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20:56
From: Afromusing
Read This Entry & More At Afromusing
This picture was taken by Adriankoto, who writes on the blog Harinjaka [Malagasy]. He is the founder FOKO madagascar initiative which has been active in planting trees particularly in rural madagascar. More on his awesome work here[English].
PS: I know i haven’t been blogged about solar energy for awhile, doesn’t mean i have lost my mojo, I am just re-charging. ha!
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1:13
From: Afromusing
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The Nokia Event Site announces the debut of new phones designed for the emerging markets like Sub-Saharan Africa. Nokia put alot of thought into the functionality that they added, which makes me want to give one of these gems a whirl. I am a sucker for features such as FM Radio, and there is just something about a phone with a flashlight…that is absolutely genius IMO. You would think so too if you were in upcountry Kenya (around 2005i sh), torch/flashlight batteries are dead and you uhhm lets just say you need to walk from point A to B in the dark of night…then your cousin says “Here! Use my phone, it has a flashlight!” Indeed not all heroes need wear capes. Before i get all mushy about inanimate objects, here is the blurb…
While features like phone-sharing, cost monitoring and flashlight remain relevant to consumers in entry markets, Nokia continues to add new functionality, such as mega pixel cameras, FM radio with recording functionality, email and Bluetooth connectivity technology to mobile phones targeted at consumers in entry markets.
 while on the site, and if you have a decent connection, do check out Julius’ story; on how he uses his Nokia phone in Kapenguria, Kenya. I am still admiring this silhouette image of Julius and his phone.
If you have an N95 or other Nokia phones that have video recording capability, record your story and submit it to the www.nokiaproductions.com, where noted film director Spike Lee is going to review the entries (includes music, photos and text) then weave your bit (if chosen that is…) into a film to be released later. (Hat tip Shel Israel via Twitter)
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22:34
From: Afromusing
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Update:04/28/2008 “Andrew is out of jail on Bond, he has to report to the police tomorrow.”
Thanks for the good news Emeka
This piece of news via the TED blog is terribly worrisome. Andrew Mwenda, arguably Africa’s most refreshing intellectual and journalist, has been arrested by Ugandan officials. More here.
This is utter injustice, and i am not even sure where to begin. For now, highlighting it on this blog seems to be one way, please highlight it on yours too, and I am sure some initiatives and online campaigns are being organized. Keep an eye on the TED blog for Updates.
Below is a picture i took of him last year at TEDGlobal. He is the one in the middle with glasses,looking at the Mamamikes remittance site, and speaking with Segeni.
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0:51
From: Afromusing
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Today, I had to walk my friend through the ballot process for the NetSquared challenge. The 29! stars we are so very thankful for were part I of the challenge, we now need you to add Ushahidi to your ballot and submit 5 projects. This is the most crucial part of the mapping challenge. The following instructions (also blogged by Erik) should help.
How to vote:
1. Create an account (or Login if you already have an account) at NetSquared.org
2. Vote for Ushahidi by clicking here, then click the red ‘Vote for My Mashup’ button.
3. Vote for at least 4 other projects. Just make sure you choose a total of 5 minimum.
4. Click ‘View/Cast Ballot’, or click here: [www.netsquared.org]. Be sure Ushahidi is listed as one of your chosen projects.
5. Click ‘Cast Ballot’ on your screen. That’s it!”
(Via White African.)
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22:56
From: Afromusing
Read This Entry & More At Afromusing
Screen shot from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Noticed that the city ‘Kisangani’ in DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) is displayed for afew seconds the spinning globe graphic at the beginning of the show.
Is Kisangani a place in the coastal province of Kenya too?
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23:57
From: Afromusing
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Google announced a competition for students in East Africa to build gadgets (as in software). I am blogging this here just in case the skunkworks crew hadn’t seen this already. The competition is open to university students in Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Ethiopia, and Burundi.
The deadline for this is March 17th; so if you have some great ideas, you can still submit them for consideration. The categories/types of software gadgets and apps that they are looking for include:
(1) Best Gadget UI
(2) Best Local Content Gadget (Most Locally Useful Gadget)
(3) Best Education Specific Gadget
(4) Best Procrastination Gadget
(5) Most Technically Sophisticated Gadget
(6) Gadget Most Likely to Get International Traffic
(7) Best Social Gadget
What the winners get:
“Six students will be awarded prizes. Five students will receive a $350 USD stipend and 1 student will receive a $600 stipend. All winners will receive a Google t shirt, pen, and notebook valuing $7 USD (£13).”
- More Information on the contest
- Rules and fine print
Other Info: Hash’s post on Google moving in East Africa. It is no wonder that one of the categories is ‘Best local content gadget’. I think that the market for localized, useful and contextualized software is huge. When you have African developers creating applications for use in their own communities…I would say “prepare to be amazed”. I am really looking forward to seeing the ideas and applications that come out of this competition.
Hat Tip Think >>Innovate
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8:14
From: Afromusing
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We are upto 4 stars this morning, please help us by registering and voting for the Ushahidi project. Why? Because we want to continue mapping not only the violence, but also the ‘doves’ or peace efforts happening in Kenya. The last two months have been traumatic to our collective psyche, and we would like to be well equipped to continue this important project. While we will not hide from the trauma of the events; we want make Ushahidi even more relevant to other countries in Africa.
