Lighting Other Women's Candle

There are women born to and willing to light other people's candle and shine a light for humanity. One such woman is Rev Mrs Ijeoma Emeribe, the President and Founder of Woman Africa Foundation and Touching Lives TV.  When Maria Powerson met her at some point she stood looking outside the window...deep in thought then looked deeply at her and said, 'No one comes into my life and remains the same.Their lives must be one better than l found them,' She said.

She is in Kenya to do what she does best...empower women through an upcoming event later in the year. The event will be a triple edged one a fashion show,conference and concert.  The fashion show will include, exhibitors displaying their products mainly geared at displaying classic decent wear for the Christian woman. There will also be a day for a women's empowerment conference and finally, full fledged concert with leading musicians drawn from Kenya and Nigeria.

Even though she is a Reverend, her approach is wholistic when it comes to addressing the issues some face.Women Missionaries to African Nations also known as WOMAN Africa Foundation is a faith based organization whose aim is to teach,inspire and to make women become the best they can be.WOMAN Africa benefits women who are from different religious backgrounds.

She is sharply aware that her organization is getting into a world where development aid has been offered without much of a difference.That they will change."l keep in mind that the people who finance me together with my contribution want results.You can actually make one a Christian through your deeds,"she says.
WOMAN Africa had its first conference earlier in the year in Nigeria with over 800 women in attendance. A good number of them got financial help to start off or upscale their small scale businesses. She adds,"That's what it is all about. Women with small scale businesses must be able to go to the next level without being stopped by the fact they lack collateral." The organization has also been providing business training for the women and in some cases readily available markets for their businesses.

Why is she so passionate about giving practical help to those who need it?Simple," In Bible school l was taught faith without works is dead.I must not only be able to able to preach the gospel to the world but l must go further and meet their needs,"she emphasizes.
To women she notes that they need to take their rightful place in their families and in the world by being leaders wherever they find themselves.

More Needs to be Done in Kenya to uplift women

By Marceline Nyambala

Even as the 60th edition of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) starts in New York, one will agree that the Kenyan woman has come a long way. She is no longer the face of poverty but of “tenacity and resilience”. This is best exemplified by efforts women from all classes of society demonstrate at household and community level; to make something out of nearly nothing. When travelling to Northern parts of Kenya, it amazes me to watch women herd camels and goats even up to very late at night. I always wonder about gender roles and the safety of the women as they are exposed to all elements of nature, from animals to bandits to Al Shabaab. Perhaps they have found a way around the situation. Access to water remains an issue for many women in Kenya. Indeed, women in Kenya, like in many parts of the world, “hold up half the sky”. Grandmothers hold up half of Kenya’s sky. Without the many grandmothers in the villages who take care of their grandchildren as their daughters seek employment in the cities as domestic workers, many offices would not run. See also: Too many proposals on gender rule slowing process, says AG The education sector best exemplifies efforts that have been invested to keep the girl-child in school and improve transition levels. The transition rates of boys over the last five years have been above the national aggregate (between 60-72 per cent), that of girls between 44-50 per cent. According to the just released 2015 Kenya Certificate of Secondary School exam results, out of the 522,870 candidates who sat the exams 279,289 were boys while 243,581 were girls. Boys outperformed girls in 22 out of the 29 subjects. Female students did better in English, Kiswahili, Christian Religious Education, Home Science, Art and Design, German and French. Some of the greatest achievements for Kenyan women in history are gains contained in the Constitution 2010. There are huge gains in representation, protection from harmful cultural practices, access to justice, freedom of information, privacy, ownership of property and land. Dispersing power to the devolved units means services moved nearer to the villages where most women eke out a living. Yet despite that, Kenyan women perform dismally compared to regional peers in terms of political representation. Kenya is at 19.7 per cent compared to Uganda's 35 per cent, Tanzania's 36 per cent, Rwanda's 63.8 per cent and South Africa's 41.9 per cent. The two-thirds gender rule has remained elusive partly because there is lack of political will to make it a reality. A constitutional crisis looms in August 2016 unless a consensus is reached now. Kenya remains largely a patriarchal society resulting in not many women getting elected into politics or offering themselves for elective or appointive posts. Only 16 women were elected to the National Assembly in 2013. More than 100 competed for the 290 seats, but no woman was elected to the Senate and or as a governor.
Read more at: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2000194054/we-need-to-do-more-to-uplift-women?articleID=2000194054&story_title=we-need-to-do-more-to-uplift-women&pageNo=2

WHY MASCULINITY HAS GAINED PROMINENCE IN THE KENYAN MEDIA

She starred straight across the court room. She seemed remorseful. It was not  clear whether she truly sorry for her actions or it was the guilt and weight of the events of the last 24 hours that had given her national prominence. When she had arrived the court hours earlier crowds had bayed for her blood. Her crime of passion being that she had chopped off her husband’s manhood for coming home late drank and getting a condom in his pocket.  It was hard to read what was going on in her mind even as the court later released her on the Ksh 20,000 bail.

