Nairobi Restaurant Week 2015, Jan. 22 – Feb. 1 2015 @ Participating Outlets

Nairobi Restaurant Week

Nairobi Restaurant Week is back! Foodies in Nairobi have the enviable task of indulging their taste buds to a wide course selection from 50* participating restaurants in Nairobi at totally pocket friendly prices [guess the organizers know it is January!].  

NRW Menus will cost KES 1,500-2,000 depending on the establishment and will include a Magnum Cream Liqueur complimentary cocktail (where available).

New to Eating Out / Restaurant Maneno’s?

Worry not, all you need to do is either walk in to any of the participating restaurants and ask for the NRW Special Menu – re: the No Reservations Option or you can make a booking through EatOut Online or by calling 0711 222 222. They should sort you out!

* NRW 2015 Participating Restaurants
360 Degrees Artisan Pizza, 88 at Villa Rosa Kempinski, About Thyme, Adega, Anghiti Muthaiga, Anghiti Westlands, Artisan at Sankara Nairobi, Asmara, Bamboo at Zen, Bhandini at Intercontinental, Black Gold Cafe at Panari, Brew Bistro Fine Dining, Cafe Maghreb at Serena, Caramel Restaurant & Lounge, Eagles Steakhouse at Ole Sereni, Emerald Garden Thai, Flame Tree at Panafric, Four Café, Haandi, Jiko at Tribe, La Dolce Vita, Limelight at Royal Orchid Azure, Lord Delamere at Fairmont, Lucca at Villa Rossa Kempinski, Mama’s Patisserie, Mambo Italia, Mediterraneo Gigiri,, Mediterraneo Junction, Mediterraneo Westlands, Monikos, Ocean Basket, Pablo’s at Best Western, Pampa Lavington, Pampa Mombasa Road, Que Pasa Bar & Bistro, Saravana Bhavan, Secret Garden, Seven Grill & Lounge, Sierra Brasserie, Sikia Fine Dining at Crowne Plaza, Simba Salon, Soaring Eagle Spur, Soi at DusitD2, Soko at DusitD2, Talisman, Tamambo Blixen, Taste Of China, The Wine Shop, Thorn Tree at Sarova Stanley, Ventana at Bidwood Suite and Vista at Emerald Hotel

Bon Appetit!

Nairobi Restaurant Week is organized by Taste Events Ltd, (A partnership between EatOut and SHK Consulting)

Screenings: 23rd European Film Festival, May 13- Jun.1 2014 @ Alliance Française Auditorium

23rd EU Film Festival

Dates: May 13 – June 1, 2014

Venue: Alliance Française Auditorium

Time: weekdays - 5.30 & 7.30 pm and weekends - 3.00, 5.30 & 7.30 pm

Entrance: Kshs 50

AUSTRIA

1.  ATMEN (Breathing)

Drama – 2011 – 94 minutes | General Exhibition (GE)

Screenings: 13th May @ 5.30pm & 24th May @7.30pm

Acclaimed directorial debut from veteran Austrian actor Karl Markovics.  The film is an eloquent portrait of an incarcerated teenager attempting to win parole by working at a local mortuary. To his horror and disgust, he has to handle corpses.  His co-workers are bullies very like his prison warders. Yet Roman must endure this job if he is to get parole and begins to respect the solemn work of handling the dead and starts to come to terms with his own youthful crime.

Nominated for the ‘European Discovery of the Year’ at the 2011 European Film Awards and Winner of  “Label Europa Cinemas”at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival

BELGIUM

1. LA TÊTE LA PREMIÈRE (Headfirst)

Romance – 2012 –  89 minutes| Above16 (+16)

Screenings: 13th May @ 7.30pm & 24th May @ 3pm

Young Zoé takes to the road in search of a writer she admires. She believes that a road trip might give purpose to her life. Along the way, she meets Adrien, a young actor who is intrigued by her elusive personality and decides to follow her.

2. TURQUAZE (Turquoise)

Drama – 2010 – 96 minutes | Above16 (+16)

Screening: 20th May @ 7.30pm and 30th May @ 5.30pm

The film explores the lives of immigrants who find themselves torn between two lands and cultures, with roots in neither.   This moving and joyous romantic drama introduces a trio of Turkish brothers, living in Belgium, who redefine family dynamics after their father’s death

CZECH REPUBLIC

1. TMAVOMODRÝSVĚT (Dark Blue World)

War/Drama/Romance – 2011 – 112 minutes | Parental Guidance (PG)

Screenings:  14th May @5.30pm and 31st May @ 7.30pm

An epic romantic drama by the Oscar winning director, Jan Sverák. It is about two Czech pilots, serving together in the UK’s Royal Air Force during World War II, who fall in love with the same woman. The film flits between a post-war camp where Franta is a prisoner, an “enemy of the people” because he flew for the RAF during WWII, and England during the war where Franta is like a big brother to Karel, a very young pilot.

