Türkiye İşadamları ve Sanayiciler Konfederasyonu (TUSKON) tarafından düzenlenen 3. Afrika Dış Ticaret Köprüsü Programına katılan ve Sakarya Genç İşadamları Derneği'nin (SAGİAD) konuğu olarak Sakarya'ya gelen Kenya ve Uganda heyeti Sakarya'da incelemelerde bulundu. Kenya ve Ugandalı işadamları Sakaryalı işadamlarına işbirliği çağrısında bulundu.

Opportunity to help Worldbike in Kenya as technical lead of new bicycle development project

5/17/2008

Jubilee Holdings Limited has unveiled plans to extend its operations to central and West Africa.

Jubilee, having established a strong position in the East African region, is currently exploring opportunities outside the region where it will replicate its business model.

The company is listed at the stock markets of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

"We are well advanced in identifying target markets and based on the status of current negotiations, we are confident that Jubilee will have extended its geographic footprint within the next few months," Mr Nizar Juma, the company's chairman, said Friday.

Good shape

Speaking during its 70th Annual General Meeting, Mr Juma, said the company's business fundamentals are in a good shape after improvement efforts taken in 2007 to enhance the quality of its insurance portfolio.

"Selective underwriting, pricing discipline and improved operational efficiency has enabled us to achieve superior results in general insurance despite softening market conditions across the region," he said.

The insurance-based financial firm, which provides insurance cover to more than 125,000 clients across the East African region, has returned impressive results in the past four years.

Coming on the back of a strong growth in Kenya and a sterling general insurance business development in Uganda, the group posted a pre-tax profit of Sh809.6 million in the year ending December 31, 2007 up from Sh642.7 million in 2006, a 26 per cent increase.

During the year under review, the composite insurer's medical business grew with premiums increasing from Sh929 million in 2006 to Sh1.22 billion last year, representing a 32 per cent growth.

During Friday's AGM, the group's shareholders were informed about the company's future ambitious plans that include a strategic drive in the life insurance business through innovation in distribution, product development and customer service.

The shareholders approved a final dividend of Sh3.25 per share. With an interim dividend of Sh1 per share paid in October last year, the total dividend for 2007 is 85 per cent translating to Sh4.25 per share.
This amounts to Sh191.3 million compared to Sh153 million paid in 2006.

Jubilee Holdings is an affiliate of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development, the economic arm of the Aga Khan Development Network.

Nation Media

Linux Africa distributors have come up with a way to help provide Internet connections and software access which will save a lot of money. The basic idea is that a single software or Internet connection can be used for up to 10 PCs.

Patrick Mathenge is the CEO of Mullard Electronic Limited, which is a firm trading in hardware and software, and which is a big part of the entrepreneurship of the project in Kenya. Mathenge says they offer two different systems, a Desktop Multiplier, which is suitable for normal office and general use and a Discover station for public computing. The Discover option allows administrators to control access and user accounts, as is generally how things work in any public lab.

I have felt for a long time that the most effective way to bring technological advancement and development to poorer (particularly African) countries is through cellphones. I thought that because ownership of cell phones is far more prevalent in Africa than ownership of PCs, it would make more sense to focus on optimizing mobile technology for the masses. This Linux venture in Kenya made me re-think that.

As I understand it, through this initiative, open source developers are finding ways to increase the effectiveness of accessibility where money for software is limited. So even though the software might not be open source, the concept of increased, cheaper distribution also carries the heart of the open source movement. Altruism.

Are you a dreamer? Do you have a desire to do something great with your life? Do you have unique talents and gifts that you long to share with others? If so, then take your hand right now, tap yourself on the shoulder, and shout "Tag! I’M IT!"

That's right! You're it! You are responsible for making those dreams happen. No one else is going to do it for you. Not your boss, your co-worker, wife, husband, father, pastor or friend. You and you alone are responsible for making your God-given dreams a reality.

Too many of us surrender our dreams to others, chance, or the direction of a passing wind. For some reason, we are trained to think that dreams just somehow happen or that they can only happen if someone takes us under their wing and guides us on to our ultimate destiny.

Yet, the bible itself is power-packed with verses that tell us that we indeed have the power and the ability to do our dreams. It holds us completely accountable for what we have been given and it reassures us that God himself is enough. He will accomplish his dream in us if we just believe.

Self-help and success books are constantly prodding us to believe this truth. Titles like "Take Control of Your Life!”,” If It's Going to Be, It's Up to Me!" and "The Power of Believing" are just a few of the wonderful books on the market that support us in making our dreams a reality.

Nothing is going to happen if we do not take the initiative to make it happen. Here are 3 keys you can apply today to make your own personal dreams a reality.

1) Stop whining and start working! If you find yourself whining about the fact that your dreams are just not happening or that no one is taking you under their wing and guiding you to success - stop it! Remember, the cure for "E"motion is in the word itself. Drop the "E" and you find the answer - "motion" Motion, is always the key to dealing with emotion.

2) Believe and receive! Start believing that you are capable of making your dreams a reality. If you feel small and weak, don't worry. Your belief should not lie in your own strength but in God's power working in you. As you believe, you will receive direction, guidance, peace and ultimately the realization of your dreams.