Crowdsourcing further dev. by Hash
Background info on the Ushahidi project.
The NetSquared Ushahidi page.
More about the NetSquared mashup challenge.
Thank you for those who’ve voted for Ushahidi, lets get some more stars up there!
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20:30
From: Afromusing
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In case you read this blog in time, you can watch part of the TED conference right now online [www.ted.com]
“Neil Turok is one of the world’s leading physicists. He could easily just spend all his time in his lab, preparing to win a Nobel Prize. But he hasn’t done that,” said TED curator Chris Anderson. “He’s in Africa, where science education is in a pretty shoddy state, and he has decided to do something about it. He’s absolutely brilliant, and he’s taken that brilliance and leveraged that in a surprising way to help other people.”
He founded AIMS - African Institute of Mathematical Sciences.
His TED dream is that the next Einstein is African. The plan is to have AIMS in more countries in Africa, expanding mathematical and scientific research. Read more about it on Ethanz’s excellent blog.
The TED Africa team was also introduced earlier during the conference. I think 2008 promises to be a great year for Africa in more ways than one. Inspiration and passion in whatever field we are in goes a long way to bringing meaning and joy in our lives, that is the reason why i love TED.
Vusi Mahlasela is performing.
From his second song about the beauty of Africa, and the challenges of post apartheid SA.
Quotable: There is wisdom in forgiveness. if you don’t forgive, you are the one who is suffering the most, if you forgive you become more free. Vusi might as well have been talking to each and every Kenyan at this point in time. The road to reconciliation in Kenya is going to be long and hard; we will seriously have to look to our brothers and sisters in South Africa and Rwanda as we get back on the road to the Kenya we want.
You can watch his performance from TEDGlobal 2007 below if you didn’t catch the live event.
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0:18
From: Afromusing
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This bag looks very nice. Its like the BMW/mac book Air of solar bags; beautiful, but just a tad out of reach for this blogger, as it is definitely quite expensive. Doesn’t hurt to gawk a bit though…
You can view more bags here.
Hat tip whiteafrican!
PS: My thoughts are with Kenya as always…the GV special coverage page for Kenya is back up.
Amnesty International is appealing for action today to protest Human rights violations in Kenya. You can find more information and details on how to participate.
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14:32
From: Afromusing
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Charlie Rose interviewed Chris Anderson of TED on his show…below is the video.
There is another famous Chris Anderson, the editor of Wired Magazine and author of the popular book ‘The long Tail’…so just to make it clear, the Chris Anderson on the video is not the same as the Wired guy, though they are both just brilliant. The wired Chris Anderson spoke at a TED conference; his talk on Technology’s long tail is available on TED.com as are other amazing talks. I recommended his book on this post in 2006, and Erik did an interesting post on The long tail of Banking in Kenya. What is going to be the next big idea in business this year?
On the digital activism front; i cant wait to hear about the ‘Cute Cat Theory’ by Ethan Zuckerman at Etech March 3rd. Ethan will also be live blogging TED2008 Conference in Monterrey from Feb 27th - March 1st. I would bookmark his blog/subscribe to his rss feed for his coverage and other Africa-watching-tech-digital-activism posts.
I am becoming more cognizant of the fact that embedded videos are not easily viewable on mobile phones; and since some of this blog’s readership is in Africa, i will summarize a bit of the interview.
You can read about Chris Anderson’s background on the TEDblog
…
Chris gives an introduction of what TED is, and mentions its rapid expansion. Just to paraphrase, TED (Technology Entertainment and Design) is about bringing together scientists, architects, artists, leaders - basically a diverse group of people from many fields to talk about their work and how it fits into the bigger global picture.
Charlie says it sounds elitist to him: In response, Chris points out that it is indeed expensive, at $6000 a person to attend, but that the content is available on the internet for free. He touches on some of the speakers that have graced the TED stage including Craig Venter’s interesting research on creating synthetic lifeforms. Craig’s work could solve the energy crisis and global warming -more on that here. Chris also mentioned the Google founder’s talk several years ago, where Sergei Brin and Larry page talked about their company.
Charlie asked about the TED prize, which Chris explained as not just a $100,000 award for the recipient to make his/her wish come true, it is also the commitment and assistance from others in the TED community that makes things happen. They cut to a video showing E.O Wilson’s TED wish for the Encyclopaedia of Life; Chris mention that it would be unveiled in march. Here is a link to the EOL site.
Chris mentions some of the speakers and TED Prize winners lined up for TED2008, Dave Eggers, Neil Turok - A physicist who is setting up an institution for science in Africa…and Karen Armstrong. More info here.
Charlie Wilson brings up JJ Abrams; (creator of popular TV shows Lost and Alias) and they cut to a video of JJ’s talk. Chris explains that JJ’s talk centered around the role of mystery/hiding in cinema, a technique used by the likes of Spielberg (You never saw the shark in the movie ‘Jaws’ till the very end.) They discuss a bit more on the mission of TED being ‘Ideas worth spreading’, and Chris notes that its about seeing ideas take shape, and in the coming years actually see the ideas in practice.