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DENMARK

1. KAPRINGEN (A Hijacking)

Drama/Thriller – 2012 – 103 minutes | Parental Guidance (PG)

Screenings: 27th May @ 7pm – Ciné-Café and 1st June @ 7.30pm

The cargo ship MV Rozen is heading for harbor when it is hijacked by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean. Amongst the men on board are the ship’s cook Mikkel and the engineer Jan, who along with the rest of the seamen are taken hostage in a cynical game of life and death. With the demand for a ransom of millions of dollars, a psychological drama unfolds between the CEO of the shipping company and the Somali pirates.

2. JAGTEN (The Hunt)

Drama – 2013 – 115 minutes | Above16 (+16)

Screenings: 14th May @7.30pm, 22nd May @5.30pm and 30th May @ 7.30pm

A powerful story of a man wrongly accused of child abuse. Lucas leads a contented life in a small town. A teacher by training, he has been left jobless by the closing of the local school.   He now works in a daycare, looking after kids during the day and drinking with their parents in the evening. Everything changes, however, when — in a moment of anger — one of Lucas’ charges tells the daycare owner he sexually abused her.

Winner of the ‘Best Actor’ Award at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival and the ‘Best Screenwriter’ Award at the 2012 European Film Awards

FRANCE

1. 9 MOIS FERME (9 months stretch)

Comedy – 2013 – 82 minutes | Above16 (+16)

Screenings: 15th May @ 5.30pm and 25th May @ 7.30pm

The film tells the story of a morally upright judge; Ariane Felder, who discovers she is pregnant by a criminal wanted for murder.  Ariane can’t remember a thing and tries to find out what could possibly have happened.

Winner of the 2014 César Awards for Best Actress and Best Original Screenplay

2. LE PONT DES SAVEURS (The Brige of Flavors)

Screening: 19th May  @ 7pm - CINE-CONCERT

The French duo ‘Bridge of Flavours’ made up of saxophonist, Julien Petit and pianist, Guillaume Cherpitel, present a Ciné-Concert.  The magic of live musical performance set to silent films from the early 20th century including ‘Paris qui dort’ (Paris Asleep) by René Clair and ‘Le voyage dans la lune’ (A trip to the moon) by Georges Méliès, comes to stage.

Following the success of the Oscar winning film “The Artist’, the two musicians started experimenting with silent films and through jazzy compositions influenced by African music, salsa, soul, rock and funk, the duo invite you to rediscover the special alchemy from the very early days of cinema.

GERMANY

1. BARBARA

Drama – 2012 – 105 minutes | Above16 (+16)

Screening: 15th May @ 7.30pm and 31st May @ 5.30pm

A psychological and political thriller set in1980s East Germany. Barbara, a doctor, has applied for an exit visa from the GDR. Now, as punishment, she has been transferred from Berlin to a small hospital out in the country. Jörg, her lover from the West, is already planning her escape. Barbara waits, keeping to herself. Working as a paediatric surgeon under her new boss Andre, she is attentive when it comes to the patients, but quite distanced toward her colleagues. But Andre confuses her with his confidence in her professional abilities, his caring attitude, his smile. Is she under surveillance? Is he in love? But as the day of her planned escape quickly approaches, Barbara starts to lose control. Over herself, over her plans?

Silver Bear for Best Director at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival (2012)

GREECE

1. ΝΎΦΕΣ(Brides)

Drama/ Romance – 2004 -128 Minutes | Above16 (+16)

Screenings: 12th May @ 6.30pm, 20th May @5.30pm and 24th May @5.30pm

Set in the turbulent social and political climate of 1922, Brides tells the story of 700 young women, some of them teenagers, from Greece, Russia, Turkey and Armenia, who were loaded on a ship heading for New York. They were proxy brides carrying a wedding gown and a photograph of their future husbands. The film illuminates the migrant experience through a moving tale of love, duty and sacrifice.

2004: Greek State Film Awards for Best Film

2. Ο ΒΥΣΣΙΝΌΚΗΠΟΣ  (Cherry Orchard)

Drama – 2000 – 141 minutes | Parental Guidance (PG)

Screenings: 16th May @ 5.30pm and 28th May @ 5.30pm

LyubovRanevskayaleft Russia to escape troubling memories of the death of her son. Now her family is riddled with debt and Lyubov and her teenaged daughter have come home to the family estate looking for a way to pay their bills. Much to their dismay, the Ranevskayas are forced to sell their land to a crude businessman who intends to build a housing development in what was once the family’s cherry orchard.

