The Persevering Smile Of “Dee:” A Runner And A Role-Model

The verb of the day was “Persevere.”  A collection of middle-school aged campers and other various adults sat on the floor of the Lakewood High School L-Room, reflecting on the word “persevere” and listening to a former student at LHS talk about his life story and his most recent accomplishment. The students were all part of the H2O (Help to Others) Summer Service Camp, a City of Lakewood Division of Youth summer camp that stresses the importance of community and service work by providing middle school kids chances to actually engage in volunteer work and community building every day of camp. The speaker was a man with the nickname “Dee”. He had been a Lakewood High Class of 2008 graduate, a former soccer teammate of mine, and had then gone on to Denison University. He had just run 117 miles in less than 3 days.

 “Dee” was invited to talk at H2O’s summer service camp after Celia Dorsch, the current supervisor and founder of the program, saw an article in The Plain Dealer about a very long journey of a former Lakewood graduate. The story was about Dee’s nearly 120 mile run from Granville, Ohio to his hometown, here in Lakewood. It was a fantastic account of his run and emphasized his almost inhuman resolution and compassion. Though it was a very well-written article, Mrs. Dorsch believed even more could be learned from this determined athlete. So before the start of H2O’s first of four sessions at the camp, she gave him a call and asked if he would like to tell his whole story, from childhood through the run, which turned out to be even more inspiring than the run itself.

He began by asking the campers of H2O if they could correctly guess his full name. Blank stares filled the room. Dee, who had been born and raised in the Democratic Republic of Congo, then politely informed them his full name is Makorobondo Deimerci Salukombo. The blank stares became gaping mouths and questions of “Wait, say that again, but slower!” Dee then went on to tell the campers about his childhood in Congo. He told them about how his father had to flee the country at an early age because a rebel group had begun threatening his and his family’s life. He talked about the hours of work his determined mother went through to keep Dee and his 7 brothers and sisters fed, clothed, and in school - his family placed a profound emphasis on receiving a quality education.  He told about what it was like growing up as a child in the Congo and then in the refugee camp in Uganda, where his greatest form of entertainment was a deflated soccer ball, and where, because school supplies were so scarce, his pen was a dearly guarded treasure. He talked about his journey to the United States and how he ended up at Lakewood High School.

He skipped over his time at Lakewood, where he was a straight ‘A’ student, highly involved in various clubs, and one of the only students in Lakewood High School’s history to play two sports in the same season (Cross-Country and Soccer). He never mentioned that he earned the “Male Athlete of the Year” award his senior year, or that he runs a 4:10 minute mile, or that he made a game-saving tackle in the District Finals for soccer. Dee was too modest to say any of this. I made sure during the “Q & A,” however, to inform the campers of his legendary accomplishments. Dee just smiled his familiar smile.

Dee told the campers about his amazing run from Denison to Lakewood, in inspiring and exhausting detail. He talked about how he chose to raise money for children in the school of Kriotshe, the village where he had lived until he was 12, and how that sense of purpose helped him stay determined at his most exhausted points.  He gave himself the additional challenge of travelling without phone, money, food or water so that he would be forced to engage with people along the way. He said that, to date, he had raised nearly $4,500 for this cause (an amount that has continued to grow as donations were made all summer). What the campers had not told Dee is that first session campers had raised money for this cause as well by doing a “Penny War” over the two week camp period. They added almost $300 to the cause. When they told him, it was Dee’s turn to be wide-eyed and impressed. He thanked them greatly.  Campers from the rest of the sessions held penny wars to contribute to A.S.I.A. (Asian Services in Action), a group that partnered with Catholic Charities to run a summer learning program for refugee students, held at St. Luke’s in Lakewood.  Many of the H2O campers had the opportunity to walk to A.S.I.A. and help in the classrooms and playground.

Every summer at H2O Summer Service camp, there is a central theme for the campers. The theme for this summer had been “Go Do”. The theme was chosen from a moving song, and was meant to inspire Lakewood kids to go out and become involved in helping others. Each day there was a different verb of the day, created to open campers’ eyes to new ideas and perspectives. Dee wrapped up by talking to the kids about the importance of the verb of that day - “Perseverance”. I don’t think that there was any better candidate in Lakewood to talk to the kids about the importance of this verb.