IMAGES FROM KENYA BURNING: NEVER AGAIN!

IMAGES COURTESY OF THE GO-DOWN ARTS CENTRE EXIHIBITION: KENYA BURNING.

THE RISE OF THE ZOMBIES

Many years back, they spoke about the rise of the zombies; we imagined brain eating lobotomized individuals who would cause havoc in an otherwise normal society.

Flash forward to 2012, this is it; we are it. We are witnessing the rise of the zombies. We are the zombies.
By way of explanation, zombies are literally the walking dead. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli.

And how are we zombies, you may ask?

By virtue of our internet addiction, we are zombies. We are able to move, walk, talk, do everything normal and respond to external stimuli but are held captive by our internet addiction.
Our computers, mobile phones and a myriad of gadgets ensure that the enslavement continues into every waking hour.

Our online relations are more important than our offline relations. How many times have we heard about mothers who play internet video games longer than 36 hours, while their children starve in their plush apartments? Of teenagers who commit suicide because they didn't 'win' their games, of young people, who in following with their gaming heroes actually massacre innocent people in schools and malls? But I digress..

The situation here is not that bad, as in Hollywood bad.
We are talking about a generation of people who, apart from their gadgets which connect them to the world wide web in every way, shape or form.
Don't get it wrong, they go to work, school, attend events and are seen to be normal members of society but take away the internet for a day and the chaos that will ensue will be worse than the Mombasa Chaos (saying a prayer for Kenya).

The internet has a myriad of merits to it, we use it as an information superhighway but on the flip side, with the advent of a plethora of social media platforms, we all seem to be hooked, each to his drug or fix, and we can indulge anywhere, anytime without restraint, or so it seems.
To facilitate the addiction, there are various types of smart phones in the market for as little as Kshs. 2000 (Kabambe 3G). Let the madness begin as this person puts it, Kylie ‏@ColourMe_Bad
"When im on my phone tweeting or whatever i sometimes forget where I am & get dazed like i jus emerged from a dark room". Things just got real, people!

Now that we have established our zombie-hood, we need to establish how it's all to our disadvantage.
For one, we hardly make a marked contribution in the economy except as consumers. There are no new ideas in the markets and if we think there are, they come from the same old section of people who are not too attached to their gadgets to actually partcipate in society.

Being zombies, we are low-maintenance people, requiring nothing but food, shelter and clothing, a few good times and steady stream of income to keep us going.
We care nothing for our environment, our contribution to society beyond our banal updates is base and even in 2012, our politicians can still dare to promise clean water and food in exchange for our votes! That is a response to our unthinking status. Our leaders can mess with our taxes, our security and our economy in every way, shape or form while our eyes and minds are glued to the TL for the latest game, movie, reality show or piece of gossip.

Arise O ye zombies! Take the power back in your hands and minds! Use the gadgets for enrichment and empowerment. Embolden yourselves and take back your lives and control.

Be the masters of the information superhighway not the slaves and spectators.
Participate actively and proactively, make us proud. Let us be seen as worthy and deserving of taking over the country's leadership in every sector.

O ye zombies, put the gadgets down, let's have wholesome discussions, enriched relationships, emboldened campaigns and empowered networks.

O ye zombies, arise!!

THE LAZY GENERATION

Rumour has it that the old folk up at the hill of power will not give us room because we are lazy. Too lazy to question, think and act for ourselves and to do so responsibly, thinking everything into the future, from start to finish.

Of course we are quick to refute those claims and insist that we are able, willing and energetic enough to lead this country, to drive it out of the years of poverty and malfunctioning structures.

They could be having a point, given the recent online events with the young people seemingly wanting a short cut to wealth, fame and riches.
The campus divas diving for the rich men and campus hunks being available for the rich women.

Our folks have all along instilled in us a culture of hard work and a valuable work ethic to guide us
in all our prospects (forget our errant politicians).
That having been thrown out of the window, for whatever reason (we can blame many factors)
there seems to be a culture of greed and impatience all geared towards getting rich quickly.
After all we live in an age where our phones and gadgets are smarter than we seemingly are.

There is a sense of haste in society, especially among the young people. We want to be as rich as Bill Gates without putting in any of the hard work or smart work for that matter. We cannot be bothered to muddy our hands or brains in an effort to achieve our goals. We just cannot imagine breaking our backs and working long hours making our dreams come true.

The young college and university men and women, in  an effort to live like their wealthy counterparts who come from well-off families and to flaunt like the superstars on television are now calling upon older and wealthier men and women to be their shortcut to all these material things.
One young woman even went ahead to ask that half of her tuition be paid for by the person with whom she will be gallivanting with!!

Are we so lazy as to not recognize the opportunities that lie around us and the talents and skills that lie within us?
The statistics showcase unemployment as a sore thumb in our country's economy and this is true but given the time, energy and youthfulness we still possess, are we doomed to fail?

The resources spent in advertising flesh for sale on these social media platforms could be used to tap into intrinsic talent and skills, which will improve lives a million-fold even into the future.

Going for the rich men and women provides a drug which one cannot afford, getting hooked, stripped of one's dignity, with the pain numbed by the presence of material gains and a feeling pf being 'special'. We forget that the beautiful ones are not yet born and soon as the flesh for sale gets 'old' the vendor will be tossed to the kerb as the new thing is taken up by the tycoon.

