sayosays

NOTE: This is reblog from a post I did for Torchlight Collective who facilitated my participation in the AU summit. You can read the original post here For Africa to be first, youth must come first. The AU has declared 2017 the year of the African Youth and dedicated the theme for the year to young people. I fell in love with this theme because it puts young people at the center of development and explores the benefits Africa can gain by investing in her most productive generation. During our pre-Summit sessions we looked at the four pillars of the demographic dividend -- health, education, governance, and economics -- and developed key asks for the Kenyan government to work on if they are to benefit from the youth who form 35% of her population. The future is bright, and Africa can come first if she puts her youth first. Managing our population structure should be done with human rights at the center. I led a team of young people from my organization in discussions on the demograph...

Volunteerism in Kenya is gaining traction and I am happy to have been part of this journey (read my story on how I began volunteering at 16 years here ) . A few days ago the President Uhuru Kenyatta invited Kenyans to offer volunteer services on December 5th as part of celebrations to mark International Volunteer Day . Very soon we will be launching the national volunteerism policy. All these developments herald a new dawn for the volunteerism sector in the country. I sat down with KBC Tv's Sam to discuss these new developments and what they mean for the country. Watch the interview and share your thoughts. Kenya is among the few African countries to come up with a homegrown volunteerism policy. The policy aims to not only recognize volunteerism and its contribution to GDP but also celebrate and protect the rights of volunteers, volunteer involving organizations and beneficiaries. A copy of the policy is available on the Ministry of Labor website http://www.labour.go.ke/reso...

In February last year, I received a call from the African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET) ’s Information Manager that I had been selected for the Fredskorpset (FK) Fellowship exchange program. In my new capacity as an FK Fellow I was required to move to Uganda and execute communication and research duties at FEMNET’s partner Development Research and Social Policy Analysis Center (DRASPAC). Yes to a New Life On 19th April 2015, I travelled to Uganda to begin this new exciting journey. First stop was the Imperial Resort Beach Hotel in Entebbe where I was to attend a 2 week preparatory course organized by FK. There, I got to meet fellows from different countries. Everybody seemed equally excited and upbeat. I met my Tanzanian colleague Samora with whom we would be working at DRASPAC and Isabella and Janet, the two Ugandan fellows with whom we were being exchanged. That day I also met my roommate Assumpta, a Ugandan lady who was a nurse by profession. Assumpta ...

Has social media helped or derailed advocacy for women's rights? What opportunities does social media present for women and youth? How can young people effectively use social media? Why do Kenyans and Ugandans on Twitter keep picking on each other? I sat down with Urban Tv's  Dan Mumbere to discuss this and more. Watch the clips below and share your thoughts: Part 1: Part 2:

THIS IS MY RESEARCH PROJECT PRESENTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI FOR MY MASTER OF ARTS DEGREE IN COMMUNICATIONS IN 2014. A COMPLETE COPY OF THE THESIS IS AVAILABLE HERE . CITATION IS ALLOWED, JUST REMEMBER TO GIVE ME A HEADS UP. THANK YOU AND ENJOY!! Synopsis Kenya's economy is highly dependent on natural resources. However, these natural resources are at risk of extinction due to environmental degradation. The general perception is that environmental degradation is partly due to lack of environmental awareness. Studies have shown that many Kenyans rely on and trust the media for information. This research sought to establish the role television as one of the media channels can play in creating awareness on environmental issues. This research used the media framing theory to show how frames such as timing, audience preferences and content influence the reception of environmental messages on television by audiences. To establish this, the researcher interviewed 30 key inform...

In November this year, I was lucky to be among participants at the Understanding Risk and Finance Conference held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The overall aim of the 1 week conference was to assess disaster preparedness in the African Context, share best practices in disaster preparedness as well as financing of disasters. Ebola Two disaster areas that stood out for me were Ebola and climate change. On Ebola I was thrilled to hear first hand experiences from doctors and nurses from Sierra Leone and Uganda on how they had helped curb the Ebola epidemic. Prior to this conference, I had only read and watched news about the Ebola epidemic. I had not had a chance to meet face to face and hear stories from the brave warriors who against all odds (poorly equipped hospitals, lack of enough personnel, propaganda that the disease was a biological missile, people seeking help from traditional doctors instead of going to hospital, being stigmatized and isolated from family and friends, watchin...

Every 5th Day of December, volunteers the world over celebrate the International Day of Volunteers. This year even though I was away from my home country Kenya, I joined fellow volunteers in Uganda in an event organised by the country's United Nations office to celebrate the day. The theme this year was:"Your World is Changing, Are You? Volunteer! What excited me most about this year's celebrations is that they paid special attention to the role volunteers can play in the achievement of the new Sustainable Development Goals. Those who know me and/or have been following my updates on social media know that volunteerism and SDGs are the two things I have been keen on this year so having the two combined was a major win for me. For the celebrations in Kampala, we had a 3km procession from the UN offices to Nakaawa market where we did a clean up. We also donated some cleaning tools to the market officials so they can use them for future cleanups. Overall it was a good day...