kenya
NGOs a No-Go at the WSF?
Submitted by Adam Ma'anit on February 2, 2007 - 1:46pm.
Tensions between well-resourced NGOs and social movements was one of the major issues for debate at this year's World Social Forum. Read more »
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Queer eye for the WSF
Submitted by Adam Ma'anit on January 25, 2007 - 11:31pm.
For me, one of the real achievements of this WSF has been the wonderful turnout of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex (LGBTI) activists here (particularly from Africa). The Q-Spot, a venue setup by GALCK (the Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya), was one of the most popular hangouts in the stadium. Numerous workshops, trainings, debates, film screenings, exhibits, and poetry readings were well attended and there was a real buzz about the place. ‘Sexual rights’ as a concept has really captured people’s imaginations as both straight and gay alike were able to connect with and rally behind the simple yet powerful assertion that all human beings have the fundamental right to express their own sexuality and be free from persecution. Read more »
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Kiswahili crash course
Submitted by Adam Ma'anit on January 25, 2007 - 2:48pm.
Of the few languages I’ve had the privilege to learn (badly) in my life, Kiswahili (Swahili) is my favourite. It’s wonderful expressionism and rich use of proverbs is a window into a different way of looking at life and communicating with one another.
Heavily influenced by Arabic from old trading relationships between Arabian traders and primarily coastal East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda), as well as the Comoros, Southern Somalia, Northern Mozambique and stretching inland as a lingua franca as far as Southern Sudan, Rwanda, Malawi and the DRC, it also has some Hindi, Portuguese and English influences, but it is still essentially a Bantu language and one of the most widely spoken non-colonial languages in Africa. It is spoken by over 50 million people and as a first language by some 5 million people (mainly on the coast). There are numerous dialects and a wonderful Kiswahili-derived patois favoured by urban youth called Sheng which originated in Nairobi and loved by East Africa hip-hop artists who bend it to their will with extreme dexterity and creativity. Nairobi and inland Kenyan Kiswahili is fairly flexible whereas on the coast you might be corrected for not using proper grammar or vocabulary. Read more »
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Fall of the House of Windsor
Submitted by Jess Worth on January 25, 2007 - 2:29pm.
It seemed strange that amongst the hundreds of organisations’ stalls ringing the inner circle of the World Social Forum stadium in Nairobi there were only two that served food. At eye-watering prices. All the other officially-registered, slightly more reasonably-priced food vendors, who’d paid to be there, had been firmly placed outside the gates in the so-called ‘food court’ which I didn’t even find til the second day, given the total lack of anything resembling signs. Read more »
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Privatization brings the rain?
Submitted by Adam Ma'anit on January 25, 2007 - 6:25am.
Anti-water privatization activists from all over Africa met today at the World Social Forum to launch a new African Water Network aimed at strengthening co-operation and co-ordinating efforts to ‘oppose water privatization in all its forms’; to work for a participatory model of public control over water; and to assert that water is a fundamental human right. Virginia Setshedi from the South African Coalition Against Water Privatization explained the significance of the event: ‘Today we celebrate the birth of this network to resist the theft of our water, tomorrow we will celebrate access to clean water for all!’ Read more »
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Chapatis against Bush!
Submitted by Adam Ma'anit on January 24, 2007 - 12:45pm.
With a renewed vigour and fresh intensity, the World Social Forum feels like it’s beginning to hit its stride. Thanks to the Kenyan activists’ inspiring agitation, there is a feeling of genuine possibility in the air. WSF Organizers have made good on some of their assurances that the Forum will be a more open space and those unable to pay will be allowed in. Vendors from nearby areas are now selling food, water and wares and the prices have dropped substantially. There are more Kenyans participating and leading workshops here, and even inquisitive street kids from nearby are here seemingly dazzled by the spectacle that is the Forum. As Wangui Mbatia, one of the Kenyan activists from the People’s Parliament said: ‘They went to Kibera (ed. Nairobi’s largest slum), and saw the worst part of our poverty. Now we want to come here for the Forum to see the best part of us.’ Read more »
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Mercury rising
Submitted by Adam Ma'anit on January 22, 2007 - 8:32pm.
Day 2 of the Forum and the wazungu (white people) are all starting to turn various shades of pink from sunburns and heat exposure. The drums and singing are a constant thrum in the background as thousands move from workshop to workshop or just wander around sluggishly browsing the various stalls.
The temperature is rising in other ways too. More people have become disenchanted with the creep of corporatism at the WSF. As the noon sun further en-pinked the wandering wazungu, a critical mass of Kenyan activists marched through the restricted area where the WSF organizers are holed up and confronted some representatives with their concerns. Read more »
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World Social Forum 2007: Warts and all
Submitted by Adam Ma'anit on January 21, 2007 - 11:56am.
NAIROBI. There are a few things about Kasarani stadium, the venue for the 2007 World Social Forum, that seem at odds with the spirit of this now institutionalised annual civil society gathering. The gates, razor wire and sentries stopping-and-searching at the main entrance certainly contradict the spirit of openness that the WSF purports to foster. So too do the regular patrols of red-beretted soldiers toting AK-47s. Read more »
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