LIFE WITH ATHLETES

 *Clara Pedersen shares on   life with athletes.* 

By Isaac hiire

It's been a year since I drove almost 17 hours to Poland Gdynia to support team Uganda with cooking and being with them as a Ugandan Sport's lover mentally and physically. Last year was so challenging due to Coronavirus. 8 Members of Ugandan Team were denied to travel back since their PCR had expired. 3 Athletes Joshua, Stephen and Victor had already left since they arrived before the other members and had taken their PCR since they had stayed in Poland longer time. The two others Stephen and Victor were Joshua's pacers during his 10. 000m men World record in Spain. So they were safe. I had the 8 remaining athletes who had to travel in the evening instead but they were denied from travelling at the airport. I was on my way back to Denmark, but I had a bad feeling that something was right. So I decided to head to the airport instead of driving back to Denmark. Only to reach at the right time when our team was stuck. The smiles I got when they saw me was like, Thank God you came. We can't travel. Our PCR tests have expired. Imagine how challenging it was for them, no Internet, 90% of Polish people speak only Polish. But Ugandan Team was blessed because I was there. I had full internet. I had a car though it was small one😂 but it still managed to transport them and their baggages.

Most athletes know that, when they come to Europe for competitions, they recieve many bags that they have to take back to other athletes who are in the same training camps. The biggest challenge for me was, at the airport, whole team of Uganda were denied to travel. I had to make calls to the organisers of WAAF in Poland, UAAF, KLM to rebook them, while looking for hotels to accommodate them, not only that, I needed to look for clinics that would take in the whole team immediately, so that they could get tested so fast and return back to Uganda. These athletes needed my financial support too since most of them don't travel with their cards, money and personally I also didn't want to make them use their money since am their big sister staying in Europe. So I had to pull everything. Luckily I got a husband who supports me fully. So what I did was to look for a hotel near the airport. Booked online since its cheaper online. I drove three rounds to the hotel to drop the bags and made sure all bags were kept safely. Then I came back and picked the four ladies that's Chekwel Juliet Doreen Chesang, Doreen Chemutai and Chebet Annet Zena. I asked the guy to walk after giving them the Hotel directions. We all meet at the gate and checked in. Everyone enterered into their hotel rooms. Once I settled everything, I had to travle back to my Apartment hotel. Luckily I had two bedrooms in my hotel. The two girls Chemutai and Zena came alone with me since we needed to shop afresh for foods. Dinner and breakfast and since we didn't know how many days it would take us. We shopped enough since now I had a family of 9 people that including  myself. After shopping, we drove back. The worst part of it, was we all wanted local dishes. In Poland shops, we only got the yellow maize flour so we had no choice but buy them. We had dinner, of posho, chapati was made by champion Jacob Kiplimo which I think I got the video, meat, fish and greens. After dinner, I drove two rounds again to make sure they slept and wait for the next day. Since I booked one night only in the Hotel around the airport, I picked them all up next morning and booked extra rooms in my same apartment hotel. We were lucky to get PCR appointment time at 13:00 for all the ten of us. We took the test and west back to the Hotel. Since it was Coach Njia Benjamin's birthday, we celebrated it in styles. We did a great shopping and enjoyed. Gave him gifts and after we all walked to the BEACH of Gdynia. After we returned and started dinner and had great time. Funny part of the evening was we all forgot about Coronavirus. We shared some drinks and even shared cups🤣🤣🤣since we had less cups.

The next days, results came out. 2 out the the 9 of us, had positive results and bad news was, we asked the hotel receptionist to check the results for us since it was in Polish. OMG, the way we were asked to leave the Hotel immediately, the way we were looked at, it made me and the whole team know that Coronavirus was scary. It made me know that, this disease is deadly. The whole team was shaking, the whole team was afraid of the other two members. It was a night mare especially that the two members whose results came out positive slept in between the others members.

I had to step up and be a mum though am already a mum but having 8 people looking upto me, u all know how it feels. I had to supply masks to everyone, I had to separate the teams into two and that tore me apart because I felt like I was being unfair to the two members of the team. After separation, I went in to the two members, sat them down and had to cool them down, talk them into accepting the reality that was infront of them and promising them that I would be with them fully until their 10-14 days isolation days were done.

