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Across Africa, radio call-in programs are buzzing with tales of Africans, usually men, bemoaning the loss of their spouses and partners to rich Chinese men. “He looks short and ugly like a pygmy but I guess he has money,” complained one lovelorn man on a recent Kenyan show (Extract from anonymous blogger). True or imagined, such stories say much about the perceived economic power of Chinese businessmen in Africa, and of the growing backlash against them. Can it get any worse than this?

China has become by far Africa’s biggest trading partner, exchanging about $160 billion-worth of goods a year; more than one million Chinese, most of them laborers and traders, have moved to the continent in the past decade. The mutual adoration between governments continues, with ever more African roads building and mines built by Chinese firms. I feel like it’s overdone. Our governments are all over the Chinese, makes we wonder what sort of charm this people got!!

I agree that Chinese investment does have the potential to address Africa’s infrastructure gap, but its approach has led to mounting debt and few if any jobs in most countries. Do anyone agree less on this? They are locking Africans and making them dependent. And once they do this, they will get their support for geopolitical goals and hence undermining democracy. What am just trying to say in simple terms is that it looks like the Chinese are doing this intentionally, pooh!

If you didn’t know, China launched a project in 2013 “One Belt one Road”, which its key intention is to expand China’s influence in global affairs (looks like The New world Order to me, dot you think?) This program has saddled developing countries with crippling debts and increased their dependence on China. According to IMF reports, Djibouti’s public external debt in the last two years has increased from 50 to 85 percent of its gross domestic product, this very impressive! Wait not so fast, what of Kenya? According to recent data, each Kenyan citizen owes at least 100,000kshs to China. Kenyan government was noted last year to have borrowed approximately 62.7 billion per month. Most of this cash was from China. So next time you meet a Chinese along the stress you can as well take the curtesy of offsetting your personal debt by giving him some money with abroad face, you owe him remember?

The growth in China demand for commodities is growing exponentially and prices of many raw materials are thickening. That said, China’s hunger for agricultural goods, and perhaps for farm land, may grow as China’s population expands and the middle class becomes richer. Imagining having billions of people with good spending power and hunger for to use their money? We might probably runout of goods!!

Africans are increasingly suspicious of Chinese firms, worrying about unfair deals and environmental damage, are we waking up? Opposition is fueled by Africa’s thriving civil society, which demands more transparency and an accounting for human rights. This can be an unfamiliar challenge for authoritarian China, whose foreign policy is heavily based on state-to-state relations, with little appreciation of the gulf between African rulers and their people (I gaze they would not risk handling us like they to in Hong Kong) In Senegal, residents’ organizations last year blocked a deal that would have handed a prime section of property in the Centre of the capital, Dakar, to Chinese developers. In Tanzania labor unions criticized the government for letting in Chinese petty traders. We might just be finally waking up!

Some African officials are voicing out criticism of China. Lamido Sanusi, Nigeria’s former central bank governor, says Africa is opening itself up to a “new form of imperialism”, in which China takes African primary goods and sells it manufactured ones, without transferring skills. Isn’t it obvious people?

After years of bland talk about “win-win” partnerships, China seems belatedly aware of the problem. On a tour of the continent, the Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, said on January 12th that “we absolutely will not take the old path of Western colonists”. Last May the Prime Minister, Li Keqiang, acknowledged “growing pains” in the relationship.

If you haven’t noticed, this wasn’t the first time I was putting this matter across, as matter of fact it appeared in one of my previous posts. This is just an indicator how dare this situation is. We have to make a choice here, to seat back and watch as we are being manipulated with raw deals in the name of Bilateral trades, or we actually take control of the situation and forge our own paths which will actually work for us. Let’s not be the cow being fattened for slaughter here!

I am so much attached to my motherland. You will pardon me for making it a reference point most of the time. I am sited outside my grand ma’s house, in a home-made bench referred as ‘orindi’ just next to the granary so as to lean on comfortably and rest my legs. I am facing the East just to be in the right angle to enjoy the sun and to also watch at the beautiful view of the several hills in front of me. They are named ‘Got Ndonyo’, ‘Got Gembe’ which is just next to Ruma National Park, and ‘Got MaKOwaga,’ actually this specific hill is named after my Grandfather. That is so incredible and intimate.

On the hills, a beautiful view of the landscape and the wilds is clearly visible. The wilds is composed of mostly shrubs and acacia trees. It looks so green. On several occasions I normally go to the hills to eat wild fruits ‘olemo’,’sangla,’ ‘nyabende,’ among many others. I only know them by their native names. My grandma also use to get herbs from the hills. The wilds on the hills offers a rich and diverse resource to the locals here.

