KENYA: Aid reaches thousands displaced by flash floods
27 Oct 2006 14:09:10 GMT
Source: IRIN


ISIOLO, 27 October (IRIN) - The Kenya Red Cross said on Friday it was spearheading relief efforts for thousands of people displaced by flash floods, which also claimed eight lives in the past three days in Isiolo District, Eastern Province.

"Our priority is people who lost everything," Abdikadir Ali, the secretary of the Isiolo branch of the Kenya Red Cross, said.

He said the floods destroyed at least 355 homes, with the affected families losing all their household goods, food, clothes, cooking utensils, bedding and furniture.

Shukri Mohamed, one of the displaced now living a camp in the Alharamain centre at Kambi Garba, two kilometres from Isiolo town, said: "I lost everything; we have been given food but nothing to cover our children with or cook the food. We need firewood or charcoal to cook and keep us warm. We also need mosquito nets, drugs and mattresses."

He was preparing to take his children to the Isiolo District Hospital after they developed pneumonia from sleeping on the floor without any bedding.

The floods washed away Mohamed's two-room mud-walled home.

Ali said the worst-affected 1,541 people were receiving help at temporary camps in Alfalah, Alharamain and at the Catholic Parish Centre.

"The others whose houses were damaged but who managed to recover a few items are also being assisted although some of them have returned to their homes and others are staying with friends and relatives," he said.

Ali added that the displaced had so far received food, blankets and tents donated by the government and the Kenya Red Cross. The Isiolo County Council and the Isiolo Catholic Diocese had donated 500,000 Kenya shillings (US$6,900).

An initial assessment by humanitarian workers indicated that the floods also displaced at least 5,000 residents of Kulamawe, Bullapesa, BullaArera, Juakali, Kambiodha, Kambibulle, Kabigarbaa and Kabiwacho villages. However, they could not determine the extent of the flood-induced destruction.

However, a councillor in the Isiolo County Council, Mohamed Sheikh, said: "The people affected need urgent assistance; they will never recover unless they get help to rebuild their homes. It is the worst disaster to hit Isiolo."

He added that the displaced were all low-income earners, without reliable sources of income.

Residents of at least eight villages on the outskirts of Isiolo town were left homeless after heavy rains pounded the area in the past week – after two years of severe drought.

Among the dead were a woman and her two children at Kulamawe village, whose home was swept away by the floods as they slept on Wednesday night. Two other people died in similar circumstances at Bullapesa village and three men drowned as they attempted to cross a flooded stream.

Joseph Samal of the Isiolo Catholic Mission expressed concern about possible outbreaks of waterborne diseases and malaria, saying the floods had damaged pit latrines, which could contaminate drinking water, and that those affected were exposed to the malaria-causing mosquitoes as they lacked bed nets.

Mohamed Patel of the Isiolo Recovery Group said the displaced were shocked and traumatised after losing their homes and other property.

"They need counselling, apart from material assistance," he said. "Some took loans to purchase household goods and put up the houses which have been washed away by the floods."

Meanwhile, the local district education office said on Friday that up to 500 pupils had missed school in the past two days after their homes were washed away or destroyed.

na/js/mw

Oh dear. They went 3 years without rain in most parts of Kenya, so I can only imagine the excitement when the rains showed up on time this month, but of course, life never seems to be easy there. If there's no rain, there's no rain for years, and when the drought finally breaks, it rains three year's worth in a few days. So frustrating. Now to the Congo:

Plague or cholera rivals in Congo's election

October 26 2006 at 04:10PM

By Alistair Thomson

Kinshasa - The men battling for Congo's presidency in Sunday's run-off vote have much in common - both are relatively young, were educated abroad and owe their position largely to influential fathers.

To the dismay of diplomats and peacekeepers trying to ensure peaceful elections, both retain sizeable private armies, leading some local papers to describe the historic poll as a choice between "plague or cholera", with neither promising the new peaceful era that so many Congolese crave.

But there the similarities end between dapper President Joseph Kabila, 35, and Jean-Pierre Bemba, 44, who has the build of a heavyweight wrestler and appears equally at ease in a suit or a T-shirt.


Kabila grew up in exile in East Africa after his father, Laurent, fought in a failed Cuban-backed rebellion against late dictator Mobutu Sese Seko in the 1960s.

With the backing of Rwanda, Laurent Kabila marched across the huge Congo to topple Mobutu and seize power in 1997, with son Joseph at his side.

After military training in China, Joseph was made chief of his father's army and soon found himself fighting new rebellions also backed by Rwanda and Uganda, in a war that drew in half a dozen foreign armies from across the region.

When a bodyguard shot Laurent Kabila dead in 2001, the ruling elite and their foreign allies ensured Joseph stepped into his father's shoes, handing him the leadership of Africa's third biggest country at just 29 years old.

Bemba's childhood was one of financial privilege. His father Saolona's SCIBE Zaire conglomerate was Congo's biggest company with more than 10 000 employees.

Bemba lost his mother while young and was sent away to boarding school in Belgium at an early age.