Charlie asks “Why 18 minutes long?” - Because it is long enough not to be trivia, but short enough to hold your attention. This reminded me of Andrew Mwenda at TED Global last year who said; that a TED talk should be like a miniskirt - “long enough to cover the important parts and short enough to maintain interest”. Moving along…
Chris talked about how the lives of the speakers at TED are transformed. Their work; which they have often been doing over many years without much exposure, gets recognized and becomes widely known. The example of Hans Rosling’s talk which has now been watched by more that a million and half people around the world.
Chris also talked about the teaching profession and how the broadband and video revolution is redefining this role. He feels that we shall continue to see an explosion of knowledge that is far reaching.
Charlie asked Chris about 3 people who changed his life, and Chris responded
- His editor when he was a journalist showed him the importance of passion and enthusiasm for good work. Adding emotional richness to experiences is important and that is why they include musicians and artists as part of TED (I am paraphrasing!)
- Jonathan Haidt, the author of ‘The Happiness Hypothesis’
Charlie wraps it up and asks about the dates of TED2008 - Feb 27th - March 1st. Chris mentions some of the big questions anchoring the conference this year…a full list from the TED site include…
Who are we?
What is our place in the universe?
What is life?
Is beauty truth?
Will evil prevail?
How can we change the world?
How do we create?
What’s out there?
What will tomorrow bring?
What stirs us?
How dare we be optimistic?
And the point?
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0:07
From: Afromusing
Read This Entry & More At Afromusing
Well, when I started blogging I never thought a video of me talking at a panel was part of the deal, its quite strange watching yourself and getting self conscious about the whole thing. OMG mom! I am on the equivalent of TV! Lame lines aside; Erik has the video, I cant get myself to embed the video on my blog yet. I feel like Mike, that i could have done more. Some of the things I mentioned might seem a bit esoteric, so i will add some links and mention a few things i think i should have included at the panel.
OLPC: This computer has been the subject of discussions with Erik, Steve, JKE, Maitha and others for awhile now, several years actually. Erik’s post in 2005, my post in 2006 and even more recently regarding the keyboard design. It seems like we have lived through the project since it was a concept to its current reality. My thoughts on it have fluctuated, from the posts I wrote in the past, I was really gung ho about the thing. I still am on some level, as I do appreciate that I wouldn’t be where I am, were it not for access to computers (and power actually) during my formative years. This is what i wanted to say…
I was listening to the digital planet podcast (11/26) where they had a correspondent attend the launch of the OLPC in Abuja, Nigeria. You could hear the excitement and enthusiasm in the children’s voices as they spoke of what they would do with the OLPC. It was a great moment. Now to the questions that started popping into my head like Orville Redenbachers microwave popcorn. When Gareth Mitchell was talking to Bill Thompson, they mentioned how they attended the OLPC launch in Tunis and how a child was crying because they’d been given an OLPC to play with for a time, then it was taken away. That was not a good moment, rather sad really, that kid is probably traumatized right now wherever he or she may be. I mean isn’t that just a little cruel? I know i would wail like a banshee if i was in her shoes. The discussion segued into what it would mean for the children to have a laptop that they would call their own. This got me wondering, that perhaps one of the unintended consequences of the OLPC project is that it would enhance the idea of ‘mine’ rather than ‘ours’. In modern Africa do the age old African values of community and sharing still apply? Would the OLPC idea chip away at the ‘utu’, that is a societal benchmark? Is the Ndiyo project a better thought out model for computer literacy, what with the idea of USB thin clients that I am already a fan of?
I should add that I think the Ndiyo model of networked computing could be well suited for school situations. This is because of two reasons.
1. Cost - The class sizes in Kenya increased owing to the free primary schooling offered by the government. Having a networked model enables more students to get basic computer literacy, as they can share the computer lab resources. This is particularly apt i think because the OLPC project was geared towards schools in the developing world.
2. This i already mentioned above…the idea of ‘my laptop’. The OLPC can be shared between students…but if you have a class of 30 children and 28 OLPC’s someone will undoubtedly get disappointed.On the other hand, as Steve mentioned in the post on OLPC Keyboard..i will reiterate his comment here, because i think its very important.
Some thoughts: you ask “Maybe I am looking at this all wrong, Is Negroponte pimping the ‘education project’ in pursuit of…what?”. Well, maybe the answer is indeed in plain sight. Maybe he just wants to provide technology access to the masses like he keeps telling us he wants to.
And here is another thought for you: if the OLPC team did indeed go to Nigeria to look for inspiration for the design of the product, it is heartening that they are looking to the populations that will actually use these products for design and usability clues instead of sitting in Boston or LA or wherever and saying “hey, thats what the kids/world/users/consumers need”.
I have in the last month or so found myself increasingly frustrated with this attitude to design and product creation when I have to “fix” my computer for my 4 year old who wants to use it but cannot understand why in the world Windows keeps doing stuff and getting in his way.
Find out what your users need and want and give it to them. End of story.
Though i haven’t had a chance to play with the OLPC, I am sure its a fine product. From Steve’s comment i think the OLPC should just be marketed as a low cost computer for those interested to buy for their children/themselves, and not specifically geared towards governments purchasing them for schools. The Give one Get one campaign was nice…but how were the ‘given’ laptops distributed? What rationale? I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but I think that at a price like $100 how about seeing some free-market action going on in Africa? That is a whole other AID Vs TRADE debate right there.
