It is the Olympics or an IAAF event, the crowd is on their feet as the athletes make their way down the final stretch on the race track. The leading athlete has outpaced their closest rival by a few meters, try as they might, the trailing athletes fail to keep up. At the end of the race, the winner will stretch their arms and crouch on the ground, in a furtive position as they take a breath from the grueling race. What follows next is the presentation of medals; a familiar national anthem booms from the stadium’s PA. The Kenyan national anthem.
Ever wondered where these athletics aces come from? Once they return to Kenya, they land in Nairobi, the capital city, where they are garlanded and are offered milk in a traditional gourd; but this is not their home. Once the airport festivities are done, they will travel home: 320 kilometers to the Western Kenya town of Eldoret.
Eldoret town is a vibrant town with a rural feel and an urban tone. The town is cosmopolitan though the majority community are the Kalenjin. The runners who put Kenya on the map in athletics events boast Kalenjin surnames which has earned Eldoret the moniker. “The City of Champions”. It is common to see athletes jogging in and around town early in the morning in their running gear unperturbed by the chaos of the early morning rush hour.
Eldoret’s economy is supported mostly by agriculture and entrepreneurship. You will notice the pickup truck carrying containers of milk, or the truck transporting tomatoes and cabbages from farmlands that lie in the outskirts of the town. These farmlands are mostly found at the entry points of Eldoret. Moiben to the North, Kesses to the East, Kapseret to the South and Soy to the West. Most agricultural produce is transported from these rural parts to Eldoret town for sale and consumption. The athletes who are the marketing vanguards of Eldoret come from villages in those four areas.
The town itself is patchwork of neighborhoods which give an indication of the existing socio-economic differences. The people of Eldoret are friendly and hardworking. In the month of December, the town is in a celebratory mood as most weddings and initiation ceremonies take place then. They are rich in culture which is expressed in their regalia, food, practices and speech during such events. The cosmopolitan nature of Eldoret has brought about inter-marriages which has made the town and its people flourish in culture.
The town has several educational institutions which have placed Eldoret at the center of academic excellence. It is also a town shaped by religion and religious activities. You will not feel left out for your spiritual nourishment. It is safe to live and work in Eldoret, let alone tour it. The town has a low crime rate.
Transport in Eldoret is smooth though you will get the odd traffic jam during the evening rush hour. Movement around the town is facilitated by motorbikes, popularly known as ‘boda boda’, taxis, and public service vans and buses. There is one trunk road known as the Old Uganda Road which is the gateway to and from the town to neighboring countries such as Uganda, DRC and Rwanda. A flight to Eldoret is 45 minutes long from the capital city Nairobi. A long distance bus ride takes approximately 6 hours from the capital city.
Next time you see a Kenyan athlete on the podium proudly donning their gold medal with the national anthem playing in the background: their roots are in Eldoret, a vibrant, welcoming and awesome town to live in. This is why I, Euniver Njeri, am a proud Google local guide, so that I can tell stories of my community through pictures and reviews.
