Very Inspiring story of two brothers, who went to the U.S to study medicine while there they lost their parents to AIDS, they promised their villages they would come back and built a hospital.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Friday, December 4, 2009
Matatu Art
A video on matatu's Kenya's public transportation taxis. The owners find a way to make their taxis more popular with the crowds to attract customers.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Nairobits web design school for underpriviledged
This is just awesome!
NAIROBITS
1999-2009, Africa
A Digital Design School where young people from Nairobi`s slums are trained as webdesigners and cultural entrepreneurs.
Original concept: Butterfly Works
The adventure of Nairobits started as 1 year training in web design, resulting in an exhibition.
The tremendous success of the initiative prompted the continuation of the program that overtime developed in a extensive curriculum that is constantly updated and adapted.
NairoBits is now run independently by a team of Kenyan managers and teachers.
With nearly 100% employment rate for their graduates, Nairobits represents a unique opportunity of life change for the youth of the slums.
On the successful model of Nairobits, Zanzibits and Addisbits were also developed. Butterfly Works is now happily busy developing Mamabits, the mother of all Bit`s, a franchiseholder and support centre that will ensure training and assistance to all Bit`s projects.
Slumdog digital design
Mark Kamau, the general manager of Nairobits, a digital design school that provides education to young people living in Nairobi slums. Calling himself the ‘Slumdog Manager’, he gave an inspiring talk on his journey out of the slums of Kenya and the future of African aid.
He estimated that 80 per cent of his school friends were either in prison or dead – two had been covered in petrol and set alight, suffering the ‘instant justice’ of the slums after they had been caught stealing.
But his message was hopeful and he argued that the way in which he had been helped by the Nairobits program could serve as a template for Africa: he was respected, challenged, supported and given responsibility and Africa needs this sort of intelligent engagement over aid, he said.
His simple and powerful speech earned a standing ovation."
About Mark
Mark Kamau was born against a backdrop of crime and hardship in the slums of Nairobi in 1980. Mark’s dream of a better future finally became reality in 2000 when he registered at web design school NairoBits.
Although he had never touched a keyboard before, Mark began as one of the first web design students in East Africa studying design, technique and African culture.
Following graduation he moved from creating his first website for an international client, to becoming a trainer at NairoBits, he set up his own web company, then became manager of Kilimanjaro Film School in neighbouring Tanzania.
Now Mark is heading back to Nairobi to become the manager of NairoBits (now a hub of technological innovation) where his next step is inspiring the next generation of Nairobits students.
In 10 years, Mark (and many NairoBits students like him) has shown what talent and drive can achieve when given exposure and fertile ground. Mark is excited about the future.
Nairobits is a unique web-design school in Nairobi, founded in 2000 by the Dutch foundation Butterfly Works.
NAIROBITS
1999-2009, Africa
A Digital Design School where young people from Nairobi`s slums are trained as webdesigners and cultural entrepreneurs.
Original concept: Butterfly Works
The adventure of Nairobits started as 1 year training in web design, resulting in an exhibition.
The tremendous success of the initiative prompted the continuation of the program that overtime developed in a extensive curriculum that is constantly updated and adapted.
NairoBits is now run independently by a team of Kenyan managers and teachers.
With nearly 100% employment rate for their graduates, Nairobits represents a unique opportunity of life change for the youth of the slums.
On the successful model of Nairobits, Zanzibits and Addisbits were also developed. Butterfly Works is now happily busy developing Mamabits, the mother of all Bit`s, a franchiseholder and support centre that will ensure training and assistance to all Bit`s projects.
Slumdog digital design
Mark Kamau, the general manager of Nairobits, a digital design school that provides education to young people living in Nairobi slums. Calling himself the ‘Slumdog Manager’, he gave an inspiring talk on his journey out of the slums of Kenya and the future of African aid.
He estimated that 80 per cent of his school friends were either in prison or dead – two had been covered in petrol and set alight, suffering the ‘instant justice’ of the slums after they had been caught stealing.
But his message was hopeful and he argued that the way in which he had been helped by the Nairobits program could serve as a template for Africa: he was respected, challenged, supported and given responsibility and Africa needs this sort of intelligent engagement over aid, he said.
His simple and powerful speech earned a standing ovation."
About Mark
Mark Kamau was born against a backdrop of crime and hardship in the slums of Nairobi in 1980. Mark’s dream of a better future finally became reality in 2000 when he registered at web design school NairoBits.
Although he had never touched a keyboard before, Mark began as one of the first web design students in East Africa studying design, technique and African culture.
Following graduation he moved from creating his first website for an international client, to becoming a trainer at NairoBits, he set up his own web company, then became manager of Kilimanjaro Film School in neighbouring Tanzania.
Now Mark is heading back to Nairobi to become the manager of NairoBits (now a hub of technological innovation) where his next step is inspiring the next generation of Nairobits students.
In 10 years, Mark (and many NairoBits students like him) has shown what talent and drive can achieve when given exposure and fertile ground. Mark is excited about the future.
Nairobits is a unique web-design school in Nairobi, founded in 2000 by the Dutch foundation Butterfly Works.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Monday, August 31, 2009
Kenyan behind Oprah’s school IT network
By Wallace Kantai (email the author)
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Posted Friday, August 28 2009 at 00:00
A friend leading by example.
Remember Oprah Winfrey’s Leadership Academy? The school for girls in Johannesburg that was designed to be the showpiece for the education of underprivileged girls?
The South African version of our very own Starehe Boys’ Centre, but built with the millions and attention from the world’s richest black woman.
