Idrissa Kargbo.
25 May 2015
Until 2013 Sierra Leone was mostly known as a country of civil war and child soldiers. Although the war had ended a decade before, the country was still far from back on its feet. When Ebola struck in 2014 Sierra Leone was once again thrust grudgingly into the spotlight.
Panic seemed to grip the world as we watched media images of people dying in the streets and teams of healthcare workers in white suits collecting the bodies. We are now mid-way through 2015 and finally the Ebola crisis is drawing to a close. In Sierra Leone, schools and colleges have re-opened and the country is once again on a rebuilding path. Despite all this hardship the spirit of Sierra Leoneans has never wavered and this is exemplified by one man who is on a mission to put the country back into the spotlight for the right reasons.
West Africa has produced some excellent football teams and the occasional sprinter but when you think of long distance running it is always East Africa that comes to mind. Idrissa Kargbo (24) is the exception. He is an extraordinary talent who, the first time he ever ran the 42km of a marathon, not only won the Freetown event by more than 20 minutes but set the national record in the process. He did this with no coach, no sponsor and no funding whatsoever. Idrissa just loves to run and the more he ran the faster he got.
Despite this early success he has struggled to gain recognition from his home athletics federation who, for political reasons, even overlooked him for a place at the Commonwealth games in favour of an inferior runner. Thanks to his bubbly personality the one thing Idrissa is never short of is friends and with their help he has travelled to both the New York and London marathons. He even set a new National record in London. However, he is still without any regular financial support and is reliant on handouts for survival.
Setbacks have never stopped Idrissa though. Before Ebola arrived he had a low paid job delivering coffee to workers in the capital but this evaporated as the economy dived. Determined to help his country he became a volunteer, going house to house delivering messages about Ebola and doing everything he could be beat the virus. While international healthcare workers like myself received nothing but warm wishes and adulation the situation was very different for nationals. Many were highly stigmatised for engaging with Ebola; some were disowned by their families and others had to find new places to sleep, often within the hospitals themselves. National staff like Idrissa are the true heroes of the Ebola response as they worked tirelessly without any thought of reward.
Now Idrissa has a dream. He wants to run the Cape Town marathon in September 2015. He has chosen this race as it is fast becoming the highest profile event on the continent and attracts a world class field. It is only by competing against the best that he will improve and hopefully attain his ultimate goal which is to qualify for the Olympic games in Rio in 2016.
Sierra Leone is ranked the 180th poorest country in the world out of 187. If Idrissa was lucky enough to be born in a country with a little more money he wouldn’t have to struggle for resources as he would immediately attract funding and sponsorship. He doesn’t intend to let this stop him and with the help some friends Idrissa has a crowdfunding site set up to help him.
If he gets enough backing he will first head to the town of Iten in Kenya to train at altitude with other elite athletes. One of his many friends is an elite Kenyan marathon runner who has agreed to help him find somewhere to stay and to offer him training advice. He will then head to Cape Town for the marathon and aim to achieve the qualifying time for Rio.
If you would like to support Idrissa with a donation or are interested in becoming a sponsor please visit his crowdfunding site.
Tom Boyle is a doctor at UCT who volunteered to work in Sierra Leone during the Ebola epidemic.