Women Igniting Change

Kenya

Lornah Kiplagat

Lornah Kiplagat has won multiple Olympic medals, broken four world records, and has won marathons around the world. However, like most Kenyan women, she was raised in a rural community where it is extremely difficult for women to break from their traditional roles and become financially independent. In order to pursue her running, Lornah had to travel alone to the capital city of Nairobi, and with no where else to go, she spent the night before the race in a bathroom. The next day, without breakfast, she qualified for the Kenyan World Cross Country team, placing sixth in the race. Since then, Lornah has come a long way in her career, and with the money she has made on running she is pursuing another one of her goals. In 2000 Lornah opened a high altitude training center for women in Iten, Kenya.  

The camp, which is completely supported by Lornah and the money she wins from racing, is set up to give female runners an opportunity to focus completely on training. Coaching for men in Kenya is far more abundant than it is for women, who struggle to find facilities and coaches who will coach them seriously. However, with the success of female runners in Kenya , some traditional families are beginning to see that their daughters may have a real chance to earn money competing. By giving the women a chance to devote themselves to training, they and their families begin to see them in a new light, as Lornah explains, “By the time they leave, they are asking a lot of questions: ‘Now why should I do this? And how do I do that? What will this bring me?’” The change is not just on an individual level, Lornah adds, “And we really try to tell them that they should bring this into their families, into their generation, into other generations.”* The camp is more than just a place to train athletes; it is a place where women are gaining equality both in athletics and socially.

Not all of the women at Lornah’s camp will become Olympians, but the camp also provides classes and training so that women who have attended the camp can continue to improve their lives and gain their independence. Several women from her camp have gone on to receive scholarships to schools abroad. Aside from creating her camp and offering a place for women to train, Lornah also represents hope to the women she coaches. Coming from a similar place that many of the women at her camp come from, she faced many of the same challenges they face and achieved what many people thought was impossible for a woman to achieve.   

In 2004, FRONTLINE/World correspondents Alexis Bloom and Cassandra Herrman traveled to Iten, Kenya to meet the emerging athletes at Kiplagat's unique camp. Runners there hail from villages all over the highlands, looking for success in what Kiplagat calls the No.1 source of employment for local women.  To learn more about the camp, visit www.lornah.com.  To see a clip from the Frontline documentary telling Lornah's story, visit http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/kenya/thestory.html.

Facts About Women in Kenya

• Kenyan women hold five of the top 10 fastest recorded times in the marathon and three of the top 10 (nine of the top 20) in the half marathon. Kenyan women hold world records in the 20,000m, 25,000m and 30,000m track races. 

• Most of Kenya 's success in running has come from members of a single tribe, the Kalenjin, who number 3 million. The Kalenjin live in high altitudes, between 5,000 and 10,000 feet (1,524 m to 3,048 m), giving them strong lungs and high endurance. And the temperature at that altitude is cool and ideal for running. 

• Women constitute 54 percent of Kenya 's voting population, but occupy only 4 percent of its parliamentary seats and 18 percent of its judgeships

• In Kenya , marital rape is not recognized as a crime. According to U.N. estimates, 42 percent of Kenyan women are battered by their husbands or partners. Perpetrators are rarely punished, however, because laws do not recognize domestic violence as a specific crime.

Support Spark in its efforts to raise money for Lornah Kiglagat and the High Altitude Training Camp. A portion of the proceeds from Spark’s Black and Pink Ball at the W Hotel on October 13^th will fund the construction of a library for the girls at the High Altitude Training Camp, in which the young runners can study.  To donate money to support Lornah's efforts, click on Donate Now below.