3) Be dynamic and different! Realize that making a decision to do your dreams automatically puts you in a minority. Like it or not, you are different! Most people live a "settle for" life but you have chosen excellence. Therefore, you can expect to receive some flak. Being dynamic in your attitude and vision helps you rise above the norm. It is the key to keeping you "up" in a "down" world.

So take control of your life and dreams today and you will be well on your way to making all of your most passionate dreams real!

Concerned Youth For Peace has been holding a number of activities with the youth as a means of promoting peace.

Below please find the links to the various reports on the activities that they have carried out.

Fashion Show Report - 22 March 08 - Kawangware

Sports Activity - 15 Aarch 08 - Huruma

Peace Walk Report - 8 March 08 - Dandora - Huruma

Night Vigil Report

Concerned Youth For Peace - Other Info

Concerned Youth For Peace Activity Database

Makutano Junction Info

]]> http://timesharejob.wordpress.com/?p=5 Sat, 17 May 2008 02:26:27 +0000 timeshareteam http://timesharejob.wordpress.com/?p=5
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]]> http://breakingnewskenya.wordpress.com/?p=576 Fri, 16 May 2008 21:13:23 +0000 kenyanobserver http://breakingnewskenya.wordpress.com/?p=576 Flush with oil money, gulf states are eyeing the rapidly growing African economy in an effort to establish Islamic banking all over the continent.

Barclays Bank of Kenya already offers a product targeting Islamic banking customers known as La Riba (no interest).

Gulf News

A Review

Themes And Variation

The Tarzan Novels Of Edgar Rice Burroughs

#18  Tarzan And The Lion Man

Part 3 of 10 parts

by

R.E. Prindle

Part 3: The Source

     Unlike the rest of Burroughs' novels you don't have to look very far for the main source of this one.  While Tarzan And  The Leopard Men was heavily influenced by the MGM movie Trader Horn Lion Man is the story of the famed MGM expedition to Africa to film it.

     In Chapter 1 ERB have a fictional account of the decision to make the expedition.  In the next few chapters he gives a fictinal account of the safari.  Excising the story within the story Burroughs' account is reasonably accurate, allowing for a little authorial license that is.

     The safare was active for seven months in 1929.  The safari was a cause celebre in Hollywood as thee expedition ran up what were enormous costs for the time.  While they were iin Africa Black Friday, the collapse of the stock marked occured plunging the nation into depression so that money became of more consequence to MGM.  There was speculation that the dirctor, W.S. Van Dyke would bankrupt the company.  Like Howard Hughes' famous difficulties with Hell's Angels of 1930 the bills kept rolling in but when the receipts were counted like Hughes' movie there was a tidy profit left over.  If nothing else the hullabaloo was mere advance publicity and cheap at the price.

     MGM even liked the movie so much they did it again in 1953's Mogambo.  While I see Mogambo as a remake of Trader Horn the movie site' lists its antecedents as Red Dust, 1932 and Congo Maisiie of 1940.  Haven't seen either. 

     The 1929 expedition was incredibly audacious.  On the liner notes of my VCR copy of Trader Horn MGM describes the expedition like this:

     When this landmark film ws made, parts of Africa were still uncharted.  the savannahs teemed with big game, the rivers with crocodiles and snakes.  Few Europeans or Americans dared enter what was then called the Congo.

     That was true and still is, MGM rushed in where few Europeans and Americans dared to tread.  Africa was to transit from the stone age to the age of science in the blink of an eye.  As Van Dyke noted, barely pacified, already the Kikiyu or Jukuas as Van Dyke called them were organizing resistance.  A mere savage like Jomo Kenyatta was attending Oxford University in England.  Truly astonishing that a stone age African with no familiarity with either techonology or science could be listened to attentively by the most highly educated Europeans.  What could Kenyatta actually understand?  Would they have given equal attention to the mutterings of an Appalachian farm boy?  The mind boggles.

     It had been a mere forty years since Henry Morton Stanley had covered the same ground to relieve Emin Pasha.  Only Forty years earlier Stanley had been the first Euro-American to penetrate the Ituri Rain Forest  Only forty years earlier Stanley could claim the discoveryof the fable Mountains Of The Moon.  In the interim few Euro-Americans had been there.  Gosh, even the great beast the Okapi had just been discovered.

     Kampala and Entebbe in Uganda were now occupied by British governors.  the ancient kings of Uganda and Unyoro were no more.  As Van Dyke states, the Africans were held down by the few Europeans with an Iron Hand.  Ah, you say, the European Iron hand.  Abominable.  But when weren't the African tribesmen held down by an Iron Hand.  But then it was Black or Moslem and not White.  The venerable ancient kings of Uganda wanted to hold a funeral for some distant relative during the time of Stanley so they selected a couple thousand Ugandans, slit their throats and dumped them in the grave as company for their dead relative.  The Ugandan king slaughtered a few of his own people in an attempt to amuse Stanley.  TV had reached Uganda back then.