On the power to charge OLPC: There is a larger question of power in Africa, which i won’t get into right now (though i will in the coming weeks) For a glimpse of the opportunity, Idris Mohammed mentioned the great opportunity in power generation during last years’ TEDGlobal. More here, and whenever his talk is posted, it will be on the TED site here. Erik did mention that there is a cranking device that can be used to power the OLPC, and browsing the power supply tab on OLPC news shows some novel and innovative approaches to solving the power problem. From a cow dynamo to something i like…the OLPC solar mesh repeater.
OUTSOURCING:
The company i referred to in the video is called Verviant. It is based in Nairobi and helps small to medium sized businesses in the East Coast of US to maximize on limited IT budgets. In speaking with Onesmus Kamau of Verviant, he indicated that the company was able to deploy a video management system that will save their client $500,000. It is but one example of the opportunity in outsourcing web development, database management, and software development in general. This infoworld article (albeit a few months old) mentions the hot spots for this being Ghana, Egypt, South Africa and Rwanda. I would also recommend watching Carol Pineau’s movie ‘Africa Open for Business’ if you haven’t already. The blogger Nii Simmonds, who will be speaking at SXSW writes about business in Africa,including outsourcing. His blog ‘Nubian Cheetah’ is a good resource, as is Emeka Okafor’s Timbuktu Chronicles. The PSD blog is also another good resource…(links to other outsourcing references are quite welcome, do chime in on the comments)
Mobile Phone Tech: I think between Mike, and Erik we covered this o.k. A sim card/chip costs less than a dollar…and the phone with a flashlight that I was referring to in the video looks like this.
On cell phone reach, here is one example of celtel’s reach illustrated in a post from a Zambian economist. My little screed last year about the iphone hints at the fact that i totally love the fact that you can choose whichever carrier you like when in Kenya/most parts of Africa. Its just a matter of switching sim cards and not having to worry about whether your phone will work or not. Most if not all the handsets in Kenya are unlocked.
On the parting shot: Customization and allowing for grassroots creativity. I wanted to mention that this idea is illustrated best by Chris Nikolson,in an NYT article, and context was added by one of my favourite bloggers ‘African Uptimist. Please see this post. It has some great examples that show how the idea (a strategic one at that) is implemented in the field. I felt like my brain had some speedbumps and for some reason Chris Nikolson’s name completely disappeared from my head. I think his quote is so important, let me amplify it again here if I may…
The best results are achieved when you move with the natural flow of grassroots creativity. Often, this means abandoning or suppressing preconceived notions, and building on spontaneous and creative adaptations of the new technology by local people to meet their needs.
One more link…Guy Lundy’s ‘Future Fit’ - An African futurist to watch.
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18:53
From: Afromusing
Read This Entry & More At Afromusing
 Deadline for this is March 31st.
“The Women’s World Summit Foundation (WWSF) invites nominations for its 15th annual prize for women’s creativity in rural life, honouring creative and courageous women and women’s organisations working to improve the quality of life in rural communities around the world.”
The nominations guidelines are posted on the WWSF site, do look through and nominate someone you know that deserves the award. For African organizations the prize is $3000 and for laureates its $500.
Hat tip Solana!
Something that might be of interest to US and Canada readers with teens in the house…
“HERO is looking for 20 students (ages 16-19) from across the US and Canada to be selected as 2008 HERO Youth Ambassadors. Students chosen will travel to Africa in 2008. The deadline to apply for HERO is March 1, 2008.”
More information on the program can be found on the BeingGirl website.
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15:45
From: Afromusing
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Shashank of ‘Somewhere in Nairobi’ tagged me in the meme that is ‘My week in Media’. Some of the longtime readers of this blog might know that I have a healthy appreciation, perhaps a sort of admiration of journalists around the world. Its probably because I just want a Thuraya Satellite phone like the ones they often carry with them.
Shashank’s blog is one of my favorites, i remember laughing hard at the post God and Warlords’ - i.e comb through his archives. You can read the pieces that appear in McClatchy newspapers here.
Sara Nics, who is a journalism trainer in Nairobi spoke with John Keating about the challenges of reporting on conflict. It gives you a glimpse on the situation the Kenyan media find themselves, the problem of media credibility the internal struggle with editors beholden to owners close to the politicians, and the changes in workplace interaction.
I think Journalist-bloggers like Shashank, Rob Crilly, Sara Nics, Nick Wadhams, vigilante journalist etc, fill an important gap for Kenyan readers and bloggers who want the news straight up, and perhaps are not hamstrung by the current conflict, the way Kenyan journalists are. Reading the online editions of Nation media group and The Standard can be frustrating at times. They do not update their online editions as the news happens, and i often find myself checking BBC for latest information. By and large Kenya is a newspaper reading nation, but i do hope that one day we can also read more blogs by the noted Kenyan journalists to get their viewpoints and a glimpse ‘behind the scenes’ as they go about reporting.
Boy did i digress…o.k on to the tag.
What I’ve read:
The Best of Technology Writing 2007, edited by Steven Levy.