My motherland is not the only place I share great intimacy with as far as environment is concerned. I was raised up in Muguguga, a hub of many environment research institutions- KARI, KEFRI, and VERTINARY among others-Whose key objective is to protect the lives of living things. This area is a serene environment, just as Karura forest is. I am not certain if it is still the same. I was there last, more than 10 years ago. I am sure I will be visiting soon.

Last week was set aside just to celebrate and emphasis on the importance of environment. I was privileged to attend one of the events courtesy of UNEP and the Columbia Embassy. This occasion was resourceful. The key message was for every individual to understand that environment is the caretaker of lives. There is a need to stand for its conservation efforts. Each and every individual should feel obliged to ensure that the environment is taken care of, bearing in mind that this is for the good of the current and the future generation and there posterity.

Environment is basically our surroundings, both living and non-living things. It is made up of natural environment which is composed of things which exist naturally, and built environments which is manmade. Now that we have familiarized ourselves with the definition of what an environment is, we need to know why its state is getting worse and find solutions to rectify.

In most of our homes we use timber, firewood and construction poles. Apparently, all these come from trees which are part and parcel of our environment. What is much disheartening is the fact that most of those who depend on this valuable commodity, make no attempt to plant more trees in order to counteract the depletion of the same. Trees in their natural state have an important duty of supplying living creatures with fresh air as well as being habitat for the same. The uncontrolled cutting down of trees not only destroys natural habitat for animals but also depletes the supply of fresh air.

Our methods of farming mostly employ techniques harmful to the environment. Farmers are using heavy machinery powered by diesel engines in their farming activities. These machines emit harmful gases such as carbon monoxide to the atmosphere and this eventually leads to the global warming and climate change. Also, the farming chemicals such as pesticides, fungicides and fertilizers have negative side effects to our surroundings since they cause pollution to waters, soil and air as well and hence man and other living things is vulnerable to ill health.

In the industrial sector, environment has not been spared either. Some of our industries pollute water through emitting harmful effluents which contain chemical residues to the surroundings. This water eventually finds its way into water bodies. When animals and humans are exposed or drink this contaminated water they are likely to suffer from waterborne diseases. Many of these diseases can cause death some of them include typhoid, amoeba, cholera among others.

On the other hand, most industries emit harmful gases to the atmosphere. Some of the gases emitted from industries are oxides of nitrogen, carbon, and sulphur among others. These gases cause global warming, air pollution and acid rains as well. Acid rain affect plant chlorophyll and result into withering of plants. Global warming has led to melting of glaciers, which in turn results into disastrous increase of oceans’ water levels. This consequently leads to submerging of the lowlands that border the oceans and cases of drowned people and destruction of property being reported. Also, polluted air causes harm to the respiratory systems of man and animals. Humans can contact respiratory diseases such as asthma, reduced energy levels among others when exposed to polluted air.

There are also other human activities that highly contribute to the pollution of the environment. First of all, taking into account trade as an economic activity. In supermarkets, shops and other outlets packaging of products is done by plastic materials which are non biodegradable. These plastic materials end up in landfills or incinerators leading to water and soil contamination, and air pollution when burned. Secondly, the humans residential sector. Due to increased population, residential sector is counted as one of the major sources of environmental pollution. Household wastes end up finding their way into the environment to the landfills or municipal incinerators. Most of the household wastes do no decompose fast making burning of waste as the only alternative to reduce wastes. Eventually this leads to air, water and pollution.

There are various ways through which we can conserve the environment. In our homes we can make effort of trying to conserve the environment through using environmental friendly sources of energy and building materials. These alternative sources of energy may include solar energy as source of power in our homes and energy conservative stoves for cooking. This will help in the environment conservation since people will cut down fewer trees for energy and construction purposes.
However, farmers ought to use environmental friendly methods in carrying out farming activities. The diesel consuming machines used for farming ought to be replaced by those that consume bio fuel. This will help in reducing large amount of gases that is emitted into the atmosphere. The farm chemicals such as insecticides, fungicides, pesticides and fertilizers which cause soil, water and air pollution ought to be replaced by organic farm inputs which are less harmful to the environment.

In the industrial sector, government should come up with strict measures of controlling methods used by industries in emitting their effluents. In order to reduce water and soil pollution by industries, government needs to ensure that no industry or firm that is located near to a source of water, releases its effluents which has not met the minimum requirements into the waterbody. Also government should ensure that emission of gases is done according to international standards and regulations. On the other hand, the government should ensure that industries which are likely to pollute environment are located far from residential areas and continuously monitored.

