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Wednesday 13 April 2005 There would be no school in Kipsomba had it not been for Paul Koech's outstanding distance running career. The Kenyan athlete, who has been one of the best long distance track runners in the world and since 2003 has turned his attentions to the marathon, has funded the building of a primary school outside this small Kenyan village, which is 30km north of Eldoret. The Silgich Hill Academy was opened in January 2004 and has 80 pupils. And as Paul Koech, the 1998 IAAF World Half Marathon champion explains there are plans for another charity project concerning education at a secondary school for older children. Built and funds the school - feeds the children It all started after Koech had bought some farm land near Kipsomba. "I then thought that I should do something for the community", explained Paul Koech. As a successful athlete he wanted to give back something to his country. Since there was no school in the area Koech decided to build one, and so bought another piece of land for the building. "I started running at primary school", said Koech. When he became a serious athlete he realised that a lot of other athletes had no education. "Either this was because there was no school where the athletes lived or it was simply because they were not motivated to go to school." Koech employs eight teachers and five non teaching staff at his school, which houses 80 pupils at present. School starts at 7 am and goes on until 4.30 pm. There are three breaks: Morning tea at 10 am, lunch and evening tea. "Most of the food served at Silgich Hill Academy comes from my own farm", Koech explained. The children are between three and eleven years old at present, but will stay at the school until they are 14. The school is semi-private, which makes sure that the level of education is higher than usual. "The teachers are eager to teach the children", commented the 35 year-old runner. In contrast to most of the primary schools English is the main language at Silgich Hill Academy while Swahili is a subject. "Normally it is the other way round. The people in the community are very happy that they have a school for the children – this is very encouraging for them." There is a fee for attending the school. But if parents have not enough money Paul Koech helps out. At present he pays the fees for eleven children and hopes to find more funding for his school. Financing education in secondary school too And there is a second charity project he will support. This is in conjunction with Kimbia Athletic, the management group recently founded. Koech belongs to the Kimbia team and they plan to support a number of Kenyan children by financing their education in secondary school, which is normally not provided in Kenya. "May be some of them could go on to university and become athletes", said Koech. But again the primary objective is not the sport but to support the education of the children. "When I will retire from running one day I intend to live at Kipsomba. It will then be my aim to find young children who are talented for running and help them with education." At present four of the boys at the school do run and look quite promising. But of course it is not a condition for the pupils that they start running when they start going to the school. The goal is now Chicago Meanwhile, Koech continues his career. Originally he intended to run the Boston Marathon on 18 April. But there were some problems during his build up training. So he decided to do shorter road races in the spring. Recently he had won the Dallas 8km. The big goal this year is the Chicago Marathon in October. "My aim is to break my personal best." It was two years ago, when Koech was second in Chicago in 2:07:07. It was his debut at the distance. So Koech continues two campaigns – his athletics career and his involvement for the children back in his home country. "Without running there would be no school", he says. But of course he would be happy to find further funds. Just 400 US Dollars pay a child's annual fee, including teaching, meals and school's clothing. Jörg Wenig for the IAAF ENDS