ITALY

1. LA GRANDE BELLAZA (The Great Beauty)

Drama/ Comedy –  2013 - 142 minutes | Above16 (+16)

Screenings: 16th May @ 7.30pm, 26th May @ 7.30pm and 1st June @ 3pm

Journalist Jep Gambardella has charmed and seduced his way through the lavish nightlife of Rome for decades. Since the legendary success of his one and only novel, he has been a permanent fixture in the city's literary and social circles, but when his sixty-fifth birthday coincides with a shock from the past, Jep finds himself unexpectedly taking stock of his life, turning his cutting wit on himself and his contemporaries, and looking past the extravagant nightclubs, parties, and cafés to find Rome in all its glory: a timeless landscape of absurd, exquisite beauty.

Winner of the 2014 Oscar for the Best Foreign Language Film, the 2014 Bafta Award for the Best not in the English Language

NETHERLANDS

1. DE MARATHON (The Marathon)

Comedy/ Sport-Drama – 2012 – 107 minutes | Above16 (+16)

Screenings: 17th May @ 3pm and 28th May @ 7.30pm

For four disillusioned men there is more at stake than merely finishing the Rotterdam marathon.

Gerard, Leo, Kees and Nico - four friends born and bred in Rotterdam - work side by side in Gerard’s garage, but business has suffered a down-turn. Through Youssoef, the foursome comes up with the inspired idea to get a sponsor and take part in the Rotterdam Marathon in order to save the garage from going under. In the midst of all the preparations for this ultimate run and the saving of the garage, there is actually more at stake for the four guys than just getting to the finish...

SLOVAK REPUBLIC

1. TIGRE V MESTE (Tigers in the City)

Comedy/Drama – 2012 – 90 minutes |Above 18(+18)

Screenings: 17th May @ 5.30pm and 29th May @ 5.30pm

Three friends about to turn 30 call themselves animal names: BADGER, HYENA and PIGEON. They like to spend time together in their favorite bar in the Bratislava city Zoo, but they all feel that something is missing – they starve for a soul mate for life. After years of fantasizing about a woman’s voice on the radio, Badger finally decides to meet her. Badger’s life takes an unexpected twist, when his friends discover, that a man is trying to kill him. The man is a Russian ex-hit-man hired to kill Badger for his extensive zeal as a state prosecutor, working against local mafia. At the same time, the killer happens to be the husband of the radio speaker, with whom Badger just started a romance. The circle is closed. Now it’s not only a question of falling in love anymore. It’s about staying alive

SPAIN

1. BLANCANIEVES

Drama/Fantasy – 2012 – 104 minutes

Screenings: 23rd May @7.30pm and 29th May @7.30pm

Set in southern Spain in 1920s, Blancanieves is a tribute to silent films.  It is a silent-movie melodrama version of Snow White and the Sven Dwarfs.  Carmen is the beautiful daughter of a once dashingly handsome bullfighter, now a widower and invalid, married to a scheming nurse.  After her stepmother’s bungled murder plan, Carmen is discovered in the woods by a travelling band of bullfighting dwarfs who discover Carmen’s extraordinary talent for bullfighting.

Winner of the 2013 European Film Award for the Best Costume Designer and the 2013 Goya Awards for Best Film,  Best New Actress, Best Cinematography, Best Original Score,  Best Original Song

2. LAS AVENTURAS DE TADEO JONES (The Adventures of Tad Jones)

Animation/Adventure/Comedy – 2012 – 92 minutes

Screenings: 18th May @3pm and 31st May @3pm

Tad is a celebrity archeologist and adventurer just like his hero Max Mordon... in his dreams! In reality, Tad is a Chicago construction worker. One day, however, he is mistaken for a real Professor and takes his place on a flight to Peru in search of the Lost City of Paititi. Professor Lavrof and his beautiful daughter Sara are waiting for the famous professor to crack the code. Unfortunately for Tad, Sara is engaged to real-life hero Max Mordon, but Max has secretly betrayed the Professor by teaming up with the evil Kopponen and his shady Odysseus corporation. Time for Tad to step up.

