Introduction
On June 1st 2007, Kenyans everywhere will be celebrating Madaraka Day. Madaraka Day commemorates the day that Kenya attained internal self-rule following an important milestone on the road to independence. To mark this event, we would like to invite members of the Kenyan Bloggers Webring to blog in unison under the banner ‘Kenyan Bloggers’ Day’.
Why?
This day is opportunity for members of the Kenyan Bloggers Webring to share their thoughts on the topics below. Last year’s Kenyan Bloggers’ Day featured a wide range of inspired posts. The level of support and interaction shown by our members in response was outstanding. See how members celebrated last year
How to Get Involved
On or on the weekend of June 1st 2007, we are proposing that we all create a post on any or all of the following suggested topics:
* Kenya
* Being Kenyan
* Being a Kenyan blogger
* Being a member of KBW
The post can be a piece of prose – 2 lines, an essay, a poem, a podcast, a photograph, your favourite quote. It is entirely up to you how you chose to celebrate this day. You don’t have to be Kenyan, just a member of KBW.
On this day we wish to use collective blogging as means of celebrating the nation that unites us as bloggers of KBW.
]]>Today the Kenyan Blogs Webring is two years old!
Happy Birthday KBW.
We, the admin team, are grateful for your continued support, for your dedication, for your inspiration, for your ideas and for your community spirit. The Kenyan Blogs Webring is a positive force for our nation, our continent and our people, long may it prosper! If you are not yet a member, join us. If you have any questions, contact us.
Here are a few quick interesting facts on KBW:
Membership numbers
We currently have 240 active members*
In our first year we signed up 69 active members*
In our second year we signed up 171 active members*
* “Active members” refers to bloggers who joined KBW and are still members today. It does not include those who have left the webring.
Gender balance
100 female bloggers
123 male bloggers
12 group blogs
(Please note some bloggers author more than one blog).
Rate of growth
The rate of growth continues to rise rapidly. Our two busiest months for signing new members have been April 2006 and May 2006.
In April 2006 we signed up 34 new members
In May 2006 we signed up 33 new members
More than one blogger per day
KenyaUnlimited
The permanent home for the Kenyan Blogs Webring is KenyaUnlimited.
The KBW aggregator displays the latest posts from our members’ blogs. The aggregator gets just under 3000 unique visitors per day. This means that each KBW member has at least 3000 people reading their posts each day they blog.
The community
Although we are called the Kenyan Blogs Webring we currently have members from Tanzania, Nigeria, Uganda, Germany, United Kingdom, and the United States (this excludes our Kenyan members living abroad).
Our members blog in at least 8 different languages.
Join us
Membership is open to Kenyans, residents of Kenya and friends of Kenya aged 14 years and older who maintain a weblog, photolog, online journal or online diary. We are inclusive rather than exclusive. If you would like to join KBW you most probably can! Sign up here.
]]>In response to Girl Next Door and Valedon who asked if they could ‘borrow’ the doodle, I have uploaded it to my Flickr page. I have no objections to you (or anyone else) using it. All I ask is that you credit it and link back to its original home.
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On June 1st 2006 Kenyans everywhere will be celebrating Madaraka Day. Madaraka Day commemorates the day that Kenya attained internal self-rule following an important milestone on the road to independence. To mark this event I have joined my fellow Kenyan Blog Webring (KBW) members as we blog in unison under the banner ‘Kenyan Bloggers’ Day’.—————————————-
While working on the first part of my Kenyan Bloggers’ Day contribution I came across Doodle 4 Google: my Britain.
[This is] a nationwide design competition open to the UK’s 10 million school children. Young people are being invited to design a Google doodle explaining what it means to be British today. The winning doodle, which will be displayed on the Google UK homepage for 24 hours, will be seen by around 18 million people.
Doodle for Google began in 2005 and the winner of last year’s competition was 11 year old London student, Lisa Wainaina (pictured below with Dennis Hwang and her wining doodle)
She designed a doodle titled ‘Day of the child’. Lisa’s creative theme and clever incorporation of childhood images into the Google logo contributed to her being named the winner of the London competition. Lisa’s doodle was hosted on the Google homepage for 24 hours for millions of people to see, including her very proud parents and schoolmates.
