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18:38
From: AfriGadget
Read This Entry & More At AfriGadget
Gikomba is a part of Nairobi that is well known for metal working. I had been meaning to come this way for a while, and today afforded me the perfect opportunity to drop down into Gikomba and see what kind of enterprising activities Kenyans were up to.
I ran into a George Odhiambo, a bulk fabricator of everything from wheelbarrows to chisels. The chisels caught my eye, primarily because one of them looked a lot like a shaft straight out of a Land Rover. It turns out that they reuse multiple types of iron for their goods, including leftover pieces from old vehicles. Nothing goes to waste here.
Even more interesting to me (probably because it moved and did stuff with fire), was the bicycle-turned-to-bellows that kept the fire going that would heat the metal rods. It’s a fairly simple, yet ingenious contraption that utilizes old materials with a little bit of engineering. The thing runs all day, every day too, so it’s made to last.
The chisel pictured below is a stone chisel, used in quarrying and squaring stones in the quarry’s dotting the country (most houses in Kenya are stone). They cost about 350/= ($6) to make, and sell for about 650/-= ($11).
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17:16
From: Kenyan Pundit
Read This Entry & More At Kenyan Pundit
EDIT: This post should have gone up last week but it got “eaten.”
Apologies for the lack of posts, I have been traveling for the last week and a half and more travel is coming up. This doesn’t seem to be a good year for me to travel, however, if my bags aren’t [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "(Was) In Nairobi", url: "http://www.kenyanpundit.com/2008/06/17/in-nairobi-2/" });
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16:49
From: White African
Read This Entry & More At White African
One of the thing I love about coming to Kenya is the passionate developers that are scattered around Nairobi. Tonight 6 of us got together to hack on the borrowed BugLabs device, and to brainstorm a Sony Ericsson SDK mobile phone application.
Brian Muita and Wilfred Mworia had their first chance to play with the BUGbundle, a device that you can hack about 10 ways from Sunday. So far we’re understanding the device, and are working on getting a premade working app on it. Needless to say, we’ll likely be in the BugLabs forums quite a lot this week so we can get it working in time for Saturday’s Barcamp Nairobi. (update: Brian got it to work!)
Eric Magutu, Laban Mwangi and Steve Mutinda were all there to brainstorm a cool application that would allow them to utilize some of the neat features available in the Sony Ericsson SDK that had been showcased at Skunkworks last week.
 
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15:28
From: You Missed This
Read This Entry & More At You Missed This
The world has eventually been awakened to the mini genocide taking place Mt. Elgon as perpetrated by the Kenyan army. Reports of systematic torture of the Saboats by the army turned investigators ( [news.bbc.co.uk]) is another proof of the shepherd turning on his own flock. Selective logic will rush to the sanctity and respect of rule of law while conveniently glossing over the double standards practiced by the Kibaki government. Reports of rape and gruesome practices to Saboat males by the military bent on making these people confess to owning guns and being members of the Saboat Land Defence Force (SLDF) reminds one of the fates of prisoners of war. First the military are the least qualified in investigating domestic militias. As much as two wrongs never made a right one cannot fail to smell a big rate why the exclusive concentration on SLDF while other deadlier urban and village militia are left to roam and terrorize Kenyans throughout the country. The fact remains the army was sent to Mt. Elgon at the height of post-election violence as a show of political/force might. Kibaki wanted was sending the message that through the army (and police) he had the monopoly of force. Formation of the Grand coalition government never watered this original objective as evident in the army operation mutating into a mini genocide. Shameless commerce Meanwhile the official DECEPTION watch takes a new twist as genuine IDPs find themselves outmanoeuvred by their SMART kinsmen. IDPs funds drawn in cheques through Equity Bank are propping up established business with the surplus going to entertainment along the coast. Industrious (never LAZY) Kenyans smell money miles away and registered promptly in camps and within no time it is harvest time. Meanwhile the REAL IDPs still remains hosted in the sordid camps with bloggers here turn blind eye to fellow ENTERPRENEURING Kenyans do brisk commerce with their plight. And why not when blaming LAZY Kenyans is the cheaper option? Morality is a never a virtue for good business. Ordinary IDPs is ready cannon fodder and not good for business. Join the dots and see why the fund for resettling the IDPs was never streamlined. Prosperity the Kenyan way stops for nothing. And why not, we have done it before killing others through deals meant to save their lives and giving amnesty to architects of the same scams. You can hit the keyboard spewing all the vitriol in defence all the mush you fancy but these two issues of Mt Elgon genocide and IDPs being short-changed are recipes of a looming larger crises that negates all the hollow intents of national reconciliation and healing.
