Reflections from Kampala, Uganda

It’s the last day that I am in Kampala and I am exactly one hour away from my flight back home, so I am going to keep this entry pretty short.

I have been staying at City Royal Hotel, which is located in Bugolobi, just 4 Km from Kampala. I have really loved my stay at this hotel and I was allocated this spacious corner room with a king-size bed. My window looks out at the back of the hotel where there is an s-shaped swimming pool. I have had to restrain myself from thinking of jumping into the pool from my fourth floor room and having me some cold deep dive especially during the afternoons ☺

I have been here on a one week training on Human Rights Defenders courtesy of the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project (EAHARD) and its been a great experience interacting with other participants from the East and Horn of Africa countries. We had participants coming from as far as Somaliland, Somalia, Djibouti, Eritrea, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania-Zanzibar and DR Congo. In this past week I have learnt a lot about East and Horn Of Africa. Like I didn’t know that Djiboutians speak French.I also didn’t know that Kampala has 7 famous hills and that Kampala prides itself for having a rotating hotel which is among the 7 found in the world* am not so sure if its in the entire world or only in Africa.

Kampala is an interesting place, much like Nairobi. It’s as busy, congested and traffic-jam-confused as Nairobi; save for the annoying boda bodas. I thought that it’s only in Kenya where boda bodas are driven by mad men who have every intention to commit suicide as well as their passengers.

As you walk through or drive through the streets of Kampala you must be struck by the heavy presence or armed police. I was very surprised to see heavy armed police/paramilitary guys guarding the Electoral Commission of Uganda. The heavy presence of armed policemen makes you feel like you are constantly being watched by M7. My first ride from the airport in Entebe made me feel like there was a coup or state of emergency going on. There is so much tension. But for the locals they seem not to mind about the heavy presence of armed police. They just go about their business without much care for the armed forces.

Something interesting I observed about Uganda is that the traffic here is controlled by specially trained personnel who are not police officers. They wear a blue and white uniform while the regular traffic cops wear white uniform like that of the Tanzania police. The traffic “cops” usually direct traffic but are occasionally assisted by the the regular police.

It has been interesting to interact with participants from different parts of the East and Horn of Africa. I have had to use all the French I know to communicate with our brothers from Rwanda, Burundi and Djibouti. One funny encounter of language misundertanding was when we went shopping. One of the participants from Burundi kept saying that he wants to buy “tissue”. My first thought s were: kwani in Burundi you don’t have tissues/toilet papers? But funnily enough this guy was thinking in French!! He meant he wanted to buy cloth material – which in French is translated as “tissue.” We couldn’t help ourselves but laugh our heads off when we finally realized what he wanted. So much of French- English translation ☺
I also loved interacting with the participants from Somalia and it was interesting to note how the participants from Somaliland insisted on being identified as being from Somaliland and not Somalia. One of them actually threw quite a fuss at the beginning of the training because his name tag had been written Somali and not Somaliland. Okay!! Then there was this participant from North-Sudan, he is a bit elderly but the striking thing about him is that he looks like Al-Bashir. I am not kidding. He has the same facial features as Bashir and he has the same spectacles like him, even when he walks he has the same stoop and limp that Bashir has. In fact even one of the partipants from South Sudan confessed that when he entered the training room he was shocked – he thought he was dreaming. Bashir in a human rights training workshop!!

I can’t finish this entry without mentioning that Kampala has the most cheapest clothes in the region. I really had fun shopping. It felt like I was robbing the sellers. I mean how do you explain me buying a brand new jacket at KSh. 800 when I know in Kenya I would have gotten it at KSh. 2000 or even more? I guess this is how jungus feel when they come to Kenya with their dollars and can afford to stay at execusite hotels, go on safaris and buy expensive stuff that we locals can’t afford just because the dollar- shilling exchange rate favors them. Anyway I had a ball doing shopping at Kampala malls and also at their “marikiti” market. The malls have a lot of lady’s stuff but the guys stuff are a bit pricy. Then I felt like really a baler when we went uptown to where they have the Nakumatt Mall and I bought myself Chimanda Adichie’s “Purple Hibiscus” I bought this book that I have been so looking forward to buy at USh. 24,0000!!! That’s like Ksh. 800!! Way to go!!

I am sure this is not the last time that I will be coming to Kampala. I need to come back and visit other places that I did not get to visit like the Baganda King’s Place, Jinja, Rock City and many more. For now “tugende.”