The other important method of environmental conservation is to carry out campaigns aiming at persuading the public to plant trees for the purposes of afforestation or reforestation. Also, public need to be sensitized on the importance of increasing the forest covers in our planet- both to humans, animals and biodiversity preservation-Government should input strict measures of environmental conservation such as prohibiting illegal cutting of trees, waste disposal methods by the public.

In conclusion, there is this story about the “people of the Jaguar.” They live in ‘centre of the earth’, deep in the Amazon forest. This region is the epitome of a virgin land, very fertile, and has never been exploited by the outside world. Very beautiful indeed! The people living here are indigenous to the place, with absolutely no exposure to the so called ‘modern civilization’. They are fierce on protecting their environment, they never allow any stranger to get in, because they probably fear for their environment. This place has remains to be the most probably the only un-exploited region on earth, and it is our responsibility to keep it that way. We should not make any attempt of making contact with these people, not even as tourist so as to let it remain as pure and virgin as it is. We should desist from conducting exploration or expeditions seeking economical exploitation opportunities. Instead, we should make effort of keeping this place pure for the sake of the people there and their environment, keeping them safe from us.

It’s is easy to see and undeniable, in fact no tough algorithms are required to determine that a home or a society entailing empowered women is way much different with those that are not! Empowered women are embodiment of progressive change in the society. Such women acts as are a compliment to their men, they do not depend on men entirely for their wellbeing and those of their family. These women will promote social growth by ensuring that they children get best in life in regards to health, morals and education, which will in turn have a ripple effect on the society.

Yet besides all this vast advantages women bring to the society, it is miserable that women fighting for what is rightfully theirs is seen as revolting. I think this a common practice that we can relate to in our society- a women who has made it through the ranks is thought to as a social climber so use unorthodox ways to the top and not on pure merits, a women pursuing the so called ‘masculine’ career (mostly STEM based or leadership positions) are viewed as misfits, women are still view to belong in the kitchen and not the boardroom, women are seen as rebels and disrespectful when they challenge or the question the system- I believes in the wise saying, ‘teach a girl child, and you would have taught an entire generation.’ This only comes to prove that women empowerment should be something that every nation should mandate on. To completely bring down the status quo, both our girls and boys should be educated in school, and mentored to know that there are simply no boundaries to how far they can go in this life. Your gender should not be a limitation set on stone by society.

This year’s hashtag on Women Empowerment is #pressforchange. Women across the world, have come together to push and press for change. This can be done in various capacities that we engage in our society. Through this joint act, I believe we will finally break the glass ceiling. Yes, we will break the ceiling. I hypothesize that in the next 25-30 years, it will not matter whether you are a man or a woman. What do you think will be the implications of it? Something to ponder on.

Before I get deep into the discussion, let us first familiarize ourselves with the meaning of the word empowerment. Empowerment is equal opportunities for both gender socially, politically and economically. Women Empowerment itself now elaborates that Social Rights, Economics stability, judicial strength and all other rights should also be equal to women. There should be no discrimination between men and women.

Even today, women get micro credits for macro products. This is so sad and very unfair. We as women are wired to do triple shifts. And this involves sort of a super power – the real world’s wonder woman-We are capable perform exemplary well in our homes, be the best wife’s and best mother or parents to our children and yet be the best CEOs in the corporate world. Women are literally doing “double shifts”. From work place to another work place we call home every single day every day. Despite the exhaustion women must still take care of their children and husbands, this calls for respect and admiration for the women. They deserve to be treated as superhuman and given better opportunity and exposure so that they can even do more but with dignity.

There is a time a woman could not open a bank account and also was not allowed borrow money in the bank without the husband or letter from the husband permitting her to do so. This has changed because of the great work that both men and women have done to advocate for gender equality. Kudos to all that made this happen. We have come from far but not where we need to be. We need to upgrade our game to finally break the glass ceiling. We need to continuously embrace the “HeForShe” agenda. For it is by the hands of men and boys that action can be swiftly and easily taken against negative inequalities faced by women and girls. This is achievable by encouraging the male to be the agents of change, they do it for their mothers, sisters and daughters to have a better and a life with equal and open opportunities for them to be whatever they desire.

We should prepare and invest in ourselves so that we can finally achieve our desires. I do say, that there is no such thing as luck. We should embrace the culture of working hard and smart, and utilizing any resource that avails itself to be the stars that we want and advocating for. Let us not get the 50-50 share not because we are women but because we deserve it. Therefore we must work smart if we want to get more leadership roles in society. We should be ready.

