Shoe4Africa - Toby 2 of 2

In addition to sharing about running, Toby shared some of his own life stories with us. Toby initially came to Kenya to run. Toby was a sub-elite runner looking to refine his trade. However, his time in Kenya also made him into a humanitarian. Toby described himself as selfish during his first visits to Kenya, but his experiences there slowly transformed him.

Much like us, Toby was moved by the hospitality and generosity of the Kenyan people. He told one story of how he had spent Christmas day one year with a friend wandering in the area of the Great Rift Valley that is home to the Maasai people. Toby and his friend had become lost and had spent an entire day without food or water. Eventually, they stumbled upon a tiny shack that was home to a Maasai family. The family warmly welcomed them. The family could not fulfill the typical tradition of slaughtering a sheep/goat for a special guest because they did not have any. In its place though, they killed their only chicken for their guests. This family that had next to nothing – living in a shack with dirt floors, and not even owning any cattle – slaughtered their prized chicken for their wealthy, muzungu guest and his friend. The convicting fact is that the Maasai family gave everything they owned without abandon, while Toby readily admitted that if two Africans arrived at his door in New York City, he probably would not have answered, and if he had, he would not have shared his prized belongings with them. I, too, give meagerly and keep most of my wealth for myself. Whether Kenyan hospitality is born out of selfless generosity or just cultural tradition, I have a lot to learn from the Kenyans about welcoming and giving to others. I have a long way to go to treat others as royalty as the Kenyans do to their foreign guests.

 

Toby talking to the group
Photo Cred: Joshua Coon

Toby also shared another story with us. In 1999 (or maybe it was earlier than ‘99), Toby was walking on the beach in Zanzibar when he was attacked by two men, one with a bat and the other with a machete. The man with the machete swung at Toby, hacking into his head and his hand, which he was using to shield himself. Toby was then knocked unconscious by the bat. Upon waking up, Toby was bleeding profusely and one of the men was trying to steal Toby’s shoe off his foot. The man ran off with one of Toby’s shoes, and Toby stood up on his feet, and began to run into town in search of a clinic. Toby eventually found a clinic, where he received very remedial treatment. While he was there, the doctor told him, “This must have happened for a reason…” It would be eleven days before he was able to board a plane to London where he received medical treatment that saved his life. Toby realized that it was only a result of his birthplace that he was able to receive medical treatment to save his life. Had he been born in Kenya, he would have died as a result of his accident.

Flash-forward. Toby remained in Kenya during the post-election violence that engulfed the nation in 2007-08. Toby tried to be a peacemaker between the warring Kikuyu and Kalenjin people. He was able to save the lives of a handful of individuals, but could do little to overcome the immense violence that warred around him. During this violence, a church not far from Iten was burned to the ground, killing fifty individuals inside. Toby met a mother whose baby was burned in the fire. The woman said, “this must have happened for a reason.” Toby tried to tell her that sometime things just happen, and there was not necessarily a reason for such tragic violence. Then Toby had a revelation. Toby remember what the doctor in Zanzibar had told him and he realized that he was called to do something. Not long after the incident, a few of Toby’s friends asked him to build a hospital. While Toby did not personally have the money to undertake such a task, he realized that he did have connections and resources, as a privileged Westerner, and could make the effort to undertake the project. Toby wanted to grant Kenyans the same access to medical care that he has received solely because of his birth in a Western nation. Toby set out on a mission to build the hospital, pursuing this endeavor through an organization he founded called Shoe4Africa (in memory of the shoe that was stolen off his foot in Zanzibar, which had lead to the birth of this mission).

Toby’s multi-hundred million dollar hospital in Eldoret, which will be the largest children’s hospital in Eastern Africa, is scheduled to open this year. In addition to building the hospital, Toby has used his foundation to build a handful of schools. Toby is showing that a compassionate heart and unwillingness to back down from a challenge, can make a world of impact in the lives of others. Toby’s story was inspiring, convicting and challenging. He reminded me of my privilege and the immense resources at my fingertips. I hope that I can learn from Toby’s legacy and love others to the same degree he does.