     King Mteses' gangs roamed the countryside after dark murdering any citizens they met.  Well, that was normal.  Now White Bwanas arrested troublesome tribesmen and threw them in jail for a period rather than killing them.  That wasn't normal.  Dead men file no complaints.

     So a benign rule in White hands was less desirable than a malign rule in Black hands.  Such is the way the human mind works.  In the African case thenative king owns everything including oneself and that is acceptable.  In another invaders occupy a few thousand acres producing food that makes you better fed than ever you were onl your own and that is bad.  Better savagery among equals than civilization as an inferior.

     Africa was not yet familiar with the wheel when a guy with the nickname 'Woody' shows up with nine-ton genearator trucks.  Sound trucks!  The talkies had been around only two years and they already had sound trucks.

     Van Dyke in his justification of himself to MGM in his Horning  Into Africa has this to say.  p. 212:

    On the screen we had over thirty-five varieties of African big game, with our actors working in the scenes with them.  We had the dances, the songs, the native life of over fifteen African tribves, and on our film was a thin dark strip running down the edge which constituted the sound they made in all their different activities.

     ...on our film we had a thin dark strip running down the edge which constituted the sound they made in all their different activities....  Think of it.  Stone age Africans captured as stone age people by equipment of which the Africans could have no concept, no possible way of accounting for it, let alone understanding it, that might have as well have been the work of aliens beamed down from outer space or one of Bertie Well' visitors slipped through the plane of a parallel universe.  Was ther any difference between Wells' English visitors to his utopia of 1923 when he viewed the men of a parallel universe as gods and the Hollywood Mutia and Riano saw when transported from or 'beamed' from Africa?  Not much I would say.

     If the Africans thought Henry Morton Stanley was supernatural what in the world did they think of Woody Van Dyke, his cameras and fleet of trucks.

     What did Van Dyke think, talk about, such an excellent adventure?  p. 26:

I did not realize what he meant by the adjective "amazing".  It made me think of certain American film producers.  the only thing about it that had been amazing, to my mind, was its inception.  After all, for a Hollywood producer (Irving Thalberg) to conceive the idea of sending twenty-five or thirty Hollywood motion picture actors with ninety-two tons of equipment into the center of Africa, to go prancing around over the thorn bush terrain, considering the great cost in dollars and cents involved was a rather amazing idea.  Nobody but an adventurer would have thought of it, no one but a goof would have tried to do it, and no but a clown could have gotten away with it.

     Van Dyke considering the term 'amazing' further:

     Previous to our debut the largest safari to enter Africa had been that of Prince Edward, a stupendous undertaking with about a dozen whites, fifty blacks, ten or twelve cars, and possibly seven or eight tons of equipment.  His safari had not been underway many days when his Royal Highness was called hom by the illness of his fathr, King George, butr the fact that the white hunters had maneuvered such a large safari over several miles of Africa without a casualty and with no one dying from fever was considered remarkable.

     We had been in Africa more than seven months with thirty-five whites, one hundred ninety-two blacks, thirty-four cars, one generator truck and two sound wagons.  The speedometers on the cars showed that we had traveled over nine thousand miles of African soil, to say nothing of rail, lake and river travel and distances covered on foote, and we had brought everyone back- black and white.

     And furthermore they not only had it on a film strip, which was old technology by white standards but unimaginable by African standards and running down that strip of film was a thin black line indicating sound.  What would a stone age African think seeing and hearing himself on film going around and around on reels like wheels which in themselves had been but recently seen in Africa.  Jomo Kenyatta was at university in England.  they would have laughed at that Appalachian farm boy if he showed up for registration.

     So, MGM and Van Dyke provided ERB with a readymade story of epic proportions.

     We know he read the book.  The question is did Van Dyke regale him with other stories and details during ERB's five week stint on the MGM lot, a little additional color not found in the book.

     Now we can turn to Burroughs' story and align it with that of Van Dyke.  ERB is writing a novel so he doesn't have to stay too close to the facts, he can play fast and loose with them.  Let's see how he does.

     In the first place he converts the story from that of Trader Horn to Tarzan, The Ape Man.  Rather than filming Trader Horn they are filming the story of aferal boy who was raised among the lions.  p. 9

     "Joe's written a great story- it's going to be a knock-out.  You see this fellow's born in the jungle and brought up by a lioness.  He pals around with the lions all his life- doesn't know any other friends.  The lion is king of beasts; when the boy frows up he's king of the lions; so he bosses the whole menagerie.  See?  Big shot of the jungle."

     "Sounds familiar."  Commented Orman.

     Yes, it does sound familiar, ERB says with tongue in cheek and a wink at we readers.  It sounds familiar to us too.  As the Lion Man the studio has picked Stanley Obroski, a giant cowardly fellow.

     As Harry Carey, a bete noire of ERB, played Trader Horn Burroughs may be projecting a little Carey into Obroski's cowardice as vengeance although one assumes that Johnny Weissmuller is the model but Obroski isn't that similar to him either.

     As a leading lady ERB creates Naomi Madison.  I'm sure there are a lot of insults and jokes about MGM in the book.  A lot of most of them may be lost on us today.  However Naomi may have been modeled on Irving Thalberg's wife Norma Shearer.  Naomi=Norma.

