On 28th October, 2011, I will pay homage to Mama Wangari Maathai, and to her determination to make the world a more peaceful, healthier place.

On 28th October, 2011, I will honour Mama Wangari Maathai by doing that which she loved most; planting trees.

On 28th October, 2011, I will begin to work to restore Kenya’s forest cover, not for me, but for my children and my children’s children.

On 28th October, 2011, I will take a moment to appreciate the social, communal, environmental and economic benefits of forest cover.

On 28th October:

I will Unite and embrace the diversity that is Kenya.
I will Plant and replenish our lost forest cover.
I will Nurture and ensure the survival of our natural heritage.

On 28th October, 2011, I will do the best I can because, I am The Humming Bird.

Did you know that for many girls in Kenya, sanitary pads are an unaffordable luxury?

Many girls miss many days of school because without pads, their monthly periods immobilise them. Others resort to recycling disposable pads or using handkerchiefs, or tissues or pieces of mattress.

As if this is not bad enough,even where they can get their hands on disposable pads, some girls do not have panties to hold the pads in place!

With availability of sanitary pads and panties, young girls all over Kenya can attend school every day and restore their dignity.

The Iddi Achieng Trust is working with the PadBank, a NairobiVIP Parties initiative, to collect pads for young girls in Kenya. The trust has already secured 8068 panties from Maridadi.

Through the Great PnP Blast Concert in Nairobi, sanitary pads will be collected to match the panties. The event will be held at Alliance Francaise on Friday, 30th September, 2011 from 7pm.

Iddi Achieng will perform at this concert. There will also be performances from Makadem, Asali, Judith Bwire, and Kevo among others. The event will be MC’eed by Phelix Odiwuor (Jalang’o) and Jacquey Nyaminde (Wilbroda).

All you have to do to support this cause is show up with a pack of pads and enjoy great music! You can also buy pads and panties at the door.

Support this cause on twitter using #PadBank

You can read more about this cause on VibeWeekly and on Beauty Cocoon.

On the 28th of February 2011 at 1pm many Kenyans united to sing all three verses of our beautiful and powerful National Anthem.

1pm, 1 nation, 1 people, 1 anthem, united in 1 prayer for 1 Kenya

We had no agenda other than to sing the national anthem and to unite with other Kenyans to do so. We wanted to show that there is more that unites us than divides us as Kenyans. We wanted to celebrate our Kenya and celebrate each other.
We wanted Kenyans to take a few minutes to appreciate the message that was passed on by the anthem; to understand the pledge that they were making to Kenya by singing the anthem.

Justice be our shield and defender…

Nchi yetu ya Kenya tunayoipenda tuwe tayari kuilinda…

Natujenge taifa letu…ndio wajibu wetu

let all with one accord, in common bond united

Kila siku tuwe na shukrani..

Every bit of our national anthem speaks to a situation in our country. If you are Kenyan and claim this as your national anthem, then surely you can use this anthem as your call to action.

Based in Nairobi, I cannot claim to know exactly what problems the people in Mandera or Lamu or Budalangi are facing and how to solve them. Following Kenya28Feb, I cannot claim to have a way forward for them. The people in Mandera, Lamu and Budalangi have voices and the capacity to outline their own problems and outline solutions for those problems. I can only encourage and support them as they stand and do something to make their situation better.

Imagine a Kenya where people all over the country took a stand and decided what issues they needed tackled in their communities and how to tackle them. Imagine a Kenya where a leader rose from amidst the issues facing his or her community, who is not running for political office, but whose agenda is to help his or her fellow Kenyans address their problems and deal with them conclusively.

We can no longer sit and wait for our government to intervene. They have proven that they have a different agenda. Kenya belongs to us. Let us do something to help ourselves. Just like no problem is too small, no solution is too small. You may not be able to begin a trash collection company or a ‘keep your city clean’ campaign yourself, but you can definitely pick up that piece of paper thrown on the ground by someone who does not respect the environment they live in. If two more people join you and then ten more then fifty more, soon you’re all looking for a more sustainable solution to cleaning up you neighbourhood.

Build this our nation together..

So what next for Kenya28Feb? It is up to you. Who are you waiting for to solve your problems? Kenyans have begun initiative to assist IDPs, to promote civic education, to promote reconciliation, to get accounts for their CDF… What are you doing?

Amkeni ndugu zetu
Tufanye sote bidii

See more Kenya28Feb videos here.

Record a video telling Kenya why you support Kenya28Feb and send it to unite@28feb.co.ke for upload onto the official Kenya28Feb YouTube channel.

Alternatively, upload it onto your YouTube channel and use the tag Kenya28Feb

On the 28th of February 2011 at 1pm Kenyans will unite to sing all three verses of our beautiful and powerful National Anthem. On the 28th February 2011 the world will watch as Kenyans stand UNITED; 1pm, 1 nation, 1 people, 1 anthem, united in 1 prayer for 1 Kenya.

Visit the Kenya28Feb website

Join Kenya28Feb on Facebook

Join the conversation on twitter

Sing and Unite!

