From the Foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro, Magnolia Athletics Camp Is Helping Girls Stay in School, Pursue Athletics and Escape the Pressures of Harmful Traditional Practices

From the Foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro, Magnolia Athletics Camp Is Helping Girls Stay in School, Pursue Athletics and Escape the Pressures of Harmful Traditional PracticesOLOITOKTOK, Kenya, Jul 30 2026 (IPS) - Before sunrise each morning, 19-year-old Josephine Sembeyo joins dozens of teenage runners leaving Magnolia Athletics Camp for training beneath the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro. A Camp Creating New PossibilitiesSembeyo is among 45 girls from pastoralist communities living and training at Magnolia Athletics Camp in Oloitokitok, near Kenya’s border with Tanzania. For many of the girls, athletics is not only about competition. “When we started Magnolia Athletics Camp, our vision was not only to identify talented runners. “Had it not been for Magnolia Athletics Camp, I believe my life would have been very different.