Winner  of the 2013 Goya Award for the  Best Animation Film and Best New Director

SWEDEN

1. HIMLENÄROSKYLDIGTBLÅ  (Behind Blue Skies)

Drama – 2010- 110minutes | Above 18(+18)

Screenings: 17th May @ 7.30pm and 26th May @ 5.30pm

Martin escapes his alcoholic father for the summer job of his life at the exclusive Royal Yacht Club in the idyllic archipelago of Stockholm in 1975. He meets true love for the first time and is being groomed by Gösta, a playboy in the centre of high society.  Martin is inevitably drawn into one of the greatest scandal of all times in Swedish crime history.

SWITZERLAND

1. LES GRANDES ONDES (Longwaves)

Comedy – 2013 –  85 minutes | Above16 (+16)

Screenings: 18th May @ 5.30pm and 22nd  May @ 7.30pm

It is April 1974 and Julie Dujonc-Renens, young feminist journalist and the cunning Joseph-Marie Cauvin, leading reporter for the Swiss radio, have been sent to Portugal to investigate Switzerland’s aid to poor countries. Sparks fly during the bus trip with Bob, sound engineer approaching retirement. The projects financed by Switzerland prove to be calamitous and the workers’ revolution that suddenly breaks out doesn’t help, obliging our heroes to disregard first the radio’s management, and then their own codes of conduct.

UNITED KINGDOM

1. NEXT GOAL WINS

Comedy – 2014 – 90minutes | General Exhibition (GE)

Screenings: 18th May @ 7.30pm and 25th May@ 5.30pm

NEXT GOAL WINS is a hilarious and moving exploration of what it really means to be a winner in life.

ACP-EU

1. THE CAPTAIN OF NAKARA

Comedy/Romance – 2012 – 87 minutes | Parental Guidance (PG)

Screenings: 21st May @ 7pm – Ciné Café and 25th May @ 3pm

Director: Bob Nyanja. Starring : Bernard Safari, ShirlenWanjari, Charles Kiarie

Afraid of losing the woman of his dreams, Muntu, a small fry criminal, pretends to own a profitable market stall. His honest attempts to turn his lies into reality fail, due to the ubiquitous local corruption. Impersonated as “Captain of Nakara”, wearing a stolen military uniform, Muntu manages to succeed in defending his rights, his happiness – and ends up elected as Kwetu’s president!

2. VIVA RIVA!

Drama/Thriller – 2010 – 98 minutes |Above 18(+18)

Screenings: 23rd May @ 5.30pm and 1st June @ 5.30pm

Set in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The efforts of an 'operator' named Riva to obtain a secret cache of valuable petrol bring him up against the local crime boss - and his beautiful girlfriend.

Reads on Nairobi as an Emerging Cultural Hub: Slums on the Reel by Maria Grazia Pozzi

SFF Poster

Sentiments on Nairobi as a cultural Hub

'It is notable that Nairobi has become a global metropolis, where a truly diverse Kenyan cultural identity is growing solidly, thanks in part to initiatives such as SFF, whose real contribution is to make these stories visible promoting talent and restoring dignity for people living in urban slums, while purporting only the facts, without rhetoric.' by Maria Grazia Pozzi in the huffingtonpost

Research Findings: From Theatre Royal to Pop-up Galleries - Timeline of Art Venues in Nairobi by Olivier Marcel

Maybe one day Nairobi will be laid out with tarred roads, with avenues of flowering trees, flanked by noble spaces and stately squares; a cathedral worthy of faith and country, museums and galleries of art, theatres and public offices. - Dutton Eric in Kenya Mountain, 1929

In Volume XI n° 3 – 2013 of Mambo! [IFRA Publication] Olivier Marcel takes a closer look at art venues in Nairobi from 1910 to present day. Then, he goes ahead to give a visual representation/mapping of art venues vis a vis key political events in Kenya and East Africa.

In his finding Oliver posits that most of the art venues and institutions in Nairobi lack institutional memory.

An astonishing example is the fifty year old Goethe-Institut, which has virtually nothing but testimonies to account for the activity that preceded the arrival of the current director in 2007. Additionally, when a venue shuts down, as did Wahome Mutahi’s popular Citrus Whispers Theatre in Ngara, its memory is only shared orally in small circles of theatre enthusiasts and progressively fades into oblivion.

Marcel also observes that there might be differences of intention between local organizers and their western counter parts. Western donors will usually partner with art organizers with the sole agenda of putting Nairobi on the Map! 

This paper also points out how foreign donors came to settle in the art space. As is always the case most of the foreign donors have a role play and an agenda they seek to push.  Marcel makes this clear by pointing out how informal settlements have become attractive for art projects which are usually financed by foreign donors.

