opportunity to escort her to Dollar Tree, especially on her birthday? Far be it from me to deprive her of that treat.....I mean, it's not like I don't LOVE the store myself.....(by the way, I don't believe there is such a thing as a dollar store; they are really twenty dollar stores because I can never get out of there spending less than that!) Jane wanted to go as well so we did a not-so-short trip there so they could stock up on whatever was needed and of course so I could make my deposit as well (although I will say I got out under $15 today so an added bonus!)

It was a nice diversion from the office for part of the day and great to see Catherine back in the U.S. as well as all the others, some of whom I hadn't seen since last year and some who I also saw back in Kenya!

Happy Birthday Catherine! Going strong at 37, you still don't look a day over 21! :-)

Summer Race Schedule

It's hard to imagine that it has been a year now since I started filming Catherine in the United States. She returned to Norristown, PA on Monday to begin training for the summer races. It is here that she is able to get her regular chiropractic visits and massage therapy and get to her best form. She loves her weekly visits to the chiropractor. She once said: "What it does for my muscles; it just makes me feel great. Just straighten up what is crooked....when you train you keep on having those kind of funny, funny structure, funny style of running so when you get adjusted, you get aligned." She went on to comment :
"You get addicted; like a drug {laughs} Same as massage you know? If you get used to like to run when you get massage, it's so hard for you to do without one - you just try like uh, to train for like two weeks without having massage- you just keep on feeling like your body is like a lump; you don’t move:. (while she does get massage back in Kenya, she does not get chiropractic care there; she doesn't feel there is anyone she can trust her body with there when it comes to adjustments).
So I know I'm glad when she is here and can keep her body from feeling like a lump! :-)

Summer Races
Catherine was in NYC for the mini 10k on June 7th where she placed 4th. Fortunately, she said her toe has been feeling much better!

This past weekend she was in London where you saw she won the Asics British London 10k.

Her next race will be the Bogota Half Marathon on August 2nd in Columbia.

On August 16th she will run the NYC Half Marathon. 2008


And then in September, she will run the Philadelphia Distance Run where she will be going for her 7th win!

during 2008 Philadelphia Distance Run and after finishing 2nd

Catherine has not decided yet on her next marathon.

Catherine set to defend her NYC Half Marathon Title in great company!

It was announced today that Catherine will be defending her NYC Half Marathon title this year and running with a great field. Deena Kastor and Lornah Kiplagat will both be among the women competing. I interviewed Lornah last year during the NYC Marathon where she was a spectator and again in Kenya a few short months ago. Deena has agreed to participate in the film and I look forward to interviewing her as soon as I raise the budget :) This is the fourth year for the NYC Half Marathon race and Catherine won the first and third years and came in a very close second the second year! All three women are coming off of injuries earlier in the year; Catherine with her toe injury from the London Marathon, Lornah with a knee injury back in March and Deena suffered an inflamation of the same foot she broke during the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. The three would have competed in the NYRR New York Mini 10K back in June if it weren't for the injuries. Catherine was the only one able to run and she did well for still nursing a sore toe; she was 4th.

Catherine arrived yesterday from London and it will be good to see her! I haven't seen her since leaving Kenya May 31st. Summer is definitely in full swing back in Norristown, PA with the athletes house slowly filling up as everyone is training for the road races scheduled all over. This is the time of year that Lisa, as manager, is the busiest and she can usually be found driving to or from the airport, to or from the chiropractor will a van full of athletes, to or from the track or various other destinations with Catherine and the other athletes!

Catherine at the athletes training home in Norristown, PA

Double Ndereba at the 2009 Asics British London 10K!

2009 Photo: Victah Sailer@Photo Run
Victah1111@aol.com 631-741-1865 www.photorun.NET



Well, today was definitely a great day in London for the Ndereba's! Catherine won the ladies 10k race,
2009 Photo: Victah Sailer@Photo Run
Victah1111@aol.com 631-741-1865 www.photorun.NET

running a good part of the time with friend and competitor Constantina Dita
(who came in third) but it was Catherine's younger brother, Cyrus, who made the victory a Double Ndereba!


2009 Photos: Victah Sailer@Photo Run Victah1111@aol.com 631-741-1865 www.photorun.NET

I last saw Cyrus at Nyayo Stadium when he was visiting his siblings during the Kenya Prisons Championships where another sister, Anastasia, was running for the Prisons Staff Training College, Catherine was running in the 5K and Jane Murage was running the Steeplechase. It was where we were fortunate to film a mini family reunion. The week before, when I interviewed Cyrus after the Sotokoto Safari Marathon we learned that he has been wanting to run outside of Kenya and even to come to the US and train with Catherine and other brother Samuel, but he hasn't been able to get a Visa to do so yet. Athletics Kenya requires athletes run a certain amount in Europe and develop wins there. Hopefully by winning this 10k race today it will help his quest of obtaining that visa! It would be awesome to see all four running Ndereba's here in the US training at the same time one day! Anastasia should graduate from Prison Training School by September and then she will have to fulfill a commitment of service for a certain time period before leaving for the US to train again but hopefully it will be sooner rather than later that Catherine, Samuel, Anastasia and Cyrus will all be in the US together!

Now that the race is finished, Catherine will head back to the US with Lisa and for now Cyrus will have to return home to Kenya.


