Why Kenya?

I have often been asked why I have such a love for Kenya, and I have to say that it was purely accidental. But then, anyone who visits Kenya will fall in love with the country - and the people.

I have always had an interest in sub-Saharan Africa, so when I was given the opportunity to work in South Africa in 1989, I jumped at it. After it was made obvious that I was no longer welcome there and I returned to the UK, I have always longed to return to "somewhere" in Africa.

Then, a few years ago, I was approached to tidy up, maintain and update the website for Rhino Ark, a conservation charity for the Aberdare Mountains in Kenya. This re-kindled my desire to return to Africa. This job did not offer the opportunity to do so, but at least I was doing something "African".

A little later, for reasons I cannot remember, I was contacted by the director of another Kenyan charity, ACIS, asking if I could provide free or cheap computers for schools in Kenya. I couldn't, but during email conversations, it was agreed that I would build a website for the organisation, of which I later became a director, hence my first visit to Kenya in September 2007.

Before my visit, I was contacted by another organisation, Mercy Gate Champion Children's Home, an orphanage in Kisii. Again, I agreed to build them a website.

I also took it upon myself to help to get ITNs (insecticide treated nets) which had supposedly been supplied by the Kenyan Government, free of charge to all children under five. I made contact with the WHO in Nairobi as well as other organisations set up to fight malaria.

Also, at about this time, I "met" my Kenyan girlfriend - but that for another blog at another time.

So, armed with information, appointments, etc, I set off for Kenya. I stayed for a while in Nairobi with my ACIS colleague, meeting the people at WHO etc, and making arrangements to visit the Mercy Gate home in Kisii.

But I really needed to get over to Malindi, where my girlfriend lives. I spent about two weeks there - again, another blog for another day.

Upon my return to Nairobi, we started to plan an overnight visit to Kisii. We drove there, an experience in itself as we went the long way there (not intentionally), via Nakuru, Kericho and Sotik. It took the best part of a day to get there, but it was worth it just to drive across the Great Rift Valley.

In Kisii, we were well received. I met most of the kids and dished out gifts that had been collected by the people in my village in the UK, and a couple of Frizbees, which were put to very good use!

We returned to Nairobi the following afternoon, by a quicker route, through Bomet and Narok, skirting the Maasai Mara, and after a few more days in Nairobi, I returned home to the UK, promising everyone (especially myself) that I would return as soon as possible.

My next visit was in March 2008, when my immediate love of Kenya was confirmed.

I am now a director of ACIS, and have formed a new NGO, KCIS, with the directors of Mercy Gate home. It has taken over the running of the Mercy Gate home, which was renamed Twiga Children's Home (Twiga is swahili for giraffe).

I also have two businesses in Kisii, an IT consultancy and an export business.

And now I am sitting in the middle of an English winter, just waiting for the opportunity to return once again.

So, that is "Why Kenya?"

Things looking up?

Well, Kofi is still in charge and there are rumours of a big coalition in the offing - but this is just rumour.

A news blackout, insisted up on by Mr Annan is igniting the fuel on the rumour fire. Still, the violence seems to have subsided, although there are apparently gangs of Mungiki still roaming around.

Dare I start to prepare for my now overdue trip to Kenya? I have a lot to do and it isn't getting any less while I am sitting here in the UK.

But I am getting negative feedback from one of my guys. I am really thinking he has a hidden agenda because all my other friends and contacts say that it is fine for me to go.

And Mr Negative is my first port of call when I step off the plane in Nairobi. He is my interface. Without him, I may actually have to fend for myself for a while!

Then there is our car - or rather the lack of. It was destroyed at the height of the disturbances and we are not in a position to replace it. We are, after all, a very small NGO.

I have tried contacting various aid agencies to see if I can beg, steal or borrow (no, maybe not steal) a vehicle, but to no avail. I am going to be carrying to much kit to easily use a matatu, so Mr Negative is it.

Oh well, I will just have to bombshell him and tell him I am coming on such and such a date and be ready to receive me, even if he feels totally underwhelmed (is that really a word?).

They Have Agreed on Something

Well, well, well. I didn't think I would be posting the above headline.
And it is not that they have agreed to disagree [well, maybe they have, but not in public].

Government and ODM mediators [yes both sides!] have agreed on major steps aimed at resolving the political crisis caused by the disputed Presidential election.

It looks like they have agreed to:

• set up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission


• encourage the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights investigation team and to ensure freedom of expression, press and peaceful assembly.

