A sample text widget

Etiam pulvinar consectetur dolor sed malesuada. Ut convallis euismod dolor nec pretium. Nunc ut tristique massa.

Nam sodales mi vitae dolor ullamcorper et vulputate enim accumsan. Morbi orci magna, tincidunt vitae molestie nec, molestie at mi. Nulla nulla lorem, suscipit in posuere in, interdum non magna.

Fun for kids in Kenya

During my last trip to Kenya, I realized that next time around I need to do more fun stuff with the kids instead of just shuttling them around to visit one rela to the next (and the Spur and Village Market doesn’t count). Beyond trying to catch up with family, I’m also guilty of trying to sneak in quite a bit of work and catching up and not spending enough time just chilling out and enjoying being back in Nairobi/Kenya. Then there’s the problem of having grown up as a “go out and play!” / create your own entertainment estate kid, where your parents’ involvement in entertaining you was limited to nyama choma and Shade/JKA/Hillock/Small World on Sunday :-) So when I land in Nairobi with two kids, my imagination as far as what to do with them is limited (and I’ve found my friends there to be similarly handicapped…or to use the trusty clutch of the “club”).

Anywho, I’ve promised myself that the next trip home will be relaxing and enjoyable for all of us (Sunday at Tamasha doesn’t count hehehe), and so I was very happy to come across this link today with great ideas on stuff to do with kids in Kenya including short trips around the country and picnic sites where you can explore Mau Mau caves.

On y va!

New (proposed?) Nairobi City by-laws

I know people have been looking for the electronic version, so here you go. Haven’t had a chance to peruse, but according to the twitterverse there’s lots of things that make you go hhmmm (and worse).

Animal-Control By-laws

Derelict-Vehicle By-Laws

Ground-rent

Traffic-management

Instant-ticketing

Barcamp Diaspora

For US/DC folks, Barcamp Diaspora will be held at John Hopkins on July 25, 2009. The theme is “Investing our Talent Where it Counts.”

More details here.

Quick Hits (Lazy edition)

Lazy, because the links are largely lifted from stuff I put up on twitter [yep, twitter still sucking dry my blogging mojo – it’s like color tv vs. black and white].

Anyway, on to the links:

African Venture Capital Fellows: Program aimed at promoting venture capital in Africa by educating and training future venture capitalists and leaders of high-growth and early stage companies based in Africa. Initial target countries – South Africa and Nigeria.

Stanford’s E-corner: free videos and podcasts of leading Silicon Valley thought leaders.

– What Google should do in Africa – support Open Spectrum

– Twitter for newbies.

Mobile Tech for Social Change Camp Nairobi

Date: June 27th, 2009
Location: Strathmore University
Time: 10 a.m – 9:00 pm
Cost: $15:00 beforehand, Kshs 1,000 at the door

Organizers: The geek-chick triumvirate – Juliana (Afromusing), Katrin Verclas, Jessica Colaco

What?
# A day-long camp on mobile tech 4 social change at Strathmore University in Nairobi
# Will explore mobile tech to advance social development and social change goals
# Will be participatory and interactive
# Is open to anyone with passion and interest in the topic
# Will include a fun afterparty with “Just a Band”

More details, click here.

Techsoup Kenya Launched

From the website: “Techsoup Kenya programme aims to assist NGOs in Kenya by providing software for very low fees in conjunction with ICT donor partners (currently Microsoft), as well as by supporting NGOs to make the most of their ICT purchases and infrastructure.”

Podcast of It’s Our Turn to Eat Reading in Nairobi

As you might know there have been numerous efforts both by Michaela Wrong and others in Kenya to try and circumvent the self-imposed ban that book-sellers in Nairobi have put on the book, It’s Our Turn to Eat.

Among the efforts is a programme called “It’s Our Turn to Read” where readings of the book will take place throughout the country along with discussions as well as distributing 5,000 copies of the book through various channels e.g. media (the Nairobi Star campaign(, street vendors, churches and school).

The first reading was done at the Kenya National Theater in Nairobi where about 4,000 people showed up. You can catch a great podcast of the event here. Also see Rasna Warah’s op-ed on whether this campaign can be the beginning of something larger.

Beyond the Romance of Micro-finance

Amen