As I read the 2005 Winner’s name, I felt in me an emotion similar to (but stronger than) the feeling I get when I first notice a stranger wearing a Kenyan T-shirt or carrying a kiondo. It matters not that I do not know the person, or they may not be Kenyan. All I see is a person carrying an aspect of my identity and often they do so with such pride that it makes me want to stop them and say,
“Because you chose to wear/carry X, every person you meet will be exposed to a part of my culture and identity. They will admire the beautiful X you wear/carry. They may even want to find out more. In short you are representing and for that I am grateful’
I have never had the courage to say all the above to a total stranger. Sometimes I wish I did have that courage. Especially since these happy thoughts are often eroded cynicism.
I begin to question the carrier’s/wearer’s identity,
‘hmmm….I bet he/she is not even Kenyan’.
I speculate on their motives,
‘hmm…I bet they wore X, carried X because the “Ethnic” look is in.’
I conclude that the stranger pronounces Kenya as Kee.ni.a, they have only visited Kenya once on a 10 day package holiday/safari. Based on this I convince myself that the stranger has no to right to lay claim to my heritage. It may be days later before I remember how upset I get when others attempt to redefine my identity and the ways I choose to display it.
Nobody has the right to decide the cultural signifiers that others may use to define their identity and I certainly do not have the right to define another persons’ cultural/national identity.
With this in mind I approach the issue of Ms Wainaina and her outstanding achievement with a certain degree of caution.
I do not know Ms Wainaina and the articles that document her win make no reference to her national identity. I do know however that Wainaina is a Kenyan name.
Actually, that is all I need to know.
Through her name, Ms Wainaina carries an aspect of my cultural/national identity. Through her success she has exposed an aspect of my identity to millions of people. People all around the world will admire her work and will congratulate her on her win. They may even ask about her name. In short she is representing. And for this I am grateful.
As I think of Lisa Wainaina and her online achievements I am reminded of something the Acrobat said in his Kenyan Bloggers’ Day post.
Kenya was not a house we moved into, it was a house which they started building, which we will complete and which our children will furnish. In that sense we mould it in our character. It is a reflection of us. The good and the bad. But it is us.
While his remarks are in reference to the building of a nation, I feel it can also be applied to the building of a nation’s online identity.
A short while back, it was almost impossible to find news, opinions, gossip, facts and stories on Kenya written by Kenyans/friends of Kenya. In the recent months, through the proliferation of Kenyan/Kenyan friendly blogs we have started to shape Kenya’s presence on the net.
The Kenyan Blogsphere was not a house we moved into, it is a house which we are still building, the Lisa Wainana’s are already working on the interior design and by the time her children move in they will be adding loft conversions for our ever growing family.
In this sense, through our blogs, we are moulding the Kenyan Blogsphere and in turn Kenya’s identity on the internet. It is a reflection of us. The good and the bad, but it is us.
And damn! Am I proud of us!
Happy Madaraka Day
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Lisa Wainana image from Doodle 4 Google’s publicity page.
On June 1st 2006 Kenyans everywhere will be celebrating Madaraka Day. Madaraka Day commemorates the day that Kenya attained internal self-rule following an important milestone on the road to independence. To mark this event I have joined my fellow Kenyan Blog Webring (KBW) members as we blog in unison under the banner ‘Kenyan Bloggers’ Day’.
—————————————-
I have always admired the work of Dennis Hwang. He is the man behind the Google Holiday Doodles. I had so much faith in their holiday logos to the extent that I did not consider a day a holiday unless Google had doodled it.
Today, the day Kenya attained internal self-rule, I expected Google Kenya to be all doodled out in black, green and red. But alas, there was no Madaraka Day Doodle!
So in the true Madaraka spirit, I decided to use the freedom that comes with having access to the Internet to create and share my own Google Doodle!
Happy Madaraka Day.
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Credit:
- Dr Mich – who refuses to get a blog but seems to enjoy helping me on mine – worked with me on this Mockoogle Logo.
Introduction
On June 1st 2006 Kenyans everywhere will be celebrating Madaraka Day. Madaraka Day commemorates the day that Kenya attained internal self-rule following an important milestone on the road to independence. To mark this event the Kenyan Blogs Webring (KBW) Admin Team would like to invite KBW bloggers to blog in unison under the banner ‘Kenyan Bloggers’ Day’.
Why?
We have been inspired by Keguro’s and Black Looks’ and Mshairi’s call to action in respect of the East African Standard raid and International Women’s day respectively. Additionally, the level of support and interaction shown by our members in response was outstanding and we therefore, recognise the value of collective blogging.
