Scorpion_runner wrote:
I hate to be a Debbie Downer, because it sounds like a fantastic program. However, when I see certain information that makes me questions things, I can't help but to be skeptical
The following statements caught my attention:
" When Ed returned to Campi ya Kanzi last May, he asked John: “Are you training for the New York marathon this year?”
John replied, “I have not got a place this year. We need to use the available places to raise funds for our programs.”
Ed said, “Nonsense! You are going! I and my wife will sponsor you, so you had better begin training.”
That's a very aggressive response to the young runner. I just wonder if these young Maasi runners are being manipulated for the sole purpose to generate funds, and then they get flown back to the village, and the cycle starts all over again.
Is the program really using the money for what it is designed for, and other people are not making a fortune off of them?
I look at most of these african marathoner runners, and they are not living like kings and queens, and there are agents and organizers behind the scene who are making millions off of them. I know this is more of a grassroots situation, but they grow young, fast distance runners like vegetables in Kenya. It would be so easy to take one of those young fast runners, get him to train, set up a fundraiser page, slap a bib on him, and then watch the money come in.
Again, this a fantastic post, and a fantastic read. But these african programs ( to help africans and wildlife) are not always what they appear to be.