If you had gone for the school’s opening in January 2007, you would have been dazzled by the stars on display that day. From old stalwarts like Sidney Poitier and Quincy Jones, to newer luminaries such as Chris Rock and Mariah Carey, the gallery of entertainment and civil rights heavyweights present that night —to ‘sindikiza’, if you will, their fellow superstar—was quite amazing.
You would have been forgiven, then, to look past the slight woman circulating in the room, accepting quiet words of congratulations from those in the know. That woman was central to the success of the School, and those congratulating her recognised that fact.
Yes, she is Kenyan, and her name is Hazel Gachoka.
Ms. Gachoka is an executive at Cisco (her present title is Services Marketing Manager), whose career in the company has taken her on an itinerant journey within the United States and all the way to South Africa.
She was responsible for all the IT aspects of Oprah’s school. The system she was in charge of designing and implementing for the school was an enterprise-wide network, which handles all communications aspects for the school, including wireless communication, VoIP, firewalls, content management systems, video conferencing and multimedia. State-of-the-art may be a good way to describe the sort of network that was put together for the students at the academy.
Ms. Gachoka has some firsts to her name that will give you pause, and the most impressive among these is that she was the first Kenyan woman to be certified as a Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (the alphabet soup of Cisco certifications is confusing to the layman, but these are among the most sought-after in the IT world, leading as they do to a rather lucrative career — the CCIE is the highest certification among these).
Years ending in nine have been red-letter years for Ms. Gachoka. She left Kenya in 1989, got certified as a CCIE in 1999, and began her green energy venture in Nairobi in 2009. Let’s take each of these in order, shall we?
Hazel is a product of the Loreto Convent/ St. Mary’s network (yes, yet another one) —Loreto Convent Msongari, with her high school education (Fifth and Sixth Form) at St. Mary’s.
She left for the United States at the end of the 1980s to pursue her university education, and enrolled at Jersey City State University to pursue a degree in business, with rather unintended consequences.
Virtual systems
“I intended to complete an undergraduate degree in Business and return home to help my parents run their business. That did not happen. Instead I graduated in Computer Science and right after that completed a Master’s in Computer Science,” she says.
She decided that one Master’s degree was not enough, and promptly enrolled at the Stevens Institute of Technology, this time for a Master’s in Telecommunications.
Part of the motivation for the second Master’s is that SIT is at a level to be often mentioned in the same breath as its more famous peers such as MIT and Caltech).
From this followed a career in Liz Claiborne— the luxury goods retailer, helping to design their data mining and warehousing system, as well as a system to help manage their sales system across the United States; MCI Worldcom (which was the big player in telecommunications at the turn of the century).
The Cisco certification in 1999 enabled her to make the leap into Cisco proper, joining the company at its Massachusetts office and then at headquarters in Silicon Valley.
The role involved designing and implementing systems for institutions ranging from JP MorganChase, to the Bank of Tokyo, the NASDAQ exchange, to Rutgers University and Foxwoods Casinos.
Cisco is perhaps the global pioneer in creating and deploying virtual teams, which cut across the company and geographical boundaries —where teams are constructed as and when competencies are required, and whose reporting structures stretch across the world. Being part of such a team is what led Ms. Gachoka to Johannesburg in 2005.
The sojourn in Johannesburg was perhaps the most interesting for her in terms of the assignments she handled.
In addition to leading the team deploying the network at the Oprah academy, she also led teams that designed and deployed remote learning systems for the Nepad e-schools project (part of an ambitious Nepad effort to outfit schools all over the continent with the means to get maths and science content delivered wireless).
She was also supposed to lead a team to help deploy an IT network that would monitor the pioneering elections in the DRC in 2006, but a dire security assessment led to the scrapping of that assignment.
Pricing models
Her digital photo albums from the time also feature photos of her at the pyramids in Giza and in Addis Ababa, as she helped Egypt Telecom and Ethiopia Telecom deploy new networks that would help them leapfrog from the antiquated systems that were then in use to new, world class systems.
Ms. Gachoka was redeployed back to San Jose at the end of 2007, to be leader of a team that’s responsible for, in her words, “service strategy, definition, development, implementation, management and metrics for services across the network lifecycle.”
The team, which needless to say is a virtual one, launches multi-million dollar systems for customers all over the world, and also develops global service pricing models for use throughout the company.
Ms. Gachoka hasn’t forgotten that she was supposed to come back soon after completing her degree, so as part of the effort in keeping in touch with home, she’s begun a company in Nairobi whose focus is to “deliver clean renewable energy.” Simply put, she hopes to get Kenyans hooked on solar, wind and geothermal energy as the solution to our perennial power crises.
The company has started out small, in the sense that it’s catering to the home and small business market, but her ambitions are much bigger —”renewable energy is where the world’s attention, and its future, lies, and PRCK Energy will be right at the centre of this for the African continent,” she says.
So, look at this page in 2019, when we may be celebrating Hazel Gachoka in the same breath as Oprah Winfrey.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Clinton tells Kenya to implement delayed reforms
Clinton tells Kenya to implement delayed reforms
Wed Aug 5, 2009 4:36pm GMT
http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE5740PH20090805
By Sue Pleming
NAIROBI (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told Kenya's government on Wednesday it must quickly implement long-delayed reforms and that corruption, impunity and human rights abuses were holding the country back.
Carrying a personal message from U.S. President Barack Obama, whose father was Kenyan, Clinton said she told President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga they must work harder to fully implement a power-sharing deal that ended bloodletting after a disputed December 2007 election.