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10:37
From: Black Looks
Read This Entry & More At Black Looks
Digital Humanities: Timbuktu Project
A project to electronically digitize ancient manuscripts and books from Timbuktu
(tags: africa history digital)
Forgotten Kenyan conflict exposed
(tags: kenya conflict)
What is the Bulungula Incubator? « The Bulungula Incubator
(tags: ngo poverty projects southafrica tourism development)
Afrigadget.com - 50 Best Websites 2008 - TIME
(tags: web2.0 africa technology)
SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "links for 2008-06-17", url: "http://www.blacklooks.org/2008/06/links_for_2008-06-17.html" });
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8:08
From: What An African Woman Thinks
Read This Entry & More At What An African Woman Thinks
Life is, well, hard.
It's one of those times when I have to hoard every ounce of energy I have and channel it into making it through the day.
Plus, the way I'm feeling, I could very well post something here that I'll regret in the future.
So, for many reasons, I'm out.
For now.
I'll be back.
I always come back, you know this by now.
In the meantime, take good care of you.It's my window, but I don't own the view.
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7:43
From: Kenyanpoet
Read This Entry & More At Kenyanpoet
All are invited to Jahazi this Friday June 20th from 7 pm – 9 pm for the opening of the Art Exhibition titled “Semi Abstraction” featuring Artist Reuben Waweru from Nairobi.  Reuben is a graduate of Kenyatta University School of Fine Art and is a freelance artist and visual arts teacher at the Aga Khan Academy, Mombasa.
His past Visual Arts Exhibitions include: - Kenyatta National Hospital Tile Mosaic Art Pin-up
- Mamlaka Hill Exhibition
- All Saints Cathedral Exhibition
- Crafts of Africa Sarit Exhibition
- Mathare drug Rehabilitation Centre Tile Mosaic Pin-up.
Come out to meet with Reuben and see his unique collection displayed throughout the coffee house. Price list will be available. Entrance is free – any donation is welcomed. The Jahazi Coffee House is located:
First left at Coffee Pot roundabout, Fort Jesus,
Ndia Kuu Street, Old Town - Mombasa “As to the pure mind all things are pure, so to the poetic mind all things are poetical”
  
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6:49
From: Black Looks
Read This Entry & More At Black Looks
Danny Glover speaking at LA vigil calling for the safe return of Lovinsky Pierre Antoine
Please sign the petition
Weekly Vigil in London every Wednesday 5-6pm outside the Brazilian Embassy
Links: Lovinsky Pierre Antoine (blog under construction)
Global Women’s Strike - Lovinsky
Tags:
Haiti
Lovinsky Pierre Antoine
Brazil
UN + MINUSTAH
SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Half Hour for Haiti", url: "http://www.blacklooks.org/2008/06/half_hour_for_haiti-3.html" });
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5:38
From: Cock And Bull
Read This Entry & More At Cock And Bull
I once had a puppy as a small boy. It was the most precious thing that I had and I couldn’t wait to get out of school to get home and play with it. The puppy was brown in color with clear bright eyes and a wet muzzle. It was fat with a small tail that wagged all the time and it loved rolling on its back so that I could tickle its belly. I would cook porridge for it, clean up after it messed, and washed it once a week to remove insects from its fur.