A quick review i did of it last year:
“Excellent collection of tech writing. The piece on Natalie Jeremijenko was fascinating, and Farhad Manjoo can make net neutrality debate and AT&T’s ‘corporate toll on the internet’ read like an engaging conversation he is having with you. Joshua Davis as usual is superb writing about the DARPA challenge in the Mojave desert. If i recall correctly, Sebastian Thrun’s team won the challenge this yr. A dose of humour from Phillip Smith with ‘The worst date ever for an Apple tech’. Dont read this book before going to bed, your brain will get all atwitter and you wont be able to nod off. Its a great book for long airplane rides, substitute all the magazines you carry with you with this wonderful anthology. You will likely smile, go ‘hmm’, and probably do a ‘thinking man’ pose ala’ Rodin”
Currently reading P.J. O’Rourke On The Wealth of Nations. Fave bit so far…”It was almost as though Smith, having proved that we can all have more money, then proved that money doesn’t buy happiness. And it doesn’t. It rents it.”
What I’ve watched
Not much telly, though i try to catch the Daily show and The Boondocks. A repeat of Gorillaz concert in Harlem on MHD channel has me transfixed each time. I watch all of it anytime its on. When i was in Kenya, I really enjoyed K24, and in happier times, couldn’t help but watch ‘Cobra Squad’ - I still want a t-shirt from that show.
What I’ve listened to:
Nothing new really, some of the ones i am digging are
Habib Koite’s Afriki it is probably one of my favourite CD’s from 2007.
Sia - 
Don’t be fooled by the album cover a friend looked at it and worriedly asked “Is she a 3 year old?” nope. Her music was described in last month’s wired mag as “…feisty, airy crowd pleaser of Jazzy electro-pop”. I just think her sound is cool.
What I’ve surfed:
Mostly Kenyan news, through Standard, Nation Media, blogs - which are aggregated and displayed on the global voices special coverage page for Kenya. When things get heavy and i need a mental break, I canhasCheezburger, milk and cookies, Bongo music on You tube (Bongo is a genre of music from Kenya’s Neighbor Tanzania - melodic, and fun to listen to. check out Cinderella, and Na Wewe tu.)
I tag: KP, Mweshi and Ndesanjo
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6:36
From: Afromusing
Read This Entry & More At Afromusing
The TED Africa conference in Capetown South Africa, promises to build on the magic of TED Global 2007. The concept for this years’ conference makes that quite clear.
What if Africa had no borders? What if her boundaries extended as far as those living in the diaspora, or even further? What if you could fly directly from Cape to Cairo, Lagos to Luanda, Bujumbura to Abuja? Or what if you could drive to every city and every town and every village? What if the Internet was a reality for every African? What if you could call the world from atop the Kilimanjaro, or from deep in the forests of the Congo? What if a lingua franca was spoken and understood by every African? What if we could halve the number of poor Africans by 2015, or eradicate poverty altogether someday? What if there was a cure for every disease and the average African could live beyond the age of 33? What if Africa embraced innovative thinking, and in the process, reinvented her future?
I would recommend registering early for this exciting event, and if interested in the African Fellows program, to apply for it as soon as possible. There are 50 fellowships available this year.
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16:15
From: Afromusing
Read This Entry & More At Afromusing
I am honored to have been part of the Africa Panel at DEMO 08 which happened yesterday. Erik and Mike did an awesome job of blogging about the sessions. My sincere thanks to Chris Shipley and Erica Lee for having us.
There were so many interesting exhibitors, you can explore a full list and find more information about the cool stuff that launched. I will highlight just a few of the products and services that stood out for me.
The first one is Green Plug - A charger that can be used for multiple devices. Their tag line is “One plug, one planet”. Think of the many chargers you have to carry with you, and when you abandon a device, that charger ends up in a landfill somewhere. The Green plug eliminates the need to carry multiple chargers. The small chip pictured here makes it all happen.
Asankya Hypermesh Network
Forget the current OSPF and BGP routing of packets, this company optimises content delivery by in their own words…
…Using a breakthrough technique for transporting packets over multiple network paths, it enables delivery of real-time content consistently and at a high quality over the Internet.
It is geared towards ISP’s and larger content delivery companies, but from their demo it seems their products could useful for those building new networks and want higher quality video delivery than is currently being offered. I thought of the now delayed EASSYproject that would have brought fibre optic backbone to Kenya…:( and to step back to something i had written last year about building network of networks, in time, it would be great to revisit how this new technology could help in low bandwidth areas or in new network systems being implemented in Africa.
Celsias
“Cooling the planet one project at a time”
Celsias is all about doing something practical to reduce climate change
On Celsias, you can read a widely-recognized climate change blog, review practical projects from all over the world and meet the coolest people who share your passion for stopping human-induced global warming. If you want to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty, register on the site, create a project, then recruit people or funding to get your project off the ground.
I think i may have taken too many pics, you can browse through them on this flickr set.
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16:04
From: Afromusing
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Before leaving Kenya, i met with other bloggers in the Bloggers for Kenya initiative, where we ordered items for delivery to the red cross. On friday the 18th, the day that we were to deliver it, there was fracas in town and we could not make the delivery. (Afew pics i took are posted here) However, the great team at mamamikes and other volunteers were still able to make arrangements to deliver the items worth $3220(!) to the Red Cross. They also made a visit to Nakuru on the 19th and wrote about the experience on this post. This was before the current flare up of violence, so you can imagine how the situation has deteriorated further. We are all sickened by this mess. Thank you again to all the bloggers and friends who donated and continue to donate to alleviate the suffering in Kenya.