I am normally impressed by how men operate. Even if they do not like each other, they still do business with each other. They act based on their common objectives which is empowerment. They are not controlled by their emotional feelings towards each other. Women should learn to develop each other. Remember an iron sharpens another iron. Women empowerment can only be possible and effective when we women lifts and support one another to greatness, without this mutual support the journey will only get tiresome. We should always have a broader and futurist view of life which can give us motivation for work and plan for the future.
I get sad when I see the same ‘Mama mboga’ is the same “mama mboga’ ten years after. We should be progressive and stop sticking to doing small businesses that will not make any progress in our life, but we should thrive to grow these business to larger and sustainable enterprises overtime. It is true that Women are the drivers of economy, and yet most are still stagnated. Why is it the case? Probably because we are stack on doing small business that are non-competitive.

Glass ceiling is the unseen, yet un-breachable barrier that keeps minorities and women from rising to the upper rungs of the corporate ladder, regardless of their qualifications or achievements. For example, according to the 2015 Forbes reports indicates that just 10 women were among the 359 incoming CEOs at the world’s 2500 largest companies in 201%. This disparity is way too huge to ignore or assume, it’s an indication that women are yet being felt in the corporate world as they are supposed to.

I attended a conference that was celebrating Women’s International day, and one of the speaker asked us whether the glass is marble, or is it sticky? (Sticky floor is the barriers for career advancement. It is the discriminatory employment pattern that keeps a certain group of people at the bottom of the job scale.)
An empowered woman is able to make better choices for the family, community and ultimately the country. We should learn to embrace life in totality. No matter how busy our lives are at work, no matter how much work takes away from us.

The gender pay is a key indicator of pay discrimination faced by working women. I believe it is common sense for us all to agree that equal remuneration for work of equal value is important and should be respected. Paying less wages to women performing a similar job which earns a male counterpart more money is nonsensical and should have been corrected like yesterday! Sadly, this discriminatory culture is yet to end even in 21st Century!

Barack Obama once quoted that it is not the smartest thing to do by empowering women but it is the right thing to empower women. In simple turns, the society should not consider women empowerment as a privilege but as a right and necessity to our dear women. Until then, the society is yet to feel the real power and potential of empowered women!

The mare thought of home always made me melancholic and enthusiastic at the same time! This is not a strange feeling at all, I am sure many can relate. Home was and is not home without the presence of my Mum. She sure knows how to make sweet memories- from ridiculously sumptuous meals, captivating stories, therapeutic picnics, relaxing songs, blissful upcountry travels to satisfactory house chores, adventurers firewood fetching and thrilling hunting. This activities created priceless memories and inculpable emotional bond with my Mum- they are fine diamonds to me.

I did not get so much material things from my mum, maybe because we were not coming from a well off family, but still the less that I got or neverhad, I can’t compare to the moment I shared with my family. My mum was present all through my life. Greatest gift.
I was having a light conversation with a friend. She expressed to me how she felt like part of her is missing. She expressed it as an identifiable, yet indescribable absence. I asked her why she had such a sad expression. She told me how she does not have any vivid memory of her parent in her life. This was astonishing since to me, I have always believed that she had always had all support and parental care from her parents. It seems, that was not the case. She expressed the absence of her parent in her growing up. Showering her with material things (gifts, money) was what her parents did best than being in her life. They were hardly home, and if they were they were busy working, or having meetings and parties with their so called ‘friends and colleagues.’ She expressed that because of definitive choice that her parent made, she will forever have a reserved relationship with them.

We are in a generation where most parents have resorted into being material parents. Where their mode of showing affection and love is through offering gifts, money and material things. They are mostly absent in their kids life. And replace absence with showering children with material. Not like the old days, where you will have memories of your father teaching you to drive a bicycle and your mother teaching you how to cook “ugali” and bake cake. Such memories in today’s generation are rare. Children lately have memories of having Play stations, video games, basket of toys, movies and series and the list is endless.

Today, happiness and success are associated to material things. Parents use material goods to express their love to their children and also to shape their children behaviors. But what does this action leads to? They just learn to judge themselves and others based on possessions. Attaching a thing as the reward for doing something good may teach kids to think of skills as a path to material items rather than to their own wellbeing. Children also grow up into materialistic adults, who believe possessions are a sign of success.

This material attachment also extends to punishment, too. Taking things away from kids when they do something bad play a major role to them to be more insecure as adults, and that insecurity makes them associate material things with success. In fact studies have shown that people who associate material things with success and status are more likely to blow traumatic events out of proportion, and to experience depression, loneliness, and relationship troubles.