Over the years Saolona Bemba drew closer to Mobutu and his kleptocratic regime, and friends say the young Bemba, a qualified pilot who ran an aviation business and a mobile phone firm, became a go-between for the two.

Bemba was able to carve out an unofficial position of considerable influence not only inside Congo, but around the region, especially with Ugandan's President Yoweri Museveni, with whom he became close.

That relationship paid off when Bemba enlisted Museveni's backing for a rebellion in Congo's northeast, even though his father remained in Kinshasa, serving briefly as Laurent Kabila's finance minister.

A 2002 peace deal brought Bemba and other rebel leaders into a transitional power-sharing government, but, like Kabila, Bemba has retained a private armed force.

Bemba's campaign has focused on casting doubt on Kabila's Congolese nationality, and results from a first round of voting in July exposed a deep rift between western Congo, which speaks Bemba's Lingala tongue, and the east where many speak Swahili like Kabila.

A TV debate planned for Thursday was cancelled after the candidates could not agree a format, the populist Bemba demanding a live face-to-face debate while Kabila, who tends to give crowds a wide berth, favoured separate pre-recorded slots.

# Additional reporting by David Lewis.

New Congo leader could inherit poisoned chalice
Fri 27 Oct 2006 17:40:22 BST

By David Lewis

KINSHASA, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Whoever wins Congo's presidential run-off on Sunday will take charge one of the most mineral-rich countries in Africa but also inherit a volatile cocktail of insecurity and social collapse.

The contest between incumbent President Joseph Kabila, the favourite to win, and former rebel Jean-Pierre Bemba is the last step of a process aimed at pacifying Democratic Republic of Congo, which has been at war for most of the last decade.

But alongside control of huge resources, including copper, cobalt, gold and diamonds, the victor faces the daunting challenge of restoring basic social services and reining in thousands of gunmen still outside the government's control.

"I don't expect much from these people," said Dr. Mbwebwe Kabamba, head of surgery at Kinshasa's general hospital, when asked how things would change with Congo's first democratically elected president for 40 years.

"I don't think this will lead to a major social change -- there will be a lot of disappointed people," he said, wandering through the emergency ward, where patients suffering from burns and broken limbs lay in stifling heat.

Under the watchful eye of a $1 billion-a-year U.N. peacekeeping mission and with an international investment of over $500 million sunk into the polls, expectations are high among many less cynical people in the former Belgian colony.

According to Kabamba, during the last week of campaigning Kabila's wife came to the hospital and handed out nearly $30,000 for unpaid hospital bills. But he fears the generosity may be short-lived.

"This is for today but what about tomorrow?" he asked.

Doctors earn between $50 and $100 a month, that is when their salaries are paid at all.

Before even the most routine care, patients have to pay for medicine and equipment. Those unable to pay their bills after treatment are not allowed to leave hospital, often for months.

Congo's 1998-2003 war sparked a humanitarian crisis that has killed over four million people, more than any conflict since the Second World War.

According to aid agencies, most of the deaths were preventable, the result of war-related hunger and disease.



LITTLE CHANGE

Kabila and Bemba's camps have sent teams across the country, often promising change and sometimes even delivering it.

"They need to do elections every year and then maybe something will get done," one U.N. official told Reuters after listing cash handed out for water and electricity projects.

"When it comes to elections, leaders are quite good at getting things done. Its just a shame that most of the time people are forgotten," said the official, who asked not to be named.

Tensions are high before the vote. The announcement of a run-off was greeted in August by three days of fighting between Kabila and Bemba's private armies that killed 30 people.

Kabamba, like many diplomats and ordinary Congolese, fears that the loser may try to contest the result by force and that the country's myriad problems will not be tackled. .

"It is unlikely that whoever wins will ... go and tackle social problems," he said.

Private armies are not the only relic from Congo's war. Thousands of local and foreign rebels continue to roam the east, despite the U.N. peacekeepers and efforts to reform the Congolese army.

"This is not a problem of elections but mentalities," said Phillipe Pili-Pili, a student in the eastern town of Goma.

"We can elect people but if their mentalities remain the same, the problems won't go away," he said.


In addition to the above, I was trying to find the story on a cholera outbreak in the DRC I read about in the Metro this week. Come to find out that that happened over two weeks ago. Since a sad majority of Americans do not have Africa on their radar screen, it seems like most newspapers don't report these types of stories, and when your average newspaper does report on Africa, the news is outdated unless the US is directly involved with an issue there. Notice how we've had constand Madonna/David Banda/Malawi updates, yet so little on the Congolese elections, Kenyan floods, cholera outbreaks, Darfur, etc? It's sad. I would love to talk about the Congo a bit, but maybe another day, as it would take a long time to get everything down. Perhaps once the election is finalized.

Kenya: Trust Offers Sh850m in Loans to Women

The East African Standard


The East African Standard (Nairobi)

October 20, 2006
Posted to the web October 19, 2006

Stephen Makabila
Nairobi

Over 19,000 women in Rift Valley Province will benefit from a Sh850 million loan from the Kenya Women Finance Trust (KWFT) by the end of this year.