I was also able to meet with Charles, one of the writers in Kwani. The Kwani blog is here, where the writers in the collective are putting into words the sorrow we feel at the turn Kenya has taken. If there is one thing that gives me hope its the conversations between the people our age. Be it in Mamamike’s office when Segeni asked us ‘How do you feel?’ to the chat i had with Charles before rushing to the airport. We cannot begin to quantify the losses in Kenya, moreso the optimism and hope we had for our country. I like many of you…i am at a loss for words.
The Global voices special coverage page for Kenya has been aggregating bloggers posts relating to the aftermath of elections in Kenya. Its a resource that Ndesanjo, Solana and the team at Global Voices put together. I got back from Kenya and just got busy updating the reblog and it slipped my mind to give you a heads up about it.
As noted earlier by KP and Erik, the Ushahidi blog is up. Please continue to send us information and we will keep putting it up on the site. A timeline of the crisis has been developed by Nick and David.
Sometime last year we had a conversation with KP about using twitter to monitor the elections, and we both got rather swamped with other stuff to put the idea in practice. I still feel like there is an opportunity to use twitter in future elections and create an aggregator of tweets from each constituency (Imagine the transparency) We live and learn. There is a good post here about twitter’s potential in Africa by the TEDster and developer Soyapi. After attending DEMO, i will revisit this so we can discuss how we can use ‘microblogging’ and other tools not only to deal with the current crisis in Kenya, but to expand citizen journalism. Like Segeni asked…How do you feel? It is outlets such as blogs etc, that can help (in a small way) to express our feelings…but in a constructive manner. Like Erik says, we can do better. We can chose to fight the vitriol with constructive dialogue and peace efforts, and moreso humanitarian assistance. Note: The Red Cross site now has a google checkout. When the crisis first started it was prohibitive for many to pay wire transfer fees and thus mamamikes really helped helped facilitate donations. They still continue to do so via their homepage. Either way there are options for Kenyans in the diaspora to help our fellow Kenyans in dire need.
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5:30
From: Afromusing
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Please text incident reports to 6007, kindly include the location where you are texting from. The information will appear on Ushahidi.com. Kindly pass this along to everyone in Kenya, particularly in the rural areas. By and large coverage of the situation in Nairobi is extensive, but we need information from the rest of Kenya as well. Thank you for your support.
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6:54
From: Afromusing
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Thank you to our dear blogger friends for supporting Kenya, and for spreading the word on the ‘Support Kenyans in Distress’ campaign with Mamamikes.com
Georgia of Caribbean Free Radio
African Loft
Kikuyu Moja
As the Mamamikes blog updates, the amount is exceeding $1900.
May i reiterate the thanks to the following people….
Omolo, Kuria, Kimura, Nyokabi, Miaud, Edgerton, Monyo, Kimeria, Dsouza, Kangethe, Muthoni, Coseac, Barbieri, Patel, Jabbar, Mann, Warungongo, Wairimu, Juergen, Njoroge, Laurance, Wanja, Wambui, Romanos, Lutz, Popplewell, Walsh, Kamau
Thank you to the following Kenyan Bloggers for committing their time to volunteer on the 17th.
M of Thinkers Room
Bankelele
Josiah Mugambi of Skunkworks and Mission Driven
Mentalacrobatics
The list is growing, so if you are a kenyan blogger/blog reader in Nairobi, please leave a comment if you can make it. we understand the situation might be tenuous but we hope it will be calm on Thursday. If you have any questions please feel free to send me an email, afromusing at gmail dot com
Date: Thursday January 17th 2008
Location: Mamamikes office - Kingsway Hse opposite Nairobi Outpatient Center on Muindi Mbingu Street
Time: 5pm
PS: Ushahidi Update: Local number to report an incident is +254 711 862 149 6007
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5:49
From: Afromusing
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Mamamikes’ donation page is now live. When you click on the homepage, you now have an option to purchase vouchers for Kenyans in Distress. The food and supplies bought will be distributed by the Red Cross to the various parts of Kenya that have been affected by post election violence. This is another way to help and it can save you on wiring costs associated with direct Bank Transfers to the Red Cross. Even without advertising, Mamamikes has already received $300, worth of donated vouchers. (Thank you to that Kind Soul wherever you are)
Update: The amount received so far is now $1000 (thank you!)
For your $10 voucher a package with the following items is purchased for the Red Cross.
-3litres of cooking oil,2kgs of rice and slippers
-2kgs of unga,5litres of water and a pair of shoes
-sanitary products,2kg unga and 2kg of rice
Vouchers are available in the amounts of $15, $20, $25, $50, $75, and you can buy as many as you are able to.
Bloggers for Kenya
This week we would like to appeal to all bloggers, friends of bloggers, wannabe bloggers, diaspora kenyans, Tedsters, treehuggers, geeks, nerds, boingboingers, worldchangers…you get the idea, to give what they can using Mamamikes’ donation page. On Thursday the 17th of January the bloggers in Nairobi will meet at the mamamikes office, assist in purchasing all the items and delivering them to the Red Cross.
Parliament opens tomorrow and there are some rallies planned later in the week, therefore depending on the situation, we will still shoot for Thursday to deliver the items to Red Cross. If for one reason or another the situation is too unstable on Thursday, we will reschedule and let you know. For now, please post about this and tag your posts with ‘Bloggers for Kenya’.
