Monday this week I attended the talk by CK Prahalad on the Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid. This talk was quite an eye opener but the government role is key to its success.
Today the government of Kenya went a step ahead and launched the water irrigation project to address food shortage by making Kenyans less dependent on rainfall.
By the way only 30 % of the viewers on Kenya Television Network ( KTN ) had confidence in the government’s intentions. I celebrate a step in the right direction and I want to believe good is possible?
On a sad note Lake Naivasha is drying up, lets pray for rain? Most of our rivers are drying up and this is truly a situation we need to start addressing and fast!
What is your take? What can we do to reverse this trend

Shortages, Shortages, Shortages. That is what we are beginning to experience as the the drought lingers on. Last night the electricity was not back at 6 pm as they had promised. The excuse was a transformer had blown. I went to bed before power came and woke up to no water to bath. This is a sad affair and if you take it a notch higher and you find many people don’t have a home, land, job or food and poverty is everywhere! We as a country need to address these shortages.

When there are shortages, no one is immune to the suffering it causes. When a Nation like Kenya or a society is mismanaged not even the leaders or rich are immune to the effects of the suffering. Looking at crime, road carnage, aids, etc when all hell breaks loose it knows not class… or status. It gets everyone, the degree and speed will vary, but let no one think its not affecting everyone me included. WHY LIE ? To me it is a WAKE UP CALL?

The media does set the mood of a country. From my own experience the media fuels perceptions that lead to talks which people then run with or without even knowing the person they are talking about.

Is it me or is the media is still stuck on warlike utterances like we were in election mode?
They need to set the tempo with topics that are very much in the hearts of most Kenyans. The direction should be one of change, forward planning.

Time is precious and the reason Kenya lacks behind is all the booze and wasted talk. One thing you note is a constant battle of divide and rule with politicking while Kenya people want change, hope and a positive way forward.

We need to rally and infuse a sense of Patriotism to cope with the myriads of issues we are facing and will encounter in the future.

Kenyan tribes tribe tribe – Kikuyu, Luo, Kalenjin happens to be the mother of tribalism in Kenya and if we are not careful it will add other children Kamba, Luhya etc. We Kenyans have to guard against this. We should be proud of our heritage and culture but leave it there.
When the census comes knocking can we all be KENYANS. I have seen diverse people who speak fluent Kamba, Luo, Kikuyu etc and to me it should be a language, that’s it. Lets not be divided? Do you think we should fill in our tribe slot when the census people come to count us?

Last week was one long and educative one, mainly on how to trade with the US, with ourselves and with Africa. I have gathered a lot from African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Foum, but it took my whole day and by the time I got home I could do nothing else.

We have received the grants applications for July 2009 and I will be arranging a meeting with all the Entrepreneurs Grants applicants sometime mid next week. Please check this blog often for the details of the meeting where the winner of July grant will be announced .

Well last Saturday I met with some Kenyans who had wanted to meet my brother who was supposed to visit from the UK. That lunch took place at the Carnivore restaurant Nairobi. Ten of us met, three couldn’t make it. I shared the start of a way of life, a commitment to plan & live to the maximum, to work with a common vision, to stay connected for the good of the self, the family, the community and the country.

I enjoyed the lunch so much and meeting these 10 fellow Kenyans for the first time together and not knowing where we all came from, how we think, where we are heading. We were able to share together beyond our tribe, sex, status which was a blessing. We chose the title ” Eat the frog ” for our group

I wonder how the others felt?? I look forward to the next meeting where we assess the progress and increase the number of participants. One step at a time and we shall attain success. Keep checking this blog for the next meeting.

While en route coming home I decided to stop in Dubai at the Atlantis Hotel. It is amazing how many young Kenyans are working and earning a living that pays them double if not triple of a similar job back home.
But more than that it gives them an opportunity to work and earn an honest living. This is the resilience you find with Kenyans.
It is nice that they are so happy to see fellow Kenyans which reaffirms to me that our bond as a people is being Kenyan. It is not in our tribe or party? That is the patriotism that we should preach and practice back home, that we are one people united by the same values each of us hold dear in our heart!

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• Grace Wanjiku : Kenya (kiva.org)

Earlier in the month I posted about giving a chance to one or more Kenyans to go for their dreams through a monthly grant. Although micro finance is available in the country it is not accessible for all.
This grant is my way of helping some Kenyan to achieve their dreams and create employment.

I will mentor the winners and I know this will make a difference. If you want to participate in this grant complete the application form which is found at Esther Passaris website. Please note that all the fields are mandatory. If you do not have an answer to enter in any box then fill it with N/A.

Spread the word so that we can have as many participants as possible. Who knows this could attract some of our young inventors and youthful entrepreneurs out there.

Good Luck!

Last week I had the opportunity to speak to a group of ladies on Passion & Determination at the Village Market talk on Ladies Day.
I spoke on my tumultuous journey in both my private and public life.

I was able to give the group a few of my personal quotes that I have gathered in my short but challenging life, which I gladly share with you today.

16.5 MILLION KENYANS LIVE IN POVERTY. That is why we should care.

Well it’s very simple – DO WE WANT A REVOLUTION? ARE WE VICTIMS OF CRIME? ARE WE LIVING IN FEAR OF CRIME? DO WE CARE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE? DO WE CARE ENOUGH TO SHARE?

Now don’t get me wrong. I don’t mean we spoon feed the less fortunate. But when one is in ICU you have to feed them until they have regained their own strength and that is what we have to do. This blog is about knowing the driver and the direction to where I feel we should be going together. Join me as a passenger and when I tire take the wheels as this bus has to get to its destination with all the passengers content!

I am sure some of you are reading this and going I pay my taxes, I tithe, I help my extended family, I give a few coins every month to the poor on the street, I employ a few people etc etc . I know you do! But look around you, in your neighborhood there is a slum. It is growing bigger, the conditions are getting worse, and all our collective effort this far has not made visible difference.

A recent study that we commissioned through Adopt A Light on the impact of the lighting in the slums posed the question “how do you feel about the rich. The answer went like this “they don’t care about us, we don’t exist for them after we done the slaving for them”

I see a relationship between the violent crimes and this perception. I see crime increasing and the youth continuing to being gunned down. These young men are children, fathers, brothers, and providers of their family and no matter how hard we judge them, they are a loss to someone who will have a bone to pick with us if not now, in the future?

Besides poverty, hatred, there is another reason why crime is escalating and that is drugs. Drugs are consumed so readily among the poor, damaging the brain, once addicted! They will kill for it! Many people who have been car jacked say the same thing, the men where young, educated, and stoned.

So I have put together this website and many others sites that I will unveil to you in time, as a platform for you and I to connect and drive this vision to a bigger picture of a Perfect Kenya by 2015.

When it comes to poverty we have to take the same approach to invoke the need and the urgency to take action through a lifetime commitment to be part of the solution!