Imagine Cup 2009

Imagine Cup 2009 is the premier global student technology competition. Students are challenged to compete in finding ways to apply technology to solving some of the biggest problems faced by humanity today.

The next edition of Imagine Cup (IC 2009), the world's most talented students are challenged to "Imagine a world where technology helps solve the toughest problems facing us today." This could mean finding creative and innovative ways to use technology to for example, to help a brother or sister get an education, find entirely new approaches for medicine, discover ways to counter the inequalities that exist between genders around the world, deliver universal primary education etc. The challenge is well articulated through the UN Millenium Development Goals (MDGs).

Students can make entries in categories ranging from Software Design, Embedded Development, Game Development, Algorithms and more.

Imagine Cup 2009 finals will be held in Egypt. Teams will advance through local and regional competitions with the best entries in the various areas eventually going for the finals in Egypt. The local competitions will feature local universities facing off and the best teams in each category making it to te regional competition. At the regional competition, students from different universities in the region who have qualified in their local regional competition will battle it out and eventually the winning teams will advance to the finals.

Winning teams at the finals will win prizes including cash prizes and a chance to carry their projects to the next level through Microsoft Innovation Accelerator program. Needless to say, teams which make it to the finals get great international exposure (including chances at internships, for example) and a great addition to the student's experience.

The more the entries made and the more diverse the entries (both within a category and across all categories), the better. You are therefore urged to encourage as many students as possible to form teams, register and participate. Teams are usually composed of 4 participants and a mentor. More details, including competition rules can be found on the Imagine Cup website here.

Round Up : November-December TechScene

It's been two months of buzz, excitement, relief and disappointment for some. Not having been able to catch as much as a breath, I've decided to melt it all into a Round-Up, hopefully informative.

Information and Communications Bill
When the village-cryer's house is burning, he wails loudest! The fourth estate seem to be outdoing themselves this time round. Ofcourse we are all sad that they're getting the proverbial gag but in all honesty they seem to forget that they are mandated by their audience to give both the good and bad news as relates to this bill. I echo Al Kag's views on this issue. You may as well have a look at the draft -I still can't trace the final one- yourself and draw your own interpretations to be on the safe side. Again, it is not the 'Media Bill'!

Warning: A very long read!

Interesting debates on the BidiiAfrika, KICTAnet and Skunkworks Mailing Lists as well.

Econet - YU
Are YU serious? They'd need to do a whole lot better than that to make me even think to Vuka! First, they begin by an offer to register/reserve your preferred number. IMO, too much personal data being collected. Why should I tell my ID No., Current No., e-mail address? Who else wants to know. Just Paranoid... spam... overzealous sms marketing... who knows? Someone give me Unlimited 3G, then we can talk. So what if they charge 0.50 less than InZain(read Zain-Ke).

However, I've got to admit it's kind of cool to have, say, my number is 0750-EDOBIE (0750-336243) or 0750-OMINGO (0750-664646), huh, Omingosh! Now, off to reserve all those Blue-Chip Co.'s names who're sleeping on the job!!!

PS: Omingosh (read Oh-My-Ngosh... not related to my name)

Orange - 3G iPhone Launched
Another bunch of jokers! 

In the US the 3G iPhone 8GB costs US$199 and 16GB costs 

US$299. These come with the cheapest basic plan of US$74.99 per month which includes 200SMS, internet and 450 'whenever minutes' and 5000 'weekend/night minutes'! Post-Paid ofcourse.

In Kenya though to buy your post-paid 16GB iPhone you'd part with KSh.59,200(US$765) or 8GB at a cost of KSh.50,400(US$650) exclusive of monthly charges. On pre-paid it's however cheaper though still a taad too expensive compared at 16GB-KSh.42,700(US$550) and KSh.8GB at 33,900(US$440). How are we supposed to afford 'technology' at these prices with a foreboding economic  recession?

And why the discrepancy(a.k.a. Cow in the Living-Room)? 

(USD Rate@16Dec=KSh.77.40)

M-Pesa Wars

In the absence of a Finance Minister, the acting FM is one rattled snake whose prepared to bite abit more than he can chew(ama snakes don't chew... ). The success of M-Pesa in the country which has already been exported to Afghanistan and planned to 

expand to the UK and EastAfrican region will not be realised without some set-backs first. In a move to regulate the industry in fear of money laundering the Government is going to ruin the very basis M-Pesa's success which is the simplicity of the transaction. These concerns, I think, are misplaced since the average M-Pesa user transacts less than he 5000bob.

