PROJECT BUMMVILLE ABORTED!

So yes with anticipation that I handed my letter of notice at the beginning of January and finally the day came when I said bye bye to the house of coffee & tea which has been my good employer for the passed one year and six months.

But on day one of proposed Bummville  I found myself wide awake early enough to be disappointed as I had hoped that my eyes would remain closed for much longer but it seems my body had gotten used to being up and about by then! No fear though if I thought I would be up to nothing today… I wasn’t… ended up running errands here and there… so I guess I wait to bum another day!

HeeeeeeLLLOOoooo…

…this passed weekend a friend mentioned that they liked my blog… I was very grateful but a bit scared at the same time. Most of the time when “virtual” and “real” connect the real is jolted a bit… I’ve been blogging for so long I actually forgot that real people read my blog… So to all that read “the days of my life” I do thank you… without you I’d be an insane person rumbling away into the air…

SUNNY SIDE UP!

January – the god of the doorway – hence the beginning of the year… many things have happened in the passed month…

A dear friend of mine is the proud mother of a her first son… and there be many proud aunties as well, I being one of them which makes my baby cravings shoot up the roof… but I’ve handled them before, so right now won’t be a first.

I have also resigned from my job and serving notice till this Friday. Am I excited? No & yes but mostly am nervous, mostly I look forward to not hearing my alarm sound off next week, and sitting to watch all the movies I’ve borrowed.

Coincidentally my previous 5 year plan expired this month, therefore I am looking forward to deciding what it is I want come the next 5 or so years.

Yesterday I took a drive from VM through Nyari to ISK and into Westlands. My radio was off… there was nothing but the sound of the Subaru, my thoughts and a lovely sunset. I was at peace like I’d never been before and all the anxieties that have been building up about my future seemed to fade away into nothingness. It felt good…

Today I was reading this post I wrote a while back CHANGING PARADIGMS and it hit me it was written on Feb 2nd 2007… that’s the day Lamu and I hooked up and two years later he proposed (on the same day). My main desire then was for a more solid life… and here we are planning our future… how is that for a changing paradigm??? Thank you Lord.

BUDALANGI ‘09

Now that I think about it… what’s the status on Budalangi? I mean year in year out for the passed 2 decades we’d always hear of floodings and people stranded in need of assistance in that region but this time round in the 2009-2010 flash floods we didn’t get any mention of them and what could be going on. Honestly, I think this should be reported as one of the potentially foresighted things the Govt or RedCross have done in years! Give credit where it is due.

Haiti Earthquake & Kenyan Response!

First and foremost my heart goes out to those affected by the earthquake in Haiti and that region of South America. I hope help can start to arrive and may God be with them.

As I watch the news with much dread that the Kenyan Special Programmes and Emergency Response arm of the Government is watching the same news and saying, “Aaah that is sad.” Instead of seating up and taking notice of the catastrophy that if happened in Kenya would be a great catastophe indeed.

We’ve just experienced torrential rains that caught us off guard (I note with hopeful pleasure how Budalangi wasn’t mentioned through the whole season meaning there is hope yet) and we saw ourselves scramble a little too late to salvage towns and their residents. I’m now curious to know if an earthquake hits Nairobi with the two major hospitals i.e. Nairobi & Kenyatta being right next to each other, and Red Cross being in the same area who will help who in such a time of commotion? What plans to we have in times of tragedy and is the common mwananchi aware of what to do in the event of a full blown natural catastrophe?

I think there should be a fully operational emergency response unit made up of representatives of Hospitals, Firefighters, RedCross, Airport/Airstrip, Military, and Water providers in every town/city which means if one place is hit and their emergency response systems are down a nearby town e.g. Thika for Nairobi or Kilifi for Mombasa would come to the rescue.

Job Description for Future Nairobi Mayor

The Local Government (Amendment) Bill 2009 might just be one of the best things for Kenya to start of the next decade with. DPM Musalia Mudavadi is proposing that the Mayor be elected in every 5 years through Universal Suffrage and best of all that this individual should hold an honest to God University Degree (i.e. not from the back alleys of River Road’s fledgling Photocopying & Forging Industry). The Standard 7/01/10

While tooling away on the internet I came across this article Mayor Wanted which makes not only for a good read but makes you think about it – if Nairobi Citizens (read Employers) will be allowed to vote in their Mayor then it’s only fair as “Employers” to decide what the job description for our Mayor will be. I mean by the time you (as an individual or common mwananchi or wanjiku) are answering to a Job Ad or going for an interview you are fully aware of the qualities required for the interviewers to know that you are the man/woman for the job. Therefore looking at it from that perspective it is only fair that Nairobi Citizens say what they want in their Mayor.

The worldwide job description for a Mayor currently is to Create Legislation, Plan & Implement Budgets, Meet the Citizens, Create atmosphere for Business to flourish, Attract and maintain Business in the City, Community Improvement and Involvement.