The KWFT Rift Valley Regional Manager, Mr John Kamundia said the bank disbursed loans amounting to Sh552 million between January and September.

"The remaining loans amounting to Sh298 million will be extended to our members in the province before December," said Kamundia.

Beneficiaries are mostly from Bomet, Sotik, Nandi, Keiyo, Uasin-Gishu Nakuru, Nyahururu, Molo, Eldama-Ravine, Kericho, and Naivasha.

Kamundia was speaking in Eldoret when the KWFT launched a water tanks loaning scheme for women in the North Rift. Uasin-Gishu DC Mr Benard Kinyua presided over the launch.

"Most women are involved in small businesses and the KWFT can help them in expanding the businesses if they become members," Kinyua said.

Over 54 women from Keiyo District who are KWFT members benefited from the first delivery of the Roto water tanks worth Sh870,000. Another 80 tanks, Kamundia said, will be dispatched to members soon.

"Because of our low interest rates, the membership in Rift Valley Province has increased from around 17,000 to 19,421 over the last year," said Kamundia.

KWF is charging a 20 per cent interest on loans extended to members with the repayment period ranging between one to three years.

"A loan of between Sh10,000 to Sh98,000 is repayable within a year. The highest amount we can offer is Sh3 million repayable in three years," said Kamundia.

Repayment rates by the clients has been 100 per cent successful because members seeking loans are first trained on its proper use before being funded.

Kamundia said that apart from money, KWFT also offers loans in form of other products and services.

"We offer gas cylinders and cookers, solar systems installation, community phones, school fees and emergency loans and micro-insurance policy called Kinga ya Jamii Life Assurance cover," added Kamundia.

He challenged women in the North Rift to take advantage of the financial assistance being offered by the KWFT to apply for loans to improve their living standards.

-Microcredit!!! Hooray!
(if you want to read a rant, see risetovotesir.blogspot.com)

Kenya Gets 1st Polio Case in 22 Years

- - - - - - - - - - - -

By ELIANE ENGELER Associated Press Writer

October 17,2006 | GENEVA --

Kenya has reported its first polio case in 22 years with the infection of a 3-year-old Somali refugee girl marking a new setback in the global effort to eradicate the crippling disease, officials said Tuesday.

- Wow. This just goes to show how important it is for the world to support the distribution of polio vaccines. It's also a good moment to remind anyone who sees this blog and will be travelling to Africa and has not had a polio vaccine INJECTED, they absolutely need to see someone at a travel clinic to get this shot. The polio vaccine drink version that most of us had as babies in the US is NOT effective in any part of Africa (as far as I know) and even in a country like Kenya, where polio hasn't been seen in 22 years, it's essential to protect yourself. Unfortunately, polio has not yet been eradicated and there is always a risk of contracting it, especially in a place like Kenya where the influx of refugees and travellers is particularly high. AAAAND that concludes my sermon.

An unidentified woman believed to be a nanny carries a baby as she makes her way through London's Heathrow airport with a police escort early Tuesday Oct. 17, 2006. Armed police officers escorted the African infant being adopted by Madonna off a British Airways flight Tuesday, whisking him past photographers hoping to get a glimpse of the baby making his way to the pop star's London home. (AP Photo)

after this, I won't talk about it anymore, but seriously, I hope Madonna has thought long and hard about EXACTLY how she's changing this child's life. Personally, I'm really disappointed in her decision.

Madonna's Adoption Goes to Court

A Malawi Children's Charity Is Trying to Stop the Pop Star From Adopting a Baby Boy

Oct. 16, 2006 — Madonna's adoption battle heats up today as a children's charity in Malawi heads to court to try to stop the pop star from adopting a 1-year-old African boy.

It has been less than a week since Madonna was granted an interim order allowing her to adopt David Banda, despite the country's laws that forbid nonresidents from adopting Malawian children.

Now, Malawi's largest children's charity is speaking out, saying that adoption is "not like selling property."

The boy's father says he didn't know about the adoption, but was later convinced by the orphanage that a "very nice Christian lady" would provide the best life for his son.

In a statement, Madonna's spokesperson said, "Madonna and her husband's plans to adopt a child from Malawi have been in the works for several months. Being granted the adoption was the first step in the legal process to bring the baby to England."

But the action has raised the question: Has Madonna's celebrity status allowed her to steamroll Malawi's legal system?

According to Thomas Atwood, president of the National Council for Adoption, that answer is yes.

"The caricature is that rich, presumptuous Americans are buying babies. That's not what inter-country adoption is about," Atwood said.

Madonna left Africa without baby David. She also left behind a $3 million donation to help children infected with HIV.

Some wonder whether the donation may have quickened the adoption process.

Potential Parents Disgruntled

New Yorkers Erik and Lauren Noormae have already spent $24,000 trying to adopt a child.

Of the Madonna situation, Erik Noormae said, "It is frustrating because it is obviously not a level playing ground."

He and his wife considered international adoption, but realized there was even more red tape.

