Ethiopian expedition: Flathead resident runs ultra-marathon to help children
<p>Sally Kintner of Kalispell, a Peace Corps volunteer in Ethiopia, teaches children in Sinkata the “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” song during her 175-mile trek across northern Ethiopia.</p><p></p>
<p>Kintner leads a soccer training session.</p><p></p>
<p>Sally Kintner on 175-mile trek across Ethiopia.</p>
This was no ordinary run for a cause.
When Sally Kintner of Kalispell laced up her running shoes on Oct. 30, she embarked on an expedition that would test her endurance to the max. She and four other fellow Peace Corps volunteers set out across northern Ethiopia, covering 175 miles of rugged terrain in an effort to teach children about HIV prevention and raise money and awareness for an educational charity there.
Eight days later, mission accomplished.
“The run definitely was as tough, or tougher, than we predicted, but at the same time far more rewarding than we could have imagined,” Kintner said in an email sent from Ethiopia. “Our team really came together to support one another and help us all make it through.”
The mission of the ultra-marathon — called the Tigray Trek — was to raise money for imagine1day, a charity that is building schools and training teachers to carry the next generation of Africans into a new era of prosperity.
Kintner, 28, and her colleagues connected with more than 500 Ethiopian youngsters along their journey, promoting the value of education and teaching them about how to avoid contracting HIV.
They got noticed in a big way.
“Believe me, in Ethiopia, a group of Americans doing anything gets noticed,” she said. “We hope that our visibility provided an important message. Sub-Saharan Africa has been very hard hit by the global AIDS pandemic, and Ethiopia has one of the highest numbers of people living with HIV in the world.”
Kintner, who worked as a seasonal ranger in Glacier National Park for several years and played with the Glacier Symphony, left for Ethiopia a year ago. She’s been stationed with the Peace Corps in Bonga, in the country’s humid southwest region.
During her time in Bonga she’s been learning two new languages and is collaborating with local partners to empower girls, sustainably manage forests and promote better environmental education.
“People were incredibly welcoming along the way,” Kintner said about being part of the Tigray Trek. “Ethiopia has a grand tradition of hospitality and sharing of food and warmth, and we partook of this daily on our run.
“In Sinkata we were invited in for a meal of Tigrayan food called t’ihele, sort of a spicy fondue eaten with barley balls. On running into Adi Keyih, I was invited for a tea in a roadside cafe by a group of men thrilled at my language skills,” she said.
The group’s educational sessions explained HIV transmission, awareness and gender equality, stressing the importance of open discussion about sex.
“One teenager I spoke to told me that what he and his peers would usually get for ‘sex ed’ in school was a biological description of sperm meeting egg,” Kintner said. “He was grateful for the opportunity to converse more openly.”
The Peace Corps runners raised $4,500 for imagine1day, and along their journey stopped by a school funded by the organization.
“We were welcomed by hundreds of students shouting ‘welcome, welcome,’ and then we presented a session to two groups of fourth-graders,” Kintner said. “They [imagine1day staff] do really terrific capacity-building work like PTA development, support of teachers and school clubs, in addition to classroom construction, which I think is what sets them apart.”
A favorite moment during the run came when a group of four high school girls in uniform on their way to school accompanied Kintner.
“They ran about five kilometers with me, playing Tigrayan music from a cellphone and chatting in Amharic. I told my teammates later I felt what people describe about swimming with dolphins: you get nudged along, encouraged, buoyed up. That’s what those girls gave me as we ran together.”
It was special times like that that overpowered some serious gastrointestinal issues for Kintner along the way.
“If you check our stats now posted on the Facebook page, you’ll find clinic visits and highest number of bathroom stops in a day — both me — but that’s all in a day’s work for a Peace Corps Volunteer at times,” she said.
“All in all, it was exhausting, but amazing, and we’re hoping to repeat it next year, on a new course somewhere else in the country.”
Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.