If this is so therefore my personal opinion then is that a future Mayor should currently be or aspiring to be the Managing Director of the company they currently are in or they hope to be with the following qualities:

• Proficient in both English & Kiswahili (both spoken & written)

• Excellent & Proven Business development skills

• Strong and Effective Sales skills

• Strong Customer relations

• Evident leadership skills

• Strong managerial, communication and interpersonal skills

• Ability to interact with Investors, Local Business People, Local Government, Councilors and Citizens

• Results-oriented

• Entrepreneurial self-starters

• Strong problem-solving, negotiation and decision-making abilities

• Able to build and manage teams

• Develop employee skills and morale

• Delegate responsibility

• Oversee a wide variety of projects

• Strong Internet and computer skills

My proposition is that we start noting those qualities and required skills down, so that when the MPs come from the holidays in March to pass that bill we’ll have a JD ready for the person who will govern our city.

SHAME ON YOU!!!

Akilano Akiwumi, Phoebe Asiyo, Joseph Chirchir, Connie Kivuti, Partrick Lutta, Betty Maneno, Dr. Stephen Karau, Mr Farah Huseein Abdi, Jason Namasake and Dominic Dabalen… I have nothing else to say to you but SHAME ON YOU!!!!!

Are you seriously telling me that one year after your appointments this is the best you can come up with!? Trying to hoodwink Kenyans into believing that you were actually working very hard to think through the issue of MPs and their salaries! Ati you want to cushion the MPs against a rise in the cost of living!? Honestly a 10 year old boy/girl whose FPE money has been stolen can simply tell you TAX THEM!!!!! Tax them and teach them how to use money! Are we supposed to feel pity for someone who earns 800K and takes home 10k? That’s their fault not ours!

I hope you can say these to the faces of IDPs who for the passed 2-3 years have been out in the cold…these were hard working Kenyan citizens who made ends meet enough to live and now they are only surviving, tell that to parents who are outraged that FPE money can just up and disappear, whether it’s 100M or 30M… money had disappeared! Tell that to teachers, nurses, and other public servants who slave to make the citizens of this country healthy, smarter… I am at a loss of words and nothing you can say will make be believe you had even one Kenyan’s interest at heart!!!! Oh sorry, I stand corrected…you had 210 Kenyans interest at heart!

MATATU GRAFFITI CULTURE

“A day after Matatu operators ended their 3-day strike, traffic police seized about 50 vehicles with graffiti and others fitted with TV screens. Police said Matatu owners will have to remove the offensive material before they are allowed back on the road.” Daily Nation 7th January 2010. Pg 28

Excuse me? Offensive to whom? And how does graffiti and/or a TV on/in the Matatu affect anything? I think the police are mixing up issues here, the issues that need to be addressed are Corrupt Officers, Extortion Cartels, Over Speeding, Over Loading, Picking up passengers anywhere, Lack of etiquette on the roads giving other motorist nightmares, Touting, Teenage Pregnancies et al… basically the list is endless. Granted the TVs serve no purpose but to entertain generation 21 but honestly… the Matatu graffiti culture is the only one of it’s kind in the world! Otherwise where else do you think the prolific artists get a chance to show case their work? The GoDown or RaMoMa studio perhaps? I think not!?

I was in a Matatu last month and was seating behind two winter bunnies who were admiring the imagery of 2Pac that was on the back windscreen of the Matatu in front of us. They then started recalling which other artist’s image they have seen and where. I think its something that should be admired and allowed to flourish. In a country where floods, drought, corrupt government, high taxes and hardship are the order of the day… we need to allow a little beauty into our lives… for free!

Personally I think the Insyc, ArtScene, Africa Journal and Inside Africa of this world should focus on this phenomenon. While the art community in Kenya on top of clamoring for us to be recognized int he Harmonized Constitution should fight that this culture stay in place.

Previous Posts on Matatu Culture: WaPI Mathree, Public Service Chauffeur

SILENT WONDER

Where do deaf people go for dinner!? How do they order their meal, or ask for special food considerations!? How do they ask for the Manager when the order is wrong or the food is cold or a waiter is rude? These are thoughts that ran through my mind as I watched two deaf men look through the menu and subsequently one walk to the counter to make the order when there was a capable service person in waiting.

All this made me wonder on how we as a country have not really worked towards putting in measures that would help integrate the lives of the disabled with those that are able to walk, see and hear. Granted that our elevators have braille numbers but how about wheelchair ramps into all buildings let alone restaurants, how about braille menus, leaflets… and standby deaf service providers like they have in churches & some TV stations.

It’s a pity that the Harmonized Constitution really didn’t have much to say on improving the integration process… however it’s even more a pity that I didn’t note that earlier and suggest it in the 30 day window. Indeed I have failed as well.

20TENACITY!

I don’t make new year resolutions, I come up with a word to define the year! Last year was all about Positivity’09

The way I see it 2010 is going to be about holding on to what I believe in, want, desire, dream of, love, hope for, have faith in…

If you didn’t have something to work towards all year… join me!