11 minutes on Poverty

by Lars Johansson (with English subtittles)

Video clips from six Maweni Farm documentaries from Tanzania, Kenya and Nigeria, prepared for Sida (2008).

Tamasha la Kibera

Jumapili iliyopita lile tamasha la kuhamasisha Vijana wa Kenya (hasa wa Kibera, Nairobi) kufuatilia mabadiliko ya katiba lilifanyika. Na ifuatayo ni taarifa kutoka NTVKenya:

Napenda kuwapongeza waandaji na wasanii waliojitolea kutumbuiza kwenye tamasha. Ni mfano wa kuigwa.

Kibera Good Governance Festival - Nairobi

A new event is being born on Madaraka Day 1st June. Kibera Good Governance Festival will be held just outside Kibera, on the DC's Ground in Makina, starting with local artists performing from 12 noon. Headlining artists include Juliani (KE), Abbi (KE), Mzungu Kichaa (TZ/DK) & VQEE (KE/DK).

For more info, contact Mzungu Kichaa (via facebook) or email: kichaamusic (at) gmail (dot) com.

Media in East Africa: Past and Present

I have been meaning to write a post about the Pan-Africa Media Conference held in Kenya on March 18th and 19th 2010.

Host to this conference was the Nation Media Group, an established and experienced media corporation based in Nairobi, Kenya with subsidiares and outlet across the East African region.

The conference served to highlight past and present experiences of media in East Africa, and to also anticipate future challenges and goals. As noted in the conference follow-up report, mediums are changing fast; what used to be published only in print yesterday is now being covered on TV channels, radios and blogs. Content is becoming dynamic, ever-changing, and easily transferable.

At the same time, the political economy in East Africa is changing. Our governments are talking to eachother about building a basic economic framework by which Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania can trade freely. With this will come improvements in the mobility of people, goods and services in the region. And given the Seacom Fibre Optic Bandwidth project, more and more people have access to a broadband connection to the world wide web.

So what does this mean for East Africa? The conference has showed a few things, and these are my reflections on them:

1. We need to prepare for local, East African media spreading further to areas than just East Africa;
2. Mobile technology is competing with desktop and laptop technology - media websites need to keep mobile-readable websites in mind;
3. The subject matter of media is much more fluid than it was 50 years ago - people have more access now to discuss issues they want to discuss, and the media needs to prepare for this to continue to happen if not more;
4. News is now covered by anyone, not just professionaly-trained journalists. The quality is obviously different, but people can find out about things from people, not just their local radio news station. So media outlets need to consider how to give access for contribution to anyone (commenting on talk shows, blog posts, etc).

Let's see if media outlets (Vijana FM included) can live up to these challenges!

Links on this post:
Pan-Africa Media Conference website
Pan-Africa Media Conference follow-up report
Nation Media Group website
The East African newspaper website
Seacom Fibre Optic Bandwidth project
Vijana FM project website

Source: signed, ak (Monday, April 12, 2010)

MTV's Staying Alive...Inahitaji Pongezi

Ijumaa moja nilikuwa nimetulia tu nyumbani kama kawaida nikisoma Robbo blog, kufuatilia matukio mbalimbali na kujiandaa na mechi zilizokuwa zinafuata kwenye Ligi Kuu ya Uingereza. Kwangu hiyo ni burudani tosha baada ya pilika pilika za wiki nzima kwenye maabara.

Rafiki yangu akanitumia 'link' ya website ambayo ilikuwa ina film 'Shuga', iliyotengenezwa Kenya kwa hisani ya kampeni ya MTV's Staying Alive. Aliniambia tu, 'Hii ni kali!' Kama kawaida yangu nilisita kidogo; yaani niache kusoma Robbo blog halafu niangalie kitu ambacho nimekuwa nikikisikia tokea 1996 (elimu kuhusu Virusi vya Ukimwi/Ukimwi)?