Hope In Jamhuri Park
With all the feelings of helplessness many feel at the current situation; what with failed mediation attempts, fears of more instability as Parliament opens tomorrow, the secondary trauma of watching news of your country being torn apart; perhaps the only thing that can keep Kenyans (here and in the diaspora) sane is doing something to assist the displaced. I have since learned the acronym IDP (Internally Displaced Person), something that aid workers such as Mr. Arunga who works in Darfur, and diplomats in Africa are familiar with…Now the acronym is being used to describe the people camped in various shelters in Kenya.
One such place is Jamhuri Park, Nairobi. I joined Martin and Cynthia of Mamamikes on a visit to Jamhuri Park to see first hand the plight of Internally Displaced persons. It was heart-rending, and very surreal. We could not believe that this was happening in our country, but left with a bit of hope in our hearts as we saw the work of other volunteers, the Red Cross, St. John’s Ambulance Service and even the police/military. Martin and Cynthia have written about the experience here. I will only add some pictures from our day, as they have wonderfully captured everything i wanted to mention in the post. Thank you!
Queues to get food
Queue for health care by St. Johns Ambulance Services
Red Cross
Ahmed’s red cross Jacket. He usually works in Isiolo, but came to Jamhuri Park to help with the tracing activities. I.e figuring out who are the lost children, photographing them, and tracing their relatives.
Soccer with the children
Kevin (the little boy) talks to Victone of the Red Cross,who is part of the tracing team that will try to locate and reunite Kevin with his family.
Children gathered for a bit of entertainment in the afternoon.
Volunteers entertaining the children with song and dance
Watching and listening…
The whole set of photos from the day is here.
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3:12
From: Afromusing
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Note: Images posted on www.Ushahidi.com.
Disclaimer: The following images are gruesome and disturbing. The humanitarian crisis is real and dire. Complete set of photos taken in Kakamega by Mr. Arunga are available here. The images include shots of the police station, showing the displaced taking refuge there, burning shops, vandalized petrol station and burned car.
Onlookers and concerned citizens around the body of 24 yr old James Odhiambo, who was killed in the post election violence in Lurambi - Junction on the way to Shikoti, Kakamega, western province, Kenya. The gentleman in white (Brian) on the right worked with James at the petrol station as attendants and witnessed the shooting.
Close up of the bullet wound on the body of 24 yr old James Odhiambo. According to eye witnesses, he was walking to work when he met the GSU paramilitary. Mr. Odhiambo continued to walking towards towards the GSU as he thought he could talk to them and find out what is happening. According to eyewitnesses, he was shot without even though he was not violent or doing anything that would indicate he would be a threat to the GSU. The witnesses tried to contact the police so they could come and pick up the body, but the police said that they did not have fuel for the vehicle. As of the writing of this post, the late James Odhiambo was buried yesterday in Homa Bay, Nyanza province. Brian and other friends from the area traveled to Homa Bay to comfort the family. If you would like to help the family directly, please do not hesitate to contact Brian Oluoch at +254 724 912015. Mr. Odhiambo was the sole breadwinner for his family…Any contributions towards their well being is appreciated.
Pictures were taken by Mr.Michael Arunga, who works for World Vision in Darfur, and was on holiday at the time. He witnessed the burning of a kikuyu owned property, as shown in this photo.
**The decision to post the pictures here and to tell this story is partly because the pictures were sent to editors of newspapers in Kenya, they did not run them or cover the story. As people try to get back to ‘normal’ life around the country, it is important to remember that there is no normal for a lot of people in Kenya.
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9:15
From: Afromusing
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Note: Global Voices Online has a special coverage page that aggregrates posts relating to the post election aftermath, based on Hash’s list of blogs.
www.Ushahidi.com
Upload pictures, video and report incidents of violence in Kenya.
sms your incident to +44 762 480 2635 once a local number in Kenya is set up we will be sure to update you.
Email tips@ushahidi.com
Online Petitions (Doubts on effectiveness aside, it might make you feel a little better)
Gopetition published by Coalition of Kenyans and Allies for Democracy, for Kibaki to Step Down
Avaaz.org for international friends.
Let’s send a wave of messages to our own leaders, asking them to hold off until agreement is reached and the results are independently reviewed: fill out the form below and your foreign minister’s details will automatically be entered - then personalise the message, or just hit send:
Click here.
Donations:
The blog Sukuma Kenya has a paypal donate button.
Mama mikes is working on a donation page where you will be able to donate specific packages to the red cross. Once its live i will be sure to update you. You can still send credit and other forms of assistance to family members at any time.
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9:01
From: Afromusing
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This is a video i recorded last Thursday before leaving Eldoret. It has been included on the Ushahidi website, and i urge others who have pictures, video or text to please upload them
We converse in Swahili and English, where i asked a few questions and he was kind to oblige. Many thanks to Wilson for his candor and for giving me permission to share his thoughts with you.
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5:25
From: Afromusing
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Update: 5:45 pm Nairobi Time.
The Mamamikes crew are working to catch up with the orders placed, some of them were stuck in various parts of the country and just made it back yesterday. Most of the orders to Eldoret and various parts of the country are being processed now. Thanks.
I left Eldoret yesterday, with a heavy and broken heart. As much as i wanted to stay and write about what was going on there, i needed to get back to Nairobi and get back to work on my Global Voices gig.