     Some say Shearer made it on her own while there are those backbiters who say she got all those plum roles because she was married to the producer, Irving Thalberg.  In'n not too hep on early thirties films but is possible a little favoritism may have been involved.  In the novel Burroughs casts Naomi in a rather unfavorable light as the lover of Director Orman.  Perhaps Thalberg saws such things in a negative light.

     It may be possible that Shearer was or was reported to be seeing someone on the side.  If s, ERB was taking some chances.

     He does have her down as having been a hash slinger before becoming The Madison.  There was a period in New York when the Shearer family was down at the heels when Norma was seeking theatrical work that she probably waited tables.  Bringing up that fact would not have endeared ERB to the Thalberg's at MGM.  Norma would probably have been more dangerous than Irving.

     The Thalbergs wouldn't have mattered too much because Irving had a heart attack in 1933.  When he returned to work several months later Mayer had stripped him of position.  He became just another producer for a couple years before he died in 1936.  Shearer got no more roles, plums or otherwise.  So as it turned out ERB wouldn't have had to worry about either.

     ERB doubles Naomi with a stunt woman named Rhonda Terry.  As no comparable figure was on the safarie she must have been only necessary for the story.

     Van Dyke organized and led the xpedition being the supreme authority, the actual Big Bwana.  As might be expected of a safari of this size and complexity there were numerous problems naturally occurrring while Vand Dyke himself as a Hollywood director trying to realize his vision of the movie was rather cavalier with the landscape.  The native hierarchy was in disarray from the time of Stanley now having a Birtish hierarchy overlain on the native.  But the British had only been there for a couple decades while the native revolt led by Kenyatta dn his Kikiyu was already underway.  As Burroughs indicates Leopard Men were roaming Africa while the Kikiyu would erupt as the Mau Mau only twenty years hence.

     The African chiefs considered every human, every animal, every stick or tree on their territory as their personal private property.  there hadn't been enough time as yet for that understanding to die out.  And now we have a real muilti-cultural conflict brewing.  Van Dyke shows up with a fleet of cars and trucks such as was new to the sight of the Africans.  Van Dyke proceeds to drive these trucks all over Kenya, Uganda, the Congo and Tanganyika as they were then known.  Along the way he chops down trees that don't belong to him, if you see what I mean, as though he was the sovereign of the land and not the chiefs.

     From the African point of view the man was contemptuous of Africans and disrectful.  Van Dyke, in what we must assume was his innocence, was completely unaware of his desecrations.  His culture was not only White American, which would have been insult enough to the Africans, but he was of the fiilm capitol of the world, Hollywood, which respects no man or mountain in making a movie.  Van Dyke's mind functioned on one premise alone- make this movie.

     At one point he wanted to shoot a scene near Lake Albert, probably didn't even make the final cut.  At that point of the lake a volcanic dyke serveral feet high formed a barrier preventing access.  There was no way to get thier trucks and equipment over the barrier.   The solution seemed rational to Van Dyke.  When no one was looking he got some dynamite and blew a big hole in this barrier.  Problem solved from Woody's point of view.  I don't know what the Africans thought about this desecration of landscape but Van Dyke does report what seems to be a fair amount of unrest among the African bearers.

     In Burroughs' story the movie company goes directly to the Ituri Rain Forest but Van Dyke began his filming at Murchison Falls and Nile flows from Lake Victoria.  After having brought his crew and equipment to the railhead at Jinja he crossed the lake to Kampala and Entebbe in Uganda.

     He wanted to film at Murchison Falls where, as he says, the entire flood of the Nile passing from Lake Victoria passes through a gorge only fifteen feet wide.  As he said a good broad jumper could leap the Nile at that point.  If he wanted to take the chance.

     Now, the British had determined the area at the foot of the falls so infested with the sleeping sickness bearing Tsetse fly that they had made it off limits to man and beast.  Well, Woody had a movie to make and wanted to make it in that exact spot.  In fact several scenes in Trader Horn are filmed there.

     Disregarding what we must assume were the real dangers of the place Van Dyke cajoled an exception for this safari taking his cast and bearers into this Tsetse infested area.  It will be remembered that Edwina Booth, the female star, was incapacitated for life because of diseases contracted in Africa.

     What seems normal to a movie maker may seem bizarre to a less interested observer.  Van Dyke wanted a crocodile scene involving an island.  There was no island where he wanted so he loaded the spot with fill until there was one.  Another neat job of problem solving.  Then he wanted a large nuber of crocodiles around the island so he slaughered game as lure for the crocs.  They came, they saw, the ate, but they wouldn't spend the nighta s Woody wanted.

     So now Woody shoots some more wild life to lure the crocs to the island while he built a large barrier.  Once the crocs were within he closed the gatge.  Well and good from Woody's point of view but from the multi-cultural point of view of the crocs they either just broke through or climbed the six foot barrier.  Wasn't high enough.

