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    The Kalenjin; The Athletic Tribe Of The World
    The Kalenjin; The Athletic Tribe Of The World
    The Kalenjin; The Athletic Tribe Of The World
    Ebook68 pages44 minutes

    The Kalenjin; The Athletic Tribe Of The World

    By Will Anthony, Jr

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    It turns out that Kenyans' success may be innate. Two separate, European-led studies in a small region in western Kenya, which produces most of the race-winners, found that young men there could, with only a few months training, reliably outperform some of the West's best professional runners. In other words, they appeared to have a physical advantage that is common to their community, making it probably genetic. The studies found significant differences in body mass index and bone structure between the Western pros and the Kenyan amateurs who had bested them. The studied Kenyans had less mass for their height, longer legs, shorter torsos, and more slender limbs. One of the researchers described the Kenyan physical differences as "bird-like," noting that these traits would make them more efficient runners, especially over long distances. But the athletes themselves declare that nothing comes easy in the world, hard work and dedication is what brings about change.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWill Anthony, Jr
    Release dateMar 1, 2014
    ISBN9781310515576
    The Kalenjin; The Athletic Tribe Of The World
    Author

    Will Anthony, Jr

    Will Anthony Jr. is currently the Chairman of the Uasin Gishu County Land Control Board which caters for over one million people. Before this stint, he worked in other capacities with the National government. He has also been lecturer in three religious institutions, a service to the youth to gather knowledge from the aging population. In his life time, Will Anthony Jr. says he has met a lot of people and can unflinchingly say that he loved most of them. Why most of them? Well, it is a tall order to love everyone you meet! Will Anthony Jr. has written several e-books touching on diverse subjects that relate to society. The books extensively cover human social and economic practices and this is so because expertise in one field in Africa can become a drudgery according to his practical view. His perception is that if you were born in Africa and the continent is your aboriginal home, you are likely to have English as your second language (ESL). Sometimes it could even be a third language. For him, he had to learn his mother tongue then learn both English and Swahili simultaneously. He went to his pre-primary bare foot, later he joined the local primary school 5 Km away and had to trek barefoot again not because his parents could not buy him shoes but because cobblers were a rare find. That journey was a daily toil of 10 Km, 5 days in a week or ~270 days yearly for 7 years. With a smirk he says that when you achieve a PhD in Africa, then You have done Plenty of hard Digging (PhD) or you have a Permanent head Damage (PhD) and you might end up in a ditch because your IQ cannot contain the booze like the local fellas!"Why did the English colonize Africa?" To keep the African languages in Czech (check), and he says that one must forgive this pun. But besides the pun, English has broken both social and economic barriers of the once "dark continent" whose forefathers slaved the white farms and firms to lace the pockets of their Lords.A PhD holder in Africa will still practice other 'trades' though they maybe 'very' learned because poverty is shameless, one has to draw bounds through plenty of smart work or else, it will be a shame to steal so as to maintain class.He published a book in 1992, but the publisher coned him , he took her to court and the case aged in judicial corridors for 12 years. He then made a decision to abandon the matter and to forget about writing books. However, Self publishing made him to change that decision. More than anything, He salutes Smashwords Inc. for the platform.In retrospect, He recalls a Dr. Alfred Sam, a friend of his from North America who was also a dean of studies in a local university, exposing his white ass in the university's auditorium to catch attention. The noise ceased as students and lecturers turned to look at the grown-up man on the podium doing the abominable. Well, the good Dr. in anthropology then simply pulled up his trousers buckled the belt and said, "Thank You, now I have your attention..."For the sake of simplicity, without much display of academia, Will Anthony Jr. is a writer in the global village market . For this, he Salutes all his readers and all lovers of written work. In a word of caution, he says that men and women alike must bear. In reference, there is an Ibo saying that every market place has it's mad people who will attempt to mar the business of the seemingly sane people. On the other hand, the English say everyone is mad, it's only the degree madness that is at variance. Salutes most profoundly!

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      Book preview

      The Kalenjin; The Athletic Tribe Of The World - Will Anthony, Jr

      The Kalenjin;

      The Athletic Tribe

      Of The World

      Will Anthony Jr

      Copyright 2014 Will Anthony Jr.