There is a scary lack of imagination in matters professional. Nowadays, prospective employers are checking out one's social media profile without permission to do so. Therefore, should they find a candidate's activities and images to be questionable, they instantly drop that particular candidate's participation in a job interview.

No organization wants to be represented by a shady individual, even if that individual may plead to have changed his or her ways. Society can be harsh like that.
We all have a choice to make, keeping in mind as much as we may forget the mistakes of our youth, the internet does not forget.

Someone somewhere may unearth that tasteless picture of you when you're in the middle of a bid for political office or any other office in this land.
The old folk at the hill of power will use it to lock out your talent and skills out of the team that could make a change in this country. The HR manager could use that nasty picture to end your candidature for that lucrative opportunity.

However, all warnings go unheeded as we quickly gallop for the hasty riches coming to us in all forms of short cuts... Get it while you're young is the motto.

YOUTH ISSUES? IT'S AN ENDLESS LIST!

First of all, we need to stop calling 50 year olds and older middle-aged men "youth". Yes they have their issues too but majority of the Kenyan population are youth, now this age group is wide and as wikipedia says, "Definitions of the specific age range that constitutes youth vary".

Image fromyouthontheconference.blogspot.com

Youth issues are many today, from unemployment, to drug and substance abuse, to education or lack thereof. Which brings me to The Space. The Space begun as an initiative to bring about a conversation with youth from all over Kenya on social issues affecting them, the impact of PEV, and civic participation. This birthed workshops, festivals revolving on these themes and THE SPACE TV was born. Though season 1 is over (it aired at 6pm Sat on NTV), they are still engaging with the youth online to ascertain the impact of the TV show and to also continue discussions on Leadership, National Identity, Ethnicity and Responsible Citizenship. Hosted by Karen (Kaz) Lucas and Mwafrika, the show is fun and full of surprises.

Unemployment

This to me seems to be the biggest issue facing the youth in Nairobi today. How to survive day by day without a (stable) source of income. Most come to Nairobi from the rural areas with hopes of landing lucrative jobs only to end up spending days in casual labour that pays about Ksh 300 a day, if you are lucky....

Article by Savvy Kenya

Continued here >> http://www.savvykenya.com/2012/08/youth-issues-its-an-endless-list/

NAIROBI HALF LIFE- GANGSTER'S PARADISE

Every impoverished person dreams of the day they will finally find themselves rich, swimming in CASH, worry free and finally rid of all their problems!

This young man from a poor family residing deep in the village finally gets a chance to go to the big city to chase his dreams and hopefully make it big enough to go back home a hero.

Before leaving, his mother does due diligence and warns him of the dangers lurking in the city with the lascivious ways of the city dwellers.

This is the story of Nairobi Half Life.

The story of a young man coming to the city in pursuit of an acting career, only to be drawn into a life of thuggery in order to survive the harsh economic times.

The struggle is real. Keeping one's focus yet dealing with the temptation of quick cash. It's a gangster's paradise!

The movie premiers on Friday 31st August at Westgate malls at 2.30pm.
Catch the trailer here!!

http://youtu.be/nRjBLAnx2jU

THE SPACE

There are parts of Mombasa that the regular visitor does not get to see. The routes to and from the airport or bus stop to hotels are mostly removed from the reality of life in the lesser settlements, parts of the shores, hidden creeks and deserted beaches. Areas that show the reality of the wasted energies of otherwise would be agile and productive youth who have fallen into destitution and drugs.  

Other than the cases I see on the roadside, closer home I’ve witnessed first hand the personal struggle of a parent trying to bring her son back to sanity.  She’s my first cousin and I’ve known her son since he was born. Like all parents, she gave him the best she could and by all indications, his future was bright. Then at the tender age of 14 he slipped into drugs.

Drugs turned a child she knew so well into a stranger. They ate into his psyche and physical body and destroyed everything in him that she had worked so hard to build. I saw the tears, anger...

Article by SHIKO MSA

Continued here>> http://shikomsa.com/

KENYANS, LET'S STOP ENGAGING IN COLLECTIVE DESTRUCTION

Every morning when I step outside my house, all I see is the tears shed by innocent Kenyans. When I set foot to the office, my feet come face to face with the tears shed by the precious Kenyans toiling for their daily bread. Whenever I log into my social media accounts, the updates I see are about the tears shed by Kenyans in other regions far from where I am.

Make no mistake, majority of Kenyans are crying every morning, every day, every night, every hour, week, month, year and have been crying for years.

The cries are laced with pain, anger, hopelessness, optimism. It’s a mixture of emotions and feelings that cannot be explained in prose.

For four successive fighting years, Kenyans have bore the brunt of our politicians’ never ending tussles that have nothing in return for the pain we endure. And even before the worst of all settles, before the wounds can heal, before new grass can sprout on the recent graves, before the tears can dry, another tussle is already on course long even before the fighting ring is declared suitable for the fight.

However, Kenyans are also to blame for the pain meted unto them, the suffering they plunged into, the misery they ever swim in, the hopelessness that always engulfs their living, the abuse they are always subjected to, the ridicule ....

Article by Obed Muindi

Continued here>> http://omuindiz.blogspot.com/2012/08/kenyans-lets-stop-engaging-in.html