     W.S. Van Dyke was one determined guy.  He had a movie to make.  His next step was once the crocs got inside and they wanted out at, oh say, 2:00 AM, Woody got his whole crew of actors armed with torches and poles to place themselves between the crocs and freedom to force them to stay inside.  In a quite thrilling description he tells of stuffing burning torches down the throats of crocodiles.  When he said stay, he meant it.  Harry Carey, apparently some sort of testosterone driven madman, was a stalwart but Van Dyke even had Edwin Booth on the barrier torch in hand.  Van Dyke lauds his crew as well he should have but one is struck by a certain degree of lunacy.  Or, perhaps, Scotch.

     Burroughs draws inference away from Van Dyke by making Tom Orman a different physical type but as ERB was working from Van Dyke's Horning Into Africa and possibly personal communication from Van Dyke, or member of his crew it is impossible for Orman not to reflect W.W. 'One Shot' Woody Van Dyke.

     Burroughs makes Orman a drunk or at least a real tyrant when he ahs been drinking.  Van Dyke records some heavy drinking of his own.  He slipped right into the colonial practice of'Sundowners', that is when the sun went down the bottle came out.  There may be some factual basis then for Orman's behavior.

     Orman heads for the Ituri through an area he has been wrned not to go that would correspond to Van Dyke's insistence on filming at the Murchison Falls where he ws forbidden to go but overcame the injunction.

     The attack of the Bansutos is ERB's invention however there were a couple serious native disaffections in the safari.  Late in the expedition the Kikiyu show up, which I would think meant that they were unhappy with the expedition while Van Dyke describes them as a surly lot.

     In Burroughs' story the safari falls apart after the Bansuto attack but then at the end of the story he reforms the safari at the Omwami Falls in the story or Murchison Falls in fact.  the party atmosphere at the Falls may reflect his impression of Van Dyke's account.

     It was probably with a sigh of relief that the British bid farewell to this troublemaking Hollywood film crew.  Or perhaps, just perhaps, they wired MGM to get these people out of here.  I don't know but I wouldn't be surprised.

     So far as I know the only two accounts of Van Dyke's excellent African adventur are his own and that of Burroughs.

     It is a pity MGM didn't have the foresight to comple an extended account of the safari with hundreds of pictures.  In the liner notes to my VCR copy they say:

...director W.S. Van Dyke and his heroic cast and crew camped there for a year, hauling eighty tons of equipment through the equatorial jungle.  They battled disease and predators, to risk their lives to film this story of two men- legendary trader Alfred Aloysius Horn (Harry Carey) and his naive protoge Pero (Cisco Kid Duncan Renaldo)- and their struggle to reclaim a beautiful woman (Edwina Booth) who was lost in the jungle as a baby and raised by indigenous tribes.

     True enough as far as it goes.  Van Dyke's obviously sanitaized narrative takes it a little further, Burroughs' fiction may reveal a little more, but Edwina Booth who was never able to work again adds another detail.  She petitioned MGM for compensation but MGM refused to consider it for this heroic, crocodile battling member of the cast who battled predators and disease and lost.

     What a fabuouls story.  ERB had a lot to work with and turned out a fabulous effort.

Juliette Kanini from Mathabithi settlement, Isiolo District, attended training on sanitation and hygiene together with her husband. “Actually the training was meant for the women, but the men got curious and they wondered what we were being taught so they joined as well.” “Since we have settled into this place, life has become easier. Water is sold for 2 Ksh per 20 litres at the water kiosk is nearby, only 1. 5 km away,” she says. During the training she learnt about keeping the house and the surroundings clean. Juliette keeps her goats away from her house using a fence of thorny bushes and her puppy dogs are kept in a separate place underground during the day. This way animal waste will not contaminate the compound the family compound. A dish rack is used to prevent dirt getting on clean plates and utensils, and they wash their hands. Her husband even dug a hole for the latrine, there is a floor made of sandbags and logs, and an iron sheet for a roof. Although the wall is not yet finished – you can see right through the branches from which it is made – the latrine is used.” This  all pays off,” she says. “I don’t have to pay for medicine anymore because my children are much healthier now. I could even buy some chickens. I call it the Secret of Cleanliness.” While she is telling this story, her husband fetches the water.

This field story by IRC is based on field visits undertaken for UNICEF Kenya to study and analyze the hygiene and sanitation knowledge, attitudes and practices in three targeted districts, namely:  Isiolo in Eastern Province, Garissa in North Eastern Province and Tana River in the Coastal Province.

Kenya’s recent history has been dotted with several intense episodes of land-ownership conflict, starting in the early 1950s with the bloody repression of the Mau Mau movement by the British colonial power. This conflict caused 11 000 deaths among the rebels and also prompted the first regrouping of agricultural lands in Kenya. Access to land in this former European colony is still to this day a particularly hotly disputed issue.