We are extremely proud to be Kenyan!
We are proud of our beautiful country!
We are proud of our diversity cultures and traditions!
We are proud of our heroes!
We are proud of our high achievers!
We are proud of being hustlers!
We are proud of our hoods!
We are proud of our tribes and twengs!
We are proud of our kanges and our mats!
We are proud of our artists and musicians!
We are proud of our industries and farms!
We are proud of our sports teams!

On the 28th of February 2011 at 1pm, wherever you are, at work, in the supermarket, in traffic, in school, on campus, in hospitals, in churches, in mosques, in temples, in synagogues, on sports pitches, in court, on your farm, at police stations, at armed forces barracks, in matatus, in buses, on the beach, in the game parks, at the airport, in parliament, in State House, in your homes ..

On the 28th of February 2011 at 1pm, we stand
On the 28th of February 2011 at 1pm, we unite
On the 28th of February 2011 at 1pm, we shall speak in one voice.
On the 28th of February 2011 at 1pm, let’s sing our beautiful and powerful National Anthem, all three verses.
On the 28th February 2011 the world will watch as Kenyans stand UNITED;
1pm, 1 nation, 1 people, 1 anthem, united in 1 prayer for 1 Kenya

We are Kenya!

Mary the Night Nurse has been a stripper and a sex worker since 2005.

She is a mother of four. Her body is her office.

Mary and her children face discrimination every day because of her job.

Her clients, she says are the same people who talk down to her in public, degrade her and accuse her of having loose morals.

On 17th December, 2010, Dec17Kenya organisers addressed a press conference at the Sarakasi Dome to talk about the importance of marking the International day To End Violence Against Sex Workers.

In this video, Zawadi Nyong’o dispels the myth that all sex workers are vectors of disease

photos by Mentalacrobatics and Harvesttone

The programme at Sarakasi Dome began with a press conference addressed by the organisers of Dec17Kenya.

Dorothy Ogutu (KESWA), Peninah Mwangi (BHESP), Zawadi Nyong'o and Manduli

The place was filled to capacity.

Speakers, who included Zawadi Nyong’o and Esther Passaris, talked about basic human rights, workers rights and challenges and way forward for sex workers.

A participant shelters herself and her children from the hot sun as they eat lunch

The MC was hilarious. She kept us on our toes.

photos by Mentalacrobatics.

Today is the International Day to End Violence against Sex Workers. It was created by Dr. Annie Sprinkle in 2003 as a day to raise awareness of the violence in sex work and to highlight the discrimination that sex workers face. The day is observed globally on December 17th.

In Kenya, where this event is being marked for the first time, a march to mark the International Day To End Violence Against Sex Workers began on Koinange Street.

The street was red.

The red umbrella has become an important symbol for Sex Workers Rights and it is increasingly being used on December 17: “First adopted by Venetian sex workers for an anti-violence march in 2002, red umbrellas have come to symbolize resistance against discrimination for sex workers worldwide.”

It was a peaceful procession (with all the right permits!) and the cops even helped coordinate the human and car traffic.

The procession walks past Central Police Station on the way to the Sarakasi Dome in Ngara.

Once at the Sarakasi Dome, people queued up and waited patiently to get in.

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I have been trying to read up on conditions and opinions surrounding sex work and the feminist movement. Talk about a divergence of opinions regarding prostitution!

Some people consider prostitution yet another form of male dominance of women and a consequence of poverty, which women unwillingly subject themselves to. They argue that there is nothing positive about prostitution and preach reform of prostitutes by opening up opportunities that provide alternative means to make money thus, they hope, taking women out of this situation-prostitution.

Others feel that prostitution is a business and deserves to be subject to workers’ rights just like any other job. And others still, argue that it is a liberating and empowering experience and that prostitutes are in no way victims of the system.

Have a look at Sarah Bromberg’s paper, Feminist Issues In Prostitution which talks about different types of feminism and their positions on prostitution. These are also laid out in a chart here. Do you have any other literature that sets out these definitions clearly? Do share.

Regardless of their stance on prostitution, I’m sure that all schools stand united in the fact that physical abuse and rape is illegal even when the victim is a prostitute.

Prostitutes have long been considered “fair game” for sexual harassment, rape, gang-rape, “kinky” sex, robbery, and beatings. This violence is a manifestation of the stigma and discrimination against sex workers. Sex workers are considered immoral and deserving of such inhumane treatment. With this kind of attitude it is difficult for sex workers to be protected from abuse and many are reluctant to report such cases for fear of further victimisation.

On Friday, December 17, from 9:00am-5:00pm, in Kenya, the Bar Hostess Empowerment and Support Program (BHESP), in collaboration with the Kenya Sex Workers Alliance (KESWA) and other local women’s rights and human rights organizations, will commemorate International Day to End Violence against Sex Workers.

I am currently reading ‘When I Dare To Be Powerful’ and I will be on Koinange Street and at Sarakasi Dome to watch, listen and learn.

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