On the flip side Zain is going to launch their own version named Zap early next year which I hear will be launched across Africa and possibly on their One-Network which scales three continents. Do I smell mischief... ?

Skunkworks@Google EngEDU

Perhaps the last Skunkworks meet for 2008 was hosted by Google at their Pushorttam Place. Oh what a lovely place it is! How many of you have a living room for your office reception area with a Wii Console... ? Thought so! (I digress...) The purpose of the meet-up was to introduce Google EngEDU to Skunkworks-ke and vice versa. Google Engineering Education is a department of Google Inc. that is involved in collaborating with Higher Institutions of learning to support training by facilitation and engaging them in the working environment as experienced by Googlers(i.e. Google Staff). A brief discussion of the proceeding has been aptly done by Bankelele.

Animated Kenya

This was the biggest event of it's kind this side of the Sahara and a great success too. The PS, Ministry of Information and Communication took this opportunity to announce the 1 Million-Laptop campaign for the benefit of Rural Kenya. We invite you to give as some feedback on this event. 

A CNN iReport of the December 6th event has also been posted.

I ran a live blog for the event so you can catch some briefs on the proceedings here.

Animated : Kenya - Live Blog

Join Pete, Micheal, Me(Obie) and Others as we cover this event. All are welcome to discuss or leave comments. Karibuni.

Google Policy Fellowship

Google is looking for students who are passionate about technology, and want to spend the summer diving headfirst into Internet policy. Students from all majors and degree programs who possess the following qualities are encouraged to apply:

* Demonstrated or stated commitment to Internet and technology policy
* Excellent academic record, professional/ extracurricular/ volunteer activities, subject matter expertise
* First-rate analytical, communications, research, and writing skills
* Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously and efficiently, and to work smartly and resourcefully in a fast-paced environment
* General “googliness” (kidding!)

Fellows will receive a stipend of $7,000 for 10 weeks during the summer of 2009 (June-August) . Exact dates of the fellowship will be worked out by the fellow and host organization. Applications are due by Friday, December 12, 2008. Students who are accepted into the program will be notified by Friday, February 13th, 2009. To learn about their application process, click here.

ANIMATED KENYA

Meet, Share, Learn About Kenyan Animation Talent

Mobile Boot Camp - Live Blog : Day 2

Mobile Boot Camp - Live Blog : Day 1

Mobile Boot Camp

Strathmore University will be holding a mobile boot camp - a crash-course session for mobile applications tomorrow 28th and Saturday 29th November whereby participants will learn about

· GSM Networks
· Telecom billing systems
· Call Centre technologies
· Data Warehousing telecom data
· Mobile computing: Application development

Join me tomorrow in a live-blogging session where you can follow the proceedings as events unfold live.

Charges for this two-day event are:

Students: 500 /= (inclusive of lunch for the 2 days)
Non-students: 700/= (inclusive of lunch for the 2 days)

For more information and a programme visit mbckenya.blogspot.com
or on facebook http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=36921977381

Interview with Kai Uwe Wulff

Having had the chance to do a magazine for the School of Engineering, I've had a chance chat with some executives in the engineering and telecommunications industry. I have done a couple of interviews and this is a sneak-peak of this month's issue's interview.

Please give us a small background of yourself that is in terms of nationality, education etc...

I am German,(chuckles...) that's why I'm rude... and re-cultivating my German accent. I come from a very small town in South West Germany. I did my A-levels in a Public School in Germany and then went on to join the air-force where I was tasked with strategic planning and was a special forces trainer for a while until my health gave in.
In Germany we have a system where if you are signed as an officer for more than twelve years, you can study at the Universities of the Forces, one in Hamburg or one in Munich. I had the opportunities to study a Masters in Economic Science after doing my Bachelor's in Computer Science. I studied Computer Science because I worked at a computers company when I was fifteen and took it over but later left to the Military. After Military I went back to my company where we set up Novell Networks. (Dr. Wulff also has a commercial pilot license)
Our approach was through business consultancy first where we assessed what you needed first and designed a network and communication solutions for you based on the severity of your needs rather than your seniority. Through these socialistic principles all our customers had the same service level from a student to a company CEO.

In many forums you would be regarded as one of the 'New Generation' CEO's and I'd like to commend you for this and the many accolades you have collected. How would you describe your leadership style?