Clinton is in Nairobi for a U.S. trade conference with sub-Saharan African countries, where she warned that investors would shun states on the continent that had weak leaders and economies riddled with corruption and crime.
At a press conference with Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula, she used unusually harsh language about the situation in Kenya.
"The absence of strong, effective democratic institutions has permitted ongoing corruption, impunity, politically motivated violence, human rights abuses and a lack of respect for the rule of law," Clinton said.
"These conditions helped fuel the post-election violence and they are continuing to hold Kenya back."
Wetangula said his government was doing everything it could and it was important for nations to talk to each other candidly.
"President Kibaki and his team assured the Secretary of State that reforms are on course and that the war against impunity in the country is on, that a war against corruption is on," he said at the joint news conference.
"All sanctuaries of corruption will be destroyed to make Kenya a cleaner and safer place to do business," he promised.
Last month, Kenya was ranked by Transparency International as east Africa's most graft-prone nation, with a bribe expected or solicited in nearly half of all transactions.
INVESTORS SPOOKED
At the trade meeting, Clinton repeated a message given last month by U.S. President Barack Obama during a speech in Ghana.
"True economic progress in Africa ... also depends on responsible governments that reject corruption, enforce the rule of law and deliver results for their people. This is not just about good governance, this is about good business," she said.
"Investors will be attracted to states that do this. And they will not be attracted to states with failed or weak leadership, or crime and civil unrest, or corruption that taints every transaction and decision."
In a video message after Clinton spoke, Obama said that only Africans could unlock the continent's potential.
"Open markets alone are not enough. Development requires the rule of law, transparency, accountability, and an atmosphere that welcomes investment," he said.
Washington is looking at ways to boost trade with the 48 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, which accounts for little more than one percent of U.S. exports and only three percent of imports.
Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga told the meeting African goods could not compete against subsidised U.S. products.
"We need partnership and not patronage," Odinga said.
The U.S. African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is due to expire in 2015. Some African countries would like that extended as the deadline causes uncertainty among potential investors.
Clinton said Africa had an opportunity to create its own "Green Revolution" thanks to new technology and innovation that would let countries bypass the "dirty" stages of development.
"Right now, Africa suffers from a severe shortage of electric power and too many countries rely on oil as virtually their only source of revenue. But the capacity for producing renewable and clean energy is far and wide," she said.
Clinton said empowering women in Africa would be a valuable step to boosting development, and respecting their rights was a moral and economic imperative.
"The social, political and economic marginalisation of women across Africa has left a void in this continent that undermines progress and prosperity every day," she said.
Wed Aug 5, 2009 4:36pm GMT
http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE5740PH20090805
By Sue Pleming
NAIROBI (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told Kenya's government on Wednesday it must quickly implement long-delayed reforms and that corruption, impunity and human rights abuses were holding the country back.
Carrying a personal message from U.S. President Barack Obama, whose father was Kenyan, Clinton said she told President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga they must work harder to fully implement a power-sharing deal that ended bloodletting after a disputed December 2007 election.
Clinton is in Nairobi for a U.S. trade conference with sub-Saharan African countries, where she warned that investors would shun states on the continent that had weak leaders and economies riddled with corruption and crime.
At a press conference with Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula, she used unusually harsh language about the situation in Kenya.
"The absence of strong, effective democratic institutions has permitted ongoing corruption, impunity, politically motivated violence, human rights abuses and a lack of respect for the rule of law," Clinton said.
"These conditions helped fuel the post-election violence and they are continuing to hold Kenya back."
Wetangula said his government was doing everything it could and it was important for nations to talk to each other candidly.
"President Kibaki and his team assured the Secretary of State that reforms are on course and that the war against impunity in the country is on, that a war against corruption is on," he said at the joint news conference.
"All sanctuaries of corruption will be destroyed to make Kenya a cleaner and safer place to do business," he promised.
Last month, Kenya was ranked by Transparency International as east Africa's most graft-prone nation, with a bribe expected or solicited in nearly half of all transactions.
INVESTORS SPOOKED
At the trade meeting, Clinton repeated a message given last month by U.S. President Barack Obama during a speech in Ghana.
"True economic progress in Africa ... also depends on responsible governments that reject corruption, enforce the rule of law and deliver results for their people. This is not just about good governance, this is about good business," she said.
"Investors will be attracted to states that do this. And they will not be attracted to states with failed or weak leadership, or crime and civil unrest, or corruption that taints every transaction and decision."
In a video message after Clinton spoke, Obama said that only Africans could unlock the continent's potential.
"Open markets alone are not enough. Development requires the rule of law, transparency, accountability, and an atmosphere that welcomes investment," he said.
Washington is looking at ways to boost trade with the 48 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, which accounts for little more than one percent of U.S. exports and only three percent of imports.
Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga told the meeting African goods could not compete against subsidised U.S. products.
"We need partnership and not patronage," Odinga said.
The U.S. African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is due to expire in 2015. Some African countries would like that extended as the deadline causes uncertainty among potential investors.
Clinton said Africa had an opportunity to create its own "Green Revolution" thanks to new technology and innovation that would let countries bypass the "dirty" stages of development.
"Right now, Africa suffers from a severe shortage of electric power and too many countries rely on oil as virtually their only source of revenue. But the capacity for producing renewable and clean energy is far and wide," she said.
Clinton said empowering women in Africa would be a valuable step to boosting development, and respecting their rights was a moral and economic imperative.