      Smashwords Edition

      LICENSE

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise, without written permission of the copy right owner. Nor can it be circulated in any form of binding or cover other that which it is published and without similar condition being imposed on subsequent purchaser.

      ISBN: 9781310515576

      Title: The Kalenjin; The Athletic Tribe Of The World

      PUBLISHER: Smashwords, Inc

      Table of Contents

      DEDICATION

      INTRODUCTION

      WHO IS A KALENJIN

      RITES OF PASSAGE

      THE INITIATION CEREMONY

      CIRCUMCISION OF GIRLS

      HISTORICAL USE OF CLITORIDECTOMY

      AGE-SET

      AGE SUB-SET

      RELIGION

      THE NANDI KINGS

      KOTALEL TURGAT ARAP SAMOEI

      SOCIAL ORGANIZATION

      THE NANDI BORORIOSIEK (PARTIES):

      NANDI MINOR BORORIOSIEK (PARTIES)

      SOCIETY AND CULTURE

      LANGUAGE

      FOLKLORE

      RELIGION

      RELATIONSHIPS

      LIVING CONDITIONS

      FAMILY LIFE

      CLOTHING

      FOOD

      EDUCATION

      CULTURAL HERITAGE

      EMPLOYMENT

      SPORTS

      THE GENETIC THEORIES

      MENTAL TOUGHNESS THEORY

      SOCIAL PROBLEMS

      THE EGYPTIAN CONNECTION

      CONCLUSION

      ABOUT THE AUTHOR

      REFERENCE

      DEDICATION

      To my father for his provision of a wealth of information that enabled the writing of this book.

      INTRODUCTION

      How can an ethnic minority that makes up 0.06% of the world's population came to dominate most of the world’s long-distance races? A question that needs an answer!

      The Kalenjin live primarily in Kenya. They are an ethnic grouping of eight culturally and linguistically related groups or sub-tribes: the Kipsigis, Nandi, Tugen, Keiyo, Marakwet, Pokot, Sabaot (who live in the Mount Elgon region, which is on the Kenya/Uganda Boarder), and the Terik. There are also smaller tribes associated with the Kalenjin who are still fighting for recognition as a separate dialect from the rest. These are the Sengwer, found in the Cherang’any Hills and the Agiek who ive in Kenya’s Rift Valley Forests. The Kalenjin present-day homeland is Kenya's western highlands (the white highlands) and the Rift Valley, not the province but as in the true Rift Valley.

      Kalenjin translates roughly to I tell you or I am telling you. The name has played a crucial role in the construction of this relatively new ethnic identity among formerly independent, but culturally and linguistically similar tribes. The origin of the name Kalenjin and the Kalenjin ethnic identity can be traced to early as 1940s. The ones who coined the name were simply seekers of identity in a foreign land as they spoke a language and practiced traditions that were similar. The name later came to represent a clear desire to draw political strength from greater numbers as a result of unity.

      WHO IS A KALENJIN

      Beginning in the 1940s, individuals from these groups who were conscripted into the Kings African Rifles (KAR) for the World War II (1939–45) sought to use the term Kale to identify themselves among the multi-nationals in the British Army. During wartime radio broadcasts, an announcer, John Chemallan, (from the Kalenjin) used the phrase kalenjok (I tell you, plural) to reach out to the Kalenjin community. Later, individuals from these groups who were attending Alliance Boys High School formed a Kalenjin club. Fourteen in number to be precise; they constituted a distinct minority in this prestigious school in an area dominated by another tribe, the Gikuyu. Alliance Boys High School was a Christian Missionary situated in the Central Province of Kenya, the nearness of the school to the Gikuyu community enabled a majority of their boys to attend this school. Today, Alliance Boys High School is a premium Public-National school in Kenya. Far away from home, the ‘kalenjin boys, desired an outward manifestation of identity and solidarity to distinguish them from the boys from the other tribes in the school. These young high school students formed what would become the future Kalenjin elite in the country in the early post independence years. Credit goes to these boys that formulated a name that has lived and stuck as it were from the beginnings of time! The Kalenjin identity was then consolidated with the founding of a Kalenjin Union in Eldoret in 1948, and the publication of a monthly magazine called

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