I’m finally back. I knew going in that it was going to be an eye opening trip but I didn’t know the depths of it. I didn’t take the safari/tourist Africa trip. I wasn’t there to see people dressed up in tribal outfits on display as they take you to see animals for $1000. The goal of our trip was simple, to treat and educate the best runners in the world that essentially had no medical care. And to spread the word of God.
The town of Iten Kenya is known as the Home of Champions. More long distance gold medalists, world champions, and major marathon winners come from this town of 4000 than any other place in the world. There are only 4000 people in Iten but there are 1000 runners. Half of them world class. To give you an example of the quality of talent, the person that won the Boston marathon in 2012 came in 12oth at a local Iten race during that time. The problem is the only the best have managers and quality heath care. And income. The rest struggle to live as they don’t have enough money to get to Europe and the US to earn prize money. It takes money to make money. We were there to help the runners but helping the runners helps the town. The team of doctors I went with came to train athletes and medical staff and set up clinic each day to treat anyone who came in.
National health insurance is $5 a month. Yes. $5 a month gets you free health care yet many either don’t know this or they don’t have the $5. They also have no sports medicine. Every injury is treated with massage. Our team went to see Dennis Kimetto last year and saw that he had a simple injury that could easily be treated. Instead they didn’t do it properly and Dennis is still not running and his career may be over. Dennis Kimetto owns the current world record for the marathon at 2 hours 2 minutes and has won most major marathons. But because of bad care he isn’t running.
Our group went to all the local tracks and met with everyone from coaches to the governor of the state to talk about getting all runners to sign up for public health. To ask the runners what they felt they needed. They next step was to improve the health care availably locally. The hospital in Iten has improved incredibly over the last 5 years since the program started. It now has a digital X-Ray and we came for the opening of a new dialysis unit. Little things that make a huge difference in quality of care.
The key to helping others is not to just give money or come in and do something one time. Its to set up training and a plan to let them help themselves. Give a fish or teach to fish thing. The doctors I went with are trying to start a training program and a visiting doctor program, so that there is someone there at all points, not just when we come. Trying to establish doctor trades with teaching hospitals and universities. But we are starting from scratch. There is no such thing as sports medicine in Kenya at this time.
Kenya itself is beautiful. The weather is perfect and the beauty of the Rift Valley is unmatched. Of course the poverty levels and infrastructure is pretty much non existent in Kenya besides Nairobi. I didn’t see refrigeration at any point on my trip. I took showers from a hose with only occasional hot water. All water was from collected rain water in a tank. The water pressure was from that tank being raised on a stand above my building. Electricity was good except when it was off. The cell phone service on the other hand was as good or better than the states. I merely put in a new SIM card from SafariCom the local provider, bought some data and I was good to go. Cost me $10 for about 3 gigs of data. The 3G was faster than my 4 G in the states.
Finding food other than rice, beans, fruit, maize, flour, and basic necessities was next to impossible in town. As I said before, all drinks were warm. I pretty much drank water, juice, or a warm Coke for the entire time. The bathrooms half the time were squatters. A hole in the ground. I ate the local food until I couldn’t. I got sick on some bad fish that put me down for a few days. Couldn’t keep anything in as I laid in bed and at times was a little worried about dying in Kenya. My doctor friends assured me that it would pass and it did. A fellow traveler from Estonia gave me some charcoal pills that stopped the waterfall that was coming from one end of my body. I barely ate for 2 days and lost 15 pounds. But I recovered and finished strong.
We also visited even smaller town hospitals where missionary doctors from the US were doing amazing work. They are raising their families in Africa, working for no pay, to help those in need. It was hard not to be overwhelmed with a feeling of selfishness, realizing that I am doing nothing for my fellow man. It’s not about sacrificing , its about finding a group that is doing good things and give your time or support. Everyone has a children’s home in Kenya. Some are real, most are not. The only way to find out who needs help is to go and find out. That’s what were were doing. We called it a vision trip. We now have a better understanding of what needs and can be done.