How Beautiful this Moment

I am standing out,
flake by flake it falls,
it’s white, it’s beautiful,
it’s little though,
but the whiteness of it has captured my heart,

I am standing out,
it’s not that cold, but for a Kenyan like me it’s dem cold,
oh how beautiful and gracious it falls,

I am standing out,
looking up beyond the gray sky,
from whence the white stuff is coming from,
This brings a new season in my heart,
oh how timely the fall,

I am standing out,
waiting for more, I don’t know if I should be wishing for it,
but all I know now is that I want more,
to behold the beauty of the white stuff,
for now it’s just the flakes,

I am standing out, waiting,
getting the best of this moment

(Monday, November 10, 2008 at 2:23am)

The Unheard Voice

I am too young yet old enough;
I haven’t yet got my first beard;
I haven’t yet had my first period;
yet I am old enough to face life’s challenges

By now I am meant to be learning 1+1
and a b c d;
but the only A B C D that I have learnt is H I V/A I D S;
I am too young yet old enough;

I am out here in the cold, out in the streets;
out in the parking lot stretching my arms begging for alms;
waiting that at least someone will be generous;

‘Where is your mummy and daddy?’ someone asked me the other day
I had no answer.
They have been at home since I was six;
They are always lying on that tattered sack in our dirt floor house;
‘What’s wrong with mummy and daddy’, I asked my aunt once;
She told me that they are taking a nap;
Since then no one comes to visit us anymore;
They say we aint worth helping;

Is it my fault? Did I do anything to deserve this?
Everyday I wake early and head to the waste bins;
My hope each day is that I will find something little;
for my mummy and daddy;
My hope is that someday things will change;
That mummy and daddy will be able to afford those drugs I have heard that are called A R V’s – This is the only alphabet that I know

I am out by the market today and I can see almost everyone
wearing a red ribbon by their chests
“”It’s Worlds AIDS day,” I overhear some neatly dressed school children passing by me saying to each other;
Oh how I envy them, with their neatly ironed clothes and schoolbags;
I just wonder – do they notice me? do they realize that I am infected?
Do they realize that they too are affected?
Do they really mean it when they wear those ribbons?
I am too young yet too old.

Tomorrow as we mark the World’s AIDS day take time to reflect on this unheard voices.

(Sunday, November 30, 2008 at 11:32pm)

Asante Mama – Yet You Loved Me

I pushed, I kicked, I came out screaming,
yet you loved me,
I caused you pain beyond words can explain,
yet you loved me,

I caused you sleepless nights,
I caused you to cry many a times,
wondering why I had to be rebellious despite all the love
that you had shown me,
I caused you to worry yourself sick over me,
yet you loved me

Now I am far away from you,
yet each day you mention my name to I AM,
There are many days I go without thinking about you,
yet you don’t forget to call out my name each day,

At 18, I thought I am finally a man,
I tried out many things,
Things that I thought defined me as a man,
yet you loved me still,
I sniffed the brown leaves, I smoked my lungs black,
I raved late into the night,
yet night after night when I came home late,
I met you on the sofa,
having fallen asleep waiting for me,

Despite my constant sneers and scornful gestures at you,
and my slamming of my bedroom door before you,
you still came and tucked me in bed,
you still switched off the lights
and put away the contents of the brown bottle that I had been consuming,
yet you still loved me,

Today I take time to whisper to you
to send this note,
that I wish I would have had the time to tell you
that I love you mum,
I wish I had had more time to be with you
to sit by your side and listen again,
as you told me the wisdom of life

Today I take time to apologize for the times
I thought I knew better than you,
for the times I jeered and got angry at you,
for the times I put my earphones and put on my favorite tunes on my I-pod,
as you softly and gently reprimanded me over staying out late at night
with the boys of the hood,
for the times I asked myself why did I have to be born
in the confines of your womb
yet you loved me still

Now I realize and know that you are my heroine,
today I have hope because you taught me to believe
you taught me to be myself,
you taught me that love is all that matters,
Thank you mama
I miss you mama

What’s in a Signature?

Leo I had to sign some document on behalf of my boss. ( you know the way you sign using the words “For:” or “On behalf of:” then you append your kasignature hapo kando). As I was signing this document, I was amazed when I saw a colleague’s sophisticated signature above to the place where I was supposed to append mine. I thought to my self, “What’s in a signature?” I mean, what does your signature say of you? Okay, Okay I know this sounds cheezy. But really come to think of it. Does your signature portray your character? Does it show any form of professionalism, thoroughness, sophistication or plain simplicity?