   

Download the publication here [pdf]

Olivier Marcel is a PhD student in geography who is currently completing his thesis titled “Tracing Art from Nairobi, Geog­raphy of Art Mobilities in an East African Metropolis” (Bordeaux 3 University - LAM, UMR 5115).

Ten Cities Project on Guardian - Ten Cities, a million tunes: Antinodes Picked

Here are a few antinodes picked from Ten Cities, a million tunes by Caspar Llewellyn Smith

The project is the baby of the organisation's genial director, Johannes Hossfeld, who had nothing to do in the evenings when he arrived in the city six years ago. "So I went clubbing – and I found myself thinking, 'What is going on here? It is so utterly different from in Germany!'

It is part of an impressively resourced project called Ten Cities that is criss-crossing Africa and Europe seeking answers to these questions: 

1. "What is the social meaning of music in Johannesburg and Kiev? 
2. How is electric music produced and distributed in Luanda and in Lisbon? 
3. What is the meaning of the public sphere in Cairo and in Naples? 
4. What does identity entail in Lagos and Berlin? 
5. What is subculture in Bristol and in Nairobi? 
6. And, most importantly, what if these 10 scenes were to respond directly to each other?" 

"It's so much easier to make music with software like that, and it can run on cheap PCs which are suddenly everywhere. It means power has been taken out of the studios." Coupled with transformations in distribution, thanks to the likes of Facebook and Soundcloud, "things are very different from even five years ago. It's all more anarchic."

Nomination Briefs: Meet Sonko, Mike Sonko the TNA Senator Aspirant causing ripples in Nairobi

Meet Mike Sonko

Mike Sonko has become something of an urban legend in Nairobi following his dramatic entry into the 10^th parliament through a by-election in Makadara.  He has since then transformed the political est. into two era's Before Sonko and After Sonko. These days Sonko is usually in the news for all the obvious reasons which range from the good and to the damn right ugly.

Sonko has he is fondly known has mastered the art of being in people’s minds. Together with Embakasi legislature Ferdinand Waititu have made a name for themselves by claiming to fight for the common man and going full throttle to show this in stunts which are broadcasted by Kenyan Media houses.

What is interesting about these two politicians is the on-line buzz they command. To get a feel of the magnitude. Mike Sonko official Facebook page has over one hundred and fifty eight thousand likes and counting and over twenty thousand talking about this! 

Mike Sonko's Facebook Page Cover

Sonko also commands five aliases on Twitter; @MikeSonkoM, @GideonMbuvi, @MbuviMikeSonko

@GideonKioko and @RealMikeSonko

Sonko has also appeared in a number of interviews most prominent which I have come across was a Google hangout organized by Ghetto Radio in December 21, 2012 in which he talked among other things the Somali incursion by Kenyan military!

Other notable mentions are his appearance in Jaguar Video as a shoe shiner! Watch it below

Mike Sonko Posters

Mike Sonko Posters

Mike Sonko Posters

#OccupyAddisAbaba: Off to Young leaders Regional Forum on Participatory Democracy in Eastern Africa

Google Map Of Addis Ababa

Dates: October 23-25, 2012

Venue: Addis Ababa

Participating Countries: East Africa Countries

Theme: Young leader’s roles and positions

Today I am flying to Addis Ababa to join other young people from this region to discuss what are our roles and position in participatory democracy. The East African region is going through major changes. One of these changes is demographics. Young people now form the majority in the society.  Hence the question we will be trying to answer is what are the young leader’s roles and positions in this part of the world.

Some of the things I am looking forward to are;

·         conversation and perspectives from other young leaders from the region

·         contributions of young people in the democratic spaces

·         Share my insights from Kenya

Outside the forum I am looking forward to;

·         Seeing the new AU headquarters built by the Chinese

·         The arts and cultural scene in Addis Ababa. [I have been given the heads up in this area by James Mweu who is a dance choreographer.]

·         Ethiopian Cuisine. I am not a big fan of spices BUT I am willing to go all the 9 yards!

·         Also, If I get some time I will try to go to the Orthodox Church

·         And lastly, try their beer ;)

Adiós Nairobi.

Maestro Ricardo Muti in Town!

On the second weekend of July, 2011 Nairobi was treated to a rare treat of classical music when Chicago Orchestra conductor Ricardo Muti came to town for a concert and conducted Orchestra Cherubini in Uhuru Park.

New Grounds

This concert was a first of its kind in many aspects. It was the first time that Ravenna Festival's Roads of Friendship initiative was in sub-Sahara Africa having previously performed for a northern African country.

It was also a first time an orchestra which boost of over 400 pieces performed in Kenya if not in the region.