Kabla ya kulala nikaamua kubofya ile 'link', kuangalia kilichopo huku nikiuvuta usingizi taratibu. Nilikuwa nimechoka lakini baada ya kuangalia film kwa dakika kadhaa usingizi ulitokomea. Nikaiangalia kwa makini film nzima na ujumbe nikaupata. Ni film ya zamani kidogo lakini ujumbe wake unamgusa kila kijana, hasa wale ambao wako vyuoni.

Ukiacha ujumbe uliokusudiwa kuna mambo mengine mengi ambayo yatakufumbua macho. Wale ambao wana ndoto au mipango ya kuingia kwenye fani ya utengenezaji, uongozaji wa kurekodi, uigizaji na pia utangazaji wa film nadhani watajifunza vitu viwili vitatu.

Ni film ya zamani kidogo na watu wengi labda wameshaiona, lakini nimeona sio vibaya kuianika tena na kuwapa ukumbi Vijana kuijadili.

Shuga Episode 1 from mtv staying alive on Vimeo.

Shuga Episode 2 from mtv staying alive on Vimeo.

Shuga Episode 3 from mtv staying alive on Vimeo.

Shuga Behind The Scenes from mtv staying alive on Vimeo.

Kenyan youth work with UBC business school

The Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada is working with East African youth on business planning and microfinance.

The initiative, currently under the class "Social Entrepreneurship 101: Africa", may be useful to microfinance institutions as well as youth - especially in Kenya - looking to initiate and/or expand their small enterprise.

Through workshops, mentoring sessions, and guest speakers, participants would be able to exchange and leverage key business planning skills with opinions from those who have examined multiple business cases.

According to the Sauder Africa Initiative website, the long term goals of the project include:

• Training partnerships between African universities and the Sauder School of Business at UBC.
• Gaining support from local microfinance institutions to support business proposals submitted by African youth.
• Continuing to collaborate with the African youth who participate in the program to ensure sustainability.

(Click here for source)

Read more:
Sauder Africa Initiative homepage
"Social Entrepreneurship" definitions
2010 Team

Imagine Africa CD

Imagine Africa CD is a project that kinds of introduces East African music to the world. This album is being put together by East African musicians from Tanzania and Kenya. Witness who is a bongo flava artist has managed to have her songs included in the album. We’re all hoping this opportunity will give bongo flava more exposure beyond the borders of East Africa. The project is farther explained on the Imagine Africa CD homepage.

This is a great project; one that I’m hoping will lead to making a whole African Hip Hop album. An album that will blend together Hip Hop beats from the West and African rhythms. This project will not only shed light into Africa’s Hip Hop scene, but also unite young African artists. A good example of what I am trying to say is the upcoming album by Damian Marley and Nas called Distant Relatives. These are two artists who are very different, but they’re recording an album about Africa and for Africa.

Read more:
Imagine Africa homepage
Imagine Africa CD
Distant Relatives MySpace

Kirubi from Capital FM: Think like an entrepreneur

Chris Kirubi, a blogger for Kenyan-based Capital FM, encourages youth to seek out entrepreneurial opportunities and self employment in East Africa.

In his latest blogpost, "Think like an entrepreneur", he suggests the following to the youth (in sum):

• Change the way you regard careers vs. self employment, ie: the attitude needs to change from "I'm working for someone" to "How can I help my employer increase value"
• Earn competancy in certain fields rather than recreate already-existing innovations
• Build credibility to secure consistent funding
• Volunteer your time to learn about the needs in your area
  
• Read about what's happening in the world and join networks
  

Capital FM provides extensive local and international news on the web and on radio. Kirubi is a correspondent for industry, media, insurance and youth empowerment.

Read more:
"Think like an entrepreneur" article
Kirubi's blog on Capital FM
Capital FM homepage

Youth to Youth Fund

The Youth Employment Network (YEN), a product of a partnership between the International Labor Organization, the World Bank and the United Nations, has a Youth to Youth Fund dedicated to providing resources to young entrepreneurial adults.

The YEN mission statement (from YEN website):
"YEN works to engage, educate and motivate actors to provide improved employment opportunities for youth. It is a platform and service provider focusing on policy advice, innovative pilot projects, knowledge sharing, and brokering partnerships. YEN makes use of its core agency partners’ know how and resources and ensures youth participation in delivering its services."

