News From Africa

2007-04-04T11:11:00.000-04:00

I must apologize for the lack of posts over the last 3 months. I hope to work on bringing African news stories to this blog, but if you read this, keep in mind that you don't have to visit here for a good news story, there are many links in the margin. -AL

2007-01-02T17:34:00.000-05:00

Somalis refused entry to Kenya
02/01/2007 21:05 - (SA)

Mogadishu re-opens airports

Somali govt 'in control'

Kenya told to seal off border

Nairobi - Thousands of refugees fleeing recent fighting between the Ethiopia-backed Somali government and the now-vanquished Islamists were stranded on Tuesday at the border with Kenya after authorities refused them entry, said officials.

UN office for coordination for humanitarian affairs (Unocha) said: "About 4 000 Somalis are said to be in Dhobley along the Kenya-Somalia border, waiting, not yet able to cross."

Kenyan police said they would not allow the refugees into the country for security reasons.

"We will never allow them to cross over," said a top police commander in northeastern Kenya, adding: "If we allow them they will bring in security problems."

Kenya has reinforced its border security to prevent Islamists from crossing into the country, which already hosts about 160 000 refugees who fled fighting more than 15 years of unrest in Somalia.

Somalia lacks an effective government

Police said they are probing eight suspected Islamists fighters who tried to infiltrate into the country after they lost control of their last stronghold in Kismayo to an allied Somali-Ethiopian force.

Despite government claims that it has full control of southern and central Somalia, the Islamists, who have vowed to wage a guerrilla war, still pose a security threat in the impoverished nation of 10 million inhabitants.

The UN World Food Programme (WFO) said it had resumed normal operations in Somalia after a two-week disruption was caused by a land, air and sea ban imposed by the Somali government.

Somalia has lacked an effective government since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

Recurrent natural calamities have compounded misery for people in the country, where recent flooding affected about a million people.

News24.com (South Africa)

2006-12-28T16:19:00.000-05:00

Kenya: Year in Review: When Kibaki Threw His Allies A Lifeline

The East African Standard (Nairobi)

December 27, 2006
Posted to the web December 28, 2006

Alex Ndegwa
Nairobi

As President Kibaki marked his 75th birthday last November 15, two of his trusted allies - Prof George Saitoti and Mr Kiraitu Murungi - had cause to toast other than the Head of State's birthday celebration.

The President coincidentally chose the day in which ideally one receives goodwill messages and presents from well-wishers to extend the spirit of the day to the two, by re-appointing them back to the Cabinet.

Kiraitu and Saitoti were reinstated exactly nine months after "stepping aside" on February 14, following the controversy sparked by revelations of the Anglo Leasing scandal and the release of the Goldenberg report.

It is believed that the two were brought back into the fold amid fears that President Kibaki was running short of experienced, credible and vocal allies to counter the Opposition offensive.

Facing a credibility problem

Insiders pointed out that the reliable Internal Security minister, Mr John Michuki, was facing a credibility problem after numerous gaffes including the raid on The Standard.

Another member of the old guard, Livestock minister, Mr Joseph Munyao, appeared too embroiled in keeping the Democratic Party, a party founded by Kibaki, afloat.

Apparently, the Kibaki handlers appeared not too keen to place much in the hands of Defence minister, Mr Njenga Karume, who had been head hunted from Kanu, while the other old guard - Co-operative minister, Mr Njeru Ndwiga, seemed to have lately abandoned his combative nature.

Needless to say, the nascent Narc-Kenya's "young turks" were deemed too naÔve and over-enthusiastic to the comfort of the President's handlers.

In fact, the poaching of members of the Opposition to craft the so-called Government of National Unity was aimed at cushioning the regime from the hostile opposition, especially from Parliament.

'The scandal that never was'

The appointment of Kanu MPs to Government positions is a thorny issue, with the Official Opposition party having gone to court to challenge it.

The Opposition has also called for the law to be amended to compel the President to consult party leaders before appointing their MPs to the Government.

Of the three key Cabinet ministers shunted aside over the graft allegations, only Mr David Mwiraria, who held the Finance portfolio, remained on the backbenches.

Before the scandal claimed his scalp, Kiraitu had memorably dismissed the Anglo Leasing as "the scandal that never was."

But he met his waterloo when former anti-corruption Czar Mr John Githongo's alleged recordings of the former Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister urging him to go slow on Anglo Leasing investigation were aired on BBC television and replayed on local TV stations.

Series of political blunders

It did not help his cause either that he was given to a series of political blunders, particularly due to his unguarded talk, which won him a couple of enemies.

When the heat became too much to bear, for him and, by extension, the Kibaki administration, a besieged Kiraitu threw in the towel and tendered his resignation though still protesting his innocence.

"For a man does not know his time: like a fish in a cruel net, like birds in a snare; so the sons of men are snared in an evil time, when it falls suddenly upon them," he said, quoting the Bible while stepping aside.

But he warned that his resignation was by no means an end to his political career. Kiraitu walked back to his office barely a month after the Njuri Ncheke - the revered Ameru council of elders - paid a courtesy call on President Kibaki.

As for Saitoti, he probably lived up to his billing because the former Vice President has a knack for rising from the ashes like the proverbial phoenix.

Saitoti's ship has sailed in rough waters

Just when his career seemed to have hit the brickwall again when he was forced to resign for being implicated in the Goldenberg Affair by the Justice Samuel Bosire Commission, he bounced back to the Cabinet thanks to the clearance by the constitutional court.

Describing the moment that he was unshackled from the scam's chain by the courts, the professor paraded his wife and gave a passionate speech, saying "this is my happiest day in the last 16 years."

In fact, since joining politics in 1983, Saitoti's ship has sailed in rough waters, but he has somehow managed to stay afloat.

Perhaps his lowest moment was during the infamous Kanu elections at Kasarani in 2002 when former President Moi anointed Mr Uhuru Kenyatta as his preferred heir, skipping Saitoti who was then the vice-president.

Then he gave his most memorable speech to date, saying: "There come (sic) a time when the nation is more important than the individual."

With Narc in power, Saitoti was named the Minister for Education and won the hearts of many parents with the introduction of the free primary education programme.

Despite this credit, the Goldenberg ghost saw his removal from the Cabinet and many had began writing his political obituary before Kibaki threw him another lifeline.

2006-12-27T14:36:00.000-05:00

Kenya: War Greatly Alarming

The Nation (Nairobi)

December 27, 2006
Posted to the web December 27, 2006

Nairobi

All-out war is is about to erupt in the Horn of Africa following Ethiopia's invasion of Somalia early this week.

Thousands of people are reported to have fled their homes to escape the fighting,

The IUC, who emerged in June to capture huge swathes of southern Somalia, are an assemblage of former warlords led by Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys -a radical on both UN and US terrorism lists.

But support for the IUC is not in short supply, which is why a majority of Somali youths have joined it.

While it would be silly to reduce the conflict to a mere contest between the "Islamist" Somalia and "Christian" Ethiopia, this religious appendage is appealing to both sides.

What the world is witnessing is a resurrection of old tensions between Ethiopia and Somalia, now fanned by proxies.

On the face of it, Eritrea, which has some unfinished business with Ethiopia over a disputed border that climaxed with bruising battles between 1998 and 2000, have allied themselves with the IUC.

Then there are the Arab states that have expressed a wish to spread Islam in the Horn and beyond, and who have supported the IUC cause.

But the lifting of the arms embargo on Somalia places the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, the African Union and the United Nations in a precarious position as the Somali crisis threatens to escalate into a regional conflict

2006-12-26T15:56:00.000-05:00

The East African Standard (Nairobi)

OPINION
December 24, 2006
Posted to the web December 26, 2006

Catxon Muune
Nairobi

Transport minister, Mr Chirau Ali Mwakwere, recently launched the Christmas Season Road Safety Campaign.

It marked a significant milestone in public transport reforms and road safety campaigns. There was a notable presence at the well-attended launch. Unlike previous ones, this year's campaign is more action-oriented in distributing posters and educating drivers at traffic lights.

Accidents and deaths dramatically increase during the Christmas holidays. Excessive consumption of alcohol and high traffic of buses on longer trips create conditions that turn Christmas into an accident season.

The culture of over-indulgence and the permissive mood pervading the merry-making singles out drinking and driving as the lethal killers on highways during the festivities. This problem affects private car owners more than public ones, but accidents involving public service attract greater media attention because they kill more people.

The campaign should target specific problems that make Christmas holidays a high-accident season. Tackling the problems would stabilise fares, make passengers relaxed, have fewer accidents and drunk drivers and less disorder at matatu stages.

Thousands of holiday makers travel to the countryside at this time of the year. Crowds of people and vehicles turn Machakos "airport", a beehive of congestion, confusion and despair. Travellers get exhausted from long hours of waiting in the scorching sun or are drenched wet in the rain. Consequently, the happy Christmas spirit and mood are dampened.

Chaos erupt when an approaching bus is spotted. Travellers push and shove in a violent scramble for seats. The old and the disabled stand no chance, and are the last at the bus stop, having spent nights out. Travellers start streaming into Machakos "airport" and other stages from as early as 5am, endangering their security.

In the confusion, travellers are separated from their children, they lose money and luggage to conmen, fraudsters, pickpockets and petty thieves who prey on the mayhem. Some are hurt as they get into the bus through the windows. Fares increase by more than 100 per cent, depriving travellers of dignity and honour, and impoverishing many.