"We as a couple didn't necessarily have the time or the resources to necessarily do that, jet setting back and forth across the Atlantic," he said.

Still, some would agree, potential favoritism toward the pop star may be a small price to pay.

"Certainly there's a lot of inequality in the world of adoption," said People magazine's JD Heyman.

"It's unfortunate that that's the way it is. I would also say what would you have them do? Not adopt the child?"

It's Official: Madonna's a Mama By Gina Serpe
Thu Oct 12, 10:45 PM ET



After a week of increasingly implausible denials and "no comments" from Team Madonna, a Malawi high court judge has managed to do what the Material One would not: confirm that the singer and husband Guy Ritchie have adopted a one-year-old boy.

ADVERTISEMENT

Unsurprisingly, Madonna's mouthpieces have yet to comment on the adoption. Last week, her chief publicist, Liz Rosenberg, proclaimed, "Despite reports stating otherwise, [Madonna] has not adopted a baby boy."


Guess we'll just have to settle for the word of the child's father and a Malawi village chief and the director of the orphanage and an African judge and a pastor and the secretary for the Ministry for Gender and Child Welfare.


The Ritchies were granted custody of David Banda Thursday, after filing adoption papers at a local courthouse.


"Madonna and the husband"--nice--"filed their papers for an interim order this morning at Lilongwe High Court, and the judge gave the ruling at 2 p.m. this afternoon," deputy registrar Thomson Ligowe told Reuters.


Per Ligowe, the interim order means that while the new parental units are free to take the boy back to Britain with them, they will be required to attend a subsequent court hearing to determine whether the adoption will be allowed to take place. The judge's ultimate ruling will be based on a report on the family by Malawi social workers.


"[Madonna] has been put on observer status to see how she will relate to the child, and people from social welfare will have to observe that," Ligowe explained. "The court will depend upon their observations to make a final decision."


According to Malawian law, the hearing must take place within two years.


Yohane Banda, the boy's father, said earlier this week that he was forced to send David to an orphanage after the boy's mother died from fever and other complications just days after childbirth. The elder Banda was present at the court this morning to see his son off and meet with the new parents for the first time.


"They are a lovely couple," the 32-year-old man told reporters. "She asked me many questions. She and her husband seem happy with David. I am happy for him. Madonna promised me that as the child grows she will bring him back to visit."


Reports last week suggested the adoption process was given special priority--the average time to clear the red tape in the African country is 18 months--and that laws dictating that Malawi children not be adopted by foreigners were bent for the superstar couple. But Kingston Kilimbe, the director of the country's child welfare services, insisted that the Ritchies' adoption was by the book.


"They have followed the normal processes," he told reporters. "This has been going on for some time. Now is the completion point."


The chief of Lipunga, the Malawi village where the boy is said to hail from, seconded the remarks that the adoption process was set in motion long before the media caught wind of it.


Henderson Geza Dyedyereke told Reuters that he learned of Madonna's plans to adopt back in August, from the director of the Home of Hope Orphan Care Center, the Reverend Thompson Chipeta.


"Reverend Chipeta came yesterday to inform me about the child David Banda," Dyedyereke told the wire service. "The father told me that the child was going to America."


The father confirmed as much yesterday, saying that his son had been adopted by a "famous U.S. musician," though being careful not to name Madonna or Ritchie.


"I am very happy," the elder Banda said. "As you can see, there is poverty in my village. I know he will be very happy in America."


While the adoption was apparently not made official until today, Britain's Sun reported that Madonna and Ritchie picked up David from the Home of Hope Orphan Care Center on Monday night. They also claim that she had visited the orphanage twice before then since her arrival in Malawi last Wednesday.

The director of the center has refused to comment publicly on the adoption, though his son, Thompson Chipeta Jr., said that the "Hung Up" singer and her hubby chose David after the threesome bonded during an hourlong play session on one of her visits.

The boy marks the third child in the couple's burgeoning brood, joining son Rocco, 5, and daughter Lourdes, 9, whom Madonna had with choreographer Carlos Leon.

The family has been on an orphanage-hopping tour of the African nation since last Wednesday, when Madonna and Co. touched down to tend to the singer's Raising Malawi project, designed to clothe, feed and shelter more than 4,000 AIDS orphans.




-I'm not sure I'd have the heart to take a child away from a country where he has family, including one living parent, and thrust him into the limelight of the American (and worldwide) media. I know this kid will have a great life with Madonna, but part of me wants to shake her and say "don't you think he'd be better off if you gave his father and grandmorther money to support him?" hmmm

Warning: Snows of Kilimanjaro, Mt. Kenya vanishing

POSTED: 2:40 p.m. EDT, October 12, 2006

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- Africa's two highest mountains will lose their ice cover within 25 to 50 years, an environmental group said Thursday.

Ice will disappear from Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain, and Mount Kenya, the second-highest, if deforestation and industrial pollution is not stopped, said Fredrick Njau of the Kenyan Green Belt Movement.

Kilimanjaro has already lost 82 percent of its ice cover over 80 years, said Njau. Mount Kenya, one of the few places near the equator with permanent glaciers, has lost 92 percent of its ice over the past 100 years.

