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• April 04, 2009
• 22:27

  The Meadowlark

   » ‎ Words Much Like Poetry
  
  
  and over again the meadowlark warbles to me in a flute like call, an about to that which pours extinguishment upon the gentle flicker of my exotic pride,
  
  "i am here, neglecta, what wish would thou have me this time grant?"
  
  the meadowlark peers down at me from its gracious perch upon the withered stump of the once life tree, a tree whose shadow has cast ills as long my memory has served,
  
  "do you so despise me, tender heart, when all i have ever done is sing to thee honored and saintly woes?"
  
  i pull closer about myself, shivering without the glint of the dapper light which streams, daunted by that holy wood, in wide arcs that shape its manifesto upon my pitiable patch
  
  "i am not so tenderhearted as ye perceive, but for the sake of that which depends upon this wasted form, i bend to thy will."
  
  Image: J & K Hollingsworth, Western Meadowlark, http://www.junglewalk.com/

• 16:21

  JKIA reminds you of?

   » ‎ Rants, Raves & Reviews
  ****
  BusinessWeek has an interesting article how (major) airports reflect the country at large.
  
  So what does JKIA remind you of?
  
  I think JKIA is a little like River Road... bustling but seedy. Folks sleeping on the sidewalks. Dirty. Multiple dukas on either side of the 'walkway/road'. Il-mannered staff. Unattended desks. Matatu stand.

• 10:19

  Western Aid Paradox

   » ‎ For Love and Money
  Western Aid Paradox

• 5:09

  Workshop on the Truth Commission

   » ‎ Kenyan Pundit

  Tags:  Kenya  

  I am currently attending a workshop on lessons Kenya can learn from the South African Truth and Reconciliation process. I’m here wearing my concerned Kenyan citizen hat (otherwise my Saturday mornings are precious family time) and my Ushahidi hat…focusing mainly on the process of documentation and on how we can help ensure that information collected through the process is easily accessible. The following are quick notes I’m taking as the workshop proceeds:

  - Civil society needs to start simplifying the process of Agenda 4 and of the TRJC to the ordinary mwananchi e.g. explaining the open forums and how they would work to the people, articulating the agenda to the people.
  -There is a big danger that Kenyans (and not the govt) are in the its time to move on mode, growing sense that Kenyans feel agenda 4 items are pointless, the crisis is over and Annan needs to butt out. If this sentiment was from govt, that’s expected but from citizens that’s a big problem.
  - Agenda 4 items really depend on a new constitution (whether we will have one is another question altogether)
  - Active engagement with the media is required as the process unfolds.
  - One needs to remember that the TJRC was part of a political settlement so politicians / partisan interests are necessarily part of the process and have to be managed.
  - Important to remember that once the work has started, it must be finished otherwise the work of the TRC would have failed.