I guess you must be wondering what’s all the fuss about signatures that is worth writing about. Trust me, after seeing my colleague’s signature, I felt embarrassed for my own kasignature. You see mine is just a simple inscription composed of a combination of my names and a couple of elliptical strokes running right, left and across, something that my 3rd grade teacher would call “mathogothanio.”(Ooops! Forgive my Greek!!) You know the kind of writing by a 7 year old or is it abstract drawings.

So I went googling about signatures and this is what I found from the most reliable site for majority of us who went through campus or college. I know by now you’ve already guessed it? Yah its Wikipedia. It describes a signature as “a handwritten (and sometimes stylized) depiction of someone’s name, nickname or even a simple “X” that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent.”

What I get from this definition is that a signature gives the signatory an identity. It’s crazy to think that a bunch of inscriptions can represent you and can be used in a court of law. By the way it can also incriminate you or give you access to your chums at the bank. No wonder you can’t access your money from the bank if your signature conflicts with the one they have in their database. But this is creepy and woe unto you if some hacker gets to master your signature.

So as I was saying, I have discovered that there’s more to a signature than meets the paper. I have discovered that a signature speaks louder than the inscriptions we see on paper. There are those that say you are bold and sophisticated. I am telling you one of my pals has one of these signatures and I so envy him coz everytime he drafts proposals and signs off you would think it’s the President’s signature. Such are those signatures that you can hardly forge. You know like that of President Obama or our very own Mr. Uhuru Kenyatta. Yani no matter how hard you try to forge such you just can’t.

There are those like mine which are simple but mark you are hard to forge. The secret lies in their simplicity which makes them unique. Trust me try to forge mine and you will be in for a rude shock. Then there are those that comprise of two or three initials. I tend to think of this to mean that someone is of a mysterious personality. I mean with two or three initials you would be tempted to come up with all sorts of guesses for what the initials stand for. Such signatures say that the signatory has more going on behind the initials. What do you think?

Today as you append your signature on different documents, checks or letters, take time to reflect on what your signature stands for. Have a signatory day!!

Shredding Away

Today I was shredding some documents at the office and this got me thinking. As I watched the shredder mercilessly swallow up the white and brown papers, I wished if my heart had the ability and capability of a shredder. You see of late I have been going through some pretty low moments and I was just wishing I had the ability to shred away some of these bad experiences.

As I went about shredding the papers, I just thought of how at one point or another some of these papers carried important correspondence or information. I was tasked to shred some old memos, reports and letters. I just thought to my self how easy it would be if in life each of us had a heart like a shredder. A heart that shreds away every nasty experience, heart breaks, sad moments and thoughts that we would not be proud to share with anyone apart from self.

As I did this task, I kept thinking, what if I had the ability of this shredder. I would shred every nasty experience, every mistakes I have done in my life and everything that is making me sad. Today as you go about your day, learn to shred away everything that is keeping you down.

Media Bias- Coverage of Operation Cast Lead (Dec 2008- Jan 2009)

As I sat down today and watched  a news update on CNN about the recent Israel-Gaza conflict, I got so deeply concerned by the way some facts were being misrepresented by different media houses. This prodded me to something about the conflict for any person out there who does not have a clue what is happening in Gaza right now or generally about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. To be honest the conflict is very complicated and I can not possibly cover the whole of it comprehensively in this post but I will try.

It’s the 7th day of the fighting and Israel’s Air Force has continued to target Hamas’ strongholds and its key political figures in several identified locations by careful and strategic air missiles. I term it so because out of all the people that have been killed, majority of them are Hamas militants but most media houses have reported about the slaughter of innocent civilians.

The issue is that there had been a 6 month truce (cease-fire) between Israel and Hamas that had been negotiated by Egypt but the ceasefire ended officially on 19th Dec, 2008. It had been expected that both parties would renew the truce but Hamas declined to renew the truce.The terms for the cease-fire were that Hamas was supposed to stop the frequent rocketing of Israel’s towns of Ashkelon and Ashdod which are just near Gaza area (about 5 miles), and Israel on the other had was supposed to stop any military operations in Gaza.

As the situation has been, Hamas’ militants have continued to send the rockets over to the towns on Israel’s side, even with the truce being in place. It reached a point that the Israeli government said “enough is enough” hence they launched the onslaught on Hamas on 27th Dec, 2008 under the name Operation Cast Lead.

In this regard, I would want to put a few points in perspective because there is a lot of media bias that is going on right now as this self-defeating war is being fought by both sides. When you look at the news report on CNN or Aljazeera you will see that most of the time they are just showing how Israeli’s jets are firing powerful missiles into Gaza and they have constant and repetitive captions of fragmented and amputated body parts of Hamas militants lying all over the place.