The Youth to Youth Fund goals (extract from website):
"The Youth-to-Youth Fund supports innovative youth-led (15-35 years) employment projects in the 4 Mano River Union (MRU) countries (Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone) and East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda). In difference to other programs, the youth themselves will be asked to submit proposals. The major outcome is the identification and support of small scale innovative ideas at the grass-roots level in youth employment. The Fund uses an open, transparent, and competitive process ensuring local ownership."

Eligibility to apply to the Youth to Youth Fund:

• For official registered organizations in above listed target countries
• Must be led by youth (ie: Board and/or management committee must be youth - 15 to 35 years)
• Main purpose of organization must be youth employment creation
• Proposals must be from organizations, not individuals
• One application per organization
• Grants are awarded in following focus areas: Community projects and services; Youth entrepreneurship; Transition from school to work; Vocational training; Sport and youth employment.
  

Read more:
About YEN
Youth to Youth Fund homepage

Theatre as a marketing tool

Theatre presents itself as a powerful and inexpensive platform for any social entrepreneur with an interest in social change through the arts. Theatre of the Oppressed (and its different branches: forum theatre, invisible theatre, legislative theatre, etc) has played roles as varied as education and peace and conflict resolution within a number of institutions from theatre companies to community run organizations and non-governmental organizations.

Brazilian dramatist Augusto Boal developed Theatre of the Oppressed, a dramaturgic method that transforms the ordinary person into both a theatrical performer and an agent of change (an actor). In this environment, spectators can become the actors and stakeholders, collectively exploring decisions to social questions that their communities face.

Theatre of the Oppressed is a marketing tool: Public participation and recognition is the ultimate goal of any effort undertaken by a social entrepreneur and T.O. is an inexpensive, efficient, and effective way of keeping the public abreast on your efforts. By making it interactive, people will be more likely to differentiate between your efforts from others that rely solely on traditional forms of marketing. Furthermore, a T.O. project can be done at no cost at all; costs, in many cases, are optional and based solely on the needs, goals, and resources available to you and your project.

Read More:
GTO Maputo An article about an HIV/AIDS campaign by "Grupo do Teatro dos Oprimidos" from Maputo, Mozambique.
Amani People's Theatre A Kenyan organization that engages in peace and conflict resolution work and provides creative solutions for like-minded organizations based on Theatre of the Oppressed techniques.
Games for Actors and Non-Actors Theatre of the Oppressed techniques and examples of its application written by Augusto Boal.
Theater of the Oppressed Augusto Boal explains the philosophy behind Theater of the Oppressed.

Africa Youth Trust

Africa Youth Trust (AYT) is a Kenyan-based organization focused on youth-led development initiatives.

Through its three core program models - Youth Action Against Corruption, Parliament Synergizing Youth in Law Making, and the East African Youth Human Rights and Democracy Program - AYT seeks to empower young adults to persevere through country-wide challenges and build sustainable solutions with social benefits.

AYT is current accepting applications for its training workshop on Equal Status and Human Rights of Women in East Africa.

Read more:
AYT homepage
Youth Action Against Corruption
Parliament Synergizing Youth in Law Making
East African Youth Human Rights and Democracy Program

Kenya Commercial Bank investing in education

Kenya Commercial Bank's (KCB) week-long Community Week began on Saturday, October 3. As part of its social responsibility program this year, the KCB Foundation is focussing on the improvement of school enrollment in promotion of the Kenyan Government's free primary education scheme. There will also be an effort to address education with special needs.

This year, KCB will be supporting Nairobi River Primary School in Buruburu.

Read more:
Kenya Broadcasing Corporation article
KCB homepage
KCB article on Community Week

Mobile phone banking in East Africa

The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) has an interesting discussion on the merits of Kenyan-based cell phone banking initiative, M-pesa, and its counterpart in Tanzania on its blog: Read the discussion here.

Cell phone banking has the potential to make things move a lot faster in a region where a formalized credit structure has yet to be implemented. Transactions - both for households and commercial businesses - are able to become quicker and cheaper through money transfers done over mobile devices. However, as CGAP's blog shows, there are other factors at stake, such as mobile service provider competition and geographic location.