Travellers dread the thought of having to look for transport during the Christmas season. But they have little choice and brace themselves for the ordeal, an annual ritual that casts gloom and sorrow over an otherwise merry season.

But there are more problems in store for the travellers. They have to contend with crackdowns police and the Transport Licensing Board (TLB) mount on the roads. Passengers are inconvenienced and many times they are stranded when the vehicles are found wanting. This annual ordeal need not be so.

The safety campaign should have specific responses to the problems. The popular comedians of television programme, Vitimbi, should be hired to provide entertainment for travellers and to sensitise matatu operators, especially drivers and conductors, on the dangers of drink driving. Using their communication skills, the comedians can deliver messages for specific problems. This should be done three days preceding Christmas - December 22, 23 and 24.

Another solution is to divert all western Kenya-bound buses to Nairobi's Globe Cinema roundabout to decongest Machakos "airport".

Vehicle controllers should be hired for the season to help control crowds, queuing, security and coordinate movement, parking and loading of luggage and goods.

TLB should issue temporary licences to buses and other vehicles to ease transport problems. This would increase competition, improve services and stabilise fares. Vetting of public transport vehicles seeking temporary licenses should also be done to ensure that they are roadworthy. There is need to change behaviour, mannerisms and attitude of public transport operators to alcohol and driving.

The writer is the principal officer Muune Associates and lead consultant, Public Transport Reforms Programme

2006-12-23T16:12:00.000-05:00

Kenya: 'Greener Pastures' Nurses Still Face Firing Squad

The Nation (Nairobi)

OPINION
December 23, 2006
Posted to the web December 23, 2006

Peter Mwaura
Nairobi

Imagine, if you will, five Kenyan nurses and one doctor in search of greener pastures. In March 1998 they went to Libya to work at the Al Fateh hospital in Benghazi, Libya's second city.

Libya is a country that imports a great deal of foreign labour, both unskilled and professional. Libya is also a country that its leader, Muammar Gaddafi, once proclaimed to be HIV-free.

At the end of the year 426 children at the hospital were found to be infected with HIV, a tragedy that caused a great deal of public anger. The foreign medical workers were charged of deliberately infecting the children.

After a protracted trial, they were found guilty in May 2004 and sentenced to die by firing squad. But Libya's Supreme Court scrapped the death sentences due to "procedural flaws" and ordered a retrial. On Tuesday this week they were again found guilty.

The Kenyan scenario must stop at this point. If the health workers had been Kenyans, the world would have heard very little about them and the international furore they are causing would be well-nigh impossible. Kenya counts little in international diplomacy.

The nurses are actually Bulgarians, the doctor a Palestininan who, because he is stateless, has been piggybacking on the Bulgarian case. In world terms, Bulgaria is not a diplomatic heavyweight but she is waiting in the wings to join the European Union and has the weight of the European Union behind it. Bulgaria has also received the support of the United States.

In addition, scientists and human rights groups have rallied on the side of the medical workers, accusing Libya of trumping up the charges to cover up for poor hygiene conditions at its hospitals.

President Gaddafi, on his part, has let the Libyan justice system run its course, figuratively telling the West that the Libyan Government does hot interfere with the independence of its courts any more than the Western governments interfere with their own courts.

The convicted health workers have maintained their innocence, claiming they were tortured to confess the crime. Luc Montagnier, the French virologist credited with discovering the HIV virus in 1983 and Italian professor Vitorio Colizzi, an Aids researcher, carried out a genetic analysis of viruses from the infected children and concluded that many of them were infected long before the nurses' arrival in Libya.

But the Libyan court threw out the report, arguing that investigation by Libyan doctors had reached the opposite conclusion.

The case has stoked xenophobia and thirst for revenge. Families of the infected children have demonstrated at every court session. President Gaddafi has found himself under siege, both by his own people and the West. It was easier for him, however, to allow the courts to run their course than admit the infection was an accidental tragedy, as the Western scientists have maintained. It was decidely easier for Libya to pursue the "conspiracy theory" than admit the "scientific evidence" provided by Western scientists.

President Gaddafi is also probably not averse to exploiting the case to score international propaganda points, particularly with regard to the way the West ruthlessly pursued Libya over the bombing of the Pan Am plane over the Scottish village of Lockerbie in 1988 in which 270 victims died and Libya was forced to pay whopping compensation for the families of the victims.

This, in fact, is a case where money can buy justice, just like in the Lockerbie case. President Gaddafi did offer to free the medical workers in return for compensation to the families of the infected children.

Lawyers of the families of the infected children asked for about $10 million for each child. With more than 400 children involved, the total compensation demanded amounts to over $4 billion, a figure that mirrors the amount paid by Libya to the families of the victims of the Pan-Am plane bombing.

This, apparently, is the sticking point. Bulgaria, supported by the European Union and America, is opposed to paying "blood money" because that will imply guilt.

But is willing to provide "humanitarian assistance" to the Aids victims. If sufficient, the humanitarian assistance might free President Gaddafi from domestic politics so he can pardon the nurses.

I found this perspective interesting, but sad. It's probably true about Kenya mattering little in international political affairs. Sad.

2006-12-22T16:10:00.000-05:00

Kenya: Texas Keen to Do Business With Nation

The Nation (Nairobi)

December 22, 2006
Posted to the web December 22, 2006

Nation Reporter
Nairobi

The American State of Texas has expressed interest in doing business with Kenya.

The Mayor of Dallas, Ms Laura Miller and Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill told Kenyan ambassador to the US Mr Peter Ogego that Texas had "deep interest to develop bilateral trade and investment cooperation with Kenya."

Mr Ogego, who gave a keynote address at a Luncheon organised by the African Chamber of Commerce, interested the business community in Dallas to invest in various sectors of the Kenya economy and take advantage of the opportunities presented by the expansion of the East Africa Community.

The event was attended by among others, Mr Ross Perot Jr. a multi billionaire investor in Dallas, who earlier held discussions with the ambassador in his office.

The ambassador also made a follow up meeting with Ross Perot Sr. a one time presidential candidate in the United States and explored possibilities of his family investing in Information Technology and hotel industry in Kenya.

During the event, Mr Ogego was presented with a special key for the city of Dallas by Mr Don Hill.

In October 2006, Mr Hill led a delegation of businesspeople from Dallas and members of the African chamber of Commerce D/FW on a business exploration mission to Kenya.

The delegation held meetings with the Minister for Trade, Dr Mukhisa Kituyi and Nairobi Mayor Dick Wathika and signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU).

During his visit to Texas, the ambassador also met with the Secretary of the State Mr. Roger Williams.

The secretary welcomed efforts by the ambassador to promote business between Kenya and the State of Texas and assured him of his support.

The two agreed that there was need for an exchange of trade missions to the two countries. They discussed the possibility of Mr. Rogers bringing some Texans to Kenya to explore business opportunities especially in the area of windmill energy.

Mr Ogego was accompanied by the Deputy Chief of Mission, Mrs. Lily Sambu, First Counsellor, Mr James Wakiaga, Commercial Attaché, Mrs. Lina Ochieng and the Immigration Attaché, Ms Felicina Ndwiga.

The mission staff organised a successful two-day session to renew passports for Kenyan citizens in Dallas and outlying areas.

My opinion? Windmill energy my ASS, they want to see if Kenya's got oil. The End.

2006-12-21T09:36:00.000-05:00

Kenya: 11 Killed By Unidentified Disease

The Nation (Nairobi)

December 21, 2006
Posted to the web December 21, 2006

Nairobi

Eleven people have died of a highly contagious disease in parts of North Eastern Province.

Seven people have died in Garissa and four others in Ijara District in the past two days.

Symptoms of the disease include high fever, jaundice (yellowness in the eyes), vomiting blood, diarrhoea, headache and swelling on both legs and hands.

"Most victims bleed through all body openings, leading to death in about 48 hours after infection," said Special Programmes ministry spokesman Tom Namasaka.

40 deaths

More cases of the disease continued to be received from Korakora, Amuma, Liboi, Shanta-Abaq, Baraki, Fafi and Shimbirey where about 40 deaths of livestock have also been reported.

Garissa district medical officer of health Abdullahi Abagira warned that the disease was probably spreading to human beings through consumption of animal products.

Garissa district veterinary officer William Kabak confirmed an outbreak of lumpy skin disease (LSD) and black quarter diseases in the region and warned residents against eating uninspected meat.

In Nairobi, a senior deputy director of medical services, Dr Francis Kimani, said the results of the investigations were likely to be released today.

The Kenya Red Cross Society said it has prepared isolation centres to tackle all reported cases.

Like Leah in The Poisonwood Bible says "Africa has a million ways of getting under your skin"

2006-12-20T18:01:00.000-05:00

Kenya: Oldest National Park Confronts Industry And Urban Sprawl

Inter Press Service (Johannesburg)

December 20, 2006
Posted to the web December 20, 2006

Joyce Mulama
Nairobi

For people who arrive at the international airport in Nairobi, Kenya's fabled wildlife can be glimpsed almost immediately, in the Nairobi National Park which borders the airport. Driving out of this facility en route to the city, there's a chance of sighting black rhino, zebras and giraffe: just some of the many species that inhabit the park.

The reserve is Kenya's oldest, and located within the boundaries of the capital. However, its location is also the source of what some see as a grave threat to it: the proposed construction of a dam.

Earlier this month, a proposal to build a dam in Nairobi National Park was rejected by the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), managers of the reserve. This came after the agency studied the findings of an environmental impact assessment of the project, and decided that the dam -- under discussion for several years -- would have negative and irreversible effects on the park.

