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I’m back(ish)

One of the things I have been determined to do since leaving the U.S. was travel within Africa and learn more about the rest of the continent (and maybe grow into a full-fledged pan-Africanist?). I found the fact that I had traipsed all over Europe, but had not yet even made it to Kampala to be rather shameful.

I just got back from my first “big” trip. I visited Victoria Falls (the Zim side) and Chobe in Botswana. Had a lovely, lovely, time and I’m already looking forward to planning my next trip. A blog post on the trip should follow shortly. I can’t stop raving about my experience in Zimbabwe.

In the meantime, I’ve been trying to catch up on blogs, email, and work (yes in that order). I was very distressed to read about Ngozi-Iweala’s resignation. Reactions from Nigerian bloggers can be found here and here.

Moral of the story: the road to reforming African governments is paved with good intentions. Then reality hits (trust me).

Link of the week

The Web Bandit (Living the Nairobi Life).

Eh…

I’m still on my blogging drought (or is it blog-menopause? TM Nick 2006).

Cool link of the week: coCooment, tracks all your comments wherever you leave them online andtracks responses to your comments.

Why donor funded projects often suck. Wouldn’t it have been simpler / more sensible to just have the Ministry of Justice allocate funds to train and hire court reporters (job creation, hello?) and buy the requisite machines, rather than keep some (foreign) consultants in business and keep the process mired in procurement shadiness?

Can Kimunya focus on implementing his directive instead of chasing bogeymen?

Mzalendo news: First, if you haven’t done so please read Thinker’s brilliant piece on Mzalendo…sometimes we just get vexed about all the (unhelpful) pontificating. Second, it looks like I’ve managed to find a way to get my hands on the Parliament’s Order Papers…they do make for interesting reading so please check them out, I hope my access will be regular (eternal thanks to my super-duper hookup…50% of my time on mzalendo is spent on finagling information out of a very closed system). Finally, Mzalendo got wiki’d!

Quick hits

Computer for all Nigerians Initiative. Sound promising.

Korogocho (slum in Nairobi area) goes online. Even more interesting (and relevant for residents of Korogocho) is the launch of Koch FM, a community radio station. Wouldn’t it be great if we could get a collabo going between KBW and such initiatives e.g. maybe helping them reach a wider/international audience via podcast. Now can Gukira launch his ‘zines please :-)

– Some interesting commentary on the use of expat consultants on donor projects.

– Ken Lay is alive?

– This blog post reminded me of my experience growing up when the type of news material available at home was a good indicator of the state of the household finances e.g. both standard and nation everyday and not just weekends, plus Weekly review and Gitobu’s publication = things are good; one paper except on weekends and the weekly review = things are kinda when-is-the-end-of-month going to get here tight; one paper every day = things are really thick. My dad was a news junkie so one gazeti was as bad as it got (I was/am also a news junkie whose day was/is not complete without the newspaper…in fact I think sometimes he bought the paper just for me even though he could have managed without the paper just so I didn’t feel deprived).

On hospitality in Africa

Digression….so I’ve been on a bit of a blogging slow-go. Combination of work, tinkering with ideas for Mzalendo, and bloggers block/ geek-depression because my Mac crashed while I was trying to do some sql-related stuff and got cute. Hopefully my mojo will be back sooner rather than later.

In the meantime, I came across this wonderful story in the CSM. It reminded me of the hospitality that one experiences in Africa, it’s often humbling (you know when you show up at someone’s house, and they are hardly able to put food on the table but they slaughter a ka-chicken for you because you are a “special” guest from so far…can’t put a price on that) especially after spending time in the West where being offered chips and dip is about the max extent of feeding you will receive if you show up in someone’s digz (OK, I’m exaggerating but y’all know what I’m saying).

Shameless plug
: I made the Business Week!

Global Voices Sub-Sahara Africa Regional Editor

Global Voices Online (www.GlobalVoicesOnline.org), an international bloggers’ network, is looking for an experienced blogger to take on the role of Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Editor which involves coverage of the vast diversity of countries and cultures across the region.

This is a part-time position with modest compensation, for somebody who is passionate about helping to amplify the voices of bloggers from across Africa and bringing the world’s attention to the region’s citizens’ voices. It is also a great opportunity to become involved with a global community of bloggers who are working on the cutting edge of citizens’ media.

The role involves selecting and posting between five and ten short “global links” entries to the Global Voices weblog each weekday. The posts should reflect the most interesting, significant or engaging blog posts from across the African region.

In addition the Regional Editor should recruit, encourage and oversee volunteer bloggers around the region who write the regular longer “weblog” posts about particular countries, sub-regions or topics, building on the existing dedicated team of volunteers.

You can see the most recent entries for the region here: http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/-/world/sub-saharan-africa/. The longer weblog posts are to the left, the shorter global links posts are in the middle column.

It is also the Regional Editor’s responsibility to seek out, collect, and make available for public consultation in the Global Voices blog aggregator, a list of “bridge blogs” for the region.

The role requires liaising closely with the relevant language editors who monitor blogs in the region (currently French, Portuguese, Arabic and Spanish) as well as working closely with the whole editorial team in determining the current and future direction of Global Voices.

There is an editorial meeting every two weeks via IRC for all regional editors and language editors. The hours are otherwise completely flexible. The job is paid on a part-time basis.

Requirements include:
– Demonstrated ability to cover blogs from Africa in a fair and thorough manner with sensitivity and respect for cultural differences and divergent points of view;
– Familiarity with one or more of the widely-spoken and blogged-in African languages a definite plus;
– Information research and writing skills;
– Participation in blogging either as an individual or team member and familiarity with blogging and other digital media tools;
– Team player who works well with others, who would be able to help recruit and manage volunteer blogger-contributors from around the region;
– A person who was born in the region or with strong family roots in Africa is preferred.

If you are interested in the position please send an e-mail to Rachel Rawlins at editor@globalvoicesonline.org giving an outline of why you’d be the right person for the job including relevant experience, qualifications and the url of your blog.

Closing date for applications – Friday 14 July.

AOB: Afrofeminizta’s report on her day in Parliament.

TED goes public (kind of)

Those of you who were following my blogging from TED 2006 can now get a much better sense of the TED experience (which is coming to Africa next June!)

Via the TEDTalks website, “Each year, TED hosts some of the world’s most fascinating people: Trusted voices and convention-breaking mavericks, icons and geniuses. The talks they deliver have had had such a great impact, we thought they deserved a wider audience. So now, for the first time, we’re sharing them with the world at large… Each week, we’ll release a new talk to inspire, intrigue and awaken the imagination. For best effect, plan to listen to at least three, start to finish. (They have a cumulative effect.) If you have a curious soul and an open mind, we think you’ll be hooked.

The six talks that have been posted up so far (you can either watch video or listen to the podcasts) were among my favorites. If I had to pick two must-listens, I’d recommend Majora Carter for sheer INSPIRATION and Sir Ken Robinson because he reminded me of the joys of learning and because I dream for the day when we will see creative learning encouraged in schools across Africa. And Hans Rosling you gotta watch, not listen. His graphics were amazing. And David Pogue who writes a tech column for the NY Times was funny.

OK, just check all of them out :-)

(fantastic job June!).

Go Ghana!

Recently read a quote that urges you to distrust people who use the word impossible or something along those lines. Do I believe that Ghana can komonga Brazil? Absolutely.

Meanwhile, Koranteng has a great post on Ghana vs. the US
and only 400 Ghanians will be in the stadium thanks to Schengen visa restrictions.

AOB: Christian Science Monitor discovers the khanga.