Mount Kilimanjaro, which is in Tanzania, and Mount Kenya, the highest mountain in Kenya, are major attractions for mountaineers, hikers and other tourists.

"The two mountains will lose their ice mass in the coming 25 to 50 years if

deforestation and industrial pollution are not brought to an end," said Njau, who heads the organization's Mount Kenya Bio-Carbon Project.

He spoke weeks before a major climate summit in Nairobi.

Green Belt Movement, in collaboration with the French Agency for Development, plans to launch a $2 million (euro 1.6 million) project to plant 2 million trees in the coming 30 years over an area of 4,942 acres within the areas of Mount Kenya and the Kenyan range of mountains called the Aberdares.

Water supplies in jeopardy

Both mountains are important water catchment areas in Kenya, with many rivers originating from them. These rivers are major sources of water and powered generated by dams.

"Deforestation that has a direct link to climactic change has affected negatively on the glaciers on top of Mount Kenya," said Njau. "Millions who depend on the seven rivers that depend on Mount Kenya will be affected because some of the rivers are seasonal and may dry up."

"For more than 20 years, squatters cleared trees surrounding Mount Ke

nya [to make way] for farming," he said.

"We are trying to offset carbon in the atmosphere and the World Bank told us that they will buy our carbon," through its carbon credits program, Njau said.

Through the Mount Kenya and Aberdares tree planting project, the Green Belt Movement expects the trees will absorb about 800,000 tons of carbon dioxide before 2017, Njau said.

The World Bank will buy the carbon under the Bio-Carbon Fund th

at brings together private companies and governments.

Trade in carbon credits has been spurred by the requirements of the Kyoto protocol of the U.N. Framework Treaty on Climate Change. Under the carbon credits program, industrial countries obliged by treaty to cut their greenhouse-gas emissions can get credit for reductions in the poor countries.

1. It makes me so sad that the US has not had the balls to sign the Kyoto protocol. It makes me ashamed as an American biologist, that we, a powerful countr y that has the ability to greatly change the state of this planet with our influence, have avoided doing so.

2. It was INCREDIBLY disturbing to see what Kilimanjaro looked like only three years after I first saw it. The change was dramatic. Yes, a three-year drought did play into the appearance of a diminished ice cap, but as I looked at it, there was no doubt in my mind that the glacial ice was diminished as well. As soon as I could I pulled two of my professors aside and said "guys.....what is up with Kili?" They just shook their heads sadly and said "we are trying all we know to stop this Ah-lee-son, but things just move so slow." I hope that the fact that the truth about this dire situation is reaching beyond the science community (by being on CNN.com?!) maybe more people will be concerned/take global warming seriously, cause all that crap you always here about a butterfly flapping its wings in Peking and the Mississippi floods? yeah, in this case, it's TRUE. Everytime I bitch about riding the MBTA, I try to remember that I am reducing emissions. That's one car off the road. That might be an extra day that ice cap sticks around on top of Kili.

3. I am irked that this article talks about the rivers drying up but do esn't tell you the rest of the story. Yes, glacial melt is an important water source for farms and villages, but where I studied, Kilimanjaro water was being piped out of the rivers and boreholes it flowed to and being sent directly to Nairobi to feed the flower farms there. People had to illegally tap into the pipeline simply to survive a drought. Often when we went for a drive, we'd see people gathering water coming from an illegally tapped pipeline. In the water that had gathered around the leak, animals and people were bathing together. Not only was this highly unsanitary, but if people get caught tapping the line, the penalties are serious. So yes, the warming trend is leading to a shortage of water, but I would've ap preciated mention of the pipeline so we know that man has some hand in the shortage.

Below 2003 and 2006 Kilimanjaro pics for comparison:

2003, Kilimanjaro from Isompeti: 2006, Kilimanjaro from Amboseli:

This second picture is a bit hazy, but you get the idea: snow. then no snow. scary, yes?

Kenya: DHL to Give Out 2 Million Mosquito Nets in Kenya

The East African (Nairobi)

October 10, 2006
Posted to the web October 10, 2006

Catherine Riungu, Special Correspondent
Nairobi

DHL has partnered with with the United Nations Children's Fund to distribute two million mosquito nets throughout Kenya.

The project is part of a campaign to combat malaria. Kenya has been selected to be the first country where the nets will be distributed. Other countries will follow beginning with Uganda and Tanzania.

DHL will help the Ministry of Health with the logistics of transporting and distributing the nets. It will also provide financial support and donate equipment for improving routine health services in selected areas.

The company's area commercial manager for Equatorial Africa, Howard Goldfield, said Kenya is one of its biggest markets in Africa and it is also one of Unicef's largest country programmes.

"By providing logistics, know-how and resources through Unicef's direct collaboration with the Ministry of Health, DHL is playing a key role in the effort to improve the efficiency of medical logistics, ensuring that medical resources reach children in need faster, he said.