But this doesn't mean the issue has been permanently resolved, as further investigations into whether a dam could be viable are underway.

Proponents of the dam argue that it is central to addressing water needs in the suburbs of Mavoko, Kitengela and Athi River, where the number of residents and industries is growing at a rate of knots.

Athi River is one of Kenya's Export Processing Zones (EPZs): areas that have been in operation since 1990 in a bid to increase foreign currency earnings for the country, where some 56 percent of people live below the poverty line. The zones house companies that manufacture a wide variety of goods for export, principally textiles.

The parastatal Export Processing Zone Authority (EPZA), which proposed the dam alongside the Mavoko Municipal Council, says the Athi River zone requires 10,000 cubic metres of water a day, way above the current supply of around 3,000 cubic metres. And, "The situation will worsen if we do not find a permanent, alternative source," said EPZA Operations Manager John Akara. (The EPZA and Mavoko Municipal Council also hired consultants from the United Kingdom to produce the environmental impact assessment that was considered by the KWS.)

The dam would yield 36,500 cubic metres of water daily, enough to meet the demands of the 100 EPZ industries in Athi River, as well as some 300,000 residents in this region, and in Mavoko and Kitengela.

Currently, the three suburbs rely on surplus water from the Nairobi Water and Sewerage Company, the same firm that supplies the rest of the capital. The City Council of Nairobi maintains that the suburbs are not in its jurisdiction, and therefore not its responsibility concerning water provision.

"I have lived here for five years now and have no running water," Munyao Joyce, a resident of Kitengela, told IPS. "All this time I have been buying water from people in the area who have dug boreholes. Water has become an expensive affair; the dam will give me rest."

It's a view the KWS does not exactly share.

"We do appreciate the need to provide water to the industries and residents, but that should not be done at the expense of our unique and priceless wildlife. This will set a dangerous precedent for other fragile conservation areas across the country," Paul Udoto, KWS corporate communications manager, said in an interview with IPS.

While the dam will cover just 3.5 square kilometers of the park's surface area of 117 square kilometers, it risks introducing significant change to the reserve.

Njogu Kahare of the Greenbelt Movement, an environmental protection group, says the dam is "too huge a project" for the park's ecosystems to tolerate, and that efforts to provide water to areas that would be serviced by the dam have already left a trail of ruin behind them.

"For example, in the Athi river catchment, environmental destruction is what has made major rivers like Athi seasonal and inadequate. What reasons does anyone have to jeopardise the environment further?" he asks.

Akara has a counter-argument at the ready. "Obviously a new development of any type and nature affects the environment in one way or another. Any construction will always affect flora and fauna," he told IPS. "We are at the stage where we are doing a detailed analysis of the environment and proposing mitigations."

But environmentalists maintain that proponents of the dam should be investigating other ways of addressing their water needs, such as sinking more boreholes and harvesting rainwater.

And, while the 60-year-old park may be critical to the economic wellbeing of Athi River, it has financial significance of its own. The reserve currently attracts more than 100,000 tourists annually, collecting over 700,000 dollars in the process. Tourism is Kenya's second largest source of foreign income after agriculture.

All in all, concludes Udoto, "it seems sacrilegious for anybody to think of desecrating the jewel in the crown of wildlife conservation efforts".

(* This story is part of a series of features on sustainable development by IPS -- Inter Press Service -- and IFEJ, the International Federation of Environmental Journalists.)

This is precisely the reason I am studying conservation biology. People here either clap their hands or throw them up in defense when I tell them what I'm studying - the ones cheering are those who know that we have a desperate need to preserve what's left of the American wilderness. Those who defend themselves are the ones who like to call us "tree-huggers" or just plain crazy, the contracters and developers whose argument is "don't people matter more than trees and animals."
Actually, they do matter more. I think so anyways. Do people honestly think I don't care that Munyao Joyce has lived in Kitengela for five years and he has to buy his water off somebody because he doesn't have any? I do indeed. I've been to Kitengela. I don't know how anyone scrapes together a living there - add to that the necessity to buy water and it's even more unbelievable that people in Kitengela survive. Here's the thing: there's got to be a better way than building a dam and destroying Nairobi National Park, which is already an extremely fragile ecosystem. Would I want Munyao to die of thirst or dysentary to save a lion. No. Do I think there must be a better way than building a dam? Absolutely. That's just the type of thing I'm trying to figure out. You know, so I can save the world.

2006-12-19T11:23:00.000-05:00

Kenya: Kengen Signs Contract for Olkaria IV Drilling

The East African Standard (Nairobi)

December 19, 2006
Posted to the web December 19, 2006

John Oyuke
Nairobi

Great Wall Drilling Company, a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation, has clinched a deal to drill geothermal wells for KenGen.

The firm's work early next year will begin the construction of a new 70 megawatt power plant, Olkaria IV, in Naivasha. Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) has already signed the Sh1.6 billion contract with Great Wall, paving the way for the project to begin.

KenGen Managing Director, Mr Eddy Njoroge said the drilling would take approximately ten months. Mr Zhang Zhaofeng, Senior Engineer with Great Wall signed the contract on behalf of the Chinese company.

Njoroge said the project would entail drilling six directional wells to complement three exploration wells that were drilled eight years ago.

He said the drilling would accelerate geothermal development, which is expected to reduce dependence on hydropower generation.

The Government has identified geothermal power generation as the cheapest option for the next 20 years. Research shows there is potential of more than 2,000 MW of geothermal energy in the Rift Valley.

Kenya has an effective capacity of 130 MW making it the leading geothermal power producing country in Africa.

China quietly takes over the world.....

2006-12-18T15:56:00.000-05:00

Kenya: State to Popularise Male Circumcision

The East African Standard (Nairobi)

December 18, 2006
Posted to the web December 18, 2006

James Ratemo
Nairobi

The Ministry of Health (MOH) is seeking ways of promoting male circumcision as a way of reducing HIV infections.

Director of Medical Services Dr James Nyikal, however,,cautioned circumcised men against embracing a false sense of safety, saying circumcision does not offer complete protection.

Speaking during a press conference on Monday, Nyikal said a multi-sectoral committee would be instituted to formulate a policy based on scientific research.

Circumcised males should continue practicing the well known HIV prevention strategies, he said.

"Although results demonstrate that male circumcision reduces the risk of men getting infected with HIV, the MOH wishes to affirm that circumcised men can still get infected with the HIV virus and can infect their sexual partners," Nyikal said.

Research findings

He cited reduction in the number of sexual partners, delaying the onset of sexual relations, correct and consistent use of male and female condoms, and HIV testing and counseling as a comprehensive preventive package.

The announcement follows research findings by the United States National Institute of Health that male circumcision can significantly reduce risk of contracting HIV through heterosexual (male-female) intercourse.

In the study, involving 2,784 HIV-negative men from Kisumu, it showed a 53 per cent risk reduction in circumcised men compared to uncircumcised men. And a trial involving 4,996 HIV-negative men in Rakai, Uganda, showed risk reduction of 47 per cent.

The study was conducted in Kenya and Uganda by local researchers in conjunction with other experts from US and Canada.

Increased negative effects

Presenting the findings, a researcher from University of Nairobi, Prof Ndinya Achola, said the Kisumu Study involved circumcised and uncircumcised men between 18-24 years.

"The research, that commenced in 2002, was scheduled to end in 2007 but was stopped by a data safety monitoring board due to increased negative effects noticed on participants," Achola said.

Achola's team will, however, monitor the participants to decipher more findings.

Further, Nyikal said female circumcision was not included in the study, hence no evidence of the cut reducing risk of HIV infection.

The two were speaking at the Ministry of Health Headquarters in Nairobi.

2006-12-17T10:27:00.000-05:00

Kenya: Mother Wins Shoe4africa Iten Race

The Nation (Nairobi)

December 17, 2006

David Macharia
Nairobi

A mother of three successfully battled both newcomers and established athletes to win the Shoe4Africa women's road race in Iten yesterday.

Pauline Atodonyang, 27, a housewife from West Pokot, ran a tactical race to win in 17 minutes 2.8 seconds, beating hundreds of runners who turned up for the five-kilometre road race.

Pauline Atodonyang crosses the finish line to win the race as marathon greats Paul Tergat and Moses Tanui look on.

Atodonyang, who is trying to fit into her elder sister's athletics shoes, appears set for big things in road running.

Last week, she finished second in 15km race for women at the Baringo Half marathon race meeting.

Yesterday's race started on a blistering speed set by Africa 5,000m bronze medallist Silvia Kibet, Turkermatt Wareng Cross-country junior women's champion Gladys Otero and world steeplechase silver medallist and Africa champion Jeruto Kiptum.

Zimbabwean runner

Others in the leading pack were Irene Kwambai and a Zimbabwean runner, Sharon Tavengwa.

The early burst of speed, however, proved to be the main undoing for the early pace setters as only Kibet (fourth) finished among top 10.

Kwambai was 11th and Kiptum 20th.

The first hill climb of the race, that was flagged off at Salaba on the Eldoret-Iten road by a renowned film actor Anthony Edwards from Hollywood, had its toll on the early leaders.

It was not until the third kilometre that Atodonyang, Consolata Chemutai, eighth at the world cross-country championships in Fukuoka, Japan, this year and Hellen Kirop, a silver medallist at this year's Amsterdam Marathon made a serious attack on the leading pack and immediately took control of the race.

