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18:15
In Search Of The Elusive Bottom
» For Love and Money In Search Of The Elusive Bottom
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16:48
Thank you to Ushahidi volunteers!
» Kenyan Pundit One of the best/most amazing things about Ushahidi has been the spirit of community that has surrounded it since its inception. We certainly wouldn’t be where we are today without the individuals who have stepped up to give generous amounts of their time and skill for no other reason other than the fact that they believe in what we are trying to build and accomplish (speaking of which, huge thanks to everyone who responded to my call for translators!).
As we work on de-bugging the alpha version and on building the archive of the Kenyan post-election crisis, we’d like to send a special shout out to two Kenyans - Wambui and Dipesh - who are helping us populate the archive by entering data from the numerous documents we have been collecting from local NGOs. We are still looking for more reports/pictures/video from that period - if you have stuff to update please enter it directly in to the legacy site or get in touch with us at: info-at-ushahidi-dot-com
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9:51
Alle Jahre wieder…
» Kikuyumoja's realm “Ich möcht Dich mal sehen wie Du drei Tage lange im Altersheim hockst und Händchen hältst….aber einen Tag lang können wir das gerne mal machen.”
Das Fest der Liebe, das (christliche) Weihnachtsfest steht vor der Tür und schon jetzt im November wurde ich mit der Frage konfrontiert, “was wir eigentlich an Weihnachten machen”.
Meistens weiß man ja nicht was man möchte - sondern nur das, was man nicht möchte.
Was ich nicht möchte:
- zu Hause doof rumsitzen und Kalorien bunkern
- mir über den materiellen Wert von Geschenken Gedanken machen (müssen)
- etwas Feiern, dass ich lieber das ganze Jahr über (er)leben würde: eine gerechte Welt und ein liebevolles und ehrliches Miteinander
Abgesehen von der Möglichkeit, im Kreis der verbliebenen Familie gemeinsam die Zeit totzuschlagen und damit die Nähe nachzuholen, die ich das ganze Jahr über ob des Wechsels in eine andere Stadt sträflichst vernachlässigt habe, verkommt das Weihnachtsfest als Solches für mich immer mehr zu einem Ritual wie Ostern oder - noch schlimmer - Karneval.
Statt sich über all diesen Frust zu ärgern, würde ich gerne etwas von meiner Energie abgeben und diejenigen beglücken, die damit am Wenigsten rechnen. Nur: wo?
- Im Kinderheim in Kenia - wäre super, aber zu teuer wg Flug, Unterkunft, usw.
- Im lokalen Alters-/Pflegeheim? - habe ich schon mal gemacht, und kommt für mich auch ganz auf die Gemeinde an.
- Im Bahnhofsviertel in FFM bei den Drogenabhängigen?
- ???
Ich könnte das Weihnachtsfest dieses Jahr auch einfach ignorieren und irgendwo als Hilfskraft arbeiten. Natürlich kann ich so etwas nur deswegen sagen, weil ich den 9-5 job an den Nagel gehängt, mich selbstständig gemacht habe und wir z.Zt. noch kinderlos sind. Für alle anderen bedeutet das Fest wohl vor allem 2-3 Tage bezahlter Urlaub.
Aber ganz abgesehen davon, welchen Stellenwert dieses Fest für jeden Einzelnen hat - wie werdet Ihr Euer Weihnachtsfest verbringen? Und was werdet Ihr dazu beitragen?
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Sticking My Neck Out, Once More
» For Love and Money Sticking My Neck Out, Once More
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9:20
Free web based press release center launched in Kenya
» The Benin Epilogue Part I: Africa-Ready for Business 
With the growth of internet users in Kenya, many businesses are also moving online. Recently launched is TG Press Release Center a web based press release center based in Nairobi Kenya.
The website is fully supported by online advertising and features relevant press releases from businesses across East Africa.
TG Press Release Center is part of TGEA (Teyie Global East Africa) online advertising network that is set to open its doors in the first quarter of 2009. According to information posted on the company's website, TGEA will offer targeted online advertising in East Africa through blogs, news sites and general websites.
"we are offering solutions that will allow both publishers and advertisers in East Africa to meet their online advertising objectives at affordable rates" says Mwangi the group's chief technologist.
TGEA is set to offer online ads for as low as two Kenya shillings (yes 2 shillings), to many businesses across East Africa. Additionally the group is also offering free web hosting and support to web content developers in the region to support the growth of their online advertising business.
TGEA is currently in talks with major publishers in the region and has in its stable a host of blogs already running network ads.
Mwangi says that the group is currently running free ads for interested companies in the region in the months of November and December through blogs and websites that have signed to the network. All interested firms, can register directly through a contact form on the TGEA website.
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9:10 The Revolving Round Hut
» Cock And Bull I have just remembered a story that a college roommate called Rashid told me about his first drinking experience. It was back when he was a teenager and it was during the village circumcision season.