I lead people to the road of self-exploitation. The principle of managing a successful company is to make people happy. I have to make my suppliers happy, I have to make my employees happy, I have to make my customers happy. If you are loyal to your suppliers and involve them in your processes you grow with them. You put your employees where they want to be. My job as an employer is to know my employees potential and challenge them to exploit their potential.

So what is your day like?

On a normal business day I get up at Five. I have breakfast and do a few e-mails and watch some CNN. I leave the house latest at 6.30 and I'm at the office by 6.45. I then check my e-mails (he gets at least 1300 e-mails a day) and prepare meetings if any. I try to keep my day planned and have time to see what is happening and keep tabs with all staff personally(at least 3-4 times a week). I usually don't have lunch and try to go to the gym 2-3 times a week.(KDN pays gym membership for all their staff). I leave the office at around 8.30pm then go home and have dinner with my wife and sometimes my son... if he's awake. I check e-mails once more before going to bed.

And how do you spend your time when not working?

On weekends normally is when I have more family time and do no appointments. I however do some work from home but call it a day at around 2pm. (He is a confessed work-a-holic.) Once a year I go on holiday to see my mother for about two weeks.

KDN has is a young company with a rather short but impressive history. Tell us something about how it all began and how it has got here.

When I came KDN was more or less a wireless provider to allow ISP's to connect with the end-user on a small scale. So we began by asking where we'd want to end up and what the market requires. This was a real infrastructure rather than doing quick fixes. So we decided on a fibre network across the whole continent with a last mile access for all the users. We found ways to convince the board and came up with the money to start little by little. An important thing is to trust your people. This is how we've managed so far.

Just this morning I was glad to see that the laying of Fibre Optic cables at the UoN is back on track. So how soon are we going to realize the benefits of this? Are we also going to benefit from your wireless services?

UoN will get full Butterfly(read Buttefly article on page). We've been laying the foundation and communication within the campus will be free thus you can do Voip and share information hopefully across campuses.

Are the government and Educational Institutions doing enough to prepare for the arrival of the undersea fibre optic cables?

You have to view your end-product. Apparently nobody has thought to do the last mile access. Where are the Engineers who are going to help us make use of it? What is the business case? The problem is nobody creates local content. It drives me crazy that we host our websites abroad. At least we shouldn't pay to be sold our own content. This is what KDN is encouraging kenyans to do and we are laying the foundation.

Kenya Data Networks in collaboration with ICTVillage.com and the Youth Entreprenuership Development Fund are spearheading the Digital Village Constituency Cluster which aims at having a VSAT Base Station in every constituencey. How can we as students and The Youth take part in this.
There's ample opportunity on different levels from franchising down to one laptop. We are trying to spread the ICT culture through small incubators. Everybody should have in walking distance someway to have digitalised content, access to the internet and multiple trading platforms. You can participate at the end of the distribution chain (with peripheries involved eg solar panel powering) or on the other side by generating mass-applications to be used by these villages and the third angle would be to have a moderating role by franchising and running these centres.

At the UoN we have a Department of Environmental and Biosystems Engineering. Since companies all over the world are embracing 'Green' Technologies, how viable in your opinion are the opportunities for our Environmental Engineers?
As KDN we are a very environmentally conscious company and we participate in tree planting activities since it does not help to build an infrastructure on a planet that we cannot live in in a few years. If someone takes up environmental engineering they are paying back their C02 debt to society, so to speak.

And lastly, what is your advice to Student Engineers?
Do not assume that at graduation you know what you want to do in life. Make maximum use of 70% of your time and use 30% to discover other fields and how you can be of more use to your family, society and yourself.

New Kid on the Block

The latest in a series of connectivity products will be unleashed Tuesday next week by Wananchi Online. Rumours are that they'll give broadband from as low as 3000 bob i.e.
256kbps @ 3000/-
512kbps @ 6000/-
1Mbps @ 9000/-
They are yet to load the website but this should be real broadband according to sources. Will keep y'all updated!

De Uitvinders

The Inventers (De Uitvinders) is project initiated in the Netherlands by Hugo Vridag, an Expressive Artist, Film maker. It is one of the initiatives through which the Technific Foundation is promoting technological thinking among young people. He is in Kenya to pursue the project under the auspices of 'The Inventors come to Africa'.

The project is an inter-institutional linkage of educational institutes, theatrical peformers and the business sector. The aim of the project is to arouse among young people in primary and continuing education courses an interest in working with technique(rather technology from Dutch translation). The children play a leading role in their own adventure film in which the machines and props they participate in creating are literally brought to life.