It was only Kibet, among the early leaders, who was able to hang on with Atodonyang, Chemutai and Kirop. With a kilometre to go, it was evident that the eventual winner was gaining on the leader.

At this point, Beatrice Chepchumba, who returned home early this month after several races in France, moved to fourth as the race entered Iten town.

The race painted Iten town yellow as the organisers gave out hundreds of yellow T-shirts to all the runners and officials. The race was attended by Kenya's former and current world beaters among them Paul Tergat, Moses Tanui, Moses Kiptanui, Ezekiel Kemboi and Robert Cheruiyot.

Athletics Kenya chairman Isaiah Kiplagat and the 2007 Mombasa world cross-country championships local organising committee chief executive, Isaac Kalua, were also present. Multiple world record holder Lornah Kiplagat of the Netherlands was one of the race's organisers alongside Shoe4Africa Foundation directors Toby Tanser and Pieter Langerhorst. Over 3,000 athletes registered for the race making it Africa's biggest women's only race.

Selected results: 1. Pauline Atodonyang, 17:02.8, 2. Consolata Chemutai, 17:04.5, 3. Beatrice Chepchumba, 17:06.3, 4. Silvia Kibet, 17:07.03, 5. Hellen Kirop, 17:13.10, 6. Beatrice Rutto, 17:16.20, 7. Gladys Kemboi 17:17.10, 8. Pamela Lisoreng, 17:18.30, 9. Viola Bor, 17:22.40, 10. lenah Cheruiyot, 17:28.70, 11. Irene Kwambai, 17:31.80.

2006-12-16T15:38:00.000-05:00

Kenya: Ngugi Case Was an Acid Test for Judicial System

The Nation (Nairobi)

OPINION
December 16, 2006
Posted to the web December 16, 2006

Peter Mwaura
Nairobi

It was a cause celebre. The world watched the trial of Prof Ngugi wa Thiong'o's nephew John Kiragu Chege and three younger-looking, athletic and darker men the police claimed he had hired to attack the writer and his wife.

Prof Ngugi, returning home after 22 years in exile, was robbed, severely beaten and burned with cigarettes and his wife raped on the night of August 11, 2004.

The trial was an acid test of our judicial system. The case moved through the court system with the pace of a tortoise. It took more than two years to hear and determine. And it did not put to rest the conspiracy theories it had raised.

Yes, we do now know from the judgment delivered this week, that Prof Ngugi's nephew was not guilty as charged. But we don't know why the three convicted men attacked Kenya's beloved son, unless we accept the robbery motive. The three will take their dark secrets to the gallows.

Appear for the hearing

The case had a rocky passage from start to finish. Defence lawyers almost succeeded in getting the case dismissed under section 202 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which requires the court to acquit the accused if the complainant does not appear for the hearing.

The Ngugis did not appear in court on October 25, 2004, when the case was first scheduled for hearing.

What saved the court from a washout was the discretion given to the magistrate not to acquit if" for some reason" she thinks it proper to adjourn the hearing until some other date. Mercifully, the code does not define "for some reason," so any reason will do.

The police took the view that the crime was not politically motivated but many people, including Prof Ngugi himself, thought otherwise. "It wasn't a simple robbery. It was political - whether by remnants of the old regime or part of the new state outside the main current," he told the Press.

"They hung around as though waiting for something, and the whole thing was meant to humiliate, if not eliminate, us."

There were also claims by a defence lawyer the Ngugis were trailed by undercover intelligence officers throughout their visit to Kenya, reinforcing the conspiracy theory of a vampire state or gangster state out to settle old scores (even without the knowledge of those currently in power).

We were also told by the police that the four accused were in the company of others who are still at large.

The case spawned many other conspiracy theories including a family vendetta, a staged (but botched) circumcision ceremony, and a weird publicity stunt intended to boost Ngugi's new and voluminous Gikuyu-language novel, Murogi wa Kagogo.

There was also drama, mostly played outside the courtroom. And Prof Ngugi's wife, a woman who speaks straight from the heart, taught the women of Kenya how to hit back.

She showed tremendous courage in not hiding her pain. When her doctors tried to use a euphemism for rape, a tearful Njeeri decried the attempt.

"It was not 'attempted rape', he penetrated me and any time that happens to a woman, it is rape. There is no other word," she said at a news conference.

Njeeri explained to relatives and friends why she went public with the rape. She could not feed the silence that accompanies rape.

Testify in camera

In court, she chose to testify in camera not only because it is her right to do so but also to illustrate to Kenyan women that they can demand that the law protect them from "a second and public rape at the hands of the defence."

Defence lawyers, in an effort to show that no rape took place, typically make rape victims relieve their experiences through cross-examination.

Njeeri further demonstrated her courage at the police identification parade.

Weeping, she reportedly slapped one of the more heavily built suspect after identifying him as the one who raped her, grabbed him by his collar and snapped: "You dared rape me in front of my husband? I am gonna see where you will end your life with what you did to me."

That, senior principal magistrate Julie Oseko decided, will be in death row at Kamiti prison.

Talk about drama. For more about Ngugi wa'Thiong'o click here.

2006-12-14T15:23:00.000-05:00

Kenya: Woman Dies After Cut

The East African Standard (Nairobi)

December 14, 2006
Posted to the web December 14, 2006

Steve Mkawale
Nairobi

A woman died after undergoing female genital mutilation in Nakuru District.

Police on Thursday collected the body from the young woman's home in Neissuit village.

"We are looking for her parents and the person who carried out the mutilation," said the OCPD, Mr Titus Yoma.

The woman, 18, is said to have bled to death after undergoing the traditional rite with 32 others.

Villagers told The Standard that the victim sat her Kenya Certificate of Primary Education examination this year, and was looking forward to joining Form One next year.

"She did not want to undergo the rite, but her parents warned that they would send her away if she refused," her former schoolmate said.

It was the woman's neighbours who called the police after learning of the death, Yoma said.

Four other girls who underwent the banned rite have been taken to a local health centre for check-up. Many parents whose daughters were cut have gone underground to avoid arrest.

Although the female genital mutilation has been outlawed, many communities continue to practise the rite.

The tradition is common among the Kipsigis, Abagusii, Pokot, Turkana, Kuria, Maasai and Meru.

Meanwhile, two girls who claimed policemen defiled them are yet to record statements.

Yoma said two boys arrested in connection with the hotel incident are in police custody.

"They are assisting us with investigation. They were found in the hotel room where the girls claim they were sexually assaulted," he said.

The girls, aged 13 and 14, were taken to Nairobi Women's Hospital. He said the implicated officers have been questioned and released.

I add this for clarification regarding the thought that perhaps FGM is mandated by the Islamic religion:
According to Dr. Sami A. Aldeeb Abu-Salieh at the Swiss Institute of Comparative Law:

Islamic juridical logic cannot acknowledge the distinction between female and male circumcision, both being the mutilation of healthy organs which is damaging to the physical integrity of the child, whatever the underlying religious motivations. Furthermore, both practices violate the Koran: 'Our Lord, You did not create all this in vain' (3:191), and '[He] perfected everything He created' (32:7). In our opinion, a god who demands that his believers be mutilated and branded on their genitals the same as cattle, is a god of questionable ethics.^[4]

2006-12-13T11:23:00.000-05:00

Kenya: Urgent Action Needed to Avert Resistant TB - Activists

UN Integrated Regional Information Networks

December 13, 2006
Posted to the web December 13, 2006

Nairobi

Kenya risks falling victim to new, drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis (TB), found elsewhere on the continent, if the government fails to take the TB epidemic more seriously, activists have warned.

"Multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extremely drug-resistant (XDR) TB are a direct consequence of non-adherence to treatment regimens," Dr Ignatius Kibe, a contagious disease expert and member of the Kenya AIDS NGO Coalition (KANCO), told PlusNews. "More resources must be pumped into prevention of non-adherence."

XDR-TB has been detected in South Africa, where it has led to the death of more than 70 people in the east-coast province of KwaZulu-Natal. So far, no cases of XDR have been detected in Kenya.

MDR-TB develops when a TB strain becomes resistant to two or more first-line antibiotic drugs, and becomes XDR-TB when it is resistant to two or more second-line antibiotics. According to Kibe, an estimated 60 percent of Kenyans with TB are also co-infected with HIV. Although TB is preventable and curable, it is the leading cause of death in HIV-infected people, he added.

At a recent KANCO press conference, Mutinda Kithuku, a secondary school teacher living with both TB and HIV, urged the government to provide drug regimens that were easier to adhere to. "TB and ARV [antiretroviral] drugs are not a pleasant experience - I have to take two [tablets] per day for TB, two ARVs [antiretrovirals] per day, two antibiotics per day and a vitamin tablet," he said. "This is a total of seven - when you are sick, it is difficult to remember them all."

More effort needed to roll back TB

KANCO noted in a memorandum, handed to the government earlier this month, that while there had been some success in reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS, the time had come for the authorities to pay more attention to TB.

Dr Despaul Muthama, of the National TB Control Programme at the Ministry of Health, said 108,000 Kenyans were diagnosed with TB in 2005, and the health ministry had treated about 85 percent of those, but he believed this was just 50 percent of the actual number of infections.

Kibe said TB was a particular threat to residents of Nairobi's Kibera and Mathare slums - two of the largest and most densely populated informal settlements in Africa - which had a combined population of over two million people.

