Safari Notes

Kenya is now abuzz with election talk. I love and very much appreciate what Google Africa Blog is doing for the Continent. Recently they up came with this : Next it’s Kenya’s turn, and March 4th 2013 will be a pivotal moment as Kenyan voters go to the polls to decide the country’s future. This will be Kenya’s first general election under the new constitution and following the post-election violence of 2007/8. Expectations are high both for a peaceful transition and a deepening of democracy under the new constitution. Voters are already turning to the internet for information: according to Google Zeitgeist, the IEBC (Independent Boundaries and Electoral Commission) was the top trending search in Kenya in 2012, and all the major candidates have a strong presence across the various social media outlets. We want to help empower Kenyans with accessible and useful information during the upcoming elections so we’re launching a number of initiatives to make it easy for voters to find

Bena Nakijoba, fondly and respectfully called Jaja ba all - is seventy two years old. Very few life stories are as touching, as moving and as dramatic as Jaja's. She went to school up to the 6th grade; she got married at age fifteen; she was barren, could not conceive and so her husband broke-up with her; she then got a job looking after children of expatriates; and after three years looking after the children, she left and moved to Katanga, Kampala in 1971. In 1971, Katanga was small and had very few people; but through the years it has grown up too fast, become over-populated and is one of the worst slums in East Africa. For the last forty or so years, Jaja has been opening her doors in Katanga and her heart to abandoned children and caring for them. At first, it was those of working parents who would live their children with her, for a little pay, while they worked. Then, in the early 1980s - with war raging around Uganda, people, mainly young girls who mistakenly got pregnant,

I recall, as a young boy, when I first visited Mweya National Park with an uncle in late 1978 during Idi Amin's  rule, just when Amin was about to be ousted. The Park, was pristine but I was told that most of the animals had disappeared or had moved - due to poaching and the ongoing war to oust Amin. There was a war raging on around the Park. For the first time, there were whispers that Idi Amin's forces were loosing. That his forces were retreating  All the way, by road, on our way from Kampala to the then Zaire border and back to Kampala, we could see military trucks and personnel moving.

We join Greenpeace and all those who campaigned to celebrate! We did it!: Levi Strauss & Co. today committed to go toxic-free. Why? Because you and hundreds of thousands of other people demanded that Levi’s “Go Forth and Detox”. The world's biggest denim brand joins ten other clothing companies that have made  credible commitments to Detox , including the world's largest fashion retailer, Zara. Levi's commitment comes just eight days after we launched our “Toxic Threads: Under Wraps” report  in Mexico, and screened a documentary about a family  struggling to hold factories in the region to account for the pollution they are causing, including suppliers of brands like Levi's.The brand is living up to its claims of being a leader. Competitors that have so far failed to take responsibility for the pollution created along their entire supply chain are looking increasingly exposed. These include familiar big brands names such as Calvin Klein, GAP and Victoria&#

Lake Malawi Malawi needs to find means to uplift its 15 million plus citizen's lives out of the abject poverty and misery that most live in. The small, landlocked country, which is very dependent on assistance and aid from foreign countries and international aid agencies, has taken steps and joined the list of East African countries searching for oil. If it can find oil, Malawi (one of the world's most densely populated and least developed countries) has a very good opportunity of very much improving the living standard of its people. But, the country faces a few daunting problems in its quest for oil.

Elephants in South Sudan could soon be extinct due to unchecked and uncontrolled, increased poaching and trafficking, conservationists warn. For a country that has just gained independence and which has had about fifty years of civil war and much instability during that time, its wildlife is supposed to be better protected than before. And yet, paradoxically, during those many years of war and instability - its wildlife, although also poached and eaten, were safer than now. All its wildlife: plants, flora and small and large animals were safer. South Sudan's savanna was the largest in Eastern Africa. Today, South Sudan's awesome wildlife is in danger of being destroyed: its wild animals, elephants in particular, are relentlessly being cruelly hunted down by well armed, well organized poachers. Poachers and trafickers from within the country, and many from outside are attracted by abundant, poorly protected wild animals.

Global Impact Awards support organizations using technology and innovative approaches to tackle some of the world’s toughest human challenges. We look for nimble, entrepreneurial organizations that have a specific project that tests a big idea and a brilliant team with a healthy disregard for the impossible. From real-time sensors that monitor clean water to DNA barcoding that stops wildlife trafficking, our first round of awards provides $23 million to seven organizations changing the world. From helping people to access clean water, to helping in protecting the world's most endangered wildlife, to assisting in many more projects - Google is impacting people's lives.   Learn more.....