He has been talking to groups of interest like the Sarakasi Trust, The Waza Platform and Centurion Systems to set initial plans for this project. You can have a look at a short clip of the first film made in the Netherlands at www.deuitvinders.com and contact me if you or someone you know would like to take part.

Staircase Musings

Sitted on the staircase outside the Block... can't imagine the crew's going to be an hour late, again. Oh, yes. Meetings can be quite frustrating to arrange, that is, with schoolmates who may not appreciate the value of your time, i.e. money.

Quoting my dad, procrastination is sure a thief of time. I have about five projects to deal with at the moment and don't seem to be getting headway in any. Life is one big oxymoron. With advancements in technology, one would think everyone's life is being made easier with every other 'sandwich toaster' invention that flashes by.

What I mean is that Tech seems to be making us lazier, rather less productive, as compared to our predecessors of years yonder don't you think? Yes, think about the cost of making an appointment before the arrival of Safcon and the likes. You'd agree with your mate to meet at Kencom on a specific day at a specific time. If either of you faultered on timing or location you would have to wait till both of you got back home or to the office to make that phone call and either apologize or give him/her a piece of your mind, then arrange another meeting! With cellphones, you can always be 'on the way'. Same with mail. In high school, on would pen that last 'Dear sweeti' at least a two weeks before end of term to make sure it reaches him/her before school's closure. These days a job application could be copy-paste-edited on the deadline date and e-mailed before 5.00pm.


PS: Can't wait to get my hand's on Google's GPhone that's set to retail at just $200. This gadget is set to give Apple's iPhone a run for their money. Really disappointed at Orange-Telkom, no iPhone.

11th Annual IEEE Students' Exhibition

Creating a culture of Innovation

It was amazing to see what talent has flourished within our Engineering classrooms yesterday as the curtain came down at the Sarit Expo centre where the Engineering Students' Exhibition was held. Also amazing was the number of ladies who took part this year and actually scooped top prizes.

IMPRESSIVE PROJECTS
Sign-to-Speech Translator
This was the winning project by Abdelkareem from University of Khartoum, Sudan, which was a glove designed to record sign language motion and then translate the motion into speech. Although a complete demonstration was not done he took the hearts of both the judges and the public votes.

Solar Panel Efficiency Toolkit
The second best project and I think best presentation was given by John Ruddy Munda, an Engineering Student at the UoN. He has designed a number of devices to minimize power consumption and maximize power captured from Solar Panels using light sensors that detect the best angle of tilt for the panels and move them in turn.

Caveat Emptor... InZaine

Any time you come across a good product/service that promises unusual benefits especially from our Telecoms bigboys... run for your money. Apparently, any of these products/services bear the label 'Terms and Conditions Apply'. They however don't mention which terms and conditions these are, at least expressly.

I just subscribed for an Uhuru-Net modem from Zain more than a month ago and it was all merry as I contemplated Unlimited surfing and downloads for just 3,000 bob a month. Little did I know of the raw deal that forebode. Just after a day of surfing, I couldn't believe the speeds that I was averaging. This was less than a tenth of what I was supposed to get according to the sales rep who lured me into the deal. 2Kbps... 5Kbps... 10Kbps... 2Kbps.... WTF???

For a modem that could cruise at 236Kbps and should have atleast sucked 100Kbps according to the Zain cartel, this is preposterous! When I went back to get 'technical' support, they tell me that the service does not work well with Vista since Vista 'clogs up the bandwidth' with unnecessary traffic (another INnZaine remark... ). Since I have been trying to ditch M$ (unsuccessfully) I tried setting the modem on Ubuntu which I did thanks to much appreciated support from the Skunkworks crew, but alas... 2Kbps... 5Kbps... 10Kbps... 2Kbps.... WTH???

They then go ahead to print me a bill after a month of Kshs. 4463. I thought the deal was a standing charge of 3k, regardless. I am told that the SMS ervice which they bundled with the firmware is not part of the Data service that I applied for! Again, why is SMS not Data? Who asked for SMS? After enjoying what I thought were free SMS's (routed through IP) for a month they present me with an apt printed report of the texts I sent with time and even the numbers to whom I'd sent, not forgetting the news alerts I'd subscribed for. BTW SMS's charged at 5/- whereas on Pamoja I'm charged 2/-. Are they even allowed to do that? I betcha the sim is probably voice enabled!

I think it will be a while before we could get a decent internet connection deal from either suffericon or the Inzaine atleast until EASSY delivers. Watch out though for Telkom/Orange this October and Econet in November. I would have loved to try out the livebox being sold by telkom but the size of the BOX wouldn't make it as mobile.