The colonial heritage also found expression in an administrative tradition where territorial control was paramount of all priorities. Stemming from this, interior boundaries defined exclusive territories, both in the form of nature reserves (forest, national parks) and “ethnic reserves”, which often took on the aspect of administrative bodies. The result was a sectorization which certain repercussions on the distribution of the different communities which populate the country. This situation has become a source of inter-ethnic tension. And it is particularly portentous in the Chebyuk area of the Mount Elgon district where an IRD researcher has been conducting a long-term study on the origins of the conflict over access to arable land which opposes the Kalenjin language communities (Sabaots, Ndorobos and Soy), and whose emergence is closely linked to identity affirmation.

The fertile, well watered Chebyuk region on the southern slopes of Mount Elgon, about 2000 m high, was until 2006 home of a population of 35 000 over a 10 km2 surface area. Following primary forest clearance which had begun in the 1970s, crops of maize, cabbage, onion and potatoes, for export to Kenya’s large towns and cities, developed steadily. Since that time, the geographic area has represented an agricultural front for families coming mainly from the Sabaot community, settled on either side of the frontier between Kenya and Uganda. To meet people’s demand for farming plots, in the 1970s a committee of elders, co-opted by government authorities, organized a first land distribution operation. However, from the mid 1980s, rivalries rose up over ownership of this expanse of land.

Pressure from the Sabaot community led to the settlement and clearance of a more extensive zone than the legally delimited area. In 1989, complaints about the misappropriation of these land allocations prompted a government decision to reorganize the attribution of the farming plots. It was a time when tensions came to a head and houses were burned down. Tensions broke out with rival land claims which were arbitrated by a politico-administrative class which persisted in maintaining a a system of partiality.

The 1989 land reform therefore provided for the redistribution of all land in the localities of Emia and Chebyuk. It was organized in three phases, each corresponding to a particular area of Chebyuk: the lists of beneficiaries of phases 1 and 2 were finalized in 2004; the one for phase 3 was made official in 2006, marking the end of what was a 30-year-long land redistribution programme (see Map). It was subsequent to this final reorganization that the conflict rose to the surface, ending in a form of spatial segregation that rent asunder the apparent unity of the Sabaot community. Towards the end of 2006, clashes between the Sabaot and Ndorobos, a new ethnic identity that had gradually emerged from among those of the Sabaot group who had been cast aside, resulted in the displacement of 60 000 people and the death of 200 others. The region’s inhabitants assimilated with the Ndorobos then took refuge on the high moorland expanses of Chepkitale and in the forest reserve area at the boundary of the Trans Nzoia district. Others, assimilated with the Soy, went over to the plains not far from the Ugandan border (Cheptais), the main town of the district (Kapsokwony) or the neighbouring district of Trans Nzoia.

More recently, the violent stresses associated with the December 2007 elections, expressed locally by rival factions’ taking up of arms, played a role in the magnifying the conflict. Those long battles for land nevertheless find their origin more in the history of State schemes for regulating access to land ownership, rooted in practices of political favouritism and authoritarian methods employed to implement land redistribution operations. Land appropriation battles in the Mount Elgon region stem in the end from repeated episodes of land allocations and evictions which gave rise to frustrations that are now boiling up into ethnic territorial claims

Reported by International Herald Tribune

The Nairobi Water & Sewerage Company (NWSC) says water rationing is necessary due to inadequate rains in the water catchment areas of the Aberdare forest. The company is also publicizing water conservation measures such as the use of bucket baths instead of showers and the recycling of laundry water.

Nairobi residents have been experiencing water shortages long before the official announcement of rationing. Many people are already taking bucket baths out of necessity rather than choice and the water company’s conservation tips seem laughable under the circumstances. The quality of water is also poor with a recent case of contamination with sewage causing supply disruptions in Umoja estate.

NWSC attributes rampant water shortages to illegal connections by roadside car washers most of whom have influential backers within the Nairobi City Council. NWSC is a subsidiary of the Nairobi City Council and was spun off from the former Water and Sewerage Department. However, the council still retains strong influence within the NWSC.

Nairobi’s water problems are compounded by the fact that one of the city’s three water sources is out of service. The Sasumua dam in Kinangop was damaged by floods almost five years ago and rehabilitation work has been slow. That means Nairobi is getting its water from Ndakaini in Thika and Ondiri in Kabete constituency.

Inspite of rapid growth due to rural-urban migration, Nairobi has not invested in new water production facilities since Ndakaini dam was commissioned in the mid 1990s. Both Sasumua and Ondiri were built by British colonialists before independence in 1963. To aggravate the situation, water supply for Nairobi has been extended to the Athi River Export Processing Zone as well as horticultural farms in the Athi River – Kitengela conurbation.

Though Ndakaini is a mega-project expected to serve the city for many years to come, it is suffering from the effects of climate change which has resulted in unpredictable rainfall patterns in its catchment area around the Aberdare Ranges. Apart from climate change, massive deforestation within the Aberdares has reduced the water retention capacity of the mountains. According to records, the Aberdares used to have abundant marshes of water where, reputedly, elephants were known to sink into the depths. Today, the marshes are all but dry.

The last time that a significant water rationing program was implemented in Nairobi was in the year 2000. A year long drought shrank water supply and hydro-electric dams resulting in both electricity and water rationing. Fist fights over water were witnessed in the estates while hotels and offices in the city had to hire trucks from Kajiado District to supply water fresh water. The effects of water and power rationing in 2000 caused a negative growth in the Kenyan economy for three straight years.