I could go on forever about the trip but I can summarize it easily. Kenya is beautiful with beautiful people. To me, it is the friendliest of the Africa countries. I was met by a handshake and a smile by everyone I met. Compared to the other African countries it is pretty stable. But it is still very corrupt. Very poor. The infrastructure is terrible. Yet most live happy and having a long hot shower is not at the top of their list. They merely want a job. 50% of all males are unemployed. I think good things are to come of Kenya and I look forward to being a part as it does.
I regret not being able to NamesCon as I really wanted to see some friends and business partners in person.I did end up buying a name with partners in the auction but I’ll discuss that in a further post when its time. Although its not hard to guess after reading this post. It’s going to take me a while to get back in the swing of things as it was a 36 hour trip back with 3 plane rides and two buses. I used to think traveling to Europe was hard but its a piece of cake compared to travel to Africa because double the plane hours as a trip to Europe. And if I missed an email, my apologies, send it again. Here are today’s names. They don’t work if you don’t click on them
PS: Thanks to Josh and Travis for holding down the fort. They did such a good job nobody missed me at all
Quote of the Day: “I believe that we all have a responsibility to give back. No one becomes successful without lots of hard work, support from others, and a little luck. Giving back creates a virtuous cycle that makes everyone more successful”
-Ron Conway
Domain of the Day: Deduced.com Met reserve. Good brand for any product that requires action and thought.
Portfolio of the Day: CryptoJob.com, Lead.cc, BitcoinConsultant and more
Namejet and Sedo Names at Auction
HappyKids.com It’s really all we want, our kids to be happy. Great brand that exudes this
Alcos.com Nice looking and sounding 5L IMO. 1995 birthday
NewJerseyHomes.com No reserve. Last time I checked New Jersey has homes
InvestingBasics.com Only one bidder. Have to start with the basics
GoatBone.com If you’re looking for shot and memorable here you go
WhatChanged.com Great name for a tool that tracks changes. 1999 birthday
Coin3.com Crypto people will buy any coin name
Enervision.com Professional sounding name
MoldCompany.com One cleanup will pay for this one
PrintWay.com As good as any other printing company name
SovereignCredit.com A governments ability to pay back debt. All countries get rated and this would be a good site to show those ratings. 11 bidders
DecorationWorld.com I’m thinking parties but could be much bigger market of home design and decoration
MegaSites.com 63 bidders and near reserve
😵.ws xn--w38h.ws Dizzy Face Emoji Domain Name
🌡.ws xn--eh8h.ws Thermometer Emoji Name
Godaddy Domains That I Like With Multiple Bids
ExtraLogic.com Exudes intelligence and data
ALCB.com Good letters. I still think that LLLL.coms are a good buy. My opinion only
DLJR.com It’s a CHiP so it will go for $1000 plus but I think the above offers better value
JNRY.com Another CHiP. Still picking the top one
VRLogistics.com VR and logistics go together pretty well
WebBasedCalendar.com if you like backlinks this one has 4.3 million of them
Jamina.com Popular nordic name
FAV.cc 83,000 backlinks don’t hurt
BalanceTransferCreditCards.com The $19 click is the draw here
ThePirateProxy.com Pirating and proxy sites go together pretty well
BitcoinCurrentPrice.com The kind of name I would sell all day
BitcoinPriceUSD.com Same here. A lot of places to get this kind of info.