//End of rant.

CDSC Snail Mail Service (SMS)

It has been almost a month since my account was credited with my HFCK Rights Issue shares but sadly I am not able to benefit on the short term which is exactly why I subscribed. I will not be able to sell my shares since the shares owned before books closure were in certificate form, even though they were immobilized before the deadline stipulated in the Issue's time table. Because of their inefficiency, these had not been immobilized as concerned CDSC by start of trade and thus my allocation will come in form of certificates too. (I was told the messiah is coming soon. So did they say about my Certificates).

Since the Safaricom onslaught brought the total number of account holders to a staggering 1.8M, cds will have to think of another way of disseminating information rather than the present 'SMS'. Eight Investments is doing a good job as one of their information vendors. I think they should take over with an apt IT solution to this mess. When did you last get an account statement?

It is so frustrating to bet your money on a winning horse just to lose on account of disservice from the jockey's end.(literally)

Unvailing of 'The Student Engineer'

After years of squalor and despair the magazine that gives the story of the future Kenyan Engineers is back. Furnished with a futuristic design of 'Nairobi 2030' on the cover, the publication is a must read. Free copies are obtainable at the University of Nairobi, ESA Office at the Engineering Block.

Inspiration... Where art thou?

Some time in high school I came across some words whose complete translation have baffled me since eons. Maybe because he did not speak the ‘tongue a few land grabbing cohorts who settled the motherland a century ago’^*1.

“Does not matter how many times you fall but rather how many times you begin again... ”,

so he said. Not so verbatim, that was. So you’d wonder why I bother to tell you these. I have just stumbled upon who I now call my favourite blogger. I have to say, not much in the Kenyan blogging scene has aroused that ka-something in you, so to speak, that makes you want to echo your bizarre inner being to the world as candidly as Mwanafalsafa has.

This is my second attempt at blogging and as you may witness from the last post date, inspiration seldom knocks at this writer’s door. Not to bore you with the many excuses I have conjured up though, I have decided to take one for the team and prove to blogosphere that the phoenix shall rise once more.

Back to life as I used to know it. A b****. End-semester exams that lasted a fortnight are past me. Watch this space

^*1Isn’t there one word for these?

BarCamp Nairobi '08

Barcamp Nairobi '08 is an unconference made up of of technical professionals, Internet enthusiasts, bloggers, designers and other clever people in the Nairobi area who wish to share and learn in an open environment.

See you there... ...I'm addressing the free food!

A Noble Initiative

WAZA is an up and fast becoming popular club in the School of Engineering at the University of Nairobi. Participants meet every week on Thursday and Saturday for interactive sessions that revolve around how innovation and technology can be used to provide modern and affordable solutions for our day to day challenges.

The participants who are mainly engineering students (though not limited to) the have taken up ambitious projects some of which will be on exhibition at the annual IEEE competition. Sessions involve a variety of interests like hardware and software programming, micro-controllers and the open-source movement.

A brainchild of Dr. Kamau Gachigi, it is providing a much needed avenue for young and aspiring innovators to share ideas and learn from each other in an informal setting, and in the long run realise their potential. Through his assistance, the University of Nairobi and consequently the WAZA Platform is expecting to acquire Fab Lab equipment which enables ordinary people to design and manufacture fairly complex creations cheaply. We hope that this will soon be a re-known business incubator for our future inventors country-wide. There are six other such facilities in South Africa and one in Ghana.

Sessions take place on Saturdays from 10am at the Mechanical Engineering computer lab and Thursdays from 4pm at Rm E001 Engineering Block. All are welcome.

Watch this space for the WAZA Website (Under Contstruction)

Invitation to Tender: Episode 1.5

On a quick rejoinder before episode 2, Micheal Joseph is pulling hidden cards off his sleeve. In his latest invention since "Please call me. Thank You."- my pal's favourite quote, MJ doesn't think Kenyan's have peculiar calling habits after all... or so he says.

Three days after introducing the Ongea Tarrif Safaricom advertise that if you buy credit worth Ksh. 100 during the day, your calls would be free from 9pm that night to 6pm the next day. Too good to be true? Well, yesterday a peculiar Kenyan like me topped up my account with Ksh.100 and couldn't wait for my reward come 9pm.

9pm came and passed, my calls were still being charged! Wait a minute, did they say buy credit worth Ksh. 100 or 'spend credit worth Ksh.100 which you bought that day and exhaust any credit balance which may have been in your account, then...'.