According to recent research by the International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, about 70 percent of Kenya's urban population lived in 70 slums across the country. "With the poor living and housing conditions, like overcrowding, poor sanitation, lack of water and high illiteracy, a very high proportion of this population is either infected or affected by HIV and TB."

The government intended increasing the number of people diagnosed to 70 percent in 2007. "When we test people for TB, in order to ensure that they receive the maximum benefit from the services, we also test for HIV," Muthama said.

Kenya is ranked 10th on the United Nations World Health Organisation's list of 22 countries that bear 80 percent of the world's TB burden.

2006-12-12T13:17:00.000-05:00

Kenya: Weak Laws Blamed for Low Sea Pollution Fines

The Nation (Nairobi)

December 12, 2006
Posted to the web December 12, 2006

Nairobi

Current laws on marine pollution cannot adequately address the problem, a Cabinet minister said yesterday.

The laws impose very low fines because Kenya has not domesticated the Compensation Act," said Mr Chirau Ali Mwakwere of Transport.

"A Marine Pollution Bill has been incorporated in the Merchant Shipping Bill to facilitate the development of regulations for marine pollution control," he said.

Mr Mwakwere was speaking at the Mombasa Serena Beach Hotel when he opened a workshop to discuss the Merchant Shipping Bill.

The Bill is among the 11 that were prepared by a task force established by the attorney-general in April 2002 to review and harmonise all maritime laws.

The minister said the Bill that was developed from old Merchant Shipping Act, which was enacted in 1894 by the British Government, needed to be re-enacted "so that Kenya can domesticate international maritime conventions, to which it is a signatory".

"The current Merchant Shipping Act refers to provision of Safety of Life at Sea (Solas), while the Solas Convention was adopted in 1974 and amended by a Protocol in 1978. There are therefore numerous amendments, which cannot be implemented from the current Merchant Shipping Act," said Mr Mwakwere.

He gave an example of an oil spill incident of April 2004 involving MT Ratna Shahili at the Kipevu oil terminal in Mombasa, where the ship owner paid only US$1 million (about Sh70 million).

The vessel punctured her hull at the terminal, spilling about 200 tons of murban light crude oil, which affected about 230 hectares of the mangrove habitat at the Port Reitz Creek.

The compensation was minimal because currently, compensation on any oil spill can only be launched under Civil Liability Convention of 1996.

The Merchant Shipping Bill is being discussed by among others, the Parliamentary Select Committee on Energy, Communications and Public Works, Kenya Maritime Authority officials and representatives from the Kenya Ports Authority.

2006-12-11T12:15:00.000-05:00

Kenya: Villagers Go Without Food And Drugs As Rains Destroy Roads

The Nation (Nairobi)

December 11, 2006
Posted to the web December 11, 2006

Nation Correspondents
Nairobi

Famine-stricken villagers in 17 manyattas have been cut off from the rest of Wajir District following heavy rains.

The Provincial Administration said yesterday that roads to the remote villages had become impassable.

Consequently, the villagers, who depend on government assistance, were yet to receive the September rations.

The authorities also said that relief trucks sent to deliver October food supplies got stuck at several points between Wajir Town and the affected areas.

By yesterday, the Government and relief agencies were still trying to reach the villages, some of which are 200 kilometres from Wajir Town.

The worst affected are Burde, Diif, Korondile, Leissanyu, Mansa, Batalow and Dadajahola.

On Friday, councillors and civil society groups in Wajir warned of a possible tragedy if medicine and food did not reach the villages urgently.

More than 20 councillors told a press conference that the situation was worsening.

Disease menace

Councillor Ahmed said that diseases like diarrhoea and malaria were now a menace.

He appealed to the Government to airlift the families to safety.

The Nation, however, learnt that 15,000 mosquito nets donated by Unicef reached Wajir District but had yet to be distributed to the needy villagers.

Elsewhere in Wajir Town, the cost of living has steadily risen due to shortages of food such as sugar.

Elsewhere, a human skeleton was on Friday retrieved by Administration Police officers from Golimba Chief's Camp in Thika District, as it floated in the upper Athi River.

Central deputy police officer Sammy Maritim said police had received information that a man had drowned while trying to cross the river using a home-made boat.

The skeleton was later taken to Thika Hospital Mortuary.

At the same time, a group of women washing cloths in River Ndarugu in Thika, also spotted the body of a man floating.

Police who arrived at the scene on being alerted by the area chief, retrieved it with the help of the public. The body was also taken to the same mortuary.

2006-12-10T15:15:00.000-05:00

Kenya: Influx of Used Computers Drawing Students to Colleges

The East African Standard (Nairobi)

December 10, 2006
Posted to the web December 11, 2006

Michael Ouma
Nairobi

Nairobi last week hosted a meeting held to discuss the problem of and find solutions to the problem of electronic waste, otherwise referred to as e-waste, in developing countries and Africa in particular.

The conference, World Forum on e-Wastes held on 30 November, was convened with the aim to confront the growing reality that, in addition to its many benefits, the global consumer goods revolution is generating massive quantities of end-of-life computers and other obsolete electronic equipment.

The meeting came after the realisation of the fact that between 20 and 50 million metric tones of electronic waste are being generated every year because of the growing demand for computers, televisions, radios, mobile phones and other consumer electronics.

The conference heard how a rising global tide of electronic waste, especially in developing countries, is posing serious environmental risks because of the wide range of dangerous pollutants they can contain, from heavy metals to chlorine compounds.

The meeting acknowledged that the advent of the mobile phone and personal computer has been a boon to communication, but they have also created a new tide of hazardous waste. Many of these products are soon discarded because they are deemed to be obsolete or defunct.

According to Mr Kimani Kinyanjui, training manager at Forrnax College, a computer training firm in Nairobi, the problem of proliferation of old and used computers into the country was increased with the opening up of the market following the zero-rating of computers and its accessories last year.

This has led to an influx of cheap and used computers, mainly from Dubai, with some outdated models retailing at modest amounts of as low as Sh10,000.

Says Kinyanjui: "Many owners of these machines do not know what to do with them when they develop technical problems as they can not even access the machines' related spare parts."

He says that the problem of used and abandoned computers has led many students to join computer colleges to acquire technical skills in the repair of the machines. A spot-check at most computer colleges in town revealed that a significant proportion of the student population was enrolled in technician courses in computer repair. This is in spite of the fact that most of the machines, when they break down, cannot be repaired.

The member governments to a United Nations-sponsored global pact on the transport and disposal of hazardous waste agreed last week to accelerate their efforts to reduce the impact and damage caused by the rapid growth in electronic waste.

The representatives of various governments pledged to introduce pilot projects to take back used electronic products and to strengthen collaborative efforts to fight illegal traffickers.

The UN Environment Programme (UNEP), under whose auspices the Basel Convention was adopted, said it expected a formal declaration to be issued committing governments to work towards improving their policies and prodding industry to pursue "green design."

The Basel Convention is an international treaty brokered in 1989 by the UN which regulates the cross-boundary transfer of toxic waste. In practical terms, it attempts to prevent the developing world from becoming the toxic dumping ground of wealthy states which might otherwise be reluctant to deal with their own waste.

UNEP executive director Achim Steiner said it was important that governments develop more effective regulatory regimes so that the market has incentives to respond more positively to the issue of electronic waste.

"By partnering with the private sector and with civil society, they can promote collection chains that channel obsolete goods back to their original manufacturers for recovery and recycling," he said.

Some 120 governments participated in the Nairobi conference, which was the eighth of its kind to deal with the Basel Convention. Some 20 to 50 million metric tonnes of e-waste are generated worldwide every year, comprising more than five per cent of all municipal solid waste. When the millions of computers purchased around the world every year (183 million in 2004) become obsolete they leave behind lead, cadmium, mercury and other hazardous wastes.

2006-12-09T15:12:00.000-05:00

Because it's too long to post but too good to miss, and much less serious than most of the stories here: "Poisoned Chalice"

2006-12-08T11:07:00.000-05:00

EPIDEMIC IN AFRICA

Ebola Virus Kills Thousands of Gorillas

Outbreaks of the deadly Ebola virus has killed up to 5,500 gorillas in West Africa. A study released on Friday says that together with commercial hunting, the virus could threaten the species with extinction.

A western gorilla in Congo: The Ebola virus is threatening the species.

An outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa hasn't just killed people. It has also caused the deaths of up to 5,500 gorillas in the region, according to a study published on Friday. Over 90 percent of the regional gorilla population perished between 2001 and 2005, and the outbreak -- combined with commercial hunting -- threatens to send the species into extinction, the researchers said.

The report, published in Friday's edition of the journal Science, says "ape species that were abundant and widely distributed a decade ago are rapidly being reduced to a tiny remnant population." The survey is the first comprehensive assessment of the deadly Ebola outbreak in Congo and Gabon in 2002 and 2003 that killed anywhere from 3,500 to 5,500 gorillas and an uncounted number of chimpanzees. Ebola has killed 1,287 people in Africa since 1976 according to the World Health Organization Web site.

"The Zaire strain of Ebola virus killed about 5,000 gorillas in our study area alone," said research team leader Magdalena Bermejo of the University of Barcelona in Spain, according to the report. "Add commercial hunting to the mix, and we have a recipe for rapid ecological extinction."

Bermejo's team began studying a group of western gorillas in 1995 in the Lossi Sanctuary in north-western Democratic Republic of Congo. "By 2002 we had identified 10 social groups with 143 individuals," the researchers wrote. But that year, an outbreak of Ebola killed dozens of people in the region, as well as 130 of the gorillas. The researchers turned their attention to another group of 95 gorillas, but a 2003 outbreak killed all but 4 of those animals.