From the look of things, Kenyans will have to prepare for a return to that dark and dry era. Power shortages are increasingly becoming routine for the same reasons that water is being rationed, namely, a lack of investment in new power production.

Hardly a day goes by without some major news event concerning the Mungiki. This week, it has emerged that the Kenya Police have finally left a mansion in Kitengela built by the Mungiki. The police had converted the house into a “police station” after arresting Mungiki leader, Maina Njenga in the premises several years ago.

In Kenya, the police rarely confiscate property in such a manner. Indeed, the action was among the major grievances that drove the Mungiki into nationwide protests in April this year. By returning the ownership of the building to the Mungiki, the government may be signaling a softening in its stance towards the group. Television footage shows the building suffering from extreme vandalism. Apparently police officers lit cooking fires in the expansive living room.

In the past one week, political leaders from the Central Province have called for negotiations with Mungiki and the release of Mr Njenga. Mr Njenga is in jail for possession of firearms and marijuana. His followers say the charges are false.

On his appointment in April, Prime Minister Raila Odinga said he was willing to begin negotiations with Mungiki. However, Internal security minister, Prof George Saitoti, has said the government will not talk to Mungiki. This followed criticism of proposed Mungiki talks by politicians from Kalenjin dominated areas following the arrest of youths linked to ethnic clashes earlier this year. The Kalenjin politicians argue that were the government to talk with Mungiki, then Kalenjin militia should get amnesty from prosecution.

The military operation against the Sabaot Land Defense Force in Mt Elgon may be influenced by the manner in which the government handles the Mungiki issue. Critics of the military campaign are concerned over the apparent double standards in dealing with militia groups.

Mungiki say they have also borne the brunt of state security forces. Hundreds of bodies of suspected Mungiki members have been found in morgues and forests on the outskirts of Nairobi in the past year. Police deny they are involved in the killings. However, in parts of Central Province and in the slums of Nairobi, young men live in fear of the police.

There have been numerous feature articles in local and international press all attempting to analyze the Mungiki. The explanations of the Mungiki phenomenon are as varied as the number of articles about the group. However, all agree that the Mungiki is a product of a dysfunctional society and without a change in the way Kenya is governed, the Mungiki is likely to become a much bigger and potent force.

Lugoba A 2021(i) Group

Nansana, Uganda

The group leader of this small group is Gina Nanfuka. She is currently in the business of making and selling snacks and is requesting a loan of UGX 400,000 to expand her snack business. Gina is a 43 year old widow with 9 children ranging from age 2 to 20, all of whom go to school. Each week, Gina makes approximately UGX 60,000 in profit and combined with the extra profit from her loan, she hopes to be able to to improve her own and her family's standard of living.

Gina is joined in her small group by Sarah Nanteza, Claire Nabugwawo, Tatu Nanteza, and Dorothy Nabbosa. Sarah Nanteza is currently in the business of running a retail shop and is requesting a loan of UGX 500,000 to purchase more shop items.

Claire Nabugwawo is currently in the business of running a salon and is requesting a loan of UGX 500,000 to open up a cosmetic shop.

Tatu Nanteza is currently in the business of running a retail shop and is requesting a loan of UGX 600,000 to add more stock.

Dorothy Nabbosa is currently in the business of selling hardware and is requesting a loan of UGX 500,000 to purchase more hardware equipment to sell.

Mujeres Emprendedoras Group

Ita, Paraguay

The group called Mujeres Emprendedoras from the city Itá had their beginning in May, 2006. It was formed by Marciana Oporto, who contacted her neighbors to make up the group. They all have activities in the commercial realm. The group is very organized and united, they made it through the 7th cycle with excellent payment history.

It should be emphasized that all of them are very unified, within the group emphasizes the friendship and solidarity between them.

These women will use your loans for different activities like: the sale of food, underwear, clothes, coal, and basic articles for the home, etc.

They all understand the importance of fulfilling the commitment to the Committee and the importance of good relations between the members in order to achieve the objectives of the group and of course their personal objectives.

Semilla Group

El Alto / La Paz, Bolivia

Sale of garments is the main activity of this group of fifteen women who wish to improve their standard of living. Thanks to Pro-Mujer ("Pro-woman"), they are achieving their aim. Early morning every fortnight, they travel to Iquique (Chile) and Desaguadero (at the border with Peru) to buy clothes at wholesale prices. They are then offered for sale at major markets in La Paz.

They need capital to purchase or rent a more appropriate and permanent retail site from which to sell their goods. This would increase their income and would allow them to save for the future of their families.

Maisha Bora Self-Help Group

Busia, Kenya

Fredrick Makhand is a young Kenyan father aged 37 with 5 children. He also lives with 1 orphan child of his late sister who perished 2 years ago.

Fredrick started his business 3 years ago after accumulating savings from his former work place. He currently operates a small retail cereal stall selling maize, rice, and green grams (lentils) but would like to expand his business to a wholesale unit in future.

