Safari Notes

It is not how long we live that matters. It is what we do while living that does. For me, she has been the greatest Kenyan who ever lived. A philanthropist. A humanitarian. A politician. An activist. And one of the bravest and greatest campaigners the world has ever known. But, it is as one of the greatest environmentalist that the world has ever known that Wangari Maathai will always be known for and remembered for. That made her, worldwide, be so revered and so highly regarded like no other Kenyan. She was the first woman from the East and central African countries to have a doctorate. And the first African woman to have won the Nobel Peace Price.  Against poverty. Against injustice. For human rights. For women's rights. For peace. And above all, for the environment. She lived. She practiced. She did. And dedicated her life to. Bravely and courageously dedicated her life to. We will always fondly remember her and miss her as not only the greatest activist Kenya has ever know

"To .. all the dispossessed youth of Africa: for perpetuation of communion with ancestral spirits through the fight for African freedom, and in the firm faith that the dead, the living, and the unborn will unite to rebuild the destroyed shrines." ~ Jomo Kenyatta 'Divided we are weak; united, Africa could become one of the greatest forces for good in the world. I believe strongly and sincerely that with the deep-rooted wisdom and dignity, the innate respect for human lives, the intense humanity that is our heritage, the African race, united under one federal government, will emerge not as just another world bloc to flaunt its wealth and strength, but as a Great Power whose greatness is indestructible because it is built not on fear, envy and suspicion, nor won at the expense of others, but founded on hope, trust, friendship and directed to the good of all mankind.' ~ Kwame Nkrumah “African nationalism is meaningless, dangerous, anachronistic, if it is not, at the

Every day, all over the world, people like you are dedicating their choices to make a sustainable world a reality. We choose sustainability in our home lives, in our communities, in our political preferences, and in our careers. Together, these actions are adding up to huge momentum for change. We are slowly building power, but not yet enough to overcome the power of the fossil-fuel lobby. This month, you are invited to two world-wide events for our global movement for sustainable solutions to build our power: 24 Hours of Reality AND Moving Planet - Two ways to take part . + The Climate Reality Project

Click on it to enlarge Do global rankings matter? According to the World Economic Forum, they do. The Forum's report for 2011-2012 , just released, puts most African countries at the bottom of the rankings. I quote from Business Live : Only two Sub-Saharan African economies, South Africa and Mauritius, were in the top half of the Global Competitiveness Index rankings; in fact, among the bottom 20 economies, 13 hailed from the region . Two of my most favorite African countries have done well: Mauritius and Rwanda . Both, small. Both, without any of the valued natural resources. Except, both - have visionary, gifted leaders and governance. Mauritius moved only one step this year. While Rwanda, the wonder nation, moved ten ranks up. For some reason, some countries like Seychelles , the Comoros and a few other countries are not included. Of the East African countries, Kenya , out of the 142 countries, has moved up four places and ranks 102nd; while Tanzania falls by six ranks

Mainly, due to the resistance of the indigenous locals in and around Juba (the present South Sudan capital) who do not want their land taken for use by their government - there is not enough land to cover the 31 or so square kilometers (about 12 square miles) needed for the construction of new government buildings in the present capital city. Now, the Southern Sudanese government has officially approved the moving of their capital and is now making plans for relocating its capital about 200-250kms. (about 125-155 miles) North or Nort-West of Juba - to Ramiciel ( or Ramshiel or Ramkiel or Ramcel or Ramicel or Ramshel in Lakes State - Arabic: البحيرات‎: Al Buhayra t.) Even before seceding, the southerners were already planning for a new capital city . South Sudan Ramciel or  Ramcel , South Sudan - Click on map to enlarge Note: as I have not been able to find reliable, good map of Ramshiel on the Web - on the above and below maps, I have tried to indicate where Ramciel could

Lifestraw LifeStraw is a portable water filter, manufactured by a Swiss company: Vestergaard Frandsen - that removes all bacteria and parasites responsible for causing diseases, especially diarrhea. Many people in Africa have to boil water to kill harmful parasites and bacteria in the water. Which means burning charcoal or firewood; which means the cutting down of trees. A few months ago, Vestergaard Frandsen launched a project called Carbon for Water - to provide hundreds of thousands of their water filter to Western Kenya. Nearly 900,000 LifeStraw® Family water filters will be installed in almost all households in the Western Province of Kenya beginning on 26 April. The province-wide, door-to-door, free distribution program will last almost six weeks and reach about 90 percent of all homes without access to safe municipal water sources. It will provide point-of-use water filtration for Kenyan residents for at least 10 years and do so without any cost to local residents, gov

IMF forecast According to the IMF, there is now fast economic growth in East Africa . All countries in East Africa are reportedly doing very well. In reality, are East African countries truly doing well? Are lives improving? All East African countries are indeed growing; they are all projected to grow by about 5% this year and the coming few years. But then, look at the region's GDP based on PPP per capita; considering how fast the population is growing in the region, the economic growths are not that impressive: in 2016 - Kenya's GDP will reach about $2,500 while Burundi's, the poorest country in East Africa, will hover at about $500. Compare that to (in 2009): South Africa's or Botswana's - both at about $10,000; or Seychelles, with about $30,000; or the richest country in the world - Qatar, which has about $74,000. Gapminder: HIV trends Ever heard of Gapminder ? It is an amazing, superb tool that provides you with such a variety of statistics, cha