That prompted the team to analyze the regional pattern of gorilla deaths. Friday's report concludes that the virus spread primarily from gorilla to gorilla in a southward direction. They arrived at the 5,500 figure based on the number of observed deaths and the known mortality rate of the Ebola virus, which kills between 50 and 90 percent of its victims.

Ebola hemorrhagic fever causes severe fever, headaches, joint and muscle aches, sore throat and weakness, followed by diarrhea, vomiting, stomach pain and internal and external bleeding. The virus is transmitted by direct contact with bodily fluids such as blood, urine or saliva. There is no cure or effective treatment, and vaccines are still in development.

The virus seems to be spreading faster among gorillas than among humans, Friday's report finds. Peter Walsh, an ecologist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, has an explanation. He says gorilla groups share territories, often eating fruit from the same tree. Feces from a sick gorilla could easily infect others. Moreover, gorillas and chimpanzees are known to handle the bodies of sick or deceased apes when they find them, which will often transmit the virus.

Bermejo's research supports a different study released in July which concluded that the virus was spreading among gorilla groups, rather than from humans to apes. "Our work is complementary to that -- we have shown it is spreading between groups," Walsh said.

"The issue here is that there is a certain amount of work that needs to be done to take these vaccines that already exist and put them into gorillas," Walsh said. "The price tag on that is a couple of million bucks." He is hoping for contributions from wealthy donors.

amb/Reuters/AP

2006-11-22T09:57:00.001-05:00

Rest in Peace :(

Rev. Angelo D'Agostino; founded AIDS orphanage in Kenya

By Associated Press | November 21, 2006

NAIROBI, Kenya -- The Rev. Angelo D'Agostino trained in urology at Tufts New England Medical Center, served in the Air Force as a surgeon, and became the first Catholic priest to be a psychiatrist specializing in psychoanalysis. But his legacy, his colleagues say, was built in a rented home in an African suburb.

Father D'Agostino, who opened one of the first orphanages for HIV-positive children in Kenya and fought to make AIDS drugs affordable to the poor, died yesterday of a heart attack. He was 80.

Father D'Agostino had been hospitalized for a week with abdominal pain and died after surgery, said Sister Mary Owens, who has worked at the Nyumbani Orphanage since it opened in 1992, just outside Kenya's capital of Nairobi.

"He was very inspiring; he always pushed you beyond your comfort zones," Owens told the Associated Press. "He was very much a man of compassion. He was mirroring the compassion of God. He reached out to everybody."

Father D'Agostino -- known at the orphanage as "Father Dag" -- opened Nyumbani with just three HIV-positive children.

"They were babies, abandoned in hospital," Owens said. "It was a day of tremendous joy when we finally welcomed the first three children."

With aid from the Jesuits and from fund-raising trips he made back in New England, Father D'Agostino expanded the home into a compound that cares for scores of children. Next week, the compound will become part of a community with the opening of Nyumbani Village, for AIDS orphans who were taken in by a grandparent or other caregiver. The village will help its occupants "sustain themselves through agriculture, poultry, dairy projects as well as handicrafts and external services," according to its website.

Nyumbani is the Swahili word for "home."

Two million of Kenya's 33 million people have HIV, although the number of new infections has been declining. In recent years, Father D'Agostino pushed for cheaper AIDS drugs and sued five primary schools to force them to admit HIV-positive children.

"Once they [the schools] find the child is from Nyumbani, they find some sort of excuse like they're too full, they don't have any room or whatever," Father D'Agostino told the Associated Press in 2004.

Angelo D'Agostino grew up in Providence, one of six children of Italian immigrants. His father, a construction worker, professed an antagonism toward religion. Despite this, two of the D'Agostino children became priests, another a Christian brother, and one a nun.

Father D'Agostino graduated from St. Michael's College in Vermont and Tufts University Medical School. During the Korean War, he joined the Air Force and worked in a military hospital near Washington.

His calling for the priesthood began with a retreat led by a Jesuit priest, Father D'Agostino had said. "I finally realized there was more to life than cutting up, and sewing up, people," he told the Washington Post.

After his discharge from the Air Force in 1955, Father D'Agostino joined a Jesuit center in Pennsylvania that was dedicated to religious meditation and study and tending a farm. No modern technology or conveniences or communications were permitted; conversation was in Latin.

Those years, he told the Post, were "probably two of the happiest years of my life."

Intent on becoming a medical missionary, Father D'Agostino learned his superiors had other plans.

"The Jesuits were always in the forefront of intellectual battles, and at the time there was a war going on between Catholicism and psychiatry," Father D'Agostino said. "The novice master thought maybe with my background in medicine I could talk to both sides. As a psychiatrist, I might be able to present to psychiatrists the validity of religious belief."

He obtained a residency in psychiatry at Georgetown University and trained at the Washington Psychoanalytic Institute.

He was ordained in 1966.

In addition to offering services at his psychiatric practice in Washington, he established the Center for Religion and Psychiatry at George Washington University. He directed the center until 1980, when he joined the Jesuit Refugee Service and was sent to Thailand to set up a camp for refugees. The following year, he went to Kenya to cooordinate the refugee work of Jesuit priests in several countries and to establish an institute on psychiatry and religion.

2006-11-03T12:24:00.000-05:00

The East African Standard (Nairobi)

November 2, 2006
Posted to the web November 3, 2006

Elizabeth Mwai
Nairobi

Two more suspected polio cases have been reported at the Dadaab refugee camp in Garissa District.

This comes as the Government launched a Sh18 million campaign against the disease in 28 districts.

The Director of Medical Services, Dr James Nyikal, said on Thursday two other campaigns estimated at Sh360 million would be carried out next year.

He said a surveillance team had detected symptoms of paralysis in two children at the cam. Last month, another suspected polio case, the first in 22 years, was reported in a three-year-old girl at the camp.

Nyikal said the children had been isolated and their samples taken to South Africa and the Kenya Medical Research Institute for analysis.

"We are treating any case of paralysis as polio and we appeal to parents who see their children develop weak limbs to take them to the nearest health centre for testing," he said.

Speaking to The Standard at the Ministry of Health headquarters, Nyikal said the campaign, sponsored by World Health Organisation (WHO) and United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef), targets 250,000 children aged below five.

Round one will take place between November 4 and 8 in Garissa, Wajir, Mandera and Moyale at Government and mission health facilities.

Tana River, Mwingi, Turkana, Thika, Meru, Isiolo and Kwale will be covered between December 2 and 6. Free vaccination against polio will also be done in Marsabit, Malindi, Tharaka, Lamu, Mombasa and Nairobi on the same dates.

Nyikal said vaccine worth Sh1 billion would be used in the campaigns. The second campaign, to be done in January, will target 5.5 million children.

WHO Director Mr David Okello raised concern over the outbreak of polio, saying Kenya had been recognised as a success story in eradicating the disease.

He said a technical team to prevent polio from spreading to other parts has been put in place, and urged donors to assist in the campaign.

"Polio is preventable and we cannot sit back We must stop it. We have the vaccines and technical knowledge, but we need logistical help," he said.

Unicef Kenya representative, Mr Heimo Laakkonen, said the organisation would fund the fourth round of the Horn of Africa anti-polio programme to the tune of Sh18.2 million. Laakkonen urged the Government to strengthen routine vaccinations to push up coverage to more than 80 per cent.

2006-11-01T08:31:00.000-05:00

The reason the United States should be careful in their marginalization of Africa:

Kenya to launch major tourism marketing drive in China

Kenya is set to launch a major tourism promotion drive to target Chinese tourists as well as leaders attending the China-Africa summit opening in Beijing later this week, tourism officials have said.

Kenyan tourism marketing agents said Tuesday the campaign to showcase the country as a tourist destination will be done through a variety of media advertisement, including billboards, roadshows and would also include the use of specialized teams of travel agents.

"We are launching a major marketing campaign in China later this week. China is a big market in Asia. We have established our presence there," Kenya Tourism Board Managing Director Dr. Ongong' a Achieng told Xinhua after the release of the third quarter report.

"We signed Approved Destination Status for outbound Chinese tourist groups in 2004 and we have translate this into increased marketing of tourism in China," he said.

He said a cast of 50 Chinese carried out a production shoot of TV soap opera "The Last Breakthrough," and the producers are planning to air the series to 100 million southern Chinese audiences, publicizing Kenyan culture and tourist attractions.

"The media advertisements will hit east Asian television screens in the next two to three days," said Achieng.

Achieng said the consistent marketing campaigns in China has seen increased number of Chinese tourists coming into the country since 2004, when the East African nation was granted the preferred tourist destination status.

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki has announced that he would travel to China on Wednesday to attend the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit. Some 40 African leaders are expected in the Chinese capital Beijing for the Summit.

The KTB chief said Kenya has established itself in China and the prospects of more trade with Beijing were looking brighter since the 2004 signing of the preferred tourist destination.
Copyright by People's Daily Online, all rights reserved

2006-10-27T13:39:00.000-04:00

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.

2006-10-20T11:20:00.000-04:00

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)

2006-10-17T11:28:00.000-04:00

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.

2006-10-17T11:25:00.000-04:00

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.

2006-10-16T09:45:00.000-04:00

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?"

2006-10-13T13:51:00.000-04:00

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.

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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

2006-10-13T00:11:00.000-04:00

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?