"The social, political and economic marginalisation of women across Africa has left a void in this continent that undermines progress and prosperity every day," she said.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Wangari Maathai
Wangari Maathai gets the image NAACP award for her commitment in protecting the enviroment. Nobel Peace Prize
She also won the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway, December 2004.
So inspiring!
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
destination weddings in Africa
I am researching wedding venues in Africa...
Kenya
Depending on the couples wishes I have stumbled upon quite a few destinations
For the romantic idyllic tourist you have a choice between national parks, beach or
theme garden weddings in the city.
National parks include...Aberdare, Amboselli, mount Kenya, Maralal, Meru, lake Naivasha, Shimba Hills, Lake Nakuru, Tsavo, Lake turkana, Samburi, Masai Mara.
Mombasa wedding by the Indian ocean...choose from a a variety of beach hotel...
Severin, White sands, Diani, Masai Mara leopard beach resort...
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Kenya: Competition Stiff As Wedding Industry Booms
Kenya: Competition Stiff As Wedding Industry Booms
Wanjiru Waithaka
12 March 2008
Meeting Hope Mwinzi, soon after she launched her bridal magazine - Raspberry Weddings - the question that instantly came to mind was: Do we really need yet another bridal magazine or Expo in Kenya? Can there be that many people getting married to justify all the people falling over themselves to serve this niche?
The answer is a resounding 'Yes!' Ten thousand marriages were registered two years ago and the figure has grown since. Although guest lists are getting smaller, with an average of 150 to 300 people compared to over 500 a few years ago, the amount spent per weddings is increasing as brides try to outdo friends by having the most exclusive and unique wedding.
"In 2002, I started a wedding planning business, but soon closed it down because people were using committees to organise their weddings.
"Nowadays I get clients who say they want what they saw on a TV show or international magazine and they are willing to pay for it," says Ms Mwinzi.
Ms Esther Njuguna, a wedding planner, says she's booked solid till December - with an average of four weddings a week. In less than a decade, the wedding industry has grown from nothing to mainstream and couples have a wide variety of suppliers to choose from, be it wedding planners, florists, caterers, providers of tents, limousine services, venues, even hotels which now have special wedding packages.
Supermarkets have joined the bandwagon with wedding lists where couples can choose which gifts they want to receive from guests.
But like many older industries, which experienced rapid growth in a short period of time, the wedding industry in Kenya is experiencing growing pains as competition stiffens.
Lack of regulation has resulted in some fraudsters riding on the good name of established brands to fleece clients. "The biggest issue is standards because many people are entering the industry jua kali style, with no training and money is their first priority, not good service," says Sue Muriuki of Divine Weddings.
This has become the biggest headache for established brands because most suppliers get new clients from referrals and a company's reputation is its best asset. "People are taking advantage of brides by passing off as well known suppliers and taking money then failing to supply services on the material day," says Ms Catherine Masitsa, founder of Samantha Bridal magazine.
Greedy managers of wedding venues are known to overbook their premises so that couples promised an exclusive venue get a shock when they arrive for their reception only to find two or three other weddings also taking place, constraining parking space for their guests not to mention the nuisance of noise spilling over from the other celebrations.
To tackle these challenges, 100 players in the industry have come together and formed the Wedding Service Providers Association to strategise on how to regulate the industry.
A bride
Among the actions being considered is registering members who meet a certain minimum level of standards and providing them with a logo to distinguish them from other industry players. It would also be a central place where clients can forward complains to if they get bad service, with the association playing the role of arbitrator.
"Members will be bound by a code of conduct and will know someone is watching them. But more than that, it will help to protect brides from unscrupulous companies because if you're messed up on your wedding day you can never get that day back," says Ms Masitsa, the chairperson of the association.
Ms Muriuki, on the other hand, is on a mission to certify wedding planners in East and Central Africa after they undergo a six-month course. She is a member of Weddings and Beautiful, a 52-year-old American wedding training company.
As the industry grows, segmentation is also becoming more visible in the prices charged by industry players. At the low end are wedding planners who charge Sh25,000 to Sh30,000 while at the top end are planners who charge Sh100,000 and over.
While some players base their fees on a percentage of the total costs of the wedding - anywhere from five to 20 per cent - others base their fees on the amount of work involved in planning an event. "If someone asks for black roses that are very hard to get we charge more for this. It also depends on the number of events we'll have to co-ordinate, for instance, some people have more than one cocktail," says Ms Mwinzi.
The huge disparity in the amount couples are spending on weddings also presents opportunities for new entrants as they can tailor their products and services to serve people with different pocket depths.
For instance, one couple can spend Sh300,000 for their entire wedding while another spends the same amount on flowers alone. High end weddings, with all the trimmings, have been known to cost upwards of Sh3 million.
In one such wedding the bride's dress cost Sh400,000, purchased from a top designer in the United Kingdom. This excluded the cost of travelling to the UK for three to four fittings. "Such spending seems irrational when you consider that we have bridal wear suppliers locally, but it's the perceived value that counts for such brides," says Ms Masitsa.
The need to have a unique wedding that rivals anything their friends have had is driving more brides to hire wedding planners and has put a premium on creativity, with brides ready to pay more for good ideas that will help their weddings stand out.
Competition is quite high and you need to be quite creative to succeed. This means keeping up with the latest wedding trends," says Ms Njuguna who recently started a bridal magazine, which is now in its fourth issue. Last month she also launched a bridal expo (Harusi Yetu) to join the three others already in the market.
Copyright © 2008 Business Daily. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com).
