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Thursday 29 November 2012

Mankind's Heartfelt Desire to Eradicate HIV/ AIDS: GETTING TO ZERO


                 This Saturday, Decemebr 1st, it's another World Aids Day with the theme “Getting to zero.” 

       Getting to zero 2011-2015 Strategy is a Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/ AIDS (UNAIDS) that aims to advance global progress in achieving country set targets for universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support and to halt and reverse the spread of HIV and contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development goals by 2015.   



            The campaign aims to achieve 3 zeros: 0 -HIV infections, 0 -discrimination and 0 -Aids-related deaths. It builds on last year’s successful World AIDS Day "Light for Rights" initiative encompassing a range of vital issues identified by key affected populations.

      As a representative of the youth, I find this very encouraging and optimistic, for the fact that I can and will contribute much to see this become a possibility. Africa having been ravaged by this scourge, I get the motivating to participate in my full capacity.

            Some might argue that it's a bit too ambitious but I push every inch of pessimism aside. So, let's support UNAIDS and every human being affected by HIV/ AIDS so that we live to see such kind of history in our lifetime as well as save the youth of our time.



Thursday 22 November 2012

School of Journalism finally launches The Campus Clarion magazine

           It's great and satisfying to be associated with the pioneering team of "The Campus Clarion", University of Nairobi School of Journalism students' magazine, which is finally out. It has been a long, tough and trying journey but when the going gets tough, the tough gets going. We proved that right!

           I'm glad to be on the cover page with other  committed and persevering comrades, and my story "Behold The Lytro, The Next Level in Photography" is on page 15, besides other stories and articles from various talented and gifted sojerians.

We hope and believe this is the beginning of a journey that will lead to much more evidence of the immense abilities of NUJOSA students. Enjoy the magazine.
 




Friday 6 July 2012

Donate Blood: Save fellow Kenyans

       Please engage in this positive, national obligation to save fellow Kenyans engaged in accidents and other unfortunate circumstances. Kenyan hospitals are saying that their blood banks are often empty.


            Think about it, what if a relative or close friend needs blood urgently at a certain time and finds none? Now if you put yourself in the recipient's shoes, you fully comprehend it. My picture above shows that my action speaks louder than words.


Friday 29 June 2012

Pulitzer Prize-winning South African photojournalist who committed suicide in 1994

      In March 1993, while on a trip to Sudan, Kevin Carter was preparing to photograph a starving toddler trying to reach a feeding center when a vulture landed nearby. Carter reported to taking the picture, because it was his "job title", and leaving. 

            He came under criticism for failing to help the girl. The St. Petersburg Times in Florida said this of Carter: "The man adjusting his lens to take just the right frame of her suffering, might just as well be a predator, another vulture on the scene.




       The photograph first appeared on March 26, 1993, having been sold to the New York Times  Hundreds of people contacted the newspaper to ask the fate of the girl. The paper reported that it was unknown whether she had managed to reach the feeding center. In 1994, the photograph won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography. 

             On 27 July 1994 Carter drove to the Braamfontein Spruit river, near the Field and Study Centre, an area where he used to play as a child, and took his own life by taping one end of a hose to his pickup truck’s exhaust pipe and running the other end to the passenger-side window. He died of cxarbon monoxide poisoning aged 33. Portions of Carter's suicide note read: 

                  "I am depressed ... without phone ... money for rent ... money for child support ... money for debts ... money!!! ... I am haunted by the vivid memories of killings and corpses and anger and pain ... of starving or wounded children, of trigger-happy madmen, often police, of killer executioners ... I have gone to join Ken Oosterbroek (recently deceased colleague) if I am that lucky". 

Rwanda: Africa’s success story

            After the 1994 genocide, Rwanda’s new Tutsi-led government was praised for bringing about rapid development marked by a fast pace of internet connectivity, efficient construction and management of public infrastructure, and a good amount of economic growth.

       Paul Kagame, Rwanda’s president, is credited with turning his conflict-ridden country into one of Africa’s biggest success stories. He abolished the death penalty, promoted women’s rights and his economic policies have contributed to Rwanda’s remarkable economic growth.

            However, the recent assassinations of political leaders, press censorship, and military generals fleeing the country have brought some dark side to an otherwise progressive path. As a Kenyan, being so close to the country and knowing its history so well, I hope the Rwandese will be empowered to continuously experience peace and development.


 

Wednesday 27 June 2012

We should all assist the impoverished

       According to UNICEF, 25,000 children die each day due to poverty. Around 27-28 percent of all children in developing countries are estimated to be underweight or stunted. The two regions that account for the bulk of the deficit are South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. 

               Some 1.1 billion people in developing countries have inadequate access to water, and 2.6 billion lack basic sanitation. Almost two in three people lacking access to clean water. Some 1.8 million child deaths each year as a result of diarrhea. 

           For the 1.9 billion children from the developing world, there are: 640 million without adequate shelter (1 in 3), 400 million with no access to safe water (1 in 5) and 270 million with no access to health services (1 in 7). 

                                               
                   0.6 million died in 2003 before they reached the age of 5 (same as children population in France, Germany, Greece and Italy.) 1.4 million die each year from lack of access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation. 

      2.2 million children die each year because they are not immunized. Millions of parents in developing countries must daily cope with the fact that their children may not survive the first critical years of life; in many cases, the diseases that threaten their children’s lives are preventable.