Weeks later another man from the same region suffered the same fate.  Weeks earlier coincidentally several T.V interviews, radio talks show and articles had started featuring masculinity.  Indeed masculinity has gain prominence in the Kenyan media.

 What are the reasons for increased coverage of masculinity in Kenya or the lack of it?

The answer lies in News values i.e

Relevance – The first reason why many people are interested in the story whether it be on fatherhood, absentee dads, domestic violence against men, neglect of the boy child; is that they find it relevant in one way or the other.

Second is the dimension of Conflict – Conflict makes good stories. The fact that there seems to be  conflict or perceived conflict between the two genders.

Digital media: Shaping & changing media education and consumption patterns

I participated in an interesting discussion on digital media hosted by Media Policy Research Center (MPRC) held over the weekend.

Some of the trends noted were emerging opportunities especially for creative souls, freedom to cover, get covered, and of speech never experienced in the history of mainstream media in Kenya.More and more people are enjoying the MIB; yes money in the bank but probably not enough.

Impact on journalism education and practice

The discussion dwelt on how journalism education and practice was being shaped by the dynamic digital media environment in particular the convergence of the media. – which means the wedding together of at least two previously competitive media delivery formats(platforms) for example, T.V, radio, or newspaper on the internet platform, and delivered through a computer, mobile phone, watch etc.

One of the effects of convergence is that a journalist who is multi-skilled and can write report, handle the camera, handle sound, photography and edit has an added advantage.it is also preferable if they have a command of both English and Kiswahili.

It was noted that although journalism schools have churned more journalists than could fit in the newsrooms, any journalist could start to ply their trade immediately on the digital platform. “The ground has shifted and everybody is taking their space.” A participant shared that their newspaper was widely read in The Netherlands and by individuals who went direct to the website and not through social media.Media educators reported shrinking print media classes as most students were wowed by the glitz and celebrity status of broadcasters wanting to be news anchors rather than writers.If you can deliver interesting pieces, and other content to that busy person on the go – there lots of opportunities for you online one participant said.

Is there Money in the Bank (MIB)?

Advertising follows content is the mantra. Are local platforms or Kenyan owned online platform making money? Well, uh….In terms of revenue the more eyebrow-raising or eyeball-popping the content the more the followers and hits some of which resulted in revenue streams for platforms owners. Some of the rate cards mentioned run a banner advertisement for Ksh300,000. Opportunities arenot just the money earned by writing, films, pictures but also from other websites, crowd funding etc. Reports say that in mid-2014 the bulk of online earning went to search engine giant Google, which continues to be the very biggest player online, collecting $31.4 million in sales which was one third of the total revenue. Amazon came in at number two.

Is there need to be concern about the Brow raising and Eye popping platforms?

On the premise that media shapes public opinion, attitude and could influence culture and behavior  concern was expressed over some of the popular platforms and the content they present. For example a mention was made of the emergence of socialites and some of the principles they espouse. Is there reason for concern and reason to ring the alarm bells? Kenya has an estimated 45million population and online access is dominated by the more educated, urban population. Ventures Africa in its“The State of Social Media in Kenya” mid last year estimates that four million Kenyans, roughly 10 percent of the population,daily engage in social media. Facebook dominates Kenya’s social media with 3.8 million users. Far behind them is LinkedIn with 1.5million users, Twitter with 650,000 users and Google+ with 350,000.In 2013, Kenya had the 6th largest number of Facebook accounts after Egypt, South Africa, Nigeria, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. Are the 4million Kenyans impressionable or are they watching what they have always watched?

The concern may lie in ease of access. This has been enhanced by availability and affordability of smartphones, proliferation of cyber cafes in various residential neighbourhoods. The relative anonymity of the blogosphere and other forms of social media has enabled this explosion.

Also, the fact that there are millions of young people with more than just a brushing of basic education has fuelled the wheels of runaway consumerism of any electronic fad.

Is there need for Ethics, public interest and regulation?

