Local educator works to connect Kenyan students with Iditarod

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Since its inception, the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race has captured the hearts and imaginations of fans around the world.

One Alaskan educator is working to make that world a little smaller by connecting students in Nairobi, Kenya, with the Last Great Race on Earth.

“I started my company in 2017 with the mission of creating outdoor adventure tours in Alaska for students that are learning English in other parts of the world,” said Brad Schmitz, owner of Alaska English Adventures and International Tour Company. “I quickly learned that my company’s the only language immersion tour company in the whole state of Alaska.”

Schmitz said that, as part of his tour company, he began a pen pal friendship with a teacher in Germany. This friendship not only connected German speaking students learning English with students in Seward, but also opened doors to other countries and contacts.

“Through this online connecting during COVID, I met Martha Awedi, who was a teacher at the Sheba Education Centre in Nairobi, Kenya, and her niece [and I] became online friends and such, and chatted quite a bit,” explained Schmitz.

He connected the students in Kenya with students at Homer Middle School as pen pals. Later, he called on international students to write letters to Iditarod mushers.

“A year ago, roughly, I saw a post on a local Facebook page of a volunteer named Paula on the Iditarod Trail,” recalled Schmitz. “And she just said, ‘Hey, do your kids want to write a note of encouragement to a dog musher?’

“So I reached out to her, and in the end, 25 kids in various schools in Nairobi, Kenya, a class in Poland, and a class in Turkey,” he said, “they all wrote notes to mushers.”

The connection was made and students in Nairobi were so excited to connect with dog mushers that they built their own sled.

“It exploded in Nairobi, Kenya,” he said. “I was getting messages from Martha that they were so excited about learning about Iditarod and Alaska and all these things.

“And shortly after that,” he explained, “Martha says, ‘Brad, we want to come to Alaska next year for the Iditarod.’”

While it would be tough logistically, Schmitz dedicated himself to working to bring the students from Kenya to Alaska to experience Iditarod and beyond. A big part of that is raising money for the cause.

“We have to raise cash,” he said, “to buy plane tickets, for visas, for passports.”

While Schmitz was trying to come up with a way to raise funds, his daughter came home from school one day with a bracelet she made in class. This sparked an idea to have the children in Kenya make bracelets to be sold to raise money, while also gifting bracelets to Iditarod mushers to wear during this year’s race.

Schmitz was mailed bracelets and took them to the musher meet and greet on Thursday night.

“[I] kind of share the story with [mushers] and ask if they’ll take the bracelet with them,” he said. “You know, all the way to Nome, to kind of honor the international friendship and spirit of the Iditarod – as well as these really cool kids in Nairobi."

Plus, he said, the students in Kenya benefit from the written correspondence.

“All these little pieces and parts kind of fit together,” he said, “and what we found is that, when we have these pen pal friendships or experiences like kids writing letters to mushers, it creates such meaning in their language and in their practice.

“They want to make sure that their writing is done correctly,” he continued, “and they want to make sure that they’re speaking correctly, and it creates having those friendships and social relationships with others in the world.”

Schmitz said that he recently visited Nairobi, connecting with the students at Sheba, as well as a Kenyan hockey team. He said it was a full-circle moment for him and reinforced the importance of his idea to connect those children with the state of Alaska.

“I just remember, like, sitting on the floor of our living room in Boise, Idaho, maybe ’82 or ’83, and the song ‘Africa’ by Toto came out, and I didn’t have any experience with anything at that point in life,” recalled Schmitz. “I was in Boise, Idaho, but hearing that song and watching the video. And then of course hearing it over and over, it... that spirit just planted a seed in my heart.”

He’s hoping that others are as inspired as he is and might be willing to purchase a bracelet and maybe even an experience to help facilitate the trip from Kenya to Iditarod, as part of helping provide educational opportunities and creating lifelong bonds.

If you’re interested in helping out, contact Schmitz via his website.

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