It is high time that the current generation parent should stop substituting their roles in their children life’s with material things. They should embrace their role which is being emotionally available for their children. Humans are emotional beings, and through these feelings, children can grow up differently depending on how they are brought up. Simple acts like taking an evening walk with your kid, helping them out with homework, telling them stories, listening to them, helping them solve their daily challenges among others ,create a strong emotional bond which is the key to a healthy relationship and a sober adult in future.

As much as people need money to live, and having money isn’t harmful if you’re able to separate the pursuit of money from the pursuit of experiences and fulfilling relationships, then we will be doing justice to our children.
Each time children express their gratitude, they become more aware of how fortunate they are, which paves the way for them to be more generous and less materialistic. Spend time with your children and model warmth, gratitude, and generosity to help curb materialism.

Painful truth is that parents hugely influence the type of person their children will become in the future. Frederick Douglas pointed out that ‘it is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.’ So Parents have one time opportunity to make a good person out of their children, and that is when they are still children. It is important to be there for your children. As James E. Faust put it, ‘To be a good father and mother requires that the parent defer many of their own needs and desires in favor of the needs of their children. As a consequence of this sacrifice, conscientious parents develop a nobility of character and learn to put into practice the selfless truths taught by the Savior Himself.’

It is on a Thursday evening, I have just come back from work. I have now settled down to read for my exams, which will be the next day on Friday, International Refugee law. Quite an exciting unit. I have learnt a lot in the unit from definition of what is a refugee, who is asylum seeker, the 1951 Refugee Convention, 1967 Refugee protocol on refugees, the history of refugees, and the French Protestants were among the first refugees in history… in the reading, there was a mention on a stateless person can also be a refugee. This drew my curiosity on the need to know the circumstances that leads to one being considered stateless?

I find it interesting that according to The Universal Declaration of Human Rights unequivocally states that “everyone has the right to a nationality” and that “no-one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality.” But to my surprise, there are thousands of people across the globe that lack the security and protection which citizenship can provide. To add more to it, there are individuals and communities who are deprived of their nationality by governmental decree and are subsequently expelled from the country which they consider to be their home. In other situations, stateless people are obliged to flee because of the persecution and discrimination which they experience. And having left the country where they have lived for most or all their lives, stateless people may subsequently find it impossible to return.

A “stateless person” is someone who is not considered as a national by any state under the operation of its law (article 1 of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons). Here, nationality refers to the legal bond between a person and a state. This bond can best be seen as a form of official membership which confers upon the national certain rights (like the right to live in the country or participate in elections) as well as duties (like the duty of military service, where this is still in place). A person who is stateless lacks this membership and will be seen and treated as a foreigner by every country in the world. This phenomenon has also been described as “de jure statelessness”.

Nationality is almost always granted based on certain factual links between a person and a state: either links through family or through territory. To work out whether a person is stateless, it is usually sufficient to look at whether they have the nationality of any of the places with which they have such links, i.e. country of birth, country of nationality of parents, country of habitual residence and country of nationality of spouse.

Citizenship is a fundamental element of human security. As well as providing people with a sense of belonging and identity, it entitles the individual to the protection of the state and provides a legal basis for the exercise of many civil and political rights. I would call it the “right to have rights” People who lack a nationality may find it difficult or impossible to engage in a range of activities that citizens take for granted. If an individual is to enjoy the automatic right of residence in a country, carry a passport and benefit from diplomatic protection while abroad, then citizenship is indispensable. In many situations, nationality also enables people to find employment, to make use of public services, to participate in the political process and to have access to the judicial system.

An individual may lose his or her nationality and fail to acquire a new one as a result of an extended stay abroad or through marriage to (and subsequent divorce from) a person of a different nationality – a problem which affects a disproportionate number of women. Although it is the fundamental right of every child to acquire a nationality, children who are born to stateless parents or refugees – or who are born out of wedlock – may be denied citizenship.

Individuals may also find themselves stateless because of faulty administrative practices, the failure or refusal of a state to ensure the registration of births, or because of conflicts in the nationality laws of different countries, particularly when one adheres to the principle of ‘citizenship on the basis of descent’ and the other adheres to the principle of ‘citizenship on the basis of the place of birth.’ A person may voluntarily renounce their nationality and fail to acquire a new citizenship before that renunciation takes effect. In recent years it has also been known for asylum seekers to become or remain stateless by choice, so as to enhance their prospects for admission to one of the more prosperous countries.