One day I got home from school and my puppy was nowhere to be found. I looked all over for it calling out loudly, and was in tears when I couldn’t find it. Suddenly, my sister called me from inside the latrine closet and informed me that she could hear the puppy. Somehow, it had wandered into the latrine closet and had fallen into the hole many feet below.
If I had a way of getting down that hole to physically pull out the puppy, I would have. However, the hole opening was too small and I had to immediately figure out another way to save my puppy. As I joined several pieces of rope in order to have enough length to lower down a tiny bucket into the hole, all I could think about is how much suffering my puppy had already gone through.
When I finally had the bucket at the base of the latrine hole, I prayed that the puppy would get into the bucket so that I could pull it out. I could hear the whimper, and by shining a torch I could see the dark outline of the puppy surrounded by bubbling dark muck that fiercely offended the nose of my down turned face and made my eyes water. I wondered, “Would the puppy recognize my saving efforts and somehow see the significance of the bucket next to it?” But rather than get inside the bucket, the puppy just looked up at me and whimpered even more soulfully.
It was almost dark now and so I began imploring my puppy loudly to get into the bucket since I knew it might not last much longer inside the airless hole. But then I realized that my presence and voice was distracting the puppy from seeing what was right in front of it, and so I withdrew my face from the mouth of the hole and switched off the torch. That sent my puppy howling in protest and that made me heartbroken, but still I knew that it was the only way that I would be able to save the puppy. All the while, I talked to it with my mind and begged it to get inside the bucket.
When I went back to the hole after a while and shone the light downwards, the puppy was inside the bucket and quietly looking up. And as I pulled up the rope attached to the bucket, I was crying shamelessly with relief without even worrying that my sister would see my weakness. And when I finally saw the puppy at the surface, all coated with grimy stinking aged human dung, I was more than glad to hold it between my bare palms and immediately took it for a thorough cleanup, after which I wiped it with my only towel and warmed it by the fire in the kitchen until its damp fur became dry.
And as I think about that incident I realize that not at any time did I feel angry and say, “The puppy deserves it, let it suffer”. Rather, my only concern was that the puppy comes out of the ordeal it had fallen into alive, and that it never falls into such danger ever again.
I suppose God’s concern for us is much more that a small boy has for his puppy. When we fall into pits, he throws lifelines down at us and implores us to accept his help. Once in a while, He will withdraw His face so that we can look around at what He has given us as help, but that does not mean that He is any less concerned about our salvation. Are you in a pit and cannot see God shining down a light on you? Then just look around and you will see all the help that he has dropped down into the hole to help you climb out. And if you listen with your heart, you will hear Him imploring you to accept His help with your life.
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5:37
From: Cock And Bull
Read This Entry & More At Cock And Bull
One day I was walking with a female colleague in Nairobi at night. And as we went past the Total Petrol Station on Koinange Street that houses the Florida Night Club, she asked loudly, “What kind of men come to pick up these girls?” She was referring to the scantily clad prostitutes that hang around Koinange Street boldly flagging down male motorists in a bid to entice them to stop and negotiate for a ‘good time’. My friend was asking the question more to herself than to me. Had she directed herself to me, I might have told her that I did not know what kind of me pick up prostitutes using my most convincing tone. However, if I were to have been quite honest, I would have told her that she was walking with one of those men.
I am sure she would have been shocked and I most probably would have wanted her to understand the circumstances that had led me to become sexually addicted to prostitutes. And I would have taken her back many years before when I completed my high school. Having free time between doing my final exam and waiting for the results that would enable me to proceed to the university, I had the excellent opportunity to discover the city of Nairobi. And so I would spend a lot of time walking up and down the streets, marveling at the various items of display behind glass windows in various shops, while committing the map of the city to my mind. It was in one of those outings that I met a cousin who was slightly older than me and who lived and worked in the city. And so we spent some time together chatting about my school and his job and we agreed to make more time the following Sunday so that he could show me more of Nairobi.