Now, the government has lifted the ban on live news coverage, which has been in place since the announcement of the Presidential results.

Today, the mediation team is going to tackle the political issues including how to resolve the disputed Presidential election results, constitutional and other legal reforms. This could be more difficult to resolve, methinks.

We shall see.

And Still It Goes On ...

Kofi Annan has had his say, Ban too. But Kibaki is, according to Raila, still using rhetoric to instill hatred and create violence.

OK, Raila, but your answers don't exactly make the rampaging youth of Kenya sit down and think about what they are doing.

The ordinary Kikuyu may have voted for Kibaki. That is his right. That is democracy.

But, the ordinary Kikuyu did not rig the election. That was carries out by an elite, the only people who may benefit from such an act. The people who don't give a damn about ordinary Kenyans hacking and burning each other to death.

These are the people who really benefited from Kenyatta and latterly Kibaki. The don't want to lose their grip on the Kenyan economy, on the country's earnings, as most of it goes to them.

Now I hear that violence has flared up in Kisii, up to now a peaceful town with 300+ refugees. It seems that the policeman who assassinated David Too comes from Kisii.

However, I have spoken this morning to my friend in Kisii and he says that he was not aware of any troubles. Then the Internet connection went dead. Am I worried? Too damn right I am.

Who do I contact to get aid to refugees?

I am amazed. In Britain and the United States, there are organisations which raise money in order to do good work in the World, especially in the alleviation of suffering and poverty.

My charity/NGO has the same aims and although we can raise small amounts of money, raising the sort of funds we need to really make a difference is impossible.

So we have approached the big boys, the foundations set up by such people as Pres. Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, etc.

We don't even get replies from these people. OK, I hear people say. They get hundreds of requests every day for money and they can't deal with everyone. Really? That is what they were set up for. If they can't deal (and I mean, reply to correspondence) with requests, where is their administration. These foundations are not run by volunteers, but salaried people - usually specialists in their field.

Other organisations try to remain "anonymous". They don't even tell you where you can apply for grants. They raise millions of pounds every year, but, in come cases, there is no means of applying for aid, there is not even any way of finding out what is happening to this money!

Yes, I am ranting. But I am frustrated. I have people on the ground in Kenya, trying to help 3,000+ refugees with no help. The major aid agencies in Kenya are missing a lot of people, because they are off the main roads - naturally. We know where they are. We have told the agencies, but will they listen? NO!

If you work for one of these agencies, please, please contact me. We are struggling to feed thousands of people with no resources and no help.

Rant over - for the time being.

Stop Kenya burning, says AU head

From BBC - Thursday, 31 January 2008, 10:18 GMT

African leaders at their summit in Ethiopia have been told they must get involved with the crisis in Kenya.
AU commission chairman Alpha Oumar Konare told them they could not just sit by. "If Kenya burns, there will be nothing for tomorrow," he said.
Mr Konare - the AU's top executive - said it was the AU's duty to support the mediation process which is led by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

'Special responsibility'
The current UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged Kenyan leaders to find a peaceful way out.
"President [Mwai] Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga... have a special responsibility to solve the crisis peacefully," he told the summit.
Mr Kibaki is among more than 40 leaders present at the African Union summit in Addis Ababa, even though the ODM called on the AU not to recognise him.
Mr Odinga, by contrast, has not been invited.

All eyes
The BBC's Will Ross, reporting from the conference, says all eyes will be on Mr Kibaki.
He says Mr Kibaki is likely to brief at least some of the African leaders on events in Kenya, especially the talks between government and opposition.
The Kenyan crisis may then be pushed away, which could be convenient for an organisation which often struggles to tackle the continent's problems with any great urgency, he says.
Despite Mr Konare's plea, the official theme of the AU summit is industrialisation.

'Police' kill Kenya opposition MP

From BBC - Thursday, 31 January 2008, 10:36 GMT

An opposition MP has been killed in Kenya, as violence continues over last month's disputed election.

David Too was shot dead by a traffic policeman in the western town of Eldoret, said a spokesman for his Orange Democratic Movement (ODM).

He is the second ODM MP to be killed this week. The shooting of Mugabe Were in Nairobi sparked violent clashes in slums seen as opposition strongholds.

ODM spokesman Henry Kosgie said Mr Too was killed at a roadblock as he drove from Nairobi to Eldoret in the Rift Valley.