In the first phase of the project, DHL collaborated with Unicef and the ministry's personnel in co-ordinating the distribution of 2.1 million mosquito nets in July and September this year across 20 districts in Kenya. The nets being distributed in the pilot project have lasting insecticide that kills mosquitoes and that will remain effective for 3 to 5 years.

Marilyn McDonagh of Unicef Kenya said the project seeks to reduce child mortality in the country by two thirds by the year 2015 in line with the MDGs.

With annual revenues of over $33 billion in 2004, DHL is one of the global market leaders in in express, air and ocean freight, overland transport and contract logistic solutions covering 220 countries worldwide. It employs 285,000 people and is owned by Deutsche Post World Net of Germany. The group has been working with the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in disaster management since 2005.

According to the DHL management, the company's involvement in the anti-malaria campaign is part of its corporate social responsibility, driven by the need to prevent child mortality, to which malaria is a major contributor.

UNICEF has particularly committed to improving medical care and medical logistics for children worldwide. However, the swift and efficient supply of vital medicines, vaccines and other medical equipment to children in need always constitutes a major logistical challenge. Poor transport infrastructure and lack of logistical expertise often means that urgently-needed aid rarely reaches the children.

The anti-malaria campaign was mooted when there was an outbreak of measles early this year when children were the worst affected. The scare led to one of the largest health campaigns ever undertaken in the region by the Ministry of Health with support from UNICEF.

It was during the fight to tame measles that both institutions planned a major distribution of insecticide treated bed nets to combat Malaria that affects also many children throughout Kenya. The Net Distribution Programme was entrenched into the launch of the New Malaria Treatment Policy and the Scaling up of Malaria Control.

Relevant Links East Africa Malaria Kenya International Organizations and Africa

Deutsche Post World Net is also supporting UNICEF's programme for the long-term improvement of children's healthcare in the Kwale district, Kenya. Working alongside UNICEF, the program will include funding of training for local staff and the equipping of local healthcare facilities with the necessary cold chain equipment so that heat-sensitive vaccines can be properly stored and distributed.

Another important part of DHL's work alongside UNICEF in Kwale is the systematic analysis by DHL experts of the medical logistics systems in the district. Together with UNICEF, DHL will use the results of these analyses and experiences in Kwale to recommend and act to improve the logistics chain.

DHL employees have been called upon to make individual donations by taking part in fund-raising activities or by serving as a volunteer in one of the projects. The first highlight of the fund-raising campaign will be the worldwide Deutsche Post World Net" UNICEF Day" on 9 December 2006.

Madonna in Malawi to adopt child, help orphans

By Mabvuto Banda 1 hour, 34 minutes ago

LILONGWE (Reuters) - Pop diva Madonna arrived in Malawi on Wednesday to adopt an African child and fund an orphan center for 1,000 children, many of whom lost parents to AIDS

A fleet of cars and trucks specially flown in whisked the "Material Girl" and her entourage to an undisclosed location soon after their private plane landed at Lilongwe.

"She came straight from the plane, greeted the minister (of women and development) in the VIP lounge, then (went) straight to her car," said Adrina Michiela, a government spokeswoman.

Madonna's trip has stoked high expectations in Malawi, an impoverished nation of 13 million people who are dependent on tobacco exports. The country, like others in the region, has been decimated socially and economically by AIDS.

Madonna has said she plans to spend at least $3 million on programs to support orphans in Malawi and another $1 million to fund a documentary about the plight of children in the country.

She is scheduled to travel to Mphandula on Thursday, a village 20 km (12.5 miles) outside Lilongwe, where she is funding the construction of the Raising Malawi center to feed and educate orphans.

Madonna, who already has two children, is also making arrangements to adopt a child, according to the Malawi government, which is helping to locate a suitable candidate and planning to exempt her from a ban on non-resident adoptions.

Residents in Mphandula, which has no electricity, were busy on Wednesday rehearsing songs and making preparations.

"We will show her how we in Malawi welcome such visitors who are ready to help," the village chief said.

Critics have described the project as a publicity stunt that follows in the footsteps of other celebrities who have taken up causes on the world's poorest continent.

As part of their studies, orphans at the center will be taught a curriculum based on Spirituality for Kids linked to the Kabbalah school of mysticism to which Madonna adheres.

it's cool that Madonna wants to help the orphans and all, but seriously, why'd she have to bring Kabbalah into it? wtf, why can't you just teach them to read? Oh well, I suppose at this point, no one in Malawi is going to bite the hand that feeds them. And for the most part, I don't think many Africans are up for conversion....this might be a sweeping generalization but take the rural churches I went to in Kenya. The Maasai mamas would flock there every Sunday and pray, loudly. While there were definitely Christian converts, there were a good chunk who after services would slip back to their bomas and take part in their own tribal religious rituals. Which I thought was great, way to cover all the bases. Hopefully the same will happen here, as I don't see Jewish mysticism really taking a stronghold in Malawi. I guess this bothers me for a couple reasons, besides the whole publicity stunt I think this is, it bugs me that help is being given only if certain beliefs are allowed to be forced. Why can't there be aid without strings attached? Seriously, I would never build an orphanage and be like "well here it is, oh btw, you can only teach and practice the congregationalist religion." People would agree to it because they needed help yeah, but I think it's kind of lame. Which is not to say I find mission work lame, that is, pardon the pun, a Godsend, and I don't know where Africa would be without these people, converting or no converting. Madonna isn't a missionary though. She's a rich rock star. She needs to get over herself......but still spend money in Africa....