With this in mind we wish to use collective blogging as means of celebrating the nation that unites us as bloggers.
How to Get Involved
On or before June 1st 2006, we are proposing that we all create a post on any or all of the following suggested topics:
- Kenya
- Being Kenyan
- Being a Kenyan blogger
- Being a member of KBW
The post can be a piece of prose – 2 lines, an essay, a poem, a podcast, a photograph, your favourite quote. It is entirely up to you how you chose to celebrate this day.
You don’t have to be Kenyan, just a member of KBW.
Blogs Taking Part
(Last updated 25/05/06 -12:00)
Below is a list of bloggers (in alphabetical order) who are taking part and we shall continue to update this list. To keep track of who is taking part please leave a comment in the comment section of the original post over at KBW Admin Team Blog or email us at admin [@] kenyaunlimited.com with a link to your blog.
Gukira
Mama JunkYard’s
Mentalacrobatics
Mshairi
Uaridi
The Kenyan Blogs Webring (KBW) has grown steadily over the past two years and rate of growth increases month on month. We have come to recognise that many of our new members and some of our older members are not aware of the admin team and the role it plays in the running of KBW. This post aims to answer some of those questions and provide an opportunity for you to ask more.
The admin team is made of six bloggers including myself. My colleagues on this team are:
We are spread over three continents and 9 time zones reflecting the wide geographical base of the KBW members. In addition, we have a 50/50 gender split on our admin team which again reflects the nature of KBW. This team has been together for almost a year now.
What do we do?
So what do we do? First and foremost, we are the support mechanism for KBW. Either directly though our interaction with bloggers or indirectly through the services we provide on our website KenyaUnlimited. This support ranges from html issues to general blogging advice.
The admin team is also a decision making body. All decisions regarding matters to do with the webring are debated honestly and vigorously amongst us until we come to a decision. An example of some the recent decisions we have taken are the composition, timing, and running of the Kaybees, the Kenyan Blogs Awards.
Apart from these two roles we do general administrative work for the webring, for example,
- building the information database and actively keeping our site bilingual;
- actively seek out positive PR for the webring and its members;
- investigating the role we can play as a socially responsible organisation;
All of these centred around building a community of and for Kenyan and Kenyan friendly bloggers and raising the level of blogging debate amongst that community.
Admin blog
We have also set up a blog – The Admin Blog where important and appropriate decisions and actions taken by admin regarding KBW will be posted as and when necessary.
Contact us
Each member of the admin team now has a personal email address at KenyaUnlimited. Please feel free to contact me on any KBW matter at my email address which is kui[@] kenyaunlimited.com. I have sole access to this email address, although I may raise any issues that relate to KBW with my fellow admin members. Our main email address admin [@] kenyaunlimited.com remains the main point of contact for the admin team. Please note that this email address is accessed by all six admin members.
Finally
We want to emphasis that we are here as a support mechanism and not as a controlling body. Our focus is to build on the stable foundations we have laid together with you to turn the Kenyan Blogs Webring into a positive force wherever we and you are. Your suggestions, comments and interaction is not only welcome but highly appreciated.
What of our postman, who for years has always known me as Ms. W Kihoro? I am almost certain that as he shoved the A4 envelope through the letterbox he muttered to himself, ‘There goes the neighbourhood!’ How will I ever face him again?
But hey, the loss of social standing in the real world is nothing when compared to what I have gained as a result of being the second recipient of Guess’ Mailbox Meme.
Taking into account the choice of card, armed with handwriting analysis and knowledge of her deepest darkest secret I can tell you exactly what the child she was thinks of the adult she has become.
As for my dear friend, we have called you Godfather in jest but the use of bold red ink, lower case mixed wItH UppEr case and the contents of that secret leave me no choice but to hail you as the one true Don and say Omerta!
Noting that Guess wrote in black and The Don wrote in red I have opted to share my secret in Green and to give the card a little flavour of Bendera Yetu Ya Kenya (trans. our flag of Kenya).
A cautionary message to whosoever receives this card, it contains information that many would kill to possess and many more would kill to protect. Dan Brown and his Code ain’t got nothing on this. Are you brave enough to take part in the KBW Kwess Konspiracy? (Ngai..ati KKK!!)
oh…and Mr Acrobat – didn’t you receive Nick’s memo? It is Sir MJY to you….Next time Sema Afande!
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Background info: