Joe Rogan Experience #687 — Justin Wren Transcript

Transcript

0:00 We're live. What's with the funky bag, fella? Look at that. Beautiful little hippie case you got going on there. Absolutely. Is it fightforthevergotten.org? yeah, I think that's a great opportunity to give my family a voice. And how long has it been since Imagine if, like, you have a malaria actually gives you endurance or something crazy. Wow. One thing that's crazy, say insect bites.

3:04 You could throw around. Look at that picture. So, yeah, look right there look and all you need is just flat ground. I mean, I think if I'm not mistaken. I think it's as wide as the United States of America in the world and second poorest, but it is the most underdeveloped country. So least amount of real nice it's uh you got a charging station for your your smartphone in uganda really yeah wow

6:46 Apparently. What's up with that? It's crazy. So what I love and that website that was up was we're partnered with Water 4. Now it's water4.org, so the number 4. now we have 17 full-time employees. Wow. Yeah. And we have two well drilling teams. And then the parts are so expensive, they're not going to be able to repair it when it breaks. Now they're part of our team.

10:17 go about attacking the problem. And you got to go about it in a way that, that kind of creates Are there different ways to do it? So those are absolutely part of the solution. break on the travel just out to the villages and then once you get there like going into the pygmy single prong, triple prong. And so we have all these tools we can use for each obstacle that we're going to hit as we go down in different geological layers.

13:05 Yeah, and we're taking in all the PVC pipes and the galvanized pipes and, yeah, everything that you can think of. Yeah, you must be exhausted by the time you even get there. You're hiking with all this weight. Yeah. Wow. And then, And then that way, yeah, we can then teach them and put the tools in their hands and invest in them. but I would say that maybe we're trying to take an approach,

15:51 that the results can just be a temporary one where we have a, I call it the show up, blow up and We petitioned, lobbied, and basically said, yeah, we went to battle saying, I mean, in I was just reading this Bill Nye thing about humans. So if that's the case, these people you're dealing with could very well be the oldest humans in the world. All I know is, man, it's the culture there, their hearts.

18:26 Why is it that they have zero land of their own? They have none of their own and don't they have a right to have some land? is that it was it was the colonialist or But in Congo, it's about what tribe you're from. And we gave them years and years worth of salary to work with us. And then on both sides, we said, so they benefited financially and the pygmies benefited by having their own land.

21:20 So we have three agriculturalists we're interning right now. want I mean the people we selected to solve the water crisis, You're teaching these people. So you guys have to carry that for hours. as long as we do it to a high standard and keep a high integrity when we do it. Yeah, very similar. Good for the forearms. Six foot, or sorry, six meter, 20 foot long.

25:29 And once we're 40 foot, we have two drilling stems. seen it i hate that expression yeah i hear i hear yeah no i i have no clue to be honest uh the us partnering with Water 4 is they're continually training our guys on the better drilling methods. but then all of a sudden we hit a layer of quartz underneath it. and said, hopefully we don't hit the quartz layer. And yeah, just a football field away.

28:42 the water that is inside of our casing, there we go, Yeah. And, man, it's brutal. stopping until we, until we finished till we get these people clean water. And when you look at some of these mabuti pygmy women are literally carrying their body weight or more in water I think it's called the Opportunity at Freedom or something that's on the Water Force site.

32:13 until you have no vision left. Um, and four of the five don't, don't do that. Um, but what it does you need to at least take the treatment to make sure you don't have that. Tropical diseases. Okay, and he said that he blew me away What kind of like animal life and what kind of wildlife is around you and bugs? But the vegetation, it's nuts. but it's harder for a fish to swim through the, the rivers there because even the rivers

35:06 There's mosquitoes like crazy at all times. or they have a bright blue or purple on their back. you got shot by like buckshot and a little bitty golf ball size whelp. Maybe this would give you an idea. Yes. Actually, reach in there, and you'll see the actual cloth that's his. It feels like a flexible cardboard. That's amazing. No iPhones. To his right, the guy with the hat, that is Leo May.

39:40 And they're basically the parents of Sang Gi. And that's the stack in your thing, too. the campfire with them we we've kind of made a goofy name for it, They're able to just be themselves. It's probably not healthy, right? the next picture uh he got his with a spear and this is uh jesus christ yeah this is his fur So Sankey speared that. Eat every part.

43:01 I'm like, doesn't that hurt? But, I mean, for them, though, that's the only food they got. And then he would just open it up But we can go to the next picture. bodded genet and or i think i'm pronouncing that right it's g-e-n-e-t and it looks like a cross between i don't know a mongoose and a baby leopard or something like that but i've been someone tried

44:56 Whoa, look at that freaky fucking thing. Yeah, endangered species. How would they know that it was an it sounds like thunder um and it's because they're cutting down these huge trees and so that makes it But yeah, they put it over a tripod of sticks, and then they wrap the meat and leaves. So kind of like with their situation of them being the first citizens of Congo, that's what we always use with them, the terminology.

47:40 We have 10 different plots of land. teach them how to, to, to, to make money. Um, and how to, you know, work for the first time making to rain is it thunder because it's it's this huge massive old tree that's being cut down. You could literally drive in it, like the redwoods they have in the Pacific Northwest? you feel, um, you feel like you're a part of something greater than yourself, something

50:18 And whatever small problems anybody here has in comparison to the issues that they have It's like they had put it in perspective because of the attack. share. Like there's like, whenever we talk to them about it, yes, they'll, they'll say we need more. Yeah. Yeah, leaves. and they've never had a picture of themselves, ever. and in reflection of water and stuff like that.

54:09 And, dude, some of their expressions whenever they get to see a picture of themselves for the first time, Oh, I also brought you something that's inside that bag. Yeah, that one's a joke because. Oh, wow. He might use it with like three, but yeah, I mean, the dude might be four foot eight, And what he found was the old piece of, so in Congo, the Belgian, Belgian Congo with

57:18 so they call that like the african holocaust or one of the first holocaust because there was you Yeah. So I've seen them eating parrots and African gray parrots and stuff. So, yeah, And I would say, I mean, this might not be a real stat, but in my mind, 80, 90% of the And they'll bring in trucks from Kenya and Tanzania and Rwanda. stuff it's just so depressing sometimes you think about the damage that people are capable of and

1:00:38 Last 20, 25 years of the rainforest in Congo, the size of Texas, which that's where I'm trying to help and you're trying to replenish and and help these communities and give them water when, Like it made me look like a dwarf by them. i would say that's the majority of the problem but another big problem in in congo or sub-sahara You know, there's a photograph of a tree somewhere in California.

1:03:51 that the trees just the cycle of the forest um these trees can fall over um but uh like we we as a Forest Service secret for its protection. And something nuts, like I came in here and remember I had gotten sick So that's why I want to say it now. because there should be a real public outcry and uproar that 5,000 kids, 5,000 kids under the age of five years old

1:06:54 out so many people. But why, why are people not like, why don't they have their eyes open, Their kids are dying in the dirty water. I've been to the funerals of those kids. We just don't even think about it. look, 20 seconds that's insane i think it's every 20 seconds. That's really hard to swallow. Yeah, and bro, like I, wow. I was doing. Um, you know, Southern, um, it's in Oklahoma city, uh, S S and U. And, uh, and they,

1:09:48 courtyard and it just wrecked me because like for me, but it's so easy to go in one ear and out the other. And, and then when I got up and spoke, I showed him, I'm like, Hey, every one of these white And, like, I bet not even 10%, not even 5% know that 5,000 kids every day are dying just because of 31. So that was when I gave the chief, Andy Bowe's chief, my, my first promise ever made the pygmies, which was,

1:12:23 than the mother? Um, and it was because she was so malnourished. um and she said what can you give them treatment i know it's just a pill or a shot and they said And $3 was the treatment. $45 for his casket that I buried him in. through mma and through like some of the other stuff like a platform that hey i can i can at Thank you for just being you, man.

1:16:06 And you continue to go back there to try to help these people. You make this decision. Yeah. the other stuff that came about but um, um, that's the link together. Um, that's what that can set, set it up in a way that, that the longterm solution and impact And so it's like culture shock here. In what way? I go straight to Popeye's and it's in Atlanta and I walk inside and there's this mom

1:20:42 Coke there. Um, but, but right after that, Like, stop, like, stop it. Like love each other. Like you're about to get a rude awakening or bad, but I want to point out certain things that like life's bigger than of our face yeah god that's so crazy yeah so i went into a long story there but uh no it's a anything and just got behind me but I got back and three days later, I was at their gala and, um, and, uh, and it was awesome.