Come Sunday, I met my cousin and after exchanging pleasantries, he asked me to follow him for he had something to show me. I do not remember quite which route we took until we found ourselves walking up a flight of stairs and on breathlessly coming to the landing, my remaining wind was knocked out by the spectacle that greeted me. There was a long corridor and on each side was a row of women of all shapes, sizes and complexions wearing very short skirts and brightly colored tops that liberally exposed the bosom. At once, I realized that I was in a brothel. My cousin was still walking and so I braced myself and slowly followed him feeling the eyes of the many women upraising us as if we were the ones on sale. As we climbed two more sets of stairs to walk along corridors with similar parades of prostitutes I wished I could just get out and take a breathe of fresh air and when my cousin saw my discomfort, he obliged and we went back to the street.
I was sweating, my heart was racing, my knees were weak, and I was laboring for breathe. All the while, my cousin was explaining what happens when a person engages one of the women for a sexual encounter and with a shaking voice I asked him, “How does one protect themselves from getting infected with a venereal disease?” He laughed at my naivety and said, “The woman will give you a condom!” Even though I was not quite a virgin, most of what I knew about sex was picked up from discussions with my school friends and from the occasional steamy novel that came my way.
“Do you want to try? I will pay for you…” my cousin prodded. I was so turned on by the images in my mind that I cut him off with an enthusiastic “Yes!”
And so it began.
The next time I was in town, I managed to find the building that had the brothel all by myself. Within a very short time, I had discovered other brothels in town and I was officially addicted. At 18, I was ready to start conquering the world but from the way I felt so helplessly attracted to commercial sex, it seemed like the world had conquered me even before the fight began. I was to attempt to break the acquired habit soon after, but it seemed like the more I tried the more deeply I got hooked. After each encounter, I would look at myself in disgust and vow that this would be the last time, until days turned into months and months into years.
Why am I writing this? It is because I feel compelled to talk about sexual addiction which is an issue that I believe affects many people making them feel unworthy, dirty, abnormal, out of control, sinful and even suicidal. At the surface, it might seem like a simple issue of masturbation, or being too amorous, or too much enjoying of being in strip clubs, or loving porn, or wanting to be in inappropriate sexual situations say with a child, or one of many other kinky sexual acts. And even though it can easily be justified, the person affected can never really accept himself or herself because of this behavior, and he or she would like to be free from the crack of its whip.
In Kenya today, there is an ongoing cultural revolution that is making many people review their sexuality more objectively. This is perhaps most evident from the many advertisements concerning sexual enhancements of all sorts that appear in the daily newspapers. While they are useful as aides to help people with various sexual dysfunctions, it is obvious that perfectly OK men and women are being driven into taking drugs such as Viagra, and into believing that their penises need to be enlarged, or their vaginas need tightening. Sure, dildos and other sexual toys are bringing unprecedented ecstasy into many lonely bedrooms. However, there is a danger of being hooked to ‘coming’ in much the same way that an overweight person is hooked to food. A person might even realize that they can no longer enjoy a normal sexual relationship with a partner despite being in a loving relationship.
Unfortunately, when one is hooked to a dildo it will not be just a case of packing it away inside a box for good as soon as a sexual partner comes along. Neither will a man who visits prostitutes regularly give up his rendezvous on getting married to the girl of his dreams. And since the conscious convicts most people on sexual grounds many men and women lead secret lives of unbelievable sexual adventures unknown to their spouses or partners. The burden is heavy to bear and many would like to share it, but many men and women are asking themselves, “How can anyone understand?”
