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Name: James Kandie Rotich
Date of Birth: 13 May 1988
Residence: Ngata, Nakuru
Preferred Universities in US: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Georgetown, Macalester and Stanford
Academy major: Engineering (Software or Aeronautical)

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Welcome to Lornah Kiplagat Foundation

Information

Why the Lornah Kiplagat Foundation?

 
 

Unlike the western world, participation in (primary) education is not a given in Kenya. Particularly girls are not always given the opportunities that are rightfully theirs. The large setup of most families means that parents often cannot afford to send all of their children to school.

As a result, usually only the boys are sent to school and the girls lose out. A missed opportunity according to Lornah Kiplagat. I feel that the immense problems in Kenya can only be tackled through education. Education is the key to the solution. And in this respect, the participation of girls is essential. The more girls study, the more independent they become.

It is my hope that these girls move on to get good jobs and in so doing can give something back to their community. Informing about AIDS, still a subject of taboo in Kenya (among teachers as well as lecturers), naturally falls within the scope of education.

At present, there are 400 million people infected with HIV worldwide. Of these 40 million people, 36 million live in developing countries, 29 million of them in Africa, south of the Sahara. One of the countries where the problem is greatest is Kenya, where over 2 million have developed the disease. There the victims are mainly girls and women. AIDS is a devastating disease for which there is no cure available yet

There are indeed medications available that can somewhat palliate the worst stage of the disease, the so-called HIV inhibitors. But in Kenya, as in all developing countries, these medications are unaffordable. Currently some 800 people die of AIDS every day in Kenya. This means that by 2010 there will be some 4 million orphans in that country. By providing sex education and distributing contraceptives (condoms), the Lornah Kiplagat Foundation hopes to make a modest contribution to the battle against HIV/AIDS in Kenya. This approach constitutes part of the other - sports and social - objectives of the Foundation.

 
What is the objective of the Lornah Kiplagat Foundation?

The foundation has three important primary objectives and one secondary one. The four cornerstones concern the training centre that Lornah Kiplagat set up in Kenya in 1999. The HIGH ALTITUDE TRAINING CENTRE (HATC) was set up to provide young, talented Kenyan female athletes with the opportunity to build a professional sports career. At the same time, the girls can concentrate on their education.

1. The first objective is to offer young Kenyan girls a suitable education. - Annual target figure: 50 girls.

2. The second objective is to provide talented Kenyan female athletes or students with the opportunity to study in the United States or Europe (for example in the Netherlands). They can then pass on and/or capitalize on their knowledge back in Kenya later. - Annual target figure: 2 girls.

3. The third objective is to provide the girls and/or women who reside in and around the Iten training centre with information about HIV/AIDS by by holding sexual health classes. Within this context, the provision of free contraceptives (condoms) falls within the scope of possibilities. - Annual target figure: 250 girls/women.

4. The fourth objective (secondary objective) is to offer talented Dutch runners work placement at the HATC in Kenya. The work placement will be for a period of three weeks. - Annual target figure: 2 people.