Out of Town/Festival: The Lake Turkana Festival 2011, May 13-15, 2011 @ Loiyangalani

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The German Embassy and the National Museums of Kenya in collaboration with various organisations from the local community (MoSaReTu etc.) and partners from the economic sector will once again team up for the 4th edition of the Lake Turkana Festival on the South-Eastern shores of the ‘Jade Lake’, commonly known as Lake Turkana.

Dates: May 13-15, 2011
Venue:Loiyangalani (a small town located southeastern coast of Lake Turkana)
Focus: Securing sustainable development

The project is based on a proposal, which the local community of Loiyangalani introduced to the German Embassy back in 2008, when the Festival was held for the first time (now on its 4th edition).

The main purpose was – and still is – to overcome tribalism in the region and to promote peace and reconciliation among the local communities around Lake Turkana by giving them an opportunity for cross-cultural cooperation and exchange, both in the preparation and in the course of the Festival.
During the three days Festival, representatives of the Rendille, El Molo, Pokot, Samburu, Turkana, Gabbra, Dassanech and Borana will present their respective customs and living conditions, spectacular traditional costumes, arts and crafts, dances and music to each other and to visitors. Combined with the stunning geographical characteristics and the very limited general knowledge on the Lake Turkana region, the presentation of the cultural traditions makes the Festival a unique and fascinating experience for Kenyans as well as for Expatriates. An objective the National Museum of Kenya strives to achieve (promotion of cultural tourism in Kenya).

In a nutshell, the Festival gives one the chance to explore this culturally and geographically unique region and serves to promote environmental and economical sustainable development.

Women, Action & the Media (WAM Nairobi), Mar. 20-22 2011 @ Various Locations

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UPDATE:
Women Action and the Media (WAM) Nairobi is calling all creative women to join them on:

Dates: March 20-22, 2011
Entrance: RSVP
Schedule, Locations, and Times (final details)

HAPPY HOUR
Date: March 20, 2011
Time:6pm – onwards
Venue: Wasanii: The African Place
Location: Harry Thuku Road, just five minutes from the CBD, between the University of Nairobi and the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) and across from The Fairmont Norfolk Hotel.

Join WAM-Nairobi for happy hour(s) at Wasanii: The African Place, a restaurant/pub above the Kenya National Theatre.
Take a chance to participate in a low-key social gathering and networking opportunity with other WAM attendees and presenters.
Discounts on some drinks will be available for WAM participants (check in with WAM-Nairobi first for your discount ticket!).

GETTING WOMEN AND GIRLS ON THE FRONT PAGE
Date: March 21, 2011
Time: 1-4pm
Venue: Nairobi Java House — downtown, Koinange Street

This workshop is aimed at helping organizations better tailor their media pitches to improve the amount – and quality – of media coverage of womens’ and girls’ issues.
If you’re participating in Spot Pitch, or even if not but you want to workshop your own idea, come on by and work with WAM Nairobi coaches.
This is a drop-in workshop; come when you can and stay as long as you want.

MY AFRICA, YOUR AFRICA
Date: March 21, 2011
Time: 6-7pm
Venue: Goethe-Institut library, Maendeleo House,
Location: At the corner of Loita and Monrovia streets, directions

This is the first of two evening panels looking at how journalists from Africa and abroad represent the continent and its women, and how we can do better.
Panelists are:
Helen Nyambura-Mwaura, Reuters
Carolyn Dunn, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Karen Rothmyer, public editor of at The Star (Kenya) and contributing editor to The Nation (US).

AT THE SOURCE: RAISING LOCAL VOICES ACROSS MEDIA
Date: March 21, 2011
Time: 7-8pm
Venue: Goethe-Institut library, Maendeleo House
Location: At the corner of Loita and Monrovia streets, directions

In the second of the two evening panels, citizen journalists, literary artists, and social media experts describe breaking new ground for news and information in Kenya.
Panelists are:
Rebecca Wanjiku, blogger/journalist and staff at Ushahidi
Rachel Gichinga, co-founder, Kuweni Serious
Angela Wachuku, executive director, Kwani Trust

WOMEN’S VOICES IN A MAN’S WORLD
Date: March 22, 2011
Time: 6-7pm
Venue: Goethe-Institut library, Maendeleo House
Location: at the corner of Loita and Monrovia streets, directions