The fact is that because of how good it feels, a sexual addiction becomes very consuming and can be difficult to break. A sex addict will continue to engage in certain sexual behaviors despite facing potential health risks, financial problems, shattered relationships or even arrest. As with any other problem the first step into breaking sexual addiction is recognizing that one has a problem and deciding to take responsibility for finding a solution. By the grace of God, sexual addictions and all forms of addictions can be overcome.
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5:36
From: Cock And Bull
Read This Entry & More At Cock And Bull
Today I wanted to find somewhere special to go. And that is how I ended up in my mother’s stomach once again. Curled up inside this buoyant cocoon, I am surprised to rediscover just how close mom and I once were. And though we hardly talk these days, she is the person who sheltered me in her flesh, enveloped me in her warmth, fed me with what she ate, and kept me alive with her own blood. I once again consider how gentle and accepting she has been over the years, which is quite the opposite of my father who is slightly aloof and the disciplinarian. And I realize just how important this combination is going to be for guiding me in life’s journey.
At one time I have been brought up by my father, by my mother at another, and by both parents at another. My education has been in different schools and in different parts of the country. I have been in a mixed school of boys and girls, and a school of boys alone. I have been in boarding school and in a school where I went home at the end of each day. I have been in a school where I shared sleeping quarter, and a school where I slept alone in my own room.
I have had different careers and have worked in different countries both in employment and in my own business. I have met different kinds of people from various backgrounds, had a chance to make friends and even people who did not like me. I have had a chance to travel and periods of extensive bumming. I have had the chance to Love and to receive Love, and I have watched Love walk away. I have given and received and have praised and complained. I have been inspired greatly and have had a chance to encourage others in return. I have walked miles with heavy burdens and I have had my burdens relieved and once again walked light. And I have courted the dark just as vigorously as I have sought the light.
In my mother’s stomach, I have just a little beating heart as the rest of the body is slowly being formed. And yet I know all my strengths and weaknesses and the triumphs and pitfalls that are ahead of me. I do not know about right or wrong, and have not yet judged myself as a good person or a bad person. And neither have I labeled myself yet as rich or successful or a Kenyan or an author. For now, I am just a person waiting to walk into life with my own two feet; and sometimes I know I will be strong and sometimes weak.
It is good to know that as long as I live, I can always go back into my mother’s stomach and assesses my future performance, changing different circumstances realize the life that I dream about when I am yet to be born. Just a while ago, I would have told you that this is just my plain old life, for it did not look very interesting being looked at as a past. But looking at my life as a future makes it seem quite fascinating. I suppose it makes as much sense as watching a movie from beginning to end, as opposed to how we view our lives from the present time backwards; similar to watching a movie from the end to the beginning. Looked at this way, I can even dare say that it has been a good life for me.
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4:06
From: You Missed This
Read This Entry & More At You Missed This
Prime Minister manages to reinvigorate Kenyan patriotism that is reminiscent to the 2002 NARC dream Through the personal intervention of Prime Minister Raila Odinga, the circus that has been Kenyan football seems to be on its way to sanity and recovery. Raila has in the space of only one month (something that the GNU/PNU government could not do in five years) managed to have the stars back to winning ways and consequently also given the sharply divided Kenyan population what is, in my opinion, the single most important unifying factor since the disastrous elections in 2007. While some ethnic chauvinist and rookie politicians refuse to accept the reality that the PM did this country a big favour when he accepted to drop political demands and is now in an equitable partnership in the coalition government, the youth of this country have found a national bond in sports and are rallying behind the national team and the prime minister – whose name, together with that of Senator Obama and Oliech, they chanted whenever Oliech raced towards the Zimbabwean defence last Saturday. The red-hot Dennis Oliech put Kenya on the road to a World Cup and African Nations cup qualification on Saturday with an 88th minute goal against the Warriors of Zimbabwe. Oliech’s goal two minutes from the final whistle plus a 12th minute goal scored by MacDonald Mariga took Kenya to a 2-0 victory over the Zimbabweans. Oliech ended the game as stand-in goalkeeper after Origi was stretchered off with a knee injury. Kenya are now at the top of their group with six points.  