Wanjiru Waithaka
12 March 2008
Meeting Hope Mwinzi, soon after she launched her bridal magazine - Raspberry Weddings - the question that instantly came to mind was: Do we really need yet another bridal magazine or Expo in Kenya? Can there be that many people getting married to justify all the people falling over themselves to serve this niche?
The answer is a resounding 'Yes!' Ten thousand marriages were registered two years ago and the figure has grown since. Although guest lists are getting smaller, with an average of 150 to 300 people compared to over 500 a few years ago, the amount spent per weddings is increasing as brides try to outdo friends by having the most exclusive and unique wedding.
"In 2002, I started a wedding planning business, but soon closed it down because people were using committees to organise their weddings.
"Nowadays I get clients who say they want what they saw on a TV show or international magazine and they are willing to pay for it," says Ms Mwinzi.
Ms Esther Njuguna, a wedding planner, says she's booked solid till December - with an average of four weddings a week. In less than a decade, the wedding industry has grown from nothing to mainstream and couples have a wide variety of suppliers to choose from, be it wedding planners, florists, caterers, providers of tents, limousine services, venues, even hotels which now have special wedding packages.
Supermarkets have joined the bandwagon with wedding lists where couples can choose which gifts they want to receive from guests.
But like many older industries, which experienced rapid growth in a short period of time, the wedding industry in Kenya is experiencing growing pains as competition stiffens.
Lack of regulation has resulted in some fraudsters riding on the good name of established brands to fleece clients. "The biggest issue is standards because many people are entering the industry jua kali style, with no training and money is their first priority, not good service," says Sue Muriuki of Divine Weddings.
This has become the biggest headache for established brands because most suppliers get new clients from referrals and a company's reputation is its best asset. "People are taking advantage of brides by passing off as well known suppliers and taking money then failing to supply services on the material day," says Ms Catherine Masitsa, founder of Samantha Bridal magazine.
Greedy managers of wedding venues are known to overbook their premises so that couples promised an exclusive venue get a shock when they arrive for their reception only to find two or three other weddings also taking place, constraining parking space for their guests not to mention the nuisance of noise spilling over from the other celebrations.
To tackle these challenges, 100 players in the industry have come together and formed the Wedding Service Providers Association to strategise on how to regulate the industry.
A bride
Among the actions being considered is registering members who meet a certain minimum level of standards and providing them with a logo to distinguish them from other industry players. It would also be a central place where clients can forward complains to if they get bad service, with the association playing the role of arbitrator.
"Members will be bound by a code of conduct and will know someone is watching them. But more than that, it will help to protect brides from unscrupulous companies because if you're messed up on your wedding day you can never get that day back," says Ms Masitsa, the chairperson of the association.
Ms Muriuki, on the other hand, is on a mission to certify wedding planners in East and Central Africa after they undergo a six-month course. She is a member of Weddings and Beautiful, a 52-year-old American wedding training company.
As the industry grows, segmentation is also becoming more visible in the prices charged by industry players. At the low end are wedding planners who charge Sh25,000 to Sh30,000 while at the top end are planners who charge Sh100,000 and over.
While some players base their fees on a percentage of the total costs of the wedding - anywhere from five to 20 per cent - others base their fees on the amount of work involved in planning an event. "If someone asks for black roses that are very hard to get we charge more for this. It also depends on the number of events we'll have to co-ordinate, for instance, some people have more than one cocktail," says Ms Mwinzi.
The huge disparity in the amount couples are spending on weddings also presents opportunities for new entrants as they can tailor their products and services to serve people with different pocket depths.
For instance, one couple can spend Sh300,000 for their entire wedding while another spends the same amount on flowers alone. High end weddings, with all the trimmings, have been known to cost upwards of Sh3 million.
In one such wedding the bride's dress cost Sh400,000, purchased from a top designer in the United Kingdom. This excluded the cost of travelling to the UK for three to four fittings. "Such spending seems irrational when you consider that we have bridal wear suppliers locally, but it's the perceived value that counts for such brides," says Ms Masitsa.
The need to have a unique wedding that rivals anything their friends have had is driving more brides to hire wedding planners and has put a premium on creativity, with brides ready to pay more for good ideas that will help their weddings stand out.
Competition is quite high and you need to be quite creative to succeed. This means keeping up with the latest wedding trends," says Ms Njuguna who recently started a bridal magazine, which is now in its fourth issue. Last month she also launched a bridal expo (Harusi Yetu) to join the three others already in the market.
Copyright © 2008 Business Daily. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com).
Friday, November 21, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
Friday, July 18, 2008
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
New York Talk Exchange
and another one from http://www.visualcomplexity.com/vc
Year:
2008
URL:
http://www.aaronkoblin.com/work/NYTE/index.html
Project Description:
New York Talk Exchange illustrates the global exchange of information in real time by visualizing volumes of long distance telephone and IP data flowing between New York and cities around the world.
In an information age, telecommunications such as the Internet and the telephone bind people across space by eviscerating the constraints of distance. To reveal the relationships that New Yorkers have with the rest of the world, New York Talk Exchange asks: How does the city of New York connect to other cities? With which cities does New York have the strongest ties and how do these relationships shift with time? How does the rest of the world reach into the neighborhoods of New York? The size of the glow on a particular city location corresponds to the amount of IP traffic flowing between that place and New York City. A greater glow implies a greater IP flow.
The NYTE project has been on display at MoMA The Museum of Modern Art, part of the Design and Elastic Mind exhibition, and the real time data is being provided by AT&T.