The other aspect that got me thinking during the concert was the location. Yes Uhuru park is either associated with political event (Ocampo 3 home coming party comes to mind!), Preachers who know to effectively how to use public space (who at times can be a pain in the neck with their end time gospel while asking for a quid) and lovers! Since I am based at Kilimo I am forced to pass by the hollowed grounds BUT I try to go round them less cupid whom I think might reside there may set a glimpse on me!

That said the concert showcased that indeed the grounds can be salvaged from this tag lines.

Breaking Traditions

This concert also broke other traditions which might NOT be seemingly be clear to the eye. In Kenya cultural activities are mostly a prerequisite of the French BUT the Italian staged a cultural coup at Uhuru Park!

This Festival, according to what I have read was set up by an array of many players starting with the Vice Presidents office (who graced the festival despite there being independence celebrations in Southern Sudan. Considering he was one of the mediators. This must have meant a lot to him), the Italian Embassy in Kenya, The Nuncio’s (Pope’s Representative in the country) office, Ministry of Culture and National Heritage (The Minister was conspicuously absent from this festival. The office ought to have someone younger-My opinion) and the Nairobi City Council (Finally our City fathers gather some mad love from me).

The Maestro also in his closing act incorporated our Kenyan singers as they belched out the last performance. This was the climax of the festival for me.

A Maestro’s Dream and Aspirations

In some of the introductions of the day the MC did throw quite some comparisons before the main act. One of this was the late Pavarotti. He compared and contrasted the two Italian misical figures and one thing that clearly presented itself during the performance is that Maestro Muti is soft spoken.

However, when he did speak he pointed out his vision of seeing a united and peaceful world. In fact this concert was dedicated to dwellers of the Nairobi slums.

Ravenna Festival's Roads of Friendship

This concert is part of Ravenna Festival which has an initiative Roads of Friendship, born in Sarajevo in 1997. 14 concerts in different cities of the world have been conducted to date with an eye for celebrating peace and invoking human solidarity through music.  

The 2011 Roads of Friendship Ravenna Festival was dedicated to funding educational scholarships for young people in Nairobi informal settlements (which have had success stories of transforming lives through Amani Onlus).

These scholarships are to be given to Italian missions operating in Kenya.  The concert also gave tribute to Italian missionaries who work in Kenya.

Photos

Here is a link to photo’s of the event from Quaint Photographers on Facebook.

TEDx Nairobi

Having NOT secured a Ticket for the TEDx event earlier (since the event had been SOLD OUT way long before I came to get wind of it!). So, I made my way to the venue early and I camped there hoping for a Miracle happen! And boy it did happen. 

Being among the first, I got myself busy by getting checked up by Resolution Health one of the sponsors of the event who had set up tent outside the Louis Leakey Auditorium for guys like us. They checked my blood pressure, blood sugar, BMI, etc. I can comfortably disclose that they found me as fit as a fiddle.

At around 12.50pm guys started streaming in and I got to mingle with some friends and guys that I know from the Internet sphere.

So what is TEDx? And what (no) good are they up to?

TED means: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Their tagline is; ‘Ideas worth Sharing’. 

However, TEDx is an independently organized TED event.

Inside the Louis Leakey Auditorium. Everything was arranged into perfect symmetry with symmetry here signifying order and had that Africa feeling to it more like those reality series held outdoors (Does survivor Africa rings a bell here?)

Masaai Painting

Fit for king

Side view of the stage

Audience view

Juliana Rotich the MC for the day was there to welcome us (Well, I managed to get into the event because some guys who had secured tickets had other engagements to attend) us at 1400hrs and give us the house rules of TED events.

 The theme for this event was ‘Green City in the Sun’ which was Nairobi’s name back in the day before it lost its grandeur. The event was hosted at the Louis Leakey Auditorium which is within the grounds of The National Museums of Kenya.

The first speaker of the day was Su Kahumbu of Green Dreams which is a company that deals in organic farm produce. She was talking about the need to eat the right foods while also conserving the environment. She pointed out that the food in Nairobi has more than 1000 chemical residue compared to other places. One surprising fact that she gave is that corn is contained in most products that we use including toothpaste and shampoo. She pointed out that only Nakumatt has dedicated aisles for Organic Farming produce and wondered what Zuchinni, the Nairobi-based green produce store was doing about the same. The average age of a farmer is increasing as new generations move to cities and has increased to the age of about 45-50 years.

Wycliffe Sande during his presentation

Wycliffe Sande, one of the organisers of TEDxKibera was the next speaker. He talked a bit about Voice of Kibera which is used to get information on Kibera. It works in a simple way in that once can send an SMS and tag it with Kibera which will then be picked up and used to display the information on Kibera. Wycliffe also added that they had so far received 309 reports from reliable sources & 30 SMS plus 8 e-mails during referendum days using the Voice of Kibera network.