Situations of statelessness involving larger numbers of people tend to arise in a number of different circumstances. Governments may amend their citizenship laws and denationalize whole sections of society in order to punish or marginalize them or to facilitate their exclusion from the state’s territory. The formation of new states, resulting from decolonization or the disintegration of a federal polity, may leave thousands or even millions of people stateless or with a disputed claim to citizenship. Large-scale statelessness may also arise in the context of mass expulsions and refugee movements, especially when the population concerned has lived in exile for many years without acquiring the citizenship of their asylum country. Statelessness is first and foremost a problem for states to resolve. In the refugee field, it has become an established principle that countries of origin have a primary duty to desist from actions that force people to abandon their homes and a corresponding obligation to create the conditions that will enable exiled populations to repatriate. A similar principle of state responsibility must be fostered in relation to the problem of statelessness. Above all, governments must acknowledge, both formally and in practice, that they do not have a right to withdraw or withhold the benefits of citizenship from whole sections of the population who can demonstrate a genuine and effective link with the country. Given the frequency with which governments have denaturalized and expelled their citizens, coupled with the protracted nature of so many citizenship disputes, an appeal to the notion of state responsibility might seem somewhat naive. It is therefore worth recalling that in the past few years a number of countries have managed to address the problem of statelessness in a positive manner.

In Lebanon, for example, more than 10,000 stateless persons, most of them from Middle Eastern minority groups (but not including the Palestinians) were granted citizenship in 1994-95. In the Baltic state of Lithuania, where the Russian population is relatively small, an inclusive approach to the nationality issue has given all permanent residents the opportunity to become citizens of the country. As a result, the issue has not become a matter of significant political controversy. And in early 1997, the Hong Kong authorities granted British passports to around 8,000 people, many of them of Indian origin, who were at risk of becoming stateless following the handover of the colony to China.

Despite the nationality issues which have arisen with the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, the two successor countries have largely succeeded in sorting out the affairs of the former state. What is more, this objective has been achieved in a very short period of time and in a peaceful manner – in striking contrast to the violence and mass population displacements which have accompanied the dissolution of other federal states.

Significantly, both the Czech and Slovak states have both welcomed international involvement in their nationality problems. This approach has enabled UNHCR, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Council of Europe to assist in a number of ways: undertaking fact finding missions; commenting on new nationality legislation; training civil servants who are responsible for citizenship issues; and assisting individuals whose nationality status is unresolved.

But then again nationality has been used as a basis of discrimination against others. So, with that, said humanity might just have to reconsider their take on nationality. This might just give humanity hope for solving the endless nationality issues and discriminations. We can borrow from Socrates who once said, ‘I am a Citizen of the World. And my Nationality is Goodwill.”

It is called hustling. I am busy looking for a stable job and doing any that comes my way, just to ensure that I can be able to meet my needs. I am a casual worker for some organization. I serve as one of their sales agent. We market its products around the country. I enjoy doing it, though that is not my ideal job. I am more interested in Research and Project management, more so on matters of Social justice and Human Rights. My friend Lina (not her real name) is also sailing in the same boat with me. She is a sales agent too. Her experiences are not always pretty with some clients!

Today, Lina was working in one of the buildings in Nairobi cbd. She walked in several offices with an intention of selling her products. She get to this one office, introduce herself to the person, then she followed it up with our normal sales speech. This guy sounded or act impressed and interested with the product. But then he gets another pick up line that makes her doubt his intentions. Initially, Lina had noticed him staring at her as she was moving from one office to another until she finally reached to where his office was. So he tells her that he has a better job than what she does and he is ready to offer her so long as she meet his qualifications. “Let me hear what he has to offer” she says to herself silently. So he tells her the details of the job in question and goes on mentioning how she will earn an attractive salary, allowances that she will have and also that she will be entitled to have a company car. How great does this sound to her ears. “Hahahaha… but does it come on a silver platter?” He then goes ahead and ask her if she is free in the evening so that he can schedule for an “interview” at that time…