Invitation to Tender: Episode 1

An invitation to tender was offered by the kenyan populace to all GSM Mobile Phone Service Providers to offer a cost-friendly and best quality round the clock network tariff to its subscribers. My verdict... Celtel wins hands down!

For a very long time many Kenyans have had a sort of psycological inertia preventing them from shifting alliance from the ever-so-ineffecient Safaricom network to the more loyal and trustworthy Celtel network. These being the two main mobile phone networks with a large subscriber base in the country, Kenyans have had little choice but to keep up with mellow-dramatic soap opera that the tariff -war has become.

The beginning of this week saw both companies introduce a new tariff each, Safaricom with a ksh. 10/- flate-rate 'better option' and Celtel 'made life better' with a ksh.6/-peak, ksh.3/-offpeak tariff*. It is however a win-win situation, whichever side of the divide one finds him/herself since this is. The problem though is the interconnection charges still remain more than double the intraconnetion charges between the two networks, Celtel being the 'imp' (ksh.16/-) and Safaricom the 'demon'(ksh.25/-).

To me, the battle is done, but the war is just beginning! Watch out for 'Invitation to Tender, Episode 2: Bamba-net vs Uhuru-net'.

*Both of these are 'per minute' billing rates charged by the second.

KDN to offer Free Internet!

Yesterday, I attended a talk given by Kai Wulff, CEO -Kenya Data Networks, organised by the Engineering students Association at UoN. Yes, the reigning two-time ICT CEO of the year, for the rest of us who don't know. So what did the tough-talking, average build, german-born have to say?

According to Mr. Wulff, if you want to take over Safaricom's business hands-down (as KDN did Telkom Kenya), you have to be ahead of the 'Hype Cycle'. This he described as a recurring phenomena, specific, but not exclusive to technology. Every major new technology has a hype created around it and being hype,its benefits are often greatly exaggerated in anticipation.

For his case, take Wi-Max compared to Land-laid Fibre which is more feasible in Kenya(Nation-wide) for the fore-seeable future. When KDN laid their Cable in Kenya other companies concentrated on rolling out new-tech wi-fi et al in urban areas, taking for granted the wider customer base and opportunities of service to the rest of Kenya. Now they (FON .ie GoK) including telkom Kenya are struggling to play catch-up while KDN ponder free internet for all. KDN is even planning to implement micro-power-grid systems in less urban areas plus have ATM Network Backbones, etc

KDN's popular individual-customer services are Butterfly Wi-Fi (Ksh.2900/-p.m.) and DSL* (4400/-p.m.) for unlimited internet access. Since there are no incremental costs to the company for access, this pricing system is thus unnecessary and illogical. If a shift from the traditional business model occurs, Internet connection, like free-to-air tv should be free. KDN is planning to pioneer this shift.

*Subject to confirmation

Gender: Our Agenda

I recently attended a Gender Empowerment Forum organised by Kenya Model United Nations UoN Chapter. Well, I'm neither looking forward to any modelling career nor am I crossing the gender divide, but rather bridging it. The KMUN is a sort of 'model' of the real United Nations, with a mock stucture, function and purpose of the UN, and run by members of such educational institutions as the UoN.
It is quite amazing how intruiging opening your mind to a rather inconcievable mindset could be, in terms of looking at an issue from a different perspective. Here, I refer to the Kenyan 'men'. A male friend of mine quipped jokingly, "I would not attend because they are going to discuss womens' affairs... which are not my problems!" I soon made the comparison to a Kenyan livin in urban Nairobi, who is least concerned about the IDP situation in Kenya since neither him, nor his immediate family has been displaced.
Women have long been victims of too many obvious injustices that it would be impossible for anyone to discuss all of them in any forum. It has also been our problem as men to acknowledge these injustices. I call such men, simply, cowards.

I support Gender Equality, do you?

Esto vir! Be a Man!

'Disclaimer'

Welcome to my blog. For my fisrt post I would like to give a personal 'disclaimer' to this web-log. I believe every individual has certain philosophies and norms of life which although not explicitly definite, do exist. Growth is change,... for the better. Thus if certain beliefs and norms haven't been acquired or changed(again, for the better) by an individual, say for a year, then that person has not grown -not physically- for that period.

I will discuss generally about what is happening in my life, issues that affect me personally, my communities and our nation, Kenya. I hope it will be interesting and informative to my prospective readers.

"If you want to succeed, blog!" -Somefamous Guy