Seccure.com I actually like the double C . Save a million bucks by adding another C
XUCO.com CVCV.com hasn’t yet met reserve
Godaddy Names With One or No Bids
SafeGates.com Good name for those gates that keep your kids and animals out of rooms and stairs. One bidder
Kabingo.com For $12 its not a bad brand
TheDailyList.com Probably a good name for this post
DropShip.cc Its a dot cc but its a huge business. Not bad for $12. 2001 birthday
PeopleHelpingPeople.org Fits today’s theme. One bidder
EZVacations.com EZ has been a naming convention for decades
BigOrange.org some trademarks issues but nice Syracuse fan email
StressTherapyClinic.com 400 million results on Google. Plenty of money in stress management
Dodka.com Not a bad name for $12. No bids. Obvious similarities to vodka
Godaddy Names With Bids
3as.org
925118.com
991959.com
aeg-usa.com
AHD.cc
AllNiceSites.com
Areai.com
BoxInternet.com
Brandest.com
BrandToHuman.com
Caged-Child.net
CigBrand.com
CloudRewards.com
ConfessingEvangelical.com
CryptoDrawing.com
Dezignare.com
DigitalChurchPlans.net
DLVM.com
DPFilms.net
EatontonMainStreet.com
FamilyTaxpayers.org
FitAndFree.com
FriendlyCom.com
GarageDoorRepairBrooklyn.com
GJFI.com
GreenacresTexas.com
IXPG.com
IYXE.com
KinkLink.com
LocalPulseMarketing.com
MinisterSearch.com
MintCompany.com
mymotorcyclemadnessgear.com
OCcoc.org
Pingje.org
PirateSoft.com
PrepThyme.com
Price1.com
Qutto.com
RentNewHomes.com
Sasqag.org
sdtf.net
SoftwareOnSailboats.com
Tabletonthewall.com
The3house.com
TheHubSeattle.com
TheOtherSideOfFood.com
Thickpdx.com
tr35brasil.com
TwoStoryCoffee.com
webdesign-seo4you.com
Yesapps.com
YouLoveCoupons.com
Zupix.com
All names chosen by me Shane, or Josh . (ie you click through and purchase a name you like) or an occasional paid listing. Everything I say is based on my own research or is opinion. Do your own due diligence. That means look it up yourself if you don’t think the stats or my opinion is correct. I hand choose my names but I am paid to make this list by the auction houses, individuals that are auctioning names, and Godaddy affiliate links. Keep that in mind and only buy names that YOU think are good
Chapeau!
Thanks all for the kind words.
Very touching article. What a great mission! Bless you.
Shane, I’ve watched you on Domain Sherpa and followed your blog for a couple of years now. After reading this post, I have the utmost respect for you. Welcome back, and yes, Josh and Travis did a great job while you were gone.
Welcome back…sounds like it was a cool trip. You should bring some of those runners to work on your nursery and “train” you 🙂
Sorry we missed you at Namescon. This was much more fulfilling I would guess. Well done Shane!
Welcome back! 🙂
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Sounds like you really had an incredible experience. Must have been amazing seeing them run! I once did a half marathon (alone on the streets at night) in 2 hours flat and was super happy. It just boggles my mind that those runners are almost literally TWICE as fast as I used to be when I was running regularly!
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I was extremely lucky when I was young as my dad was a very well known and accomplished professor in Civil Engineering and got invited to conferences all over. Until I was 12 I got dragged on a few trips including, India, Pakistan and Nepal .. and another trip to China. The in grade 10/11 I was part of the very first exchange trip between the former Soviet Union and anywhere in North America.
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Haven’t travelled much since aside from a few trips down south in recent years, and NYC and Vegas a couple times. But making a trip like yours as an adult must really give you a reminder of how incredibly lucky we are to have simply been born here in the US or Canada. Good on you for doing a trip like this and helping the true heroes and helpers of the world who are actually making a real difference for people who really need it! 🙂
Ategy,
You can always tell the people that moved or traveled a lot as a kid. They tend to have a different viewpoint of people and places because they’ve been places that are different. Hope you sell a bunch of domains and get to start traveling again
Thanks .. I hope I do too! 🙂
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And yes .. I was EXTREMELY lucky to have had those experiences when I did. China to see how different they really are. Russia to see how similar we are. And India/Pakistan to see how amazingly lucky we are just for being born where we were born .. it’s something that sadly most people clearly can’t even comprehend or appreciate .. which is tragic .. because if everyone did .. this world would be an infinitely better and more peaceful/helpful place.
What an incredible journey! Thanks for being such a great ambassador! And thanks too, Shane, for the ticket to NamesCon! I really had a great time meeting and talking with fellow domainers! Cheers, Carl