2006-10-10T11:23:00.001-04:00

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.

2006-10-04T10:02:00.000-04:00

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

"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....

2006-10-03T22:08:00.000-04:00

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...

2006-10-03T21:50:00.000-04:00

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.

2006-09-29T11:23:00.000-04:00

I've been doing some interesting train reading these days.
I'm nearly finished with Philip Caputo's "Acts of Faith"
It's about Sudan, specifically the conflicts amongst Sudanese government-backed Islamic militants and the Nuba people, and humanitarian aid organizations working out of that area. It' s a work of fiction but it certainly has my brain working, and out of curiosity, I started doing some internet research.

I know some basic things about the genocide in Sudan (and yes, unlike our government, I do not hesitate to call the conflict "genocide," because that's what it is, the calculated extermination of a people), but I did not know specific things that this book discusses, such as details about Nuba life and "illegal humanitarian aid organizations," or "renegade aid" as I like to call them, so I googled some things.

First of all, wikipedia provided me with some info about the Nuba:

Nuba

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nuba man from the 'Nuba' Sudanese tribe

Nuba is a collective term used for the peoples who inhabit the Nuba Mountains, in Kordofan province, Sudan, Africa. Although the term is used to describe them as if they were a single tribe, in fact the Nuba are quite diverse, and are made up of different ethnic and linguistic groups. Estimates of the number of Nuba vary widely; the Sudanese government estimated that they numbered 1.1 million in 1993.

Leni Riefenstahl, better known for directing Triumph of the Will and Olympia, published a collection of her photographs of the people titled The Last of the Nuba in 1976

Between 1973 and 1994, the Sudanese government introduced programs to promote large-scale, privately owned agriculture to many regions including the Nuba Mountains. The efforts were redoubled as a result of IMF structural adjustment programs instituted in 1978. Large-scale mechanized farms were introduced, which pushed small peasants into marginal land between semi-arid and more lush savanna areas. Sudanese governments during the period misperceived the Nuba as a unified ally of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), which furthered the oppressive measures against the tribes. These measures were indiscriminately applied, even to groups having no connection to the SPLA, such as the numerous Nuba Muslims. An example of these measures is the refusal to grant leases for undeveloped land that had been marked for future large-scale agricultural uses to peasants who were starving during the drought between 1983 and 1985. By 1999, over 100,000 people had been forcibly displaced by the agriculture programs, many of whom moved to urban areas, and are forced to face the difficulties associated with that type of transition.

In the 1986 elections, the Umma Party lost several seats to the Nuba Mountains General Union and to the Sudan National Party, due to the reduced level of support from the Nuba Mountains region. There is reason to believe that attacks by the government-supported militia, the Popular Defense Force (PDF), on several Nuba villages were meant to be in retaliation for this drop in support, which was seen as signaling increased support of the SPLA. The PDF attacks were particularly violent in nature, and have been cited as examples of crimes against humanity that took place during the Second Sudanese Civil War (Salih 1999).

Sorry for the blue underlines, I can't seem to get them to go away.

Through wikipedia links I found this site. It's particularly interesting because it has up to date news as well as pictures on it.

Next I wanted to find out more about renegade aid, ie aid flown into Sudan via private chartered and not sanctioned by the U.N. This is incredibly tricky to find out about online, but I am going to continue my quest for information. What I did find was information that basically said non U.N. aid is getting to Sudan now. Caputo's novel was published in 2005, so given the time at which it was written, the situation has probably changed, given the volatility of the region as well as some of the peace accords that have been attempted.

Since this entry is disjointed a bit, I've put some links below in case anyone is interested in further research, though these truly only scratch the surface.

A Smith professor's site
A non-profit website based in France
Amnesty International Statement on the blocking of Humanitarian Aid
An organization dedicated to the survival of the Nuba
A "humanitarian aid report"with lots of African news on it
A great article from National Geographic about the Nuba, with pictures

2006-09-26T10:25:00.000-04:00

A grateful email from Mboya follows (warning: I think someone has been giving him American self-help books in order to deal with his sadness in being unemployed so there is a rather funny bit about self discovery and appreciation and a lot of Dr. Phil-esque bullsh*t, but you gotta love him for absorbing that stuff):

Hi allison,

good news! you cant imagine l went through and received the cash, actually it was no a hardship since i applyed everything in orders all the details you had given to me. [Getting cash from a MoneyGram is frustrating because you need to know the answer to a secret question and have a reference number, ugh. Luckily I learned from the last one to tell Mboya every last detail on the receipt so he doesn't have to wait a day to email me]

Otherwise i will be home for at list one day so that i can pay for the fee and i think i will settle all the bills for this semester till December.thanks sooo much. please tell all your friends how much i appreciate and hope same day we shall see each other since i know only mountains never meet , but humans you never know!!! [A favorite Swahili proverb Milima haikutani, lakini binadumu hukutana, Mountains never meet, but people, they do meet] cause self discovery is the first step towards self appreciation...... only that growth means change and change means letting go of the old to make way for new.As seed doesn`t ''betray'' other seeds when it grows in to a flower. As we head off in new directions, we will find new friends who are going the same way. By sharring new experiences we will form bonds that are just as strong as the bond we now have to break with travelling companions of the past. [positive, supportive friends are essential to a frogram of growth] [rrrrright. moving on]

Allison i really have no much, only that in Kenya we are expecting for the short rains seasons to begin in late october through mind-December,right now people are preparing for the planting season,to make sure the try weeds is cleared and burned , cause we allso believe is part of manure which is good for soil and it keeps it fertile for the germination of the plants. [Mboya's family farms, which has been difficult in the past because between spring 2003 and 2006 the rains, long rains that go from the end of March til June-ish and the short rains mentioned above, have failed, leading to drought and famine. After we left there in January, the rains arrived a few months later and caused damaging floods. I am hoping that next month the rain is on schedule and falls gently]

I had a question ? How do you want to learn the swahili? For me i had suggestion of you sending same wards [one of the things I love about Mboya's emails are that he writes the word like it sounds when he says it. When he says "words" it comes out as "wards" so he writes "wards" probably not even thinking about spelling since English is his second language and Swahili is phonetic and no one cares if your spelling is slightly off] in English then i can translate in swahili!! not unless you have other option!!!!

Samething i didn't understand! what do you mean your friends are so happy that they could do samething good for same one else? Do they want may be to educate more kids or students who are not able to pay for their schools or collages?or orphanes, please clarify to me! [that email is going to be a long one. I'm not sure how to approach the answer to this. I mean, there's the simple answer "we want to help someone go to school" or the personal one I would give him about being disillusioned by aid agencies and feeling the need to help someone and knowing that my money was being well spent by sending it to him. I'll have to think on this]

Well am not still ,not the\at good in typing i can take the whole day, although am better than before , i will still keep talking to you any other time,any time . [awww he's so dedicated! I forgot what it was like trying to type before I learned how to type. It was torture. poor guy. plus in english! he must want to bash his head against the keyboard]

Please if you send anything, think on the duties for the postage fee if you can, otherwise the end-up by charging so much at the post office,but i think with the stationery's are not that bad; but with electronics like the phone etc.hope it will be OK !cause i can't want to use it, and i really miss it pleeeeeeease.Anyways am not pushing anything just take your time. [I sent Mboya my old cell phone but of course, cingular locked it so it can't be used by anyone not in the network. Never fear, he sent it back and I'm going to send it to an unlocking company in Cali. Take that cingular b*tches. ok not really b*tches, your network really works well for me, LOL]

wish you wonderful schooling and hope you can also have fun, do you have terms off from school? please give my best to Sister Amy,your boyfriend, Reachel and Melissa,Elizabeth and the rest;Tell them i miss to see them, hopefully pretty soooon than later for God will.

Thanks and please take care also don't fall to keep in tough. God bless you. by 4 now

Mboya.

Now you can all see why Mboya rocks and is a grateful and wonderful and pretty funny person. I am going to reply to this email and send him a care package too. I am hoping to send him a disposible camera so he can take pictures of his family and then send it back to me so I can get it developed and I can post his pics and send him some, because most Kenyan farming families don't have pictures of each other or themselves. That's it for now, thanks for reading.
Allison

2006-09-22T08:56:00.000-04:00

You think you've got drama in your life??!

Kenya: U.S. Unhappy With Country's Envoy to Washington

The East African Standard (Nairobi)

September 17, 2006
Posted to the web September 18, 2006

Otsieno Namwaya
Nairobi

Kenya is the focus of scrutiny by the United States Government, a development that could have far-reaching implications on diplomatic relations.

At the centre of the storm is the Kenyan Ambassador to Washington, DC, Mr Peter Oginga Ogego, who raised eyebrows two weeks ago when he criticised Illinois Senator Barack Obama on the US soil even before he had formally presented his papers to the US Government.

Independent sources say Ogego also violated diplomatic etiquette by dispatching the caustic letter directly to Senator Obama in disregard of the usual diplomatic channels.

"The Bush administration saw this as unkind, uncalled for and a complete breach of protocol, criticising a popular US senator even before presenting his credentials," said our source.

Ogego's is the second diplomatic gaffe involving a Kenyan envoy in Washington in less than a year. The Government had to recall Ambassador Leonard Ngaithe last October after a female member of the embassy staff accused him of sexual harassment.

The incident allegedly took place while President Kibaki was on an official visit there. Ogego, perceived to be close to Foreign Affairs minister Mr Raphael Tuju, was once close to Liberal Democratic Party leader Mr Raila Odinga, with whom he was detained during the Moi administration.