When you see such pictures you would want to get angry at Israel and you would wonder how inhuman Israeli authorities can be to be carrying out such ‘massacre” on innocent Palestinians. You may probably want to join with the many that claim that Israel is using disproportionate force against innocent civilians in Gaza and that Israel is violating international humanitarian laws. This is especially so when you hear of the death toll in Gaza which as of today has been reported by CNN to have risen to about 400 dead and hundreds wounded. When you compare these statistics with those on the side of Israel where only 5 people have been killed and a dozen injured, then you have no reason but to be angry at Israel.

The truth is that there have been many dead in Gaza as opposed to those in Israel but my concern is that the media is not keen to report that the majority of those killed over in Gaza are mostly Hamas militants and key leaders of Hamas. I want to point out also that Israel’s objective in this onslaught has been to target Hamas strongholds.(Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2008)

Hamas is a jihadist-Islamic fundamentalist group that has been listed by the US, Israel and EU as a terrorist group. Hamas’ main objective is geared towards the destruction of Israel and they launch their so-called “crude and home-made ” rockets over to Israel with a target of hitting Jewish populations. Hamas came into existence in Gaza since 2003 and its major objective is the destruction of Israel as a Jewish state in the Middle East.

I have been following the conflict now on a daily basis and from what the Israeli government is saying is that their objective is to “change realities on the ground” (Minister of Foreign Affairs 2008). This statement can be interpreted to mean that Israel’s objective is to weaken Hamas and have a guarantee that its militants will stop sending rockets over to Israel. The realities on the ground for Israelis is that every time there is a rocket launch from Gaza, Israeli’s citizens are forced to take cover in bomb shelters since there are sirens that go off to alert the people. When the sirens go off the people have only 15 seconds to run into bomb shelters. To help you get a first hand experience of this watch this clip: Imagine having to live with such terror everyday not knowing when the next siren is going to sound.

Since 2005 when Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza, there have been over 6000 rockets that have been fired into the towns which are just 5km from Gaza and yet this is what many people are not being told by the media. It has therefore reached a point where Israel has said “enough is enough”. I know many people accuse Israel of using disproportionate force against Hamas but the reality is that Israel as any sovereign state under international law, has every right to defend its citizens against any security threat to its citizens.

The IDF (Israel Defence Force) during its aerial and ground operation has been keen to target buildings operated by Hamas and any of its administrative institutions. Have a look at what the IAF (Israel Air Force) is doing just to be more precise to show the world that it is only targeting the Hamas militants. This video shows an Israeli jet bombing militants that were just about to launch a Grad rocket into Israel. But when certain media houses report such incidents they are not keen to point out this fact. 

However another problem arises, Hamas militants have been hiding among civilians and they launch their rockets from houses where civilians are living. This is against the Geneva convention on International Humanitarian Law that outlaws the use of civilians as human shields during war-time. Hamas knows all too well that Israel will not fire where there are civilian population because the backlash from the media would be so great against Israel. This was a tactic well used by Hezbollah in the 2005 Israel-Lebanon War much to the detriment of Israel, where the world almost chewed Israel alive each time innocent civilians were killed and it was captured on live media coverage.

As much as Israel wants to avoid hitting civilians there is no way that innocent civilians can escape being caught in between the fire. As I write this post Israel is planning to launch a ground operation and the Israeli cabinet has approved a recalling of its reserve soldiers and directing them to camp near Gaza border. This is a suicide mission. The reason being that Gaza is a very densely populated area and Hamas has been building underground tunnels and secret by-passes all over the place which of course will have many booby traps and will be used for kidnapping Israeli soldiers.

Here’s something to chew on, just imagine if you were an IDF soldier and you were going to face an enemy on the battlefield, for whom if he kills you he wins, when he dies by detonating a bomb in your presence he wins. This surely is a no win-win situation for the poor Israeli soldiers.

So whats my point you may ask? My take is that though military action on the side of Israel will not solve the whole problem of Hamas militancy as was the case with Hezbolah in Lebanon, but I wish that people began to understand the dynamics behind the conflict and that people in the world get a proper perspective of the realities of the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

For the records, Israel is not perfect in its dealings with the Palestinian people. There have been cases of violation of humanitarian laws and laws of war engagement but let me leave this debate for another day. As of now its my view that the world needs to understand and have a clear knowledge that this war is not just between Israel vs Hamas but one of fighting terrorism, Islamic fundamentalism and one of preserving the respect of the globally shared value of Democracy within the Middle East.

