On Being a KBWer

I volunteered to answer the call for Kenyan Bloggers Day on KBW not knowing where to begin. Should I rant about our MPs and Serikali? rave about the patient Kenyan masses who are thieved upon by their leaders? scream that we have a lack of young leadership in our country? What do I talk about without sounding like I just did it for the sake of fulfilling a chore on my to do list (no such list exists anyway). What about being a Kenyan blogger or being Kenyan should I share with the blogosphere that hasn't been said or done already? I thought about writing something on how we as a nation have not yet achieved Madaraka. However, that would be undermining all the efforts that our freedom fighters put into seeing that we as people would be independent to rule ourselves as we saw fit. Therefore, it's much easier for me to note a few things that I have gained as a Kenyan blogger. Being a KBWer is a learning experience for me. It is great to see the Kenyan blogosphere grow in leaps and bounds. Through KBW, I have been able to use some of the skills I learnt in Computer Science 101 that I thought would never be of use to me when it came to working on my template. Through KBW, I have read about commentaries and opinions on topics that I would never have thought of paying attention to. Hence, I'm glad to be a Kenyan blogger. I'm happy with the work I see put forth by every single member. Therefore, I look forward to great things in the Kenyan community both at home and in the diaspora. It is only through projects like these that we slowly but surely start to make a difference no matter how small in shaping our destiny as Kenyans.

Happy Madaraka Day!

Been a minute...

It's been a while. I think I came down with a case of procrasti-lazy-bloggitis/aria. I have caught up on a few more reads and happened on some CDs that forever dotted my trip to shaggz with mine mater. I now own:

The Rough Guide to Franco: Africa's Legendary Guitar Maestro
and
The Very Best of the Rumba Giant of Zaire [Audio CD] Franco

Don't know whether it was conditioning which happened aforehand in my younger years cooped up in a car on a looooooooooooong ride to my grandparents but somehow, I now don't seem to mind Franco's music. The shady bone in me is quite inspired to acquire this one too. Considering artist on songs #1 and 6 was a constant fixture in my uncle's ride. As for reads, here's what I've been delving into:

1. Opening Spaces An Anthology of Contemporary African Women's Writing - Edited by Yvonne Vera
2. Discovering Home by Binyavanga Wainaina
3. Discovering Home - 3rd collection of stories from the Caine Prize for African Writing

If you've read any of the above books let me know what you thought about them and if you haven't share your thoughts when you read them. Suggestions on other interesting reads are most welcome...

Investing in our own...

Been procrastinating on blogging the past few weeks. I know I promised to blog a little about the African Children's Choir since tene. I did go to the concert and I left wanting to take all those kids home with me. The children in the choir have experienced hardship be it through the death of a family member from HIV or from dire poverty. They tour and perform globally in efforts to raise more money for other children who they have left behind and also for those who are unseen yet exist. Most of the proceeds go towards education from primary through university. Each year a new choir is selected from different African countries. This particular choir was composed of kids from Kenya and Uganda (they have kids also from Rwanda, South Africa, Ghana and Nigeria). The Kenyan kids were mainly from Mombasa.
Needless to say the perfomances were amazing and energetic. The show brought back memories of how kids in Kenya and in Africa as a whole perform to the max showing some serious stage discipline and always with a smile. If you get a chance to see the kids please do so you can read more about their schedule on their website (they will be in the UK this summer). Apparently they have been touring all over Stato and have been here since Jan and will be going back to Kenya or Uganda at the end of the year. I asked one girl which state she liked best in their tour and she said she loved the places where she had met Kenyans (insert serious sniff here) - that should be incentive for you blogosphere to come out and support them. You can listen to one song Parapanda here (the link is also on the first sentence of this page). If you get to see them, I hope you enjoy their perfomance as much as I did.

Flashback: I went to a big city kanjo primo. Friday assembly always amused me since we had to sing the national anthem (in swa or kimombo). Considering that we had classes from pre-unit to standard eight and each standard had at least 150 kids we always ended up singing the anthem in rounds i.e we would start together but the upper primary kids would go through the anthem chepchep and the lower primary kids would sing polepole resulting in a resounding echo :o)

Muganda Man buying lingerie

Another funny one from Jay's Idle Notes blog. Takes a minute to load so be patient
Jay's Idle Notes: Muganda Man buying lingerie

Only in Africa

Not much on my end except I'm looking forward to seeing the African Children's Choir this evening. Will blog about that later. Came across this hilarious pic on Arjen Westra's blog.

Arjen Westra's African Weblog