Visual Complexity
Then I found more amazing visualizations of data
URL:
http://www.timenetwork.org/
Project Description:
time=net.work was born in order to measure and evaluate transportation network complexity. As the author explains: "After having read the amazing A. L. Barabasi's Linked, I decided to develop some new approaches towards networks dynamics. How Ordered are they? How Small are they? How Robust are they?".
According to Fabio Lamanna, during the last years many physicians have been interested in transportation network analysis, laying the theoretical basis for extending complex network knowledge to real dynamical systems. Time=net.work tries to apply and verify physical theories on real systems, using timetable data of real moving entities under fixed constraints.
The main subject of study for the time=net.work project has been the Berlin urban network, consisting of U-Bahn, S-Bahn and Regional Bahn lines; strongly interconnected with Bus, Strabenbahn and Metrotram vehicles. The complex network approach requires a simple tool to analyse the dynamics of different transportation modes on real infrastructures. The image shown here represents the distribution of travel times and betweenness centrality of the entire Berlin transportation network.
mapping data
I have always been very interested in finding interesting ways to visualize data.
I stumbled upon this very fascinating project.
more from the artist
Description
Email became an integral part of my life in 1998. Like many people, I have archived all of my email with the hope of someday revisiting my past. I am interested in revealing the innumerable relationships between me, my schoolmates, work-mates, friends and family. This could not readily be accomplished by reading each of my 60,000 emails one-by-one. Instead, I created My Map, a relational map and alternative self portrait. My Map is a piece of custom designed software capable of rendering the relationships between myself and individuals in my address book by examining the TO:, FROM:, and CC: fields of every email in my email archive. The intensity of the relationship is determined by the intensity of the line. My Map allows me to explore different relational groupings and periods of time, revealing the temporal ebbs and flows in various relationships. In this way, My Map is a veritable self-portrait, a reflection of my associations and a way to locate myself.
Notes
My Map can be viewed as a large scale static print (40″x40″ archival inkjet) or as an up-to-date dynamic visualization (see Quicktime video above). The interactive program is written in Java and uses the Processsing libraries, MySQL and various other libraries. The software includes a custom IMAP email client and a VCF address book parser that parses contact information and their images. This particular visualization strategy was influenced by similar cicular relational structures such as CAIDA, SCHEMABALL, GNOM, etc. Much of my initial email visualization research was influenced and inspired by the work of Judith Donath’s Sociable Media Group at MIT — particularly the work of Fernanda Viegas.
Africa--Flow and ingenuity
Every once in a while i ran into a great article about Africa.Copied from www.smashingmagazine.com its about getting inspiration from different places.
Kampala Uganda
History. The city grew as the capital of the Buganda kingdom, from which several buildings survive, including the Kasubi Tombs (built in 1881), the Buganda Parliament, the Buganda Court of Justice and the Naggalabi Buddo Coronation Site. If you saw the movie “The Last King of Scotland”, you know everything worst about Uganda. Well, the good news is, that was thirty years ago. Since then Uganda has rebounded to become one of the more stable and progressive regions of East Africa. The economy is healthy, the people are lovely and interesting and the equatorial climate is gorgeous! Careful getting around though, the highest cause of death here is automobile accidents!
Getting there. Getting to the capital of Uganda is tricky. First, there are no direct flights in the U.S. Instead, one must fly through a connecting in Europe, Dubai or another part of Africa and then continue to Entebbe International Airport in Entebbe, Uganda. From there the ride to Kampala is only about thirty minutes via hired taxi. Altogether the entire process can take anywhere from 20 to 48 hours.
Natural inspiration. Africa is the home to many wonders of the natural world and this is no different in the country of Uganda. Safaris, wildlife, camping with chimps, gorilla tracking, skiing (yes you can ski in Africa), whitewater rafting and the incredibly friendly people make it one of the most inviting destinations in the whole continent.
Why it will inspire? Flow and ingenuity. You have never found flow like you’ll find it in Africa. Local farmers get completely immersed in creating things out of limited resources, exemplifying two of the fundamental aspects of good design (focus and resourcefulness).
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
my favourite companies/website
I am going to compile a list of my favourite companies and what they do.
First and foremost.
http://www.care-international.org
CARE is a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty. Non-political and non-sectarian, we operate each year in more than 65 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Eastern Europe, reaching more than 50 million people in poor communities.
CARE helps tackle underlying causes of poverty so that people can become self-sufficient. CARE is often one of the first to deliver emergency aid to survivors of natural disasters and war and, once the immediate crisis is over, we help people rebuild their lives. While CARE is a large international organisation with more than 14,500 employees worldwide, we have a strong local presence: more than 90 % of our staff are nationals of the countries where our programmes are run.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Adobe adds flash to Acrobat
Hmmm flash in pdfs, interesting. see article from...http://www.pcworld.com
Monday, June 02, 2008 10:20 AM PDT
Adobe on Monday is set to unveil the next version of its Adobe Acrobat software, which adds support for the company's Flash multimedia technology. The company also plans to launch a new Web site offering users free hosted services for document creation, sharing and storage.
The move positions Adobe competitively against Microsoft, Google and other companies offering similar services online and signals Adobe's first major move into the hosted-services arena for business documents.
Combined, the two announcements support Adobe's broader strategy to offer rich-media capabilities through Flash and other technologies for both online and offline documents.