Ikotoilets and Public Health in East Africa

A new breed of social entrepreneurship is sweeping the East African coast. Ecotact - a Kenyan private market-based organization working towards improving sustainable environmental sanitation - announced The Ikotoilet project at the Clinton Global Initiative this week.

The Ikotoilet project focuses on providing:

- Low-flush toilets in both the ladies and gents toilets
- Waterless urinals in gent’s toilets
- Shower facilities
- Water saving taps and soap dispensers
- Dry toilet system - a facility for urine harvesting and water conservation
- A free-of-charge toilet for the disabled
- Tanks for rain water harvesting.
- A changing area for babies
- Sanitary bins
- Full length mirror
- Music
- Snack shop
- Shoe shine vendor

(Source: About Ikotoilet webpage)

In doing so, the Ikotoilet initiative is trying to positively transform the public approach to maintaining a healthy living, while creating jobs and investing in social entrepreneurship activities. The project will begin implementation in Kenya and Zanzibar, and is set to scale up into greater Tanzania and Uganda in coming months in partnership with entrepreneurial youth.

The Ikotoilet project is based on Kenyan entrepreneur David Kuria's ideas for increasing the urban poor's access to high quality sanitation, a basic but important need in East Africa, while still involving them in a self-improvement process.

Read more:
SOAworld Magazine article
David Kuria's idea on Ashoka's website
Ecotact website
Clinton Global Initiative website

Collaborative ideas for Africa: Africa Gathering

Africa Gathering is a collaboration framework built to facilitate the free-flow of creative sustainable development ideas for Africa. These ideas span across technology, social networking, health, education and good governance.

By using conference-style meetings a few times every year, Africa Gathering brings together technophiles, entrepreneurs and thinkers in an effort to exchange, discuss and provide feedback to ideas.

An extract from the Africa Gathering website:

"We facilitate the passionate conversation surrounding how new technologies are opening the eyes of the world to a strong, independent and prosperous 21st Century Africa by bringing inspired people together to talk, share and listen... By providing a place for like-minded people to join together we hope to accelerate the rate of ideas that are generated and of networks that are made. We believe that true technological development relies on understanding, creativity and sharing."

This is an excellent opportunity for anyone interested in hearing and sharing ideas on sustainable development in Africa. The process of development is a sensitive one: It is becoming increasingly important to consider local ethics and values when facilitating the access to the freedom of peoples' choice, and this cannot be realized without a collaborative framework. Initiatives like Africa Gathering encourage an "open-source" dialogue of ideas in order for the ideas to be strengthened based on a diverse body of information.

Hence, both private and public market enthusiasts will likely benefit from attending, especially if they intend on being involved with political, economic, social and human development in Africa.

The next Africa Gathering happens in London, UK on October 9 and 10, 2009. After that, Africa Gathering will take place in Nairobi, Kenya on December 21 and 22, 2009.

Related links and sources:
Information for prospective speakers
Tickets for prospective participants
Africa Gathering website
Twitter: @africagathering

BOOST Fellowship introduced to East Africa youth

Building Opportunities on Student Talent (BOOST) Fellowship, based out of Zimbabwe, has opened up it's application process for youth in East Africa. It is collaborating with the Inter-region Economic Network (IREN) to bring entrepreneurial guidance and resources to Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya.

The coordinator of the program, Judith Grace Auma, mentioned: "The programme is designed to cultivate the next generation of entrepreneurial innovators, financial and managerial leaders to help shape a successful future for their respective countries and continent."

Lena Zamchiya, CEO of Zimbabwe-based BOOST Fellowship, sees the efforts of BOOST as a means to help youth become more productive in the private market: "Under the social enterprise, we train the students to be able to identify social issues within their communities with a view of starting private enterprises based on the needs they met."

Read more here:
AllAfrica.com - "East Africa: IREN to Empower Young Entrepreneurs"
AfricanExecutive.com - "BOOST Fellowship Brightens Future for the Youth"