The third speaker was Kenya’s second Caine Prize winner; Yvonne Awuor. She did a piece going by the title ‘Engare Nairobi’ which is a prose reading about Nairobi’s Nairobi River from where it starts. It also gives a brief description of the current state of the river. Engare Nairobi means ‘the place of cool waters’ in the Maasai language. Before green was fashionable, Nairobi was green but with all the anti-environmental efforts undergoing, it is no longer green. The city’s local authority body, Nairobi City Council, also has its colours all about the green. Nairobi has a different story from other cities. Yvonne closed her talk by saying “We are a part of the ecosytem that is the city”.

Jon Bohmer

Next up was Jon Bohmer, a Norwegian inventor based in Kenya and my BEST TEDx speaker for this event. Jon Bohmer who is founder and CEO of Kyoto-Energy invented the Kyoto Box which is a solar-powered water cleaner. He stressed on the need to turn to solar as a means of meeting earth’s energy needs. Jon gave a demonstration of the Kyoto Box. He pointed out that in Kenya 90% of the population is not connected to the national electricity grid most of which comes from hydroelectric (about 80%) while the deficit is met by diesel-powered burners and to a very small extent by geothermal energy. He added that 7bn tons of CO2 are released into earth’s atmosphere every year and that currently earth is at the peak of consumption on fossil fuels. 10bn tons of plastic waste lies in the oceans. Jon said that some of these problems could be overcome by making solar energy devices by using recycled plastic material. This is what he does and ends up ‘kills two birds with one stone’. To illustrate this, he gave the following facts:

Kyoto cooking box for you

260mn tons of plastic per year are disposed and this is increasing exponentially.

The world’s poorest nations have the largest land masses and the most sun (Africa)

Kenya has one of the best investment climates for solar products and technology making it a possible leading contender for ‘the country with one of the best energy efficient users’. Jon added that use of the Kyoto Box can lead to carbon savings of up to 750kg/yr.

Kyoto box explained. NB: Notice the solar torch by his waist

The Kyoto Box can also show when the water is already clean by use of a special filter. Other products that are made by Kyoto Energy are:

Turbo is a stove that is made locally by artisans and is energy efficient.

Butterfly is a plastic solar concentrator. It is quite low cost (25% PV). He is also working on a project of utilizing Butterfly which will be set-up in Naivasha.

Cocoon is an algae photo bi-reactor that can be used to grow food.

Hippo Roller can be used for getting water from the river instead of carrying it in jerry cans.

Kyoto Pump used to pump water and can be used either manually or with electricity.

He is also finalizing plans to set up ‘the Kyoto Institute’ which will be setup in Narok University College.

(After this: I think with the current constitution we should give some of those Norwegian Folks Citizenship based on such SMOKING HOT IDEAS!)

Njeri Wangari aka Kenyan Poet, was next on stage. Wangari Njeri is also an author with a book to her name, Mines and Mind Fields which is a poetry book.

She recited a soulful poetry piece on urbanization and its impact on the environment. Mind you the Chinese are constructing some super roads and next to the venue they were doing their thing!

Eric Kigada making his presentation.
Sadly KPLC was there to show us the other side of light

Eric Kigada, an architect with Planning Systems and Services talked on ‘sustainable cities’. His company has worked on various buildings in Kenya, factories and also other projects in Africa. Nairobi was Kenya’s capita city in 1927 after headquarters of the colonial government moved from Machakos. Nairobi had also been envisioned to grow towards Thika and not Athi River as it is at the moment. Eric pointed out that Nairobi’s 1973 master plan has already expired, in 2000 and at the moment we live in a city without any master plan! So this explains why people are building on the bypasses that are meant to help decongest the city. The Nairobi’s metropolitan plan hopes that by 2030 Nairobi will encompass Namanga and Thika municipalities. Nairobi has 3 rivers. Construction in Nairobi must occupy 30% total land area.

Rabia

Rabia who is a radio presenter with Nairobi’s X FM talked about her efforts to get Nakumatt to stop double bagging and also start using better methods to pack. To this effect she has started a Facebook Group page! This, she said that it came about after she had commented on the about double packaging on Nakumatt’s official Facebook page and asked them to find alternatives BUT the administrators wanted her to get 30,000 other persons so that they could act on this!

Rabia

John Kasaona’s talk on conservation and nature that he gave at the Feb 2010 TED event in Long Beach, California was screened.  The main part of the talk is that we should conserve nature and also maintain traditions while at it.