Monday, June 02, 2008 10:20 AM PDT
Adobe on Monday is set to unveil the next version of its Adobe Acrobat software, which adds support for the company's Flash multimedia technology. The company also plans to launch a new Web site offering users free hosted services for document creation, sharing and storage.
The move positions Adobe competitively against Microsoft, Google and other companies offering similar services online and signals Adobe's first major move into the hosted-services arena for business documents.
Combined, the two announcements support Adobe's broader strategy to offer rich-media capabilities through Flash and other technologies for both online and offline documents.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Wadawida
Currently looking for Taita boy names. Someone needs to post baby names, very hard to find those on the internet. For those interested in the taita culture from Kenya. This should be a fun project.
check out wadawida.com and http://wadawidatiki.blogspot.com.
thanks dor posting this destiny.
Taita boy names? Most of the names have a pre-fix "MWA" then the meaningful part of the name. Eg KIO=night.....so a Taita boy can be called Mwakio, Dime=day, hence Mwadime, Chia=path, hence Mwachia, or Mwachyia, others do not have prefixes like " Isuwirio"=Hope, Kitatu, Lewella, Maghanga=medicines, Kishau, Lago or Lagho, Mcharo=one born away from home eg during a safari to some place, or the same child Mwachia could be called Msafari, which means the same. Other boy's names include Ndau, Mbela (rhino), Mshimba, shimba=lion, Mwachovu, chovu=elephant, Mshila, Msagha, Righa, Kasera, Kalela, Nyange, Maseghe,
June 9, 2009 12:25 PM
check out wadawida.com and http://wadawidatiki.blogspot.com.
thanks dor posting this destiny.
Taita boy names? Most of the names have a pre-fix "MWA" then the meaningful part of the name. Eg KIO=night.....so a Taita boy can be called Mwakio, Dime=day, hence Mwadime, Chia=path, hence Mwachia, or Mwachyia, others do not have prefixes like " Isuwirio"=Hope, Kitatu, Lewella, Maghanga=medicines, Kishau, Lago or Lagho, Mcharo=one born away from home eg during a safari to some place, or the same child Mwachia could be called Msafari, which means the same. Other boy's names include Ndau, Mbela (rhino), Mshimba, shimba=lion, Mwachovu, chovu=elephant, Mshila, Msagha, Righa, Kasera, Kalela, Nyange, Maseghe,
June 9, 2009 12:25 PM
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
I have no tribe---I am Kenyan
Yes we are tired of leaders using our tribes to separate us.
we declare ourselves tribeless.
Daima mimi mkenya.
I found this poem at
http://www.ihavenotribe.com
Though i have no tribe,
i do have roots
My roots are deep and wide
I have a Luhyia Father and a Kisii Mother
I speak Luo, kikuyu and Luhyia
I have a kalenjin sister
daughter of my father
I have a kikuyu brother
Son of my mother.
I practice Luo customs,
Indeed iam a true Kenyan
I find it hard that people want to categorise me,
For in their pleasure my parents gave me a rich heritage
its a heritage i am proud of,
though some my recoil at it.
I am a kenyan
Yes i am a true Kenyan
I know no tribe
and that is the truth not a cliche
for in our house there are all tribes.
I love my mother and father and siblings
for giving me such a true heritage.
I am a Kenyan
I have no tribe
we declare ourselves tribeless.
Daima mimi mkenya.
I found this poem at
http://www.ihavenotribe.com
Though i have no tribe,
i do have roots
My roots are deep and wide
I have a Luhyia Father and a Kisii Mother
I speak Luo, kikuyu and Luhyia
I have a kalenjin sister
daughter of my father
I have a kikuyu brother
Son of my mother.
I practice Luo customs,
Indeed iam a true Kenyan
I find it hard that people want to categorise me,
For in their pleasure my parents gave me a rich heritage
its a heritage i am proud of,
though some my recoil at it.
I am a kenyan
Yes i am a true Kenyan
I know no tribe
and that is the truth not a cliche
for in our house there are all tribes.
I love my mother and father and siblings
for giving me such a true heritage.
I am a Kenyan
I have no tribe
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Africa on my mind
I found this very inspiring article on Mshale.com.
Despite what is going on in Africa, we have to keep going. We need to focus on being
problem solvers, thats the only way we will overcome. We cannot dwell on the past.
Here is bits of the article...by Moraa Gitaa , Mshale Correspondent
Fundamental Principles of Wealth Creation
To create wealth is to use one’s own thoughts or imagination to work in order to bring something unique into this world.
The following is the recipe for wealth creation.
To Create Wealth, One Must:
i. Solve somebody’s problem.
ii. Provide solutions that people are ready to pay you for.
iii. Solve problems of as many people as possible.
His other statement was that there is an abundance of problems in this world and that we need to look for these problems and solve them, and that will be wealth creation.
We thus need to:
1) Identify our unique talent:
Talent is a recurring pattern of thought, feeling or behavior that can be productively applied.
Talent is not an action first and foremost, but a way of thinking.
Our uniqueness is our strength. Nobody can ignore you if you are unique.
It is that difference that makes you strong.
2) Acquire relevant Knowledge:
Relevant to your unique talents (Get all the facts and lessons that can be learnt)
3) Develop Skill:
Doctor Otabil defined skill as ‘Formalized steps of an activity. Consistency’
Skill helps you to predict and repeat success.
His conclusion on skill was that once you have it, you can maneuver success under any circumstance.
Despite what is going on in Africa, we have to keep going. We need to focus on being
problem solvers, thats the only way we will overcome. We cannot dwell on the past.