Unapologetically African – Reflection on Study Abroad

I am unapologetically African,
Yes this place is such a great and beautiful place to be at;
Yes the food at the mess is a buffet; I get to choose whether to eat pizza, macaroni, chicken…;
Luxuries that I only get once or twice in a semester back at home;
Yes my room has wireless internet connection, a book rack, chest drawers, a room-fixed phone and a private bathroom; but I choose to remember where I am from;
It is easy for one to come here and forget the most important thing: I am Kenyan.
I am here for a while, I pray you my heart, fail me not;
That I should indulge in the thoughts of thinking nimefika;
I pray you my hands that laziness should not find a safe haven in you;
I am here for a while;

Great was the day I carried our Kenyan flag during convocation ceremony;
Proud I felt, yet scared at the same time; Many eyes looked up me; as if I carried the whole nation of Kenya; I pray you oh Lord; establish me in your favor;
Having to be in a new place bequeaths one with great expectations and fear; but I pledge to till my books; for my future and for those that love me, inspire me and look up to me;
Many things are different here; from the weather, the food, the people; how I miss CMB (Chapati Mbili Beans) at the Mamlaka B mess; here I have all sorts of variety;
If I want milk I must choose from a list, skimmed milk, 2% milk…, If I want sugar, I must choose if I want beetroot sugar, sugarless sugar(psyche) or something else;
Oh how at times I miss the simplicity of our life; I am unapologetically African;

But again I shan’t complain; for many are they who would trade my place in a split second;
I appreciate its a great privilege and favor from above to be here; so I hastily adjust;
As I have been sent here as an ambassador of my people; to show the world thattime and chance happen to us all; the race of life is not for the swift neither is it for the strong; its for them who use their God-given Witt;
In looking out for opportunities and taking up them;
A great friend once said of me, ‘opportunities don’t knock at our doors, they pass by our doors. Its upto us to know when they are passing by and we grab them’;

‘The future is you….’ were the words my dad said of me as I left home; I am still figuring out his wisdom; but as in a glimpse of mirage; I think the future is what I make it to be; I may not have all the money in the world, neither fame nor even win the lottery; but I choose to make an impact for my time and generation;

God has bequeathed me a great asset: time;
I am here for a while; I am unapologetically African.

A Leap into 2009

Its day two of 2009 and I am feeling quite positive about this new year. Over the few seconds into 2009, I was standing at downtown in Kalamazoo, MI with a couple of my friends here and we were all gazing up in the air for the soon to be a spectacular view of Fireworks that were going to usher the dawn of yet another year. As I stood there, brazing the below 0 degrees and as the cold Michigan midwinter breeze was blowing away from my face, I was just thoughtless. Throughout the day I was not so enthusiastic as my friends were about the new year. It’s kinda funny because most of the time I am always so excited about New Years. May be its because I am far away from home, away from my good buddies Bonney, GG, Mumo and the rest…But soon crackling sounds and bright flashes of light soon rented the air and in a split second the dark and misty sky was fully coloured with a spectacular display of fireworks.

Everyone around me started to cheer…but wait I have to first say that as we counted 5,4,3,2,1…I thought to my self, what if something out of the ordinary happened…like maybe the sky just out of a sudden just opened and there were bright flashes of light or our bodies suddenly changed to other forms just to signify a difference of another year…Anyways that is wishful thinking I thought to myself

But as everyone started to hug and kiss all over and as the fireworks display went about, I just said a prayer and thanked God for the gift of new year..This year for me has begun in a rather sad note. I just received news from home that my favorite aunt has stroke and she actually spent christmas under a critical condition at the hospital. She is one of my favorite aunts and the news was quite a shock for me. Then of course there is the ongoing conflict in Gaza where Israel has launched an onslaught on Hamas and the conflict is now entering its 7th day. I feel kinda sad that things have to begin the new year under this note…but I will soon be writing a blog on this so let me spare my keyboard for now…

As I step into 2009, I am confident in God that this is going to be a unique victorious year for me. I don’t know excatly what’s in store but I am committing it to God.I have 5 months here at Kalamazoo College before I back home and I am hoping that by the time i will be done I will have made substantial networks and relationships so that I can be able to come back and do my masters in Diplomacy somewhere in the U.S. Its been an interesting journey and experience here and I have more to write about that since that’s the reason I have sign up for this blog

So at least I can check out one of my new year’s resolution-To have a blog!! So I hope that who ever will have a chance to read it will be edified as I live out my life to impact not only my self but also those that God has put within my sphere of influence.

Rufus

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