The refugee athletes in Nairobi are Olympic hopefuls. They’ve come from far away refugee camps to this single site to train and see if they can make their dreams happen.
Training 6 days a week – to compete at an international level – takes a toll on the body. And quick recovery is crucial if an athlete is to continue building and progressing. Things like massage, plenty of good sleep (see Day 231 & Day 232) and ice and heat for aching muscles and injuries can make a big difference helping athletes get back out there every day. When we heard there was no ice at the training camp, that sounded like a doable project we could take on.
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On Day 233, we brought a deep freezer to the camp. It wasn’t something that anyone had a lot of experience with. “What’s a freezer? How does it work?” said Paolo, one of the refugee team members. Most of the athletes came to the training camp from refugee camps where electricity was probably spotty or not available. There definitely weren’t freezers in every home.
So, we got to work first explaining how the freezer worked – how the team could fill containers with water, place them in the freezer and then, Voila, they’d have ice in a couple of hours. They could fill the freezer before practice and have ice ready when they returned. Then we talked about how they could use ice to better take care of their injuries, that they could apply to freshly pulled muscles and to reduce inflammation.
We quickly learned that the athletes weren’t the only ones interested in the freezer. The cook who prepares all of the team’s meals noticed the delivery and was excited to be able to freeze the most nutritious foods so that they are available for the team to eat later.
The refugee athletes feel they are representing refugee youth everywhere, that it’s their job in a way. And the freezer helps them do that job just a little better.
Another change made possible by Atomic Data.
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