Wednesday, December 31, 2008

A Christmas Miracle

It is always hectic around Christmas time, no need to remind anyone of that. I have a remarkably weird mailman even by today’s standards. He rings my bell incessantly sometimes even though he knows the door is open and then other times he just doesn’t deliver at all. He takes pleasure in hiding important bills and letters in the junk mail though I have asked him not to. It’s always dicey at Christmas.

It was the day before I left for the Motherland. In my business where I actually earn money, this is a difficult time for people. I am borrowing from another person in calling them the Hellidays, but alas for many, family, lousy economy, traveling, breakups, failed marriages ad in finitum fill my time before I leave. I was seeing someone with a particularly difficult situation when the bell rings at my door. And it rings and rings and rings. I try not to answer but John (the mailman) is insistent and since he’s always quite close to the edge I figured he was having a worse meltdown than what was happening in my office. Grudgingly I got up, apologized to the client and went to the door.

Low and behold he hands me two brown packets from Kenya. Since one can neither register, insure, nor have delivery confirmation on anything to and from Kenya, I did not see the urgency in my answering the door; John did. He wanted to be sure I got them and advised me to be careful since there were terrorists over there.
I returned to my patient client (and by that I mean she’s really patient to tolerate such an interruption) and we found a way to succeed for her on Christmas. I then turned my attention to the packets. Could it be??? Could the schools really have sent me their reports on time? Well yes and no.

Malanga, the flagship and Manyole, the one on probation indeed sent me most of their reports in orderly fashion, and Mabunge who I decided to cut loose only sent a letter asking to be reinstated and no reports. My assessment of the schools was correct, but the miracle is that I got the reports on time and that we are back to feeding several hundred children despite the dismal economy here and in Nambale.

It’s New Year’s Eve. My grandson is sound asleep upstairs. The city is quietly blanketed with fluffy white stuff and I; I’m quietly optimistic about the New Year. I know we elected the right man for the job and I know we are doing the right thing in Nambale; I even think by next year we shall be able to add a new school or a new village. I’m not unhappy about 2008; we needed every minute to get to now. And that my friends is a true Christmas Miracle.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008


Stop the Presses Literally

While many fault our news media (especially Bill O'Reilly and Rusch Limbaugh) for being mean to our politicians, at least they get to be mean and one-sided. As for me, I love my journalism slanted towards the left and am a great devotee of Keith Oberman, others can always choose Fox news for the opposing view.

Kenya, however, has gone to the extreme. Last year at this time, when elections loomed large and killing was wrapped under the Chrismas tree, there were hints of what was to come. Indeed when full scale rioting and killing did occur Kibeki shut down the presses and News Networks for over a month. It was astounding to watch and the world did weigh in.

They're at it again and no one seems to be watching. The bill brought before Parliment is amazing for what is called a democracy. The government wants to decide what the news can and can't report under the guise of preserving the peace in the country. The MP's are particularly touchy about being criticized for not paying their taxes while reaping huge salaries and living in the best part of Nairobi. However no one can report it better than a newspaper that hasn't quite been shut down. So without further ado from The Standard Newspaper 17 December 2008

Call for caution

As legislators celebrated last week’s passing of the draconian law against the media and called for additional measures, Raila, Mutula Dr Simiyu Eseli (Kimilili, Ford-Kenya) and Nyong’o called for caution against Press censorship.

Assistant Minister Danson Mungatana opened the tirade against when he accused the media of plotting to bring down Parliament and influence President Kibaki not to assent to the Bill. He asked Speaker Kenneth Marende to censure the Press over the coverage of the passing of the Bill.

"The President must sign that Bill," Mr Mungatana thundered, and accused MPs opposed to the Bill of "playing to the gallery".

He claimed that besides attempting to gag Parliament, the Press was trying to incite public disaffection over MPs’ refusal to pay taxes on their hefty allowances.

"There is a serious campaign against this Parliament by the local media and internationally over the Kenya Communications (Amendment) Bill," Mungatana said.

He claimed that the Press was inciting international hatred against the Tenth Parliament.

Assistant Minister David Musila accused US Ambassador Michael Ranneberger and his German counterpart Walter Lindner of "meddling in the affairs of this country and Parliament for questioning why we passed that Bill".

He asked Mr Marende "to stop them (envoys) from meddling in the affairs of the nation" and restrain the media for "purporting to fight for freedom".

But Raila cautioned MPs against reintroducing "the dark days of dictatorship" and said Parliament, however aggrieved, cannot wish away the pivotal role of a free Press in a democracy.