2009 Photo: Victah Sailer@Photo Run
Victah1111@aol.com 631-741-1865 www.photorun.NET

Results of the 2009 Asics British London 10k
Men

1 Cyrus Ndereba-KEN 30:19
2 Ryan McKinlay-ENG 32:06
3 Luca Tassarotti-ITA 32:15

Women

1 Catherine Ndereba-KEN 33:54
2 Kat Grimmett-ENG 34:19
3 Constantina Dita-ROM 34:30

Back to Roots II

Today we actually got to sleep in; 7am! We left our lovely *cough* Central Hotel after a decent breakfast that was included with the room. We arrived at Kahira Ini Primary School by 8:15 and there were already a lot of students there! Now remember, this is SATURDAY! Because of the track meet on Friday, the headmaster arranged for us to come in today and he also invited parents. Unfortunately there was also a church function today so many were not able to come. When we got there we started filming immediately but there were so many kids interested in the camera that we took some time first to let them check it out! It was cute how curious they all were. Jon had his camera and I had my little Canon and we would film a group of children and then play it back for them while they all giggled and vied for the best viewing position! We interviewed several teachers there and you could see how excited both parents and children were while waiting for Catherine to arrive. We scheduled to be there long before her so we could do all the other interviews and establishing shots. We did not know that they had planned an entire assembly and were expecting Catherine to speak formally to the children and parents. When we learned that she was only minutes away, the headmaster got all of the children and parents seated. When Catherine arrived there was such an excitement in the air you could hear the buzzing! The teachers all greeted her and Anthony and Charles Githii, the headmaster, walked the grounds with Catherine as she reminisced.

Finally the children were rewarded when first Anthony was introduced to speak and then Catherine.

They did not speak in English so I had to rely on the reactions of the children and later learned what they were told. Anthony warned them about staying away from the gangs that had been causing some trouble in the area lately and Catherine spoke to them about working hard in school and nurturing any talents they have that they should not be afraid to start small and not give up. She urged parents to let their children follow their dreams and to support them and she was very humbled that so many people came out to see her on a Saturday when they could be doing other things. She also announced that she was donating 100,000ksh to the school to use for things that they need most! There was a question and answer session after and the children seemed curious to know more. Once again, we were there longer than I had anticipated; I just underestimate the amount of time people want to spend with Catherine especially when it comes to kids!

Before leaving we were invited to have some drinks and a snack so of course we accepted (remember it is impolite not to anyway and we were very hungry by that time!) When I say drinks, it is not the kind of drinks you may be thinking but it also was not tea! It was soda which is very big in Kenya, especially all things Coke a Cola! Before leaving, Catherine wrote her donation check as promised and presented it to the headmaster. She said she would follow up and see what they use the funds for.

It was once again getting late and we needed to visit Catherine’s birth home so off we went. Catherine rode with us in the van so she could commentate and Anthony drove their 4 wheel vehicle. We made a stop at the little shopping strip so Catherine could buy some groceries to bring to her brother’s home as she never shows up empty handed. It is customary to bring basic needs to those who do not earn as much as you do. She got what she needed, I got drinks for everyone and then we continued on our way.

As we neared our destination the ground was soggy and muddy and lo and behold we got stuck! Anthony was driving ahead of us and didn’t notice so he kept going until he was out of site. We all got out of the van and Jon and Willy pushed while Michael (driver) tried to steer the way out. Catherine and I stood out of the way and watched the mud flying! She was on the phone so Anthony called me to ask where we were and I told him our predicament! He drove back but the guys were finally able to free the van and we continued to the birth home.

It was different from last year in the fact that the project her brother was working on that prevented us from driving up the hill was complete but we decided not to even try taking the van up the hill! Anthony drove up but we walked! It is a beautiful piece of land that sits up high and overlooks the countryside; just breathtaking. Catherine walked us around the property and showed us where she and her siblings lived, how they gathered water and where she grew food. The original structure she lived in as a child is still there but her brother, Anthony uses it for storage now and built another house on the land where he lives with his wife, Grace (also known as Mama Lillian) and two children, Hilda and Lillian. Word quickly spread that Catherine was visiting and soon a former neighbor showed up as well as Catherine’s uncle, one of her father’s brothers! Catherine gave her uncle some groceries and she gave the former neighbor some cash (again, custom to help those less fortunate). Then Mama Lillian prepared tea for all as well as sweet potatoes that she had roasted on the fireplace that is their stove. The house is in the same style as the one Catherine grew up in with the kitchen in a separate building. We enjoyed the healthy snack and then had to say our goodbyes so we could make our last stop of the day.

When we got back down to our car and were about to leave, we ran into Charity, Catherine’s Aunt that we ran into and interviewed on our first visit to her home town.

She asked me to come to her house (just up the road) for a visit and some tea and I felt horrible having to decline. I know it is not polite but we were on a very tight schedule and it would be getting dark soon and we still had to visit Anthony’s parents who had been waiting for us. I promised that the next time I come I will take her up on the generous offer.

We drove back through Karatina and on to Anthony’s parents who still live in the home where Anthony grew up. I still don’t know how people find their way around these places as there are no street signs and people just know which coffee field to turn at! I had not seen Anthony’s parents’ home in daylight and when we arrived it was very pretty! They have a little orchard/garden where they grow some vegetables and also have some passion fruit trees! They showed us down into the garden and I watched Anthony climb a passion fruit tree like a little kid (even though he was wearing dress clothes and shoes!)

He and Catherine knocked down a lot of fruit and I tasted my first passion fruit which was surprisingly good! We then interviewed Anthony’s parents, Jane and Kenneth and learned some interesting things from them. Anthony definitely gets his sense of humor from his father; in fact, they are almost one and the same person! His mother seems to be very practical and we learned that she used to be a runner as well! We shared some tea and biscuits and a little bit of time and then needed to head out so we could get back to Nairobi before it got too late. We left Catherine and Anthony there to spend a little “alone” time with the parents and Anthony said he would see us on the road as he passes us! I laughed and we got on the way :) Sure enough, about 40 minutes into the drive, we saw them pass our van! Kenyan drivers! :) We stayed our course and arrived back at Wasini at almost 10:30. It was a long day but well worth it!