Arjen Westra’s African Weblog

Yes. A lot of people would be surprised to hear that nowadays in a lot of African countries we have mobile internet. I posted this text live from the streets of Dar es Salaam. Mobile internet brings Africa to the world! At the same moment it seems that I am walking through a world that has two speeds. On my left hand side, here and now, there is a hospital where tonight a lot of people will have died of diseases, like malaria, that could have been treated cheaply. But because of the fact that they could not afford the medicine or say health insurance, they will die. Others cant make a choice because they cant afford to use a condom. Death is always around the corner on this continent. And still: i see people surviving, the streets in Dar are busy from early morning until late. Why? There is no choice. Lets not talk about some airtime to go on the internet.

Does Mungiki bring the dream for Africa? What is the point of a so called sect, or ‘political’ movement that believes in killing people by beheading their victims? Sorry to say, but if do you don’t make a point when you get the World’s attention, then there can only be one motivation: you want to bring chaos for the order of chaos, feeding any so-called opposition in Kenya with illustration material why things are not right in this country, bringing a general feeling of insecurity… What’s your programm, Mungiki? It just confirms the feeling that everything is politics in this country, politics to destroy.

Sometimes i get really sick of Kenyan politics. All these movements of old guys with big bellies, who have been around for almost 20 years and are now blaming the current government for tribalism, not being able to fight crime, in-security or whatever. Where were you when the once riving economy nose-dived into the Rift Valley? This country is full of selfish bastards, who play their own population in a way that shows total disrespect. None of the so called new movements (and old political parties) have something like a program. A written document that says: this is what the country needs, and this is how we are going to solve it. They like to play Kenyan politics ‘old style’, where favouring an ethnic group, and your alpha-male aspirations for ‘real leadership’ is more important than being there to serve your people. Politics in Kenya is business. Not the question What do THEY get out of it, but what do I get out of it, is most important. The debate is about the heads, like in a lot of places in the (political) world. But the things is: I don’t know any African country that even can AFFORD to discuss about minor issues if the majority of your population is suffering. Opposition in Kenya like playing a blame game. It does not look very smart from a distance. Most countries on this continent live in a permanent state of emergency and therefore ask for a united effort to solve the problems in the interest of the most vulnerable people in there societies, children, women and the un-employed, the illiterate. The people who manage to survive day in day out. They are my heroes. Political debates where blaming is more important than coming with solutions for real problems your country is facing, is something for later. Opposition in Kenya is only for destroying and establishing their own interest, filling the bellies if you want. Come with a program. We are living in Kenya 2007 guys, not in the old days anymore! Have a dream for your people, a lot of them lost it! Comments are welcome.

Because they are nomads, it was easy for them to accept the Camel Library in their life, according to Faraah Noor Farah. Head of the camel division of the Garissa Camel Library. The majority of the people in the outback around regional capital Garissa in Eastern Kenya are illiterate and/or don’t have the money to afford books. Four times a week Garissa regional library visits schools in the region, with camels loaded with books. Today, we visit a school on 2.5 hours walk (we took 200 books). Please enjoy the short report and also check out the pictures I took on the trip by clicking here

Enjoy!

I am in Dar es Salaam at the moment. Four million people of which 70 percent in informal settlements but huray, they can enjoy these views, for free and almost daily! This one is for Dar Dreamers!

Half May I travelled to Garissa for a report on the Camel Library. Audio will available soon…

Dar es Salaam at the moment: enjoy your day!

Tanzania’s economy is growing with an impressive 7 percent a year. Almost 18 percent of the GDP is being earned by tourism. The expected growth in number of tourists is much bigger than the National Parcs will be able to handle in the future. The parcs, in terms of beds are full. So: developing tourism on other spots than the Serengeti and Lake Manyara, is becoming more important and the question how much money from the economic growth is reaching the people (like Maasai) is becoming more important. In order to start monitoring what is happening with the money, the Tourist Confederation of Tanzania came up with an initiative during a seminar organized by Karibu, one of the most important Tourism and Travel Fairs in East Africa. I had a short talk with Andrew Williams, coordinator of the Tanzania Natural Resource Forum (listen to the small interview below), one of the initiators (Interview Made on Mobile Phone). And… a growing number of people is getting my free email-updates. For those who did not subscribe: please leave your email-adress on the top right! You will get an update in your inbox everytime I updated this Blog. Thanks and have a nice day!

Testing some audio. In the middle of changing this Blog a bit more in a multimedia Blog, so you don’t fall asleep with all my writing . Soon, you will find my Mobile Phone Made introduction video on my Contact-page (see above). In order to make posts more accessable I added some tags in the sidebar. Try and enjoy. Remember: it’s still under (re-) construction. Like seeing you coming back. At the moment I am in Arusha, Tanzania, working on a feature about ‘responsible’ tourism, human-wildlife conflict among others. Enjoy your day!

Finally some pictures from Lamu.

Have a nice day!