Juliana Rotich pointed out that one of the Kenyan conservancies has been profiled as one of those that are the best in nature conservancies in the documentary ‘Milking the Rhino’. This documentary had been show cased at the Goethe Institut which I managed to catch.

Afterwards was a salsa dance by Ian and Nicola. Immediately after which, there was a tea-break where tea, coffee, samosas and vegetable rolls were served.

After the tea-break, kids from Bishop Lawi Imathiu Secondary School in Meru performed 2 pieces. They are part of the generation that has come about after Jose Antonio Abreu who won a TED prize when he decided to teach musical instruments to the poor kids in Venezuela’s slum areas and he trained other trainers. One of the trainers came over to Kenya to start a similar program. Boniface Muturi introduced the team and said that this was their first performance outside of Meru. A wonderful performance it was coming from such a place.

Dr Laila Macharia, the MD for Scion Real which is a real estate company in Nairobi, talked about building green. She pointed out that East Africa has one of the highest rates of urbanization which could portend a problem in later days. Urban spaces when well used and well planned could be used for urban policy making and has a multiplier effect in that many more people could be employed. This will bring about real cash to the real economy. Green solutions should also be set out to be commercially viable from the onset of the project. High standards, aggressive and optimistic standards will push us to the green era and we should also appreciate backwardness.

Mikul Shah from Eat Out Kenya was also on stage to talk about the use of plastic bags when wrapping goods that have been bought. A some what hilarious video was played on how customers can change habits and also force shopkeepers to do the same.

Sasini‘s MD Caesar Mwangi was up next and he talked about the way people look at business. He gave the story of the Mexican fisherman and the American businessman. Another example that he gave was the kind of people who live at the coast. There are two; the simple living, poor and the so-called ‘rich’ yet one of these categories is always stressed. Gratification and poor values is what has caused businesses that were once successful yet are family businesses to flounder once the younger generation takes over. The notion that poverty causes crime was discarded by looking at both South Africa and Ethiopia where Caesar had lived in earlier days. Asked what would be the best value that he would instill in his kids, “Delayed gratification” he said without hesitating.

James Nyoro, the MD of Rockefeller Foundation Africa, was next on stage talking about growth and the economy. Most of the sectors that are growing are those in the service industry which means that only a few people have access to the millions or billions that are in their control. The poor do not get access to these millions and billions. We should be targeting at growing the agricultural and the manufacturing sectors which are more relevant to the poor person. The opportunities that are also around us should be maximized. He also talked about climate change and how to solve problems. One striking note that he gave was that public problems can never be solved by private solutions. Innovation was also encouraged and while at it, people should also give back to society. James added that ICT should also be used for development and not merely for entertainment or just making what we have easier to work with.

Kevin Otieno, the founder and organizer of TEDx Kibera, came up next and said that they had formed that as a platform for them to discuss new ideas. They have also organised other TEDx events in Mathare, Kangemi, Korogocho and Kibera.

Julie

Julie Gichuru was one of the last speakers (You know what they say; they save the best for last). Julie is the first African woman to receive the Martin Luther King Salute to Greatness Award for Advocacy of Active Non-Violence and Peace. She described herself as an African, a woman, a wife, a mother and a dreamer. Africa to her is a metropolis but it is actually a green, thriving Eden. She foresees an Africa where protection of the environment is vital, human-wildlife conflict is addressed, eco-tourism thrives and a culture of value for environmental causes and smart utilization of the environment are addressed. Africa has the potential and they can do it especially when it comes to food. She stressed that the youth have the key to develop Africa. Young people need to be transformed to do much more than just wielding weapons that will destroy their present and Africa’s future. For these, Julie showed grisly images of young men holding weapons in some of Africa’s failed states and said that “A weapon in the hands of the most disciplined soldier is still dangerous.” Julie also said that leadership is meant facilitate and we should all be working instead of focusing on the leaders.

Julie makes a point

Ifran talked about TEDx Cinema Nairobi which is being organised and for which the details will be given out later on.

Al Kags talked about his book Living Memories which he authored after interviewing 196 people about their experiences. He also talked about how communities are going back to food sustainability. Communities are growing organic food by getting the water, use the whole plant, using old technology (terraces) and also by storing the food.

One of the organizers blogs

The event came to an end with an introduction of the organisers and a performance by the Akala band.

Organizers

We were treated to some more coffee, tea, vegetable rolls and samosas after it came to an end.

  *Photos from: Zulu Safari

Links

1. TEDx Nairobi
2. Kyoto Energy