I thought as our society ages (I mean we are in the 21st century) it will learn to treat women better and respectfully. But I am hugely disappointed because sadly in this era women are still massively disadvantaged. Just wondering where our society is headed to! (Oh wait a minute, I am also apart of the rotting society!!) So what’s wrong with us? The problem starts with ‘you and I’ or is it ‘me and you’ (whatever it is, you feel me). What are these problems women are still facing in this century?
As a woman, you are familiar with sex discrimination and sexual harassment, right? And if you are not, then you are either a lucky one, naïve (mostly likely has experience either but has no idea) or you are living in Amazon (we all know that mythical all-female island-Amazon). What I am trying to put across is that at one point in life, every woman has most likely experienced either sex discrimination or sexual harassment or both. This is how bad it is.
To make it crystal clear to anybody who might not be understanding the above vices: Sex discrimination exists when a person or group of people are treated unfavorably solelsy on the basis of their sex. In our country, sex discrimination is illegal, which includes discriminatory treatment related to firing, pay, job assignments, promotions, payoffs, training, and benefit. (But we all know better, don’t we?) Sexual harassment in the workplace on the other hand is described as, ‘ the unwelcome sexual advances, request for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of sexual nature that explicitly or implicitly affects an individual’s employment, unreasonable interference with an individual’s work performance, or creates an intimidated, hostile, or offensive work environment. (Who still thinks that she has never experienced any of these?)

More often than you might think, ladies who are job seekers suffer most. They are most of the times forced to tolerate the indecent and pathetic behavior of their potential employers, in the name of securing a job, sad! This may range from interviews at odd time or places (I mean who in his proper mind schedules an interview late in the evening or on a weekend at his home?!!!!), making direct sexual advancement (this is the most creepy of them), asking for sexual favors in order to merit a chance (yak! Disgusting) to frequently calling and messaging you asking you out for dates ‘innocently’ they say (I mean how stupid do they think we are!). At the end of the day you are exhausted, stressed or depressed, almost or regretting being a woman sometimes.

Don’t get it twisted folks, some breeds of ladies actually use sexual favors as a means of getting what they want even if no advances are made on them. (May God forgive as our trespasses, why would someone demean herself this way to the levels of a ‘dog’?). Some ladies fall into this trap maybe because they are too weak or they cannot persevere due to the challenges they face in life. No need to judge, but what are you depicting to your bosses! You are literally telling them that you don’t respect yourself and you are always available to be used sexually. With that said, you would most probably be abused throughout your work time in that place, and sadly you would not have a say.

The most hurtful of them all comes when your boss or senior workmate acts as a ‘friend.’ He earns your trust, you even consider him as a mentor but he is no different. He is a wolf dressed up in a sheep’s skin. Then you realize all this was to blind you from his dark intentions. It always ends up badly when you are confronted with the ugly truth. It’s important to take care of yourself, be in control of your life, and don’t let anyone press the buttons for you.
How many women are turned down just because they are women? That the tasks they seek are not for women. Makes me wonder, are women not competitive or is there something wrong with being a woman? Sadly, such mentality seems rooted so deep down in our culture that even we women sometimes find nothing wrong with it. In fact we might willingly reject job offers regarding them as masculine jobs, that’s how bad it is. As a woman, you have the right to pursue a career you like regardless of the nature of the job.

Which kind of a human being mocks or even dismiss a pregnant woman just because she is expectant? This is very sad, in fact I cannot stand the site of such a person. An Expectant lady is the most beautiful thing you can ever see and admire, she is giving life. She deserves tender care and loving, and above all, respect from everyone. Mistreating a lady just because she is pregnant at the workplace is not just very wrong but evil in its nature. The same applies to lactating mothers, they should be allowed to freely breastfeed their babies without fear of being judged.

We women as much as we are the victims here, it looks like we are also making the situation even worse. Why am I saying this? How many women do report sex discrimination or sexual harassment? My answer is very few, in fact a very small number! Most of the cases they opt just to tolerate the behavior (this is a very bad idea) or are afraid to act. By doing so, men get motivated in doing so, they will continue harassing with no fear. If this is to stop, we must stand up for ourselves and our rights. We must protect our dignity and demand to be treated with respect. But this can only be possible if we also treat ourselves with respect and dignity.

To those men out there who enjoy harassing women, my question is; would you like your mother, wife, sisters or daughters to be treated the same way that you treat other peoples’ mothers, wives, sisters and daughters? I am pretty sure you would expected them to be treated well. That will only be possible if you stand up for them, first by treating women better and second for standing for women’s rights. This is not only a women affair but men’s too. Men should be at the forefront in this fight because your daughters, wives, sisters and mothers depends on your action!!

Then came this video I was sent to via WhatsApp, it had taken few days unwatched! Not that I was not interested in it, but due to the fact that there has been a lot going on throughout the entire week, I never got ample time to view it. When I finally had a look at it, it invoked some serious emotions in me. It kept me wondering why people have to be so cruel to their fellow human being. This was a TEDx Talks Berlin video, and the speaker was a young and beautiful black lady. I can’t really tell her name but one thing for sure, she was doing her presentation with a lot of emotional strings attached. It was like the emotional strings run deepen to her soul, I don’t judge her-I would have felt the same way with all that information she had.