First, this is the link to Kenya Red Cross and you can donate here.
I kept snapping pictures on my way out. This is of a Red Cross Truck heading into town, as we were leaving towards the airport. This was a good sign and a ray of hope.
The Kobil on the right only had diesel available, no petrol, same case with National Oil, just a few miles ahead.
The airport is operational. Saw remnants of a roadblock on the way.
From a chat with the former Councilor of Eldoret: There were attempts by religious leaders to convene a peace meeting yesterday, but this did not happen. The hurt and divide inflicted by events of the past several days may be too great to bridge over. It will take time and a concerted effort.
On what can be done: Donate to the Red Cross, which has a Uasin Gishu office. Happened to take a picture of the signpost…
I had ordered some credit using mamamikes on the 1st of January, but still haven’t received it as of today. Like KP said, Safaricom and Celltel need to enable online recharge of airtime so that the diaspora and even Kenyans in Nairobi can purchase airtime for others. My aunt who uses MPESA said it was a godsend and will always keep money for emergencies. This is because MPESA can be used to send airtime/money to yourself and others.
Because of the hurdles encountered using either MPESA (their offices were closed) and Mamamikes, i would suggest that if you would like to Sambaza credit and have an immediate impact, you can send it to The Chairman of Kenya Red Cross Eldoret - Advocate Birech 0722 82 8484, who will distribute it to those affected and aid in the Kenya Red Cross effort in Eldoret. For international readers and diaspora, the link for donations to Red Cross should work, though will update you with more information as it becomes available.
Airlines operating out of Eldoret are
Aero Kenya
Jetlink - cant find website, but these are the numbers i have for Jetlink - 020827531, 020244285 and 0720 608 608
Fly540
Anyone with other avenues of assisting is welcome to comment. Thank you.
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11:07
From: Afromusing
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With the situation in Kenya getting even more tense, you realise that it will be awhile before the country recovers. Sadly, when a life is lost, there is a hole left gaping in the hearts of family, friends and even a whole nation.
*Sat in on an interview with Martin Keino of Keino Sports Marketing and Tim of Reuters. Martin had just come back from a meeting to make arrangements for the funeral of Lukas Sang. The funeral will be next saturday the 12th at Kuinet farm. This post is based on the information from the interview.
Lukas Sang was an olympic sprinter who represented Kenya in the olympics in 1988 and 1992, he retired in 1995. He was a tall imposing man, well known in Eldoret for his role in Administration of Athletics as an official, and also as an influential member of the cereal growers association.
What Happened: He was in a car with other people when they went to help a colleague. He was caught up in the rioting that was reported yesterday, and he was hit by a rock on the head. His driver was badly hurt but managed to get away, and later Lukas’s body was found in a slum - Burned. Part of how they were able to identify that it was indeed him was a piece of his tracksuit on the ground. Even worse, is the fact that a dog partly ate his arm.
With the fracas happening at night, no one knows who is who, and it appears he may have been at the wrong place at the wrong time.
The deaths of people around the country is senseless. Its costs are inumerable and the sooner the leaders resolve this crisis, the better. When Kenya loses an athlete, we lose a piece of our face to the world.
Any message of condolences left on this post will be forwarded to the family. Thank you.
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7:47
From: Afromusing
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Today is an even sadder day. I am trying to keep my tears in check…but cant. Town was quiet in an eery, uneasy way. The hopelessness is palpable and the sadness in people’s eyes is overwhelming. Some streets are deserted, shops are closed and Eldoret as we knew it is gone.
There is an appeal for blood donations at Moi Referral and Teaching hospital
There were funeral arrangements being made for Lukas Sang, an athlete who was burned.I do not have all the details yet, but will update once i get more info.
What is Eldoret without Paul’s Bakery?
For many of the displaced, this was the only home they knew. where have they gone, and will they be able to return?
- Mr. Limo of Limo House Hospital, and a leader in the area; taped a peace message to air on Sayare TV station (The ban on live broadcasts is not helping, because the peace appeals need to be heard and seen as many channels as possible) Cant listen to local radio. How can we listen to music at this time?!
- Fewer people at the cathedral on Uganda road.
- Shortage of vegetables
- Airtime is expensive - double the amount actually. For Ksh100 worth of airtime it will cost you Ksh200
Watching the news, seeing the military on the streets of Nairobi…this has got to end. We can never ever talk of normal again. Their is no normal. Stability? Of what sort? Honestly, i am afraid to say what i think on this blog as I will be in Kenya for a few more days. Whatever little hope I had that our country could rise to the greatness it was on a cusp off…is dwindling. AG Wako’s call for retallying of the votes (as seen on NTV afew hrs ago), seems like an avenue to be explored immediately. Kenya is on the brink, Kivuitu, ECK and the Kibaki Govt need to ask themselves…to what end is all this? Till when? and How? If you anyone of them calls themselves a Kenyan, a retallying of the votes, a lift on the live broadcast ban, and immediate resolution of this state of affairs is needed. Anything else is just denial, excuses and cowardice. Stand up, lead and save our beloved country. People have lives to get back to. Work, school, businesses…How is that ever possible when sections of the country are unpassable? Will we have to get different ID’s for every tribe possible? It just isn’t sustainable, its madness.
Let me stop here…Be safe, and God Save Kenya.
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12:36
From: Afromusing
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