After talking them down, I decided to go to the other 6 members who were also so scared. I asked them to relax and not scare the other members. After that, I needed to look for other Apartment hotel while the 6 members prepared to travel back to Uganda. After getting the Apartment hotel for isolation, I needed to call KLM and rebook tickets for the 6 members. Luckily enough, there was a flight on that Tuesday evening to Amsterdam. The person who helped me in Poland called Marcin made transport arrangements and the 6 members left. Marcin is one great person Poland and England Athletes federation got. Without him, I don't how how we would have handled the situation in Poland during the Coronavirus. God bless him. Since I needed to relocate the other two, I wasn't able to send of the other members. I drove the two members to the new apartment, made sure they had Internet, I left for shopping again. Bought enough foods and drinks for 10 days. When I returned, I asked them to allow me go back to Denmark since I had a daughter by then 8 years, who needed me, and since her father works and she needed to go to school, I needed to return back and take the responsibilities. Luckily enough I had no job at that moment. I promised them to return back after 8 days so that I would take them for PCR tests and drop them to the airport aswell. I drove back after spending dinner with them. Tired, exhausted yet I had more 16-17 hours to drive. I drove the whole nite and arrive home the next day. Kept communicating with them until I went back to Poland. This time, I used a flight that only takes 1:15mins. Booked a car in Poland and I wasn't scared of Covid19 at all, so I slept in the same hotel apartment with them. We had lovely dinner. Next day, we went for PCR, after it, we out out shopping 🤣. They were feeling much better. Dinner we had great time time.

Next day, results came out, one person negative, one person positive. This was again another drama. These people had eaten lemon, ginger and Garlic that could be used for half a year. But it didn't help. Never the less. Since I has the rules in the tips of my fingers, I stubbornly rebooked their tickets and drove them to the airport the next day. The airport wanted to give us headache, but I told them immediately, The rule says, once a person has stayed in EU country for 10 days under isolation, the person must leave. Especially when the person has the documents which we were wise and had them printed out for us. They made phone calls until finally I sent them off. I was so happy that I celebrated. Before my celebration could end, I was called from Amsterdam that one of them couldn't leave. She needed another 10 days of isolation in Amsterdam Airport. My heart crushed. Airport hotels aren't the best, no windows, normal fresh air isn't there. Secondly I cried because our athletes arent used to the foods here. My heart hurt because our athletes can communicate yes, but with the Coronavirus situation, many people are so scared of Coronavirus that approaching a Covid19 patient is like forbidden. I had to communicate between the airport, Global manager Jurre. The airport feared her phone aswell. I needed to call through any airport lines and then, they would then look for a responsible person. It went on like that. The positive athlete cried daily, I wanted to travel but its impossible to see her while inside the airport. I had to again encourage her. I asked her to ask the hotel, if they could give her noodles because she didn't like sandwiches and that the sandwiches were dry. Noodles gave the Athlete a smile I had longed for. A smile that made most of us smile while we video called each other. They needed testing every second day. It took 7 days before the results came out as negative. And finally the Athlete would travel back home happily. This is the first time am writing this. It's a lesson that I learnt and I can say, am proud of myself as an athletic lover. I have been driving around Europe to cook for my athletes not only from Uganda, but Kenyan and Ethiopian athletes. Not only them but other athletes from all over the world have tasted my cooking and they love me for being me. I love them all no matter where they come from. Athletes have motivated me and whatever I do, it's the love for them as Athletes. They sacrifice alot that not many people know.

I personally come from Kapteret Kapchorwa Uganda. I have grown up seeing our Champions train. They leave their families and move to camps to train. That's a sacrifice no one ever considers. Personally whatever I do, whatever I buy, is all from my pocket. No one helps me apart from a few friends two to three who always think, Clara the work you are doing costs alot and they send me money.

This is a story I was waiting to write after one year.

The Athletes are Moses Kibet, Jacob Kiplimo, Oscar Chelimo, Juliet Chekwel, Zena Chebet, Chesang Doreen, Chemutai Doreen, Coach Njia Benjamin.

For God and My Country

Clara Pedersen Cheptamoran.