Raila said although Parliament is the supreme authority of the land, respect for "the Fourth Estate is equally important and must be respected. We have come a long way from the day of dictatorship when most people could not dare to address a Press conference, when torture was the order of the day".

He said any law that threatened Press freedom was an assault on democracy "that we fought so hard to bring. Any attempt to gag the Press needs to be resisted strongly".

Seeking publicity

But Uhuru, who is also a Deputy Prime Minister, accused the PM and opponents of the Bill of "seeking publicity and pursuing personal political agendas" and asked Marende to censure the media and "restore the rule of law in this country and supremacy of Parliament in this land".

Eseli said although the media have been censured for fanning violence early this year, reforming the Press must not be counterproductive.

"What shall we do with the media? As we try to reform the media, let us not try and gag them because they are also our mouthpiece," he said.

Nyong’o urged members to isolate emotions from the process of reforming the media and debate over their taxation. He said Parliament’s supremacy must not be turned into a clichÈ to evade legitimate censure of the legislature.

He said: "Let us isolate this problem from other issues and deal with it (Bill) rather than hang the Press and hang ourselves.

"After we have restored democracy, there should be no attempt to travel one step backwards," he said.

Mutula said although Parliament is the supreme legislative authority, it cannot remain indifferent to public sensitivity and international concerns. He said Parliament’s authority on making laws "is subject to audit by the country and international community".

Assistant Minister Bifwoli Wakoli asked the Speaker to take action against MPs who absented themselves from Parliament during crucial debate "taking beer as we make laws only to vilify us outside the House".

Marende will make a ruling "at the earliest opportune time" after asking the media and politicians to exercise restraint on the matter.

Ndaragwa MP Jeremiah Kioni censured legislators distancing themselves from the Bill, saying all members were responsible.

Assistant Minister Kabando wa Kabando called for the serialisation of the draconian law so that more Kenyans could critique it.
| | | Comments (6) | Add Comment

The Standard is a publication of the Standard Group
http://www.eastandard.net/InsidePage.php?id=1144001951&cid=4&

Sunday, December 14, 2008


Yes Susan There is a Santa Claus

The Board of One Village just left. It was an incredible meeting, something that I dreamed of but now it’s true.Getting a good working Board takes luck, tenacity and a je ne sais quoi that melded for the first time in our 6 year history. Tonight we not only got it off the ground but also took flight like Rudolph aiming for the stars.
What a pleasure it is to work for such talented and optimistic people. They see possibilities and dream dreams, but still hold my feet to the fire. From it just being my dream it has become a shared dream, and I’m so grateful to take this walk with them. The questions they ask, the breadth of knowledge in people younger than my own children brings me such joy. You see I know about the Peacekeepers and they are on the Board. More than that I wish the folks my age could believe in them as much as I do. They are changing the world sometimes silently and sometimes with a roar, but they are among us and we need to be mindful.
Our Secretary asked me if I had heard from KMET. I guess I haven’t been too current on the blog. It’s always the same story, people write more when things are bad not when they're good. For me, One Village is always a walk of faith. It was only last week, when I asked God what did He want me to do. It had been almost 8 weeks since I had heard from Monica. I felt like maybe it was my pride that kept me going or my driven nature. I realized that the Board meeting was a week away and I might have nothing for them. It had happened once before and, in fairness, everyone was quite understanding, but I felt like such a failure.
I wondered how I could have read Monica so wrong when I was in Kisumu. I was sure we were on the same page, but 3 emails later still no response. I tried to remind myself that things are always slow back and forth to Africa, but I knew that this was a bluff. So I readied myself to admit that it was time to close it down. No KMET no micro-finance in January…no micro-finance no progress, and it went down from there. It’s just where my mind goes.
A week ago I heard from Monica saying “pole sana” sort of a” I’m sorry you poor thing “in Swahili. She had lost some staff and hadn’t gotten my emails. We were on for January start. I asked a former member of the Board to help with the MOU and she was Johnny on the spot. She got that puppy written up in time for the meeting tonight. S is a remarkable woman to whom I shall always be in debt.
So now I can dream dreams again. The Board okayed things that I needed, encouraged me and vowed to come back in January to dream and do the much needed work that we must do to get the children fed, clean water, and enough money to sustain them in their endeavors. It’s safe now to go to bed now and dream of sugarplums and PlayPumps and know that the Board is with me. It is indeed Christmas.