There were questions on ethical considerations, public interest and whether the regulators will gain teeth and muscle to govern the online sphere. One participants noted that cautioned that “care must be taken not to damn a whole generation!.”

Celebrating & Mourning Efua

I also mourn and celebrate Efua Dorkenoo who passed on on the 18th of October 2014. I met her some time in the late 2000 when FORWARD in collaboration with AIDOS organised a meeting for partners including AMWIK working to address Female Genital Mutilation in the region.

Fireless Cooker saves you money, time & keeps more forests

Fireless cooker saves you money, time and keeps more forests!

Having walked through the Nairobi Agricultural Society of Kenya(ASK) show - probably for the sixth or seventh time in my life with the usual crowd and dust having been dragged there by my son who could hear nothing about not going to the show.  One of my favourite stands is that of the ministry of agriculture. And recollected how fascinated we would be growing up to see how silk material is woven from silk worms. Another popular lesson was to watch the bees and learn . The attendant said bees work all the time even at night there is some work going on.  I make a mental note to create time to study the bees and their lifestyle!
I  admire the well maintained big cabbage and kale farms. Somebody else was sharing about the rabbit meat and selling pieces of fried rabbit meat at price which literally costed an arm and a leg - he was quick to add that its a wonderful delicacy with low fat and cholestral content.

The Ministry also had on its display a wide array of many energy saving devices mostly jikos stoves .  Why hadnt I seen this before!" This is thought that struck me when I looked at the basket branded the fireless cooker insulated inside and with a black cloth as its covering. Here was the fireless cooker which promised to save you 40 per cent of your domestic expenditure on fuel and I hadnt seen it!. How could have been so blind. So I decided to purchase one.  I fished the 30$ about 2500Ksh and bought the basket. On arriving home I was anxious to test my new find and whether the impulse buying would pay off!

I prepared the rice measured the water two cups of hot water for every cup of rice and let it simmer for while in the gas cooker and then transferred it to the basket and went on do other chores and catch up with news. 30 minutes later the rice was ready. Not only was the rice well cooked but there was not a piece of rice stuck to the cooking pan.  The rice having been cooked with the trapped heat from the insulated material and black cloth.
Why then wasnt the fireless cooker in every house I wondered with such savings.  The more I thought of it the more I realised that much more can be achieved for example, it can save many forests if used in the rural areas where many still rely on firewood.  In the urban areas it will save your electricity or gas if you cook with an electric cooker or gas cooker.

Alice Musau from the Urban food security section of Ministry of Agriculture shares that when it was introduced it was perceived to target only the poor as opposed to all households.
I conclude that solutions to some of our fundamental problems might be simple and within reach.  I thought of the story of the man who sold his farm and went to search for his acres of gold yet his farm was endowed with gold! Look around your environment!

Alice Musau prepares to offer tips on making the fireless cooker  she says you can cook many food items including legumes, vegatables, meat as well as Ugali(made from maize flour and hot water stirred and turned)

These are just some of the steps in making the basket.  So why doesnt everybody have one in Kenya or many parts of Africa. For it has a big role to play in addressing climate change issues.
For these reasons.
1.Saves you time
2.Saves you money.
3.Saves forests
4.Reduces carban emissions

Afro Dispatch on Water & Sanitation

Chikhwawa, Malawi

Matriach helps mobilise water and sanitation for her village in Chikhwawa

Meet Elida Singret Timbenawo the lll(Third),she is the Senior Chief of Timbenawo village, Chikwawa, Malawi. with her leadership and mobilisation, she has collaborated with Water For People, in turning around the fate of her village in terms of access to water and sanitation. 

Elida Singret Timbenawo the lll(Third),is the Senior Chief of Timbenawo village, Chikwawa, Malawi

Timbenawo village has come from being a water scarce, disease prone place where women walk for four hours in search of water to one where communal water is readily available, children are healthier and women look smarter and have more time for themselves. However there are few parts of the village yet to get boreholes.

The joy of having a nearby water source! See what a festival, collecting water at peak hours becomes.


So now there is water! 

And more water even for this young one who is lucky to be born at a time when there is a nearby water source.

What about the operation and maintainance of the hand pump boreholes.  Well each village has a water point committee who oversee the running of the water points and usually the tariff is paid by households on a  monthly basis.

mnyambala@waterforpeople.org

Except for a few parts of Chikhwawa which are yet to get boreholes and Water For People intends to construct additional boreholes in the coming months.  See below a woman gets water from a scoop hole. An sure her story will soon change.