Another thing that's very interesting:

The East African Standard (Nairobi)
October 4, 2006Posted to the web October 3, 2006
Ernest NdundaNairobi
Muslim clerics are opposed to the shooting of a film by a Germany TV station set to start today in Lamu.
The Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya (CIPK) yesterday said the shooting was against Islamic culture.
Sheikh Mohammed Dor, the CIPK secretary-general, said in a press conference at Baluchi Mosque in Mombasa that the film touched on Islam.
"The film will be shot next to Msikiti wa Pwani, which clearly shows that the mosque will be part of the items in it," said Dor who was flanked by CIPK organising secretary Mohammed Khalifa.
"Muslims are observing the holy month of Ramadhan and the Government should not have allowed the shooting," Dor said.
The shooting has taken place in Nyeri, Isiolo and Thika. He urged the Government to stop the shooting, set to last three weeks.
However, some leaders in Lamu welcomed the shooting, saying it would create employment.
Relevant Links
Mr Mohammed Ali Badi, a civic leader, said the film, Diehiegll, was about a woman in search of her husband, who was enrolled in the army during the Second World War.
The husband is believed to have been a soldier in a platoon sent to East Africa.
Badi said the TV station had employed more than 100 people, adding that its crew had rented several buildings.

It's probably easy for me to say this because I am not Muslim, but I say "go for it." People are desperate for employment, and the shooting included the mosque, but did not in anyway defame it or Islam. Could a more opportune time have been scheduled other that the Holy Month of Ramadan? I'm sure it could've but I believe that this is something that you just have to go with, especially if it is going to benefit your community and, fingers crossed, bring more filmmakers to Kenya...

Odds and Bits from Kenyan News:


British man on honeymoon in Kenya killed by elephant
By ANTHONY MITCHELL
The Associated Press
NAIROBI, Kenya — An elephant trampled and killed a British man on his honeymoon in Kenya, officials said Monday.
Patrick Smith, 34, was killed in front of his wife, Julie, in the Masai Mara National Reserve on Sunday, officials said. His wife managed to leap out of the way.
"He was trampled by an elephant while on a nature trail with his wife," said Connie Maina, spokeswoman for the Kenya Wildlife Service. "This is a terrible accident."
The couple had been married for just a week, Maina added.
They had arrived in Kenya for their honeymoon and were staying at the luxury Richard's Camp lodge in the game reserve. The camp is in the Masai Mara conservation area, about 100 miles southwest of the capital, Nairobi.
The couple set out for their nature walk Sunday morning and were with a Masai guide just 330 yards outside the camp when the elephant attacked, Maina said.
"We think the elephant must have been at very close proximity to the couple and was surprised," she said. "They don't normally do this kind of thing. It is terrible. The wife saw what happened. I am told the wife is OK but is shaken up."
Jake Grieves-Cook, chairman of the Kenya Tourist Board, said the elephant knocked over their guide but the wife escaped injury.
"No one knows what startled the elephants, but the guide was doing everything right. They were downwind and thought they were a safe distance. Elephants have very poor eyesight, so this was not an attack," he said. "It was a tragic accident."
Tourist officials said the tented camp, in the northwestern corner of the Masai Mara, would be closed for several days because of the accident.
Julie Smith and her husband's body were flown back to Nairobi. She was expected to leave for Britain later Monday.
According to Kenya's Wildlife Service, the last tourist killed by an elephant in Kenya was in 2000.

What a tragedy. I feel very bad about this, but it just goes to show you that you have to be prepared for anything in Africa, especially in the parks. Personally, I would not wander about Maasai Mara on foot. I'm not saying what these people did was wrong, they even had a guard with them, but this is precisely the kind of thing that happens on foot. Elephants are very unpredictable, and as the article says, they don't see well and they get confused about what's a threat and what's not. Combine those two with an animal that is larger than a car and it spells disaster. Hopefully this won't give the Maasai Mara, it's elephants or the Maasai living there a bad name, because elephant attacks are rare, but hopefully it will also raise awareness about walking about where things like elephants and lions and leopards live. I won't lie to you: the nights I spent in Tsavo and the Mara camping out in the open were not without a certain amount of pure fear and a huge amount of respect for the creatures......

