Happy Holidays

I spoke to Catherine on Christmas Eve and she was in great spirits being home for Christmas! Anthony was on "stand by" for work so they were unable to spend the holiday with his parents so they took Jane and Kevin (Catherine's nephew) to Anthony's parents to spend the day and Catherine stayed home to be with Anthony. They plan on going to church on Christmas morning and then having a bbq with friends after. It definitely is a joyous time of year in the Ndereba household :)

Catherine told me all about her recent trip to Japan which was for a different reason than her usual trips there. She filmed an episode of Fuji TV's Junk Sports and said it was a lot of fun! She "competed" alone against several teams and they did some running and from what it sounds like, it was a type of obstacle course. I would love to see it and will check to see if Fuji TV broadcasts online! If anyone catches the program, please let me know how it was!

Finally, as the year ends, I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Holidays and a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year. I am grateful for the support we have had to date for the film "WinCatherine" and am optimistic that the New Year will bring much needed sponsors and support. We really need to get the film edited and the remaining footage shot so it can be complete in time for the 2012 Olympic season. Please ask your friends, family and colleagues to visit the website  www.wincatherine.com and contribute what they can.
 

New Interview with Catherine Ndereba

Check out this great interview with Catherine at GaryCohenRunning! I'm sure you'll find it worth the read!

Catherine's Most Important House

This morning we arrived at Catherine’s house at 9am all ready for church. Since religion is such an important part of her life, I could not do a film about her without including this. When we arrived, her sisters Esther and Caroline were there as well as her sister in law, Lyddiah with little Stephen. We spent a short time there and then they all piled into Catherine’s car and headed for church. (Anthony was already at church for the early service since he is a church elder)

I did not know that the entire group was not going to Catherine’s church; she dropped them near Ngong to attend their own churches so when she arrived at PCEA West (Presbyterian Church of East Africa West) it was just Catherine, Ruth and Filhemina. As always, Ruth looked adorable!

Catherine was scheduled to lead the 10am service that is conducted in Swahili. At 8 am there was a service conducted in English and at noon is a service in Kikuyu. It was a beautiful service and even though I could not understand the language, the music was beautiful and it was easy to see everyone’s commitment to the church. After the service there were a lot of people gathered outside having tea, socializing and it was extremely child friendly. There was a popcorn vendor and kids running around playing and I could see how they make it so people want to come to church which I thought was very nice!

girls enjoying their popcorn

We were able to say hello to Anthony before the next service started and it was very evident what an important role both he and Catherine play in their church. Catherine caught up with church members and friends and Ruth ran around being cute and friendly!

We left them to finish their day without cameras and after lunch I let the crew have an early day; we had been working every day and even when we weren’t out shooting Jon still had a lot of footage to back up and manage so they deserved some time off! I took some time to relax as well and call home and talk to my older son, Eric as it was it 21st birthday! (Happy Birthday Eric!)