On the run up to the actual day that the circumcision ceremony would take place, the villagers had prepared traditional alcoholic brew from millet and stored it in a small round hut. Feeling adventurous, Rashid and one of his cousins decided to sample the brew and so they discretely made their way into the hut when no one was looking. Once inside they sat down on the floor and hurriedly gulped down the liquor while looking out through the door to ensure that no one was coming.
After they imagined that they had had enough of the not-so-nice tasting beverage, they decided to leave the small hut. However, they encountered a problem as soon as they got on their feet. The circular interior of the small hut seemed to be spinning! But what made it so complicated was that the door was going round and round and each time they attempted to walk towards it, it would shift from where they had last seen it.
After a drunken consultation, they came up with a plan: they would stand at one spot and then wait for the door to come round. As soon as the door was straight ahead, they would make a mad dash through it and would then find themselves outside. And so they waited and would excitedly tell each other to jump each time the door came around. Unfortunately the timing was rather awkward and after missing the door and hitting the wall several times, they knocked themselves unconscious. When they came to, someone had mercifully removed them from the small round hut, and put them on the same bed where they had both thrown up all over each other.
And that was the beginning of Rashid’s drinking adventures.
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8:30
The Tree And The Woodpecker
» Cock And Bull A former classmate called Patrick Njiru opened my eyes in a fascinating direction when he confided about something that used to puzzle him when he was younger. He told me that each time he saw a person walking, he used to wonder what prevented that person from toppling over and sprawling onto the ground; especially when one leg was lifted. You see, he could understand it when a cow or a dog walked since at any one time it had at least two alternate legs firmly planted on the ground, but not for a human being. I don’t quite remember what my reaction was to that revelation, but I know that I have always remembered Njiru’s arguments and was impressed that a person might be so curious as to wonder about the obvious.
I remembered Njiru when I looked outside and saw a woodpecker attacking a tree with its beak. And as I looked, I imagined how much the tree might wish it could shrug off the annoying bird that was slowly drilling a hole in its body. That reminded me of a TV story of survival when a mountaineer was trapped under a boulder overnight, and had to endure the pain as a family of crabs slowly and meticulously buffeted on his foot. From his immobilized position, he could only watch as one crab after another dipped its claws inside his open wounds and scissored out more flesh in a feeding frenzy that lasted for hours until the rescue team arrived.
A tree can appreciate just how much it means for a creature to be able to have the volition to move, no matter how slightly. A person who is bedridden can tell you about the value of the ability for anyone to walk around. Someone who is locked up can talk about the value of being able to travel from one place to another. You and I, what can we appreciate about our abilities today?
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7:22
Play: Let Kenyans be Kenyans, Alliance Francaise 26th - 30th Nov
» Kenyanpoet Heartstrings Kenya brings you ‘Let Kenyans be Kenyans’, by Dan Dambuki aka Churchill.
The play will be staged at the Alliance Française Auditorium on Nov. 26,27,29 and 30th at 6.30pm weekdays and 3& 6.30pm on weekends.
The play has been directed by Victor Ber and Sammy Mwangi.
To book a ticket, call: 0721 608 656
Charges are Ksh. 500
'God Couldn't be Everywhere, so He created Kenyans'
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6:39
Class At The Nairobi Arboretum
» Cock And Bull The Nairobi Arboretum is just a short distance from the city center and is a good place to hibernate to for a while when one is looking for a little quiet. It is a recommended venue for a person who seeks a perspective of issues, especially if what you are looking for is the end to the thread with which to tie events together. There are numerous paths through a wooded area that at first appears like a maze especially if you are visiting for the first time. But I suppose it is by finding your way through it that you are able to figure out whatever other puzzles there might be in your life. As you walk along the paths, you easily become distracted by the sights, sounds and fragrances of the trees, the flowers, the birds, the insects and an occasional monkey. There are also strategically placed benches that you can relax on as you trade in the noise in your head for the silence of the park.
It was while I was sitting on one of those straight backed benches made from bamboo that a troop of school children approached like tiny soldiers on the move. They had a maroon and blue uniform and were all around 10 years old. From the bubbling excitement and stars and flowers painted on their faces, it was easy to assume that they were on a class field day out. They were being led by their teacher and as they approached where I was seated, she asked if I knew where the water tap was. I told her no. With that, she instructed the children to walk no further as she disappeared around the wooded path in a solo search for the water point. The children looked lost for just a bit, and suddenly, they began to congregate around the bench on which I was seated. I guessed it must be their training that kicked in, to look up to a grown up for directions. I was surrounded by about 100 little faces of boys and girls whose hullaballoo suddenly hushed as if waiting for me to address them. I was bewildered for a moment but I decided just to keep quiet. In that little while, there was total silence but for the jostling of impatient feet and I remembered the email conversation that I had earlier with a friend who is about to start teaching class 1 pupils for the first time in her life. In part it went:
New challenges are coming up my way next year. I begin my life as a class teacher for Standard One and that will be a huge milestone for me. I am really anxious but I know that this is one thing that God keeps bringing me back to and that quote from the Apple CEO is so true:
“You’ve got to find what you love. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.”
