In response to the Entrepreneurs Grants that was launched a few days ago, applications are beginning to pour in from all over the country.
We will wait for a cut off number before we start to short-list the applicants.
The short-listed applicants will be contacted via email and a further selection will be made to determine the winner or winners of the grant. Keep the applications coming and spread the world so that we can have more innovative and well deserving applicants getting their chance at this grant.
Please visit Esther Passaris website, to complete the grant application form.

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!

My trip to my elder sister’s home here in Mysore which is a small town 5 hours drive from Bangalore, India has been an eye opener.

This place is very beautiful but what is amazing are the hospital and affordable medical facilities. I went for dental check ups and the prices quoted are half or less than what we are charged in Kenya. Consultation fees comes to about Kshs 500.00 compared to the Kshs. 2,500.00 we cough back home. The drugs are almost a third of what we pay.

We can now see why Kenya medical care are way above the reach of a mwanainchi. The reason is; we  are being ripped off in Kenya! What we need are some selfless doctors who can give affordable medical services to our people.

I would like to share some unforgettable moments with you as Adopt A Light is recognized as a ” best practice” for innovative cities alongside Kenya’s own Safaricom Mpesa. This is a proud moment to be Kenyan.
Kenya scooped two UN Habitat Business Awards 2009 awards out of five awards while the other three went to Mexico, China and India. Today we should affirm that we are all right in spite of everything that has passed and rather than waste our energy on those things that pull us down, lets celebrate each other and move forward together!

Here at the Awards ceremony in Delhi, India with Mrs Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director of UN-HABITAT.

It is things like this that give us the grace to have courage to go on in the face of impunity by the council, the state, the police, the customers, the people and worse a competitor who thrives on corruption and smiles all the way to the bank.

On Saturday I leave for India to receive the UN Habitat Business Award for 2009 on behalf of Adopt a Light for our initiatives in highways lighting , residential and slum lighting, which as you all know has been my pride and nightmare. But you know what, its all been worth it. I will win one day for my country….

Read about the Award at the Adopt-a-Light website. You can also read my UN Habitat Award acceptance speech here.

I am at it again about Kenya my beloved country. What I am trying to come to terms with is what kind of a country do we live in where the rule of law does not apply and institutions are abused with such impunity by the very officers we pay to run them who are supposedly the servants of the Kenyan people?

What has happened to basic values like honesty, integrity, unity, nationalism, patriotism, being able to stand up for what is right and working hard for our daily bread. Learning to share what we have while we teach others how to earn a livelihood is the only way that Kenya can rise from this debauchery it has sunk into.

Today City Hall has destroyed Adopt a Light outdoor adverts worth over 10 million. They are also pulling down Thika road and the irony of it is, we had asked where we should put the masts knowing the road would be expanded and they directed us to do it bang in the middle. Now they say the masts are in the way and there goes 80 million worth of work leading to more carnage and theft on the highway. What a waste of resources ?

I have not had any response forthcoming from the public servants concerned. But soldier on we must since losing a battle is not losing a war! What will define us as Kenyans other than our resiliency at standing up for injustices and our continued stand for the Truth!

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.

Imagine if your fairy god mother was in town for 5 minutes and was willing to grant you 10 wishes, what will you wish for? If you don’t know then it means you are on a road to no-where.

A wish list should include the things, opportunities, friends, securities, blessings etc that you wish in your life that would leave you feeling happy and fulfilled either in the short or long run.

The advantages of having a wish list ready is that you get to focus on what you really really really want. It also makes you more confident of attaining the same and as most positive thinkers would say it’s the first step to letting the universe know what you expect from it. Remember what goes round comes round.

Let me share with you my 10 wishes as at 20th October, 2008, incidentally I always review my wish list on my birthday as Christmas and New Year do get busy-

1.  I wish I excel at parenting and raise responsible and grateful children who are balanced in all areas, education, attitude, behaviour, sports, and kindness to all including the environment.

2.  I wish for a Positive conclusion of the Adopt A Light project’s legal cases and to getting back on track

3.  I wish I successfully launch respected and trusted platforms to fight corruption and reduce poverty levels in our country.

4.  I wish I unite one million committed Kenyans against poverty and to join in the journey for Kenya to achieve the millennium development goals.

5.  I wish I had a financially sound project to cater for both the financial needs of my family and I for that rainy day.

6.  I wish to I had a lobby group of sorts to address the various injustices of our country.

7.  I wish I had other business ventures as having all my eggs in one basket has not been healthy.

8.  I wish to resolve all the issues on the Kitisuru house amicably concluding the purchase of the same.

9.  I wish I had at least three degrees preferably in law, business and finance.

10.  I wish I had healthy eating habits and was committed to exercising and maintaining the weight that makes me proud.

If you can picture your wishes in colour and see yourself enjoying the benefits of your wishes as if they were a reality it’s your first step towards realising them.
After the visualisation you need to break down the wishes into steps and indeed action plans with deadlines.

All the best and lets compare notes come October, 2009!

Reading is important, but I feel if I have to read all the material that comes my way it will be a full time job. What’s your take?

Well I have started a file just to replace the heap of Magazines in my room. Why? Because I am sick and tired of all the magazines some dating back 10 years that I don’t throw away because of one or two articles in them that interest me. Today I file only the articles that interest me. I either retain a photocopy, or tear the relevant pages and file it.

Now to real solid reading!

Schooling or career related. I want to go back to school and take an MBA, a Law Degree and a Finance Degree. My only fear is that I have yet to master the discipline of daily reading, how do I go about it? Any ideas and or tips from those who have had to balance studying, parenting and working?

I believe that books are a part of life, as readers we have to select what to read and what to apply to our lives from what we read. Life’s a journey; it gets harder as we grow older.

It was a Saturday morning like any other to me and I was going about my normal business. My day was interrupted by a phone call from the head of my Landscaping department, telling me a pregnant woman was in labor in the park, and asked that I come right away.

Some of my landscape workers, former ex-Street boys, were by the highway waiting to flag me down. They led me into the park by foot, since traffic would have put my arrival much later. Two women in the park had taken control of the situation delivering a beautiful baby girl to a laboring young woman. Within seconds, the baby was turning blue and the only thing to wrap the baby in was a head scarf. By this time, I held the baby, covered in blood, as the two women delivered the placenta. Read the rest of this entry »