1:24:16 running around here and you know leafs and stuff like that i don't want them sleeping on the ground They've really been a huge like component behind us but one of the things i love most about him is uh do social good. Like they, they get paid to drill water wells and, and to train nationals and the just need the training you just need the knowledge you just need the tools once

1:27:12 But the guy that did the 3,500 trees, he's great at farming. And so in three of the villages, we wanted to kind of start on a smaller scale first because it is land, water, and food. start with what you have and we're going to come and we're going to, But one of the most exciting things to me was that I walk into Tundu and at first I was like, land, do you think we could help you with water and you could help us with the labor?

1:30:03 I just I just love seeing that if you empower someone instead yeah you know that's got to be cool for you to see yeah dude i love it and then and one of the this village also mapinda started farming for themselves as well, corn and beans. sunk then all of a sudden they told me they're proud they walked me into every single one why your work? Like, did they understand like that you could reach, I mean, you're probably going to,

1:33:17 Did they understand that? around in my head it doesn't there's no you tell me your grandfather died i'm like fuck man dude on the ultimate fighter? Do they know about the UFC? Do they understand? My drilling team does, reference for 5 000 kids dying every day i don't think they really have a reference for um for And a lot of times it's just in a big circle.

1:36:29 But this guy who shows up out of nowhere, like a mythical creature. So their parents, most of them, were kind of the slave masters. You literally are like a religious character. video they have no idea what mma is they have no idea the impact right and then you're going on It's so funny too, because when you backed up, um actually pretty much every new village, so maybe ten times.

1:39:52 Another one was like, is that a spirit? With all this hair. And then I'm just covered in it. like if you could take them I mean at a grocery store, I wonder what they would think us using Sometimes I think about it and I think it would be awesome. I've never seen it before, getting so homesick for something in two or three days. It's a new, it's going to be a documentary.

1:42:54 In my American bubble. Slavery exists now. Communities torn apart for generations. We would work hard from morning until night. We're human. Hard Rock in Las Vegas when I was 23. And that was what I always thought was going to we still got to choose to fight. an entire audience to fight for something other than themselves in a fight for freedom. And now I'm asking you, help me, help me give them a voice.

1:47:12 the subject in going down this journey with us. So you may be asking, why don't we just give money Think of this, though, as an opportunity to see just a dramatic impact in the lives of the pygmies, Today is, what is today's date Fighting for Freedom, but the book is Fight for the Forgotten. and that's going to be one of the kickbacks on the Kickstarter.

1:49:21 When you decided to get back to MMA to try to bring awareness and try to But it kind of was crazy. No, nine months earlier than we had. you came in illegally and you lost your passport and your visa, and we're going to arrest you and Fuck. I would have had to do that again whenever i got back i get scared getting stuck in canada They, you have to be fed by people on the outside. So if you get arrested, it's up to your family and friends to feed you. Um, and so this dude is, he was all alone and he got thrown in prison.

1:52:56 over a year, He's there in Congo, has a real heart for Congo. And Angelina Jolie goes there and like helps rape victims. I don't know, is raped in the Congo. It's a, it's a weapon of war it's 1200 women And the dude's awesome. I can only imagine. They just try to get money out of you. So from the time you have five five years off you start training again how long

1:56:36 I was thinking I needed, um, well, I was told I needed knee surgery. I needed my meniscus cleaned did you immediately book a fight or like, how did you, uh, how did you decide when you were Do you do cardio kickboxing with your friends? she's so sweet she's so awesome and this will be your first fight to ever uh well I love the UFC. He's seriously a great dude.

1:59:43 He had sent that out um Right. of that podium, be the guy at the top, the champ, because if I'm there, I have a bigger voice, it's just it's it's hard to imagine that someone could be that selfless that's doing as much as you're doing. How many people the amount of dedication that you have to have? Yeah. And I can only imagine what kind of medical care they even have out there that's why i almost died the four four labs told me i didn't have malaria until i was almost dead

2:03:55 and hurt him oh my god and so we've we've sent her to uganda for treatment and kenya for treatment how am I going to do this thing? How am I going to do it by myself? And, uh, because that's how I need to fight. This week? Oh, okay. It's the Lard and Gertz. So it's cool. I gave out the Kickstarter on Twitter. It just means TheBigPygmy. And so that's kind of one of the reasons why I'm like, you know what?

2:08:14 But on September 15th, it's 28 chapters of this stuff. Thank you. man. I walk around and people are like, oh, it's Justin from the Joe Rogan show. Thank you. And root for him, Spike TV, Friday night.