Being the primary bread winner for his family, it would enable him to support both his children and his wife, who has a low-paying job. With the little profit that he gets from the business, Fredrick still struggles to feed, clothe, and educate his children and to pay his house rent. With the help of his loan, he will be able to purchase cereals in bulk to enable him to boost his business sales.

Nosakhare Omoruyi

Benin City, Nigeria

Mrs. Nosakhare Omonuyi is 41 years old. She lives in Benin City, Edo state, Nigeria and is married with 3 children. She learned how to make weavons from her sister and has sold them for 5 years. After being in LAPO for four years, she is now requesting a loan of $1200 to buy more weavons to sell.

Qadrbi Jonova

Vahdat, Tajikistan

Qadrbi Jonova lives in the city of Vahdat in Tajikistan. She is 52 years old, married and has 5 children. She has a high school degree and makes her living as a farmer. Qudrbi grows wheat, potatoes and other vegetables. She then sells her harvest at the market and to wholesalers at a lower price. This provides the local markets with vegetables and grain and helps the salesmen make a living as well. Right now it is potato planting season in Tajikistan and Qadrbi wants to purchase fertilizer and vegetable seeds. For that she needs to take out a loan which she is planning to pay back in the next 12 months.

Nandasakulira Self-Help Group

Busia, Kenya

Caroline Achieng is an average young Kenyan, married with 3 children of her own and 2 children of her late sister.Caroline started her tailoring business two years ago after completing her tailoring course in the district of Busia. Before venturing into the tailoring business, Caroline used to work for a friend for a commission fee in the Busia Municipality market, from which she accumulated her savings to start her own business. She initially started with one sewing machine, but she has worked hard to expand her business, and she currently has two sewing machines.

With the little profit she gets from her business, she is still able to provide food, clothing, and shelter for her children and to pay school fees. With the help of her loan, Caroline will be able to purchase one more sewing machine and clothing materials for her business.

Hai tarawa 2018-1 Group

Munuki, Juba, Southern, Sudan

The leader of this small group is 36-year-old Rejoice Poni, who sells breads. She and her husband have four children ranging from age 7 to 18 who attend school. Each week Rejoice makes approximately 100 Sudanese pounds in profits, and with the extra profits from her loan, she hopes to be able to expand the business. Rejoice is joined in her small group by Joice Gaba, Modong Cicilia, Roda Reniface, and Rose Lagu. Joice Gaba has a grocery business and wants to construct an oven. Modong Cicilia currently sells beer and wants a loan to construct a shop. Roda Reniface operates a business brewing alcohol and wants to open up a bar. Rose Lagu currently sells vegetables and is requesting a loan to pay school fees.

Simmons Group

Sunyani, Ghana

Robert Dadzie is the leader of Simmons Group. He is 41 years old and has 4 children. Three of the children are currently in school. Robert operates a pharmaceutical store, where he sells drugs like pain killers, antimalarial drugs, cough mixtures, antacids, etc. Other members of the group trade various products like maize, vegetable oils, detergents, cooked rice, and dried fish. The members want to use the loan to buy more products to increase inventories and also to avoid price hikes. Gifty Gyamfuah is not in the picture because when the photo was taken she had gone to the farm.

Kiva's note about Group Loans...

About Group Loans
In a group loan, each member of the group receives an individual loan but is part of a group of individuals bound by a group guarantee. Under this arrangement, each member of the group supports one another and is responsible for paying back the loans of their fellow group members if someone is delinquent or defaults. Learn more

FULL STORY

AP Story

Nutrition management in comprehensive care centres in Kenya: a trainer's manual

Produced by: Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance Project (2007)

In support of the implementation of the “Kenyan national guidelines on nutrition and HIV/AIDS”, this training manual is designed for healthcare service providers working in comprehensive care centres. It aims to equip participants with the knowledge and skills necessary for managing the specific nutritional needs of people living with HIV/AIDS. The provision of methodology, suggested content, materials and further reading allow trainers to formulate a programme specific to their context.

In order make best use of this manual, trainers should have knowledge and experience in:

• child and maternal nutrition associated with HIV/AIDS
• local nutrition
• health care systems and service delivery protocols
• adult learning and participatory techniques in training
• nutrition and infections
• basic counselling, communication and household food security.

The manual includes a variety of tools such as a sample training programme, sample questionnaires, tips on evaluation, guidelines and a step-by-step process for the preparation of sessions, check lists, props and background information on the national guidelines.

Available online at: http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/?doc=35967&em=150508&sub=man

http://www.fantaproject.org/publications/kenya_2007.shtml

About

Ushahidi.com is a tool for people who witness acts of violence in Kenya in these post-election times. You can report the incident that you have seen, and it will appear on a map-based view for others to see. We are working with local Kenyan NGO’s to get information and to verify each incident.

What you can do is get the word out about Ushahidi so that it’s utilized to it’s full potential. This especially extends to talking to the people that you know who have seen things in Kenya and getting them to the site as well. You can also help by using the contact form to volunteer to help with the tracking and verifying of each incident."

http://www.ushahidi.com/about.asp

Erik Hersman presented the project at Where 2.0

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