It is no secret, but the hottest ticket in any man’s wallet in Nairobi today is not a ticket to the movies and what-have-you but a ticket (and a miniature Kenyan flag) to watch any of the Harambee Stars matches. Tickets to these matches are selling-out two days before D-day and crowds are filling the 30,000 capacity Nyayo Stadium hours before kick-off. While it is clear the PM and the country has moved on from Kivuitu’s antics, it is a pity some politicians still want to play power games humiliating the PM in have been caught flat footed and are a busy criticizing the Prime Minister for accepting to be installed as a Gikuyu elder. Even more importantly, and in accordance with the ODM manifesto, the recent grand coalition government budget allocated Kshs. 1 million to each of the country’s 210 constituencies for development of soccer and purchase of sporting goods. During his recent trip to Germany for an eye surgery, Raila not only met Sepp Blatter (FIFA President) whom he convinced to allow him (Raila) time to sort out the mess in management of soccer, he also had the German government pledge to support the stars by way of supplying technical support to KFF, even if it meant seconding a qualified coach to head the stars technical bench. A similar pledge was made recently when Raila met South African President Thabo Mbeki during the World Economic Forum in Cape Town. No doubt the PM, himself a former player with disbanded premier league side Luo Union, having recognized the importance of sports in economic development and has made it his business to give hope to the youth of this country through sports. During his meeting with Mbeki, Raila also managed to set up a crucial appointment for Sports Minister Hellen Sambili. The minister will this week be visiting South Africa where she will attend a summit in Durban which will strategize on how Africa can explore the many socio-economic benefits arising out of soccer. This good news was delivered to media through a news dispatch from the Prime Minister's Press Service in which Raila said Sambili would also visit Johannesburg to meet South African government officials and the National World Cup Committee to explore better cooperation, technical assistance and sponsorships. Additionally, and in what will sound like sweet music to rural communities who have no access to pay channels DSTV or GTV, Raila also revealed that South African government will provide giant screens for 2010 World Cup live matches to urban centres in Kenya. Details of this arrangement will be handled by KFF. It is hard to imagine that just early May 2008, the country was staring at the prospects of an indefinite football sanction when World soccer governing body, FIFA, angered by the a court ruling barring KFF officials, gave the country a 72-hour ultimatum to rescind the move or face a total ban. This was after the High Court in Nairobi kicked out the KFF executive led by Mohammed Hatimy for being in office illegally. High Court Judge, Justice Hatari Waweru, ruling in a suit filed by the faction led by Sam Nyamweya that had demanded the removal of the Hatimy group, said Hatimy and his group were "strangers" who were in office illegally. The court ruled that the Hatimy group, which enjoys the backing and recognition of FIFA, could not be entrusted with running the federation. "Football is a serious sport in this country and it cannot be left in the hands of strangers," he said, technically giving the Government-recognized Nyamweya team the mandate to manage the sport. But FIFA Secretary-General, Jerome Valcke, in a letter to Hatimy, accused the Nyamweya group of "colluding with a former sports minister (read PNU’s Maina Kamanda) to orchestrate the crisis in the federation to maintain their control of Kenyan football". Last week, the High Court, on receiving Hatimy’s appeal and recognising the folly of antagonizing FIFA, overturned its own ruling and reverted the management of soccer to the Hatimy group as per the KFF constitution and FIFA statutes which provide for elaborate mechanisms of dispute resolution and even bar football officials from recourse to courts of law.  The prestigious FIFA World Cup is due to take place in South Africa and for the first time ever on the continent in the year 2010. All African countries have their sights set on sending a team to this event, and indeed all of us have a patriotic duty to drop the politics and support the PM in his efforts to ensuring Harambee Stars qualify for this event. This may sound like a dream to many people out there, but I have every confidence that Harambee Stars may just surprise you!
Read the complete article at
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