But he had fallen out with Raila by the time he was first appointed as the ambassador to Canada soon after Narc swept to power. Sources also said his relations with the US State Department could be on a rocky stretch given the seriousness Bush himself appears to have given criticism against Obama by speaking on the graft war in Kenya.

The Department's unease with Ogego is also believed to have been aggravated first by the fact that the new ambassador for unexplained reasons, did not show up during the presentation of an award to former Ethics and Governance PS Mr John Githongo in Washington.

Githongo, who has expressed willingness to return home and help unravel the Anglo Leasing scandal, not only received the award, but also on September 7 met Obama in his office. The two are believed to have discussed Kenya and the former PS pet subject - corruption.

Last week, Githongo for the first time said it was not true that Kibaki was a good man, surrounded by bad people. He argued that "bad leaders surrounded themselves with bad people".

Ogego's situation has been compounded by the fact that Government Spokesman, Dr Alfred Mutua, has since attacked Obama twice in a manner and language that has not been taken kindly by the US.

Mutua accused Obama of misrepresenting facts about the Government's efforts in fighting corruption, and suggested that the US Embassy staff in Nairobi could have wrongly briefed him.

But, while the statements by Mutua and Ogego may have been made out of the notion that Senator Obama's sentiments did not reflect US official policy towards Kenya, it is telling that Bush chose last Thursday to chastise the Kibaki administration for lack of commitment in the anti-corruption war, only two days after Githongo met Obama, an influential member of the US Foreign Affairs committee, to discuss graft in Kenya.

Ogego's absence for the KCA award disappointed the community, as it was a departure from tradition.

Githongo delivered a strongly worded speech about corruption in Kenya that was echoed two days later by President Bush when he officially received Ogego's credentials. Bush expressed concern over endemic corruption and the seeming lack of commitment by the Government to end the vice.

This was the first time for President Bush, who has never visited Africa since assuming office, to talk about Kenya and specifically about corruption. It comes at a time when informed sources say that the US Government, which only recently posted Mr Michael Ranneberger to Nairobi as its new ambassador, plans to speak out more strongly on corruption.

Its major concerns include the fact that, even though the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission has a huge national budget, it is yet to show results nearly three years since its establishment, even though there is compelling evidence of high level corruption.

In particular, the US and UK, where Githongo is exiled, want the Anglo Leasing investigation finalised and the culprits prosecuted.

On Thursday, The Standard quoted the UK High Commissioner to Kenya, Mr Adam Wood, casting aspersions on the Government's anti-corruption war.

"We would feel reassured if there was evidence of action; if there were prosecutions; if files passed on to the Attorney General for prosecutions are acted on," said Wood.

courtesy of AllAfrica.com

I read this article and I think "wow politics is a confusing and nasty business and it will come back to bite you in the rear."
I think there are a couple of important points made in this article.
1. President Bush has never been to Africa since assuming office. That's really sad. Most presidents are afraid of Africa, I think, or more likely, don't see it as important enough to visit. When Clinton went to Rwanda to apologize for the genocide he let happen under his nose (much like Darfur, only worse because the Rwandan aggressors didn't have an army, they had homemade weapons and little organization and could've been crushed by UN peacekeepers, sorry other story) he stayed for 30 minutes, never left the landing strip and kept the engine of Air Force One running the entire time. Classy. Oh well, I guess you have to give the president credit for at least meeting with these people and showing some concern. Everyone knows he wrote "Not on my watch" on the Rwandan Genocide report. I hope he keeps that promise.
2. The president has been talking about peacekeeping in Sudan with the Sudanese president and corruption in Kenya with the Kenyan president (a while ago) and the Tanzanian president (recently) yet I hear nothing about the "war on terror" which I'm sure was brought up, but it didn't seem to be the primary focus. Sigh of relief.
3. Barack Obama. Though his words were harsh and I'm not totally sure he should be sticking his oar in this issue, even though he is half Kenyan, I am happy about his interest in African politics. The United States is a strong and powerful nation and I think our ability to make important changes in Africa is great. Philanthropists have already shown us what can be done there, and it's time for the government to show some interest. I know it's hard when our priorities are elsewhere, but I think our leader could at least do a goodwill tour. SOMETHING. I think if Obama were president things maybe different. We'll see.

2006-09-21T10:40:00.000-04:00

WOW.

Because of the overwhelming response of my wonderful family and friends, I've created an ING savings account with Mboya's name on it. This way I can deposit any overflow of funds to that account where it will earn interest at a decent rate and we'll have to raise that much less next time around. This way, any donations received after I make the Money Gram wire transfer will have a place to safely live until next semester.

Thanks everyone, you rock.

2006-09-21T08:35:00.000-04:00

I've created this blog so that I may post news and bits from Africa, but also for a man named Joseph Mboya Musau.

I met Mboya in 2003 while studying abroad in Kenya. He worked for the Centre for Wildlife Management, run by the School for Field Studies, where I was studying and living.
Mboya's a great guy. He's funny and very sweet and would do anything for you. He was the one in charge of picking up our mail in Nairobi and he was damn faithful about it too, knowing that he would have to face the wrath of lonely research students if he didn't deliver. He also ran the camp's duka, or shop, and if we saw something we liked in one of the few supermarkets we got a chance to visit, he would go to the ends of Nairobi or further to try and get it for the duka. This included drinkable yogurt, which sounds foul but is actually one of the most delicious things I've ever had, nevermind the fact that I think the natural probiotics in it kept me quite healthy in the last weeks I was there, free from the scourge of stomach illnesses plaguing the other campers.

While I did spend plenty of time with Mboya in '03, I didn't really get to know him all that well, mostly due to the staff/student relationship guidelines set up by the school which kept the staff from hanging around us much, and also because I was embedded in my research and writing my paper at the time. In January 2006 I returned to Kenya with my college friends Rachel and Melu, and who was there to meet us in the airport? Mboya, who was shocked that I remembered his name. "How could I forget it?!" I said. With that he grabbed my bag and we were friends once again.

In 2003 email was somewhat scarce in Kenya, and while it is still not commonplace there, it's more accessible to people. This made staying in touch with Mboya and all my Kenyan friends much easier. When I returned from Kenya, I immediately emailed Mboya to send my greetings. He replied with some unsettling news: he had lost his job at the school, not because he was fired or a bad worker, but because not enough American students were going to the school, and there wasn't enough money to pay his salary anymore. Mboya had worked at the school since he was 16 (he is now around 32ish) and was completely unprepared to be thrown out on his own to find work. He was sad about this, I could tell, but he was more concerned for his 13 year old sister who had just started secondary school. He had been paying her school fees, as his parents could not scrape together enough money from the proceeds from the sale of produce from their land, as a three year drought had made their farm all but infertile. He never asked me to send him money, nor did he tell me what would happen to his sister if she got kicked out of school, but I will be honest, I imagined the worst case scenario. To have the opportunity at 13 to go to school and suddenly not be able to afford it is devastating, but in Kenya, it's worse than that. In a country where, according to the CIA World Factbook, 50% of the population lives below the poverty line and 40% of the population is unemployed, there aren't many options for a poor 13 year old girl who's just been kicked out of school. There were dark thoughts that swirled in my head: prostitution, fragmentation of the family, and the not so dark but just as grim: marriage to an older man, perhaps as a second or third wife. That's when I put my foot down. I called my friend Rachel and my parents, and between the three of us we can up with 3 months tuition, a mere $165, and I wired Mboya the money. All was well.

That was in April. Now it's September, and the school year has restarted. I received an email from Mboya earlier this month, but due to my own negligence, I didn't read it or respond right away. When I finally did respond, I found out that Mboya's sister is on the verge of being kicked out of school. The family does not have enough money to pay her school fees and they were due September 4th. He is panicking. I need him to stop panicking, and that's why I started this blog. I started this blog to put a human face on a continent many people might not think about every day. I started this blog so I'd have a better way to help a person in need.

After Hurricane Katrina, I donated a good chunk of cashmoney to the Red Cross. I was so disappointed when some of that money had gone astray, had been used to buy jewelry or to get a tatoo. I was so discouraged by this, that I vowed to start helping specific people. While organizations working in Africa are great and helpful and important, I decided that if I could help Mboya Musau's sister get through school it might be one of the best things I ever decided to do, and I knew that it would be helping a person directly. And if she goes on to be the first woman president of Kenya, hey, I'll know my time and money was well spent, and even if she doesn't, I know that my friends and I will have helped a girl and in many ways, changed the course of her life.

Because the money must be wired to Kenya tomorrow, I've put a paypal button in this blog. It's 100% safe and linked directly back to me. You can make a donation with your credit or debit card. If you would feel better writing a check, comment on this blog, I will send you my address. If you do make a donation, I will send you a letter of thanks with the amount you donated for tax purposes, but do take note that this is not a registered 501(c)3 charity and your donation may not be tax-deductible.

Thanks again for your time. Check back here for updates and news from Africa.

Allison
Mboya and me (looking busted). Yes Mboya wears his parka despite the heat!

News From Africa

EPIDEMIC IN AFRICA

Ebola Virus Kills Thousands of Gorillas

Rest in Peace :(

Rev. Angelo D'Agostino; founded AIDS orphanage in Kenya

Warning: Snows of Kilimanjaro, Mt. Kenya vanishing

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

Water supplies in jeopardy

Madonna in Malawi to adopt child, help orphans

Nuba

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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