The East African (Nairobi)
October 3, 2006Posted to the web October 3, 2006
Fred Oluoch, Special CorrespondentNairobi
Kenya seems to be reconsidering its support for the ineffectual Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in Somalia following the steady territorial expansion by the Union of Islamic Courts.
But at the same time, the Kenya government would prefer to keep the Islamic Courts at arm's length for the moment, at least diplomatically.
While top government officials maintain that Kenya is on a diplomatic offensive to help the TFG function and put the Somalia question on the world agenda, sources say Kenya's previously unwavering support for the interim government is being reviewed in the light of unfolding events in Somalia.
They cite last week's incident in which Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Gedi failed to meet Kenya's Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs, Moses Wetang'ula, after waiting for some time at the Foreign Affairs office.
Those conversant with diplomatic protocol interpreted the incident as a snub, but Mr Wetang'ula maintained that the media was reading too much into the incident.
He explained that Mr Gedi, having requested an urgent meeting, had to be fitted in between other appointments, but when his meeting with the Italian ambassador took too long, Mr Gedi rushed off to honour a scheduled appointment with the African Union ambassadors.
"We have demonstrated goodwill toward the TFG and the Islamic courts by flushing out the warlords and banning others from entering Kenya. We have midwifed the peace process and helped translocate the interim government. What more can we do other than to engage in a diplomatic offensive to clear the bottlenecks that have impeded the performance of the TFG?" he asked.
Besides the question as to whether Kenya still believes in the relevance of TFG, the country seems to have executed a climbdown on the burning issue of the deployment of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (Igad) peacekeepers to Somalia, after its previous stand raised diplomatic tensions.
Initially, Kenya, through Foreign Affairs Minister Raphael Tuju, was categorical that the only solution to the Somali problem was to send in Igad peacekeepers, even without the consent of the Union of Islamic Courts.
This position, in the eyes of the Islamic Courts, portrayed Kenya as having closed ranks with Ethiopia, which has been campaigning for the deployment of Igad troops. This threatened to rob Kenya of its image as an honest and trusted broker of the Somali peace process.
Of late, Kenya seems to be backtracking on the issue of the deployment of Igad troops, even as it maintains its support for TFG as the internationally recognised authority.
While addressing the UN General Assembly last Tuesday, Mr Tuju appealed for humanitarian intervention as opposed to military intervention, while at the same time coming up with a new proposal for the formation of a joint committee comprising neighbouring countries, the African Union, the Arab League, the European Union and prominent members of the Security Council.
Mr Wetang'ula last week clarified that Kenya still believes that the deployment of Igad troops is necessary, but only with the concurrence of concerned parties, otherwise they stand the risk of being seen as invaders.
But what created suspicion between the Kenya government and the Islamic Courts was the visit to Kenya early September by Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi for talks with President Mwai Kibaki over the deployment of Igad troops in Somalia.
It gave the impression - in the eyes of the Islamic Courts - that Kenya had been won over by Ethiopia into agreeing to the deployment of Igad troops in Somalia without consultations with the Islamic Courts. Consequently, the Islamic Courts were conspicuously absent from the September 5 Igad meeting that resolved to send troops to Somalia, despite the fact the chairman of the Courts, Sheikh Shariif Ahmed, was in the country.
But last week, Mr Wetang'ula defended the Kibaki/Meles consultations, arguing that, apart from the Somali issue, Kenya and Ethiopia have many bilateral issues to settle.
As Mr Wetang'ula put it, "Of course, the Somalia issue had to come up given that President Kibaki is the current chairman of Igad, and both Ethiopia and Kenya have their concerns as the frontline states. As a demonstration that Kenya has not abandoned its neutrality, we have offered not to send Kenyan troops to Somalia as per the earlier mutual agreement that frontline states should keep out of the force."
The tricky issue currently is whether Kenya has fully recognised the Islamic Courts as the central players in the resolution of the Somali question.
Mr Wetang'ula made it clear that Kenya, Igad and the TFG are worried about the unfolding scenario of territorial expansion, which could easily precipitate other unilateral actions to protect the TFG - a tacit reference to unconfirmed reports that Ethiopian troops have entered Baidoa.
According to the chairman of the Ford-People party, Farah Maalim Mohammed, the Islamic Courts have bent over backwards to assure Kenyans that they have no territorial design on Kenya, and that they admire Kenya's democracy and social order.

This is a difficult article for me to comment on because the problem is delicate and intricate and in many ways beyond my realm of knowledge. What I do know is that there is a great deal of fear when it comes to the idea that Somalia may be taken over by the Islamic Courts and this will spell certain doom for Kenya. Of course, I think that the fear of a Taliban-esque/Taliban-supported regime is top on the list, and the Kenyans have good reason to fear this given their history of bombings and alleged terrorist activity within their borders. From the way I look at this single issue, this is worrisome not only from a diplomatic standpoint, but from an economic standpoint as well. Since the United States imposed a travel warning to Kenya, the tourism industry has taken a hit. Yes, there is some compensation coming from the Far East with more Chinese tourists coming for safari every year, but look at Mboya's situation - the loss of his job was a direct result of less Americans visiting Kenya because of the travel warning. If Somalia has designs on Kenya or if there's a violent overflow from its borders or if suspicious activity having to do with Somalia passes through Kenya and makes visiting dangerous for "Westerners" the backlash could be devastating. Of course there are many other reasons why Kenya is being careful when it comes to Somalia, but this is the one I best understand and about which I feel most comfortable to leave a comment.