It is quite interesting because this week I am leading devotions and what we are discussing is pursuing excellence God’s way. The stark reality is that I will never pursue excellence in my workplace for instance if I do not have the right attitude and that will only come if I know that I am in the right place… I sincerely pray that I have found that, for what I do gives me so much joy and satisfaction despite the fact that it does have its downsides to it too. Yet it is those very challenges that make it all the more beautiful… all the more worthwhile!
And continued….
Do you marvel over the monumental task of being able to raise a child, and impart the values that are going to guide them for the rest of their lives? Now that you will be a teacher of young brains, do you realize that your role in shaping the future of Kenyans will even be greater than that of the parents? Do you realize that you have a chance of having every single dream that you ever had for this world come alive through your interaction with those children for the amount of time that God will grant you? At the same time, you will have the opportunity to make friends for a lifetime – valuable friends. I would have to say that the friendship of children is similar to the one that a person would make with flowers. No one quite understands what it is with human beings and flowers, and yet the connection cannot be denied.
So, what makes us be able to do the ‘little’ things what we do despite the scorn and skeptism that often comes from ourselves or that might come from those that think we should do different things; such as channeling energies to efforts that translate into a fat bank account or an executive position in a big company? The belief that we are not doing this for our own sakes, but for a more profound reason that we might not yet understand. That, rather than you or I being the architects of our careers, we have accepted to become vessels through which God can reach out to others. We become like a trough that God daily fills with water and all sorts of creatures have to come for a drink. That takes sacrifice, takes submission, and might even require for God to bring us on our knees. The many ‘bad’ things that have happened in life might just be that; God bringing us to our knees.
And at that moment, the teacher came back and the children were given fresh instructions on where to go next. I had just learnt my first lesson of what it would take to become a school teacher; a strong conviction of being at the right place at the right time doing the right thing.
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4:06
Orchestra Without Musical Instruments
» Cock And Bull On the day that Barack Obama was declared the winner of the US presidential election, we were watching the developments with friends at home. We had just watched Obama’s acceptance speech and McCain’s speech for conceding defeat, when the TV station turned its attention to the local reaction to the event. Being that Obama has some Kenyan roots, there were pockets of sporadic celebrations in Nairobi and a huge breakout of festivities in his biological father’s home area.
What caught our attention was a small group of supporters that was captured on camera in Kibera. Kibera is a sprawling slum area that houses some of the poorest people in Nairobi. The happy parade consisted of a band of about 20 men and women. The group was walking slowly in a small dancing procession with the leading man carrying a rainbow flag – I guess for lack of a US flag. Within the group was a man blowing the whistle with as much gusto as his need to breathe in and out could allow him. And then there was a woman carrying a paper egg tray. She was waving the egg tray above her head in a way that a musician might move a tambourine during a live music extravaganza. She was simultaneously ululating loudly and the unadulterated joy that radiated on her face was something to look at. We all agreed that she might have been on her way to the market to fetch eggs for her small business, when she received the news and everything else was forgotten as she plunged into the aliveness of the moment.
When we later had a discussion, we talked about what brings happiness. That was when someone pointed out that despite McCain’s phenomenal endeavor and gallant efforts in the election, despite his dramatic past as a soldiers and his colorful career as a politician in the world’s most recognized country, the woman having a gay old time with the egg tray in Kibera was definitely happier at that moment. Life has a way of showing us that which can bring out the most happiness from inside of us. And if we allow it to show us, we rise above class, race, religion, gender and transcend all our present circumstances to create an orchestra even without a single musical instrument.
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1:21
Waki-ing up to Reality
» Kenya Imagine Surprise, surprise! It now emerges that the change of mind by principals in ODM and PNU regarding the implementation of the Waki report had nothing to do with the interests of Kenyans at large.
More? -
Obama is a citizen of the world
» Kenya Imagine Senator Obama is a citizen of the world. Born in Hawaii to a Kenyan father and an American mother, reared in Indonesia and Hawaii, Obama is the exemplification of the world as a global village.The election of Illinois Senator Barrack Obama as the 44th president of the United States of America heralds a new chapter in the political history of the world. It is the ultimate indication that the racial relations in the world have gone full circle and that any talented individual irrespective of his colour or race can actualize their highest aspirations.
More?
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Marco Polo
» Kenya Imagine Did his journeys reeeally take place? While there are naysayers, there are just as many who believe his stories. Debatable, that is true.For every North there is South, for East, West. Ying and yang represent the quintessence of the interdependence of two opposing points of view.
More?