In the first of the evening sessions, journalists and other media-makers will discuss dealing with gender gaps, glass ceilings, and other perils of being female in the media world.
Panelists are:
Rosemary Okello Orlale, executive director, African Woman and Child Feature Service /International Women’s Media Foundation
Jane Thuo, executive director, Association of Media Women in Kenya
Sarah McGregor, Bloomberg News & Foreign Correspondents Association of East Africa

THE SPOT PITCH: WINNING COVERAGE FOR WOMEN & GIRLS IN 120 SECONDS
Date: March 22, 2011
Time: 7-8pm
Venue: Goethe-Institut library, Maendeleo House
Location: at the corner of Loita and Monrovia streets, directions

In the second of the evening series, ten advocates and activists will get 2 minutes each to sell the audience on their most irresistible story about the issues facing women and girls — and will get real-time feedback from working journalists.
Attendees who aren’t pitching themselves will have the chance to learn by observation about the most effective tactics for working with the media. If you want to apply to be one of the ten people who gets to pitch a roomful ofinterested media professionals, click here to learn more.

SPECIAL NOTICE
Please take Nairobi’s rush hour traffic into consideration when you plan your travel to WAM events, so that we are able to start on time.

WHAT PARTICIPANTS NEED TO BRING WITH THEM
Questions and ideas, willingness to engage, sense of humor, business cards and note-taking materials, if you are the note-taking type.
Mind you can tag along friends and colleagues who are also interested in these issues.

It is worth emphasizing that not only are brilliant people presenting at the WAM sessions, but we have extraordinary people joining us as participants — journalists, lawyers, students, bloggers, humanitarians, public relations professionals, and many others.
The time you take to connect with fellow attendees will be well-rewarded.

For questions, more information or RSVP (which they are still accepting), Email: wamnairobi@gmail.com

WAM-Nairobi is part of a global conversation on the intersection of women and gender, all unfolding the same week. Look to the main WAM office for more information and details about the WAM events happening in New York, Vancouver, and elsewhere; womenactionmedia

6th Lola Kenya Screen Call for Film Submission

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Lola Kenya Screen audiovisual media festival, skill-development mentorship programme and market for children and youth is calling upon interested participants to submit quality films to the sixth edition of the annual event that will take place August 8-13, 2011 in Nairobi, Kenya.

Lola Kenya Screen, a Nairobi-based charity specialising in issues related to children, youth, mass media, culture and development. Is accepts all kinds of moving images made by professionals, students, amateurs, youth and children that focus on children, youth and family.

Experimental films, television series, video games and even creatively packaged music videos tackling issues related to children, youth and family and that provide strong role models to children and youth while speaking positively to children of diverse backgrounds are accepted.

Selected films are showcased under various categories with those starring children aged 6-13 years competing for the prestigious Lola Kenya Screen Golden Mboni award for the best children’s film and those featuring children above 14 years competing for the Lola Kenya Screen 14-Plus Prize for the best youth film.
While the Golden Mboni has been awarded since 2006, the 14-Plus award was inaugurated in 2009.

All entries submitted must be suitable for children ages 13 and under, youth aged 14-25 years, or family (25+).
The film entry form with regulations is available at link

The deadline for applications is April 15, 2011.

Lola Kenya Screen: keeping films for children and youth in focus

Ringtone: How Are You? Part of the Conversations in Silence Art Project

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How are you? is a phrase that every mzungu (white person) entering Kibera – a slum in Nairobi – would hear. The phrase is chanted melodically by children there individually or in unison. For some of the children, it is the only English sentence they know. Others don’t understand its meaning, they just join the tune. It has become a ritual formed in a simple melody connected to the presence of white people in a slum.

How are you? is an art project by Karolina Freino & James Muriuki. It is developed as a mobile phone ringtone, created out of live recordings of children of Kibera in February 2011. It can be downloaded for free from the wap site howareyou? directly to a mobile phone or via a computer. The aim is to spread the ringtone world-wide, by advertising on the Internet and printed flyers. Please join us by downloading the ringtone to your telephone and forwarding it to others.

The project How are you? references complex postcolonial residues in our global economy, huge NGO industry, language etc. It seizes an innocent phrase that stemmed from dependence and power relation and requests for listeners’ reflection bringing this phrase to a conscious level. It dares to ask: how are you contemporary world? repeating this question whenever the participating mobile phone rings.

The work is created in a frame of a 5 month collaborative project Conversations in Silenceresearching issues of memory and commemoration within the Kenyan context. The project is organised through Goethe-Institut Nairobi.