Here is bits of the article...by Moraa Gitaa , Mshale Correspondent
Fundamental Principles of Wealth Creation
To create wealth is to use one’s own thoughts or imagination to work in order to bring something unique into this world.
The following is the recipe for wealth creation.
To Create Wealth, One Must:
i. Solve somebody’s problem.
ii. Provide solutions that people are ready to pay you for.
iii. Solve problems of as many people as possible.
His other statement was that there is an abundance of problems in this world and that we need to look for these problems and solve them, and that will be wealth creation.
We thus need to:
1) Identify our unique talent:
Talent is a recurring pattern of thought, feeling or behavior that can be productively applied.
Talent is not an action first and foremost, but a way of thinking.
Our uniqueness is our strength. Nobody can ignore you if you are unique.
It is that difference that makes you strong.
2) Acquire relevant Knowledge:
Relevant to your unique talents (Get all the facts and lessons that can be learnt)
3) Develop Skill:
Doctor Otabil defined skill as ‘Formalized steps of an activity. Consistency’
Skill helps you to predict and repeat success.
His conclusion on skill was that once you have it, you can maneuver success under any circumstance.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
We declare peace in Kenya
some blogs on whats going on in in Kenya. Everyone has their own views.
http://www.kenyanpundit.com/ very detailed linked to numerous blogs
http://blog.thinkersroom.com/
kumekucha.blogspot.com
At the end of the day, we just want peace. PEACE IN KENYA!
PRAY FOR PEACE IN KENYA
ALL WE WANT IS PEACE IN KENYA. STOP FINGER POINTING, PEOPLE ARE SUFFERING.
http://josephkaroki.wordpress.com/
http://josephkaroki.wordpress.com/
Thursday, December 20, 2007
African influence in the west
Roberto Cavalli’s Spring/Summer 2008 collection called “La Ma Africa” in Milan.
Looks like designers are borrowing from African prints whereas before it was only about the Safari suit and animal prints looks like they are going deeper.
Jamhuri wear
Jeffrey Kimathi - Jamhuri Wear
Interview by Elias Mageto
Jamati: What inspired you to start Jamhuri Wear?
Kimathi: I felt there was a void in the way Africa was being represented in the Fashion industry, The continent was bringing the models, but not dressing them.
So we wanted to add on to the story.
Jamati: Are there any Designers you look to for inspiration?
Kimathi: Yes, cause once one is lifted others are inspired and these are the few that inspire me…Moshood, Oswald Boatang Fundi Frank, Ralph Lauren, Stone Cherry and of course Russell Simmons
Jamati: Now, the main reason I really wanted the world to hear about you is because of how well you’ve managed to place your products. I mean I’ve seen your T-shirts on everyone from Akon to Jay-Z. Who else wears Jamhuri themed shirts and who would you like to see wearing your T-Shirts?
Kimathi: Like you said , Jay– Z, Tom Morello, Akon, K’naan, and Damian Marley. Some one I would love to see wearing one of my pieces is none other than the future president of the free world himself Barack Obama.
Jamati: What’s in store for Jamhuri Wear? Do you have any intentions of
expanding the line?
Kimathi: Absolutely…we will get into the full range of outfits and divesity for our customers.. and just keep putting out that fresh dope stuff we have been known to bring.. It’s just a matter of time We’re also doing other things with the Jamhuri brand,though.
Jamati: Really, When and what can we expect to see next?
Kimathi: We believe that every story needs a soundtrack so we are doubling in Music and visuals as well, We are just as exicted to be able to do this.
Jamati: Besides fashion, what other things interest you?
Kimathi: A lot man; We are into infusing and attaching our heritage to repackaging that African IMAGE and promoting this Safari Lifestyle. We understand this will encompass a lot of facets of life…and we trying to get better at all this and still do it well, that’s the enjoyment of it cause we don’t have any boundaries…Its all about dignity to us.
Jamati: Bwana Kimathi, thanks for your time. Before I let you get back to
your busy schedule, do you have any advice for young entrepreneurial minds
like yourself that want to break into the game?
Kimathi: LIVE IT! LEARN IT! AND LOVE IT! That’s what I do everyday now.
I had a choice to work a safe career, but instead I took a chance. It’s not
easy but if you get joy out of it then go for it!
Jamhuri Wear LLC|New York, NY|Phone: 1 800 9 Jamhuri
Jamhuri@jamhuriwear.com
www.jamhuriwear.com
www.myspace.com/jamhuriwear
SAHARAN VIBE
Found this amazing blog by South Africa designer who I greatly admire here is the blog "Started up in 2001 by Vanya and Thando Mangaliso, Sun Goddess has now flourished into one of South Africa's most sought after labels. Vanya and Thando started the Sun Goddess fashion label selling skirts out of the boot of their car. Four years down the line Sungoddess had employed 30 people. The garments are designed and produced in Johannesburg."
South Africa fashion
The South African designers have a very rich environment to nurture such beautiful talent.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
MIMI magazine
the t shirts are about loving who you are. very interesting see
http://www.mimimagazine.com/
African bride
It is my mission to create fresh looking designs inpired by Africa from the north, the south, east and west. Whats in the market right now is heavily influenced by beautiful west African fabrics, and maasai beads. We need a fresh unique look with a personality.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Distance Nairobi to Sanjose
Distance from Nairobi to San Jose
Distance is 15,460 kilometers or 9606 miles or 8348 nautical miles
The distance is the theoretical air distance (great circle distance). Flying between the two locations's airports can be longer or shorter, depending on airport location and actual route chosen.
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