With an authoritative and emotional voice, she started by saying,”… despite studying Finance and Economics in one of the World’s best Universities, one thing that kept me puzzled is why the following question remains unanswered; Why is it that 5000 units of our currency (African) is worth 1 unit of your currency (Western countries), when we (African) are the ones with the actual Gold Reserves?” She continuous to say,” …it’s quit evidence that aid comes from Africa to Western world, not from Western World to Africa. The Western world depends on Africa in every possible way because alternative resources are scares out here (Western countries).” She goes ahead and ask herself that how do the western countries make sure that the free aid keeps coming? (This is a very good question). She answers that question by saying, “they (Western countries) systematically destabilize African Countries and their systems, and all this backed up by huge PR campaigns, leaving the entire world under the impression that Africa is poor and dying and merely surviving on the mercy of the West…” (This is not surprising at all- they have been doing this for centauries.

The lady then goes ahead to sarcastically applauds Oxfam, UNICEF, Red Cross, Live Aid and other organization that continuously that run multi-million dollar advertising campaigns depicting charity porno to sustain that image of Africa Global ( and here I have been wondering why despite all these ‘noble’ charity organization in African for years, there hasn’t been any serious impact! Is there aim to maintain Status quo?). What really provoked my thinking, it was an eye opener that is when she went ahead and said, “…when one hand gives under the flashy lights of cameras, the other one takes under the shadows.” This strong statement is backup by a cartoon drawing of a Rich ‘European’ with a huge smile on his face -on a ship- handing over aid to a rather surprised and unwilling African. Underneath the European’s ship, they are secretly and massively mining away African’s natural resources. (That is the state of Global Economy- steal from Africans and get rich then donate to the extras because they are ‘poor’ and dying- how ironical.

The beautiful lady was not finished yet, she goes on to say, “we all know that the dollar is worthless and the euro is merely charged with German’s intellect and technology and may be some Italian Pasta….” (Hahaha she was getting savage and a little angry at this point- I don’t know but it looked like it). She then asks, “…how can one expect donations from nations that have so little?” And goes on to say with a sarcastic tone, “It is super sweet for you (western countries) to come with your colored paper in exchange for our gold and diamonds…” (That makes lots of sense-how dare they), “…but instead you (western countries) should come empty handed filled with integrity and honor.” After a moment of tense silence in the room full of Western people, she continues to say, “We (Africans) want to share with you (western countries) our wealth and invite you to share yours.” (This would be a fair game, a win-win situation for both parties.)

She was putting everything in plain back and white, the way it is, without sugarcoating or cherry-picking anything. This was very bold of her. And she was just getting started. After talking a deep breath, she goes on to say,” the perception is that a healthy and striving Africa will not disperse its resources as freely and cheaply- which is logical- of course, it will instead sell its resources at world market prices. Which will in turn weaken and destabilize western economies established in the postcolonial ‘free’ pillage system!!!” (She was looking at the crowd with a straight face as she said this statement then she took a pause to let it sink- yah! It should really sink in!)

A good talk or presentation cannot end without some convincing statistics, numbers don’t lie you know! With that said, she then goes ahead to say, “last year the IMF reports that 6 out of 10 of the fasted growing economies are in Africa measuring by their GDP growth. The French treasury for example, is receiving about 500 billion dollars, year in year out for exchange reserves from African countries based on colonial debt they forced them to pay. Former French president Jacques Chirac, stated in an interview recently that: we (French) have to be honest and acknowledge that a big part of money in our banks comes precisely from the exploitation of the African continent. In 2008 he stated: That without Africa, France will slide down in the rank of a third world power.’’

Honestly speaking, I think at this moment the room was already too hot for some people to bare (In simple slang terms-when you cannot take the heat, get out of the kitchen). Just before she went on, she paused but for a little longer this time as she rearranged her power-point cards. Then she continued, “…This happens in the human world. The world we have created. Have you ever wondered how things break in nature? One would assume that in evolution the fittest survives, however, in nature any species that is over hunting, over exploiting resources they depend on as nourishment, natural selection will sooner or later take the predator out. Because it offsets the balance…’’ (Ouch!!) And that was the end of the presentation. Her closing remarks was a little scary.

It’s important to note that in all the TED and TEDx Talks I have ever watched, in this particular one the audience never at any point during the presentation applauded. This is not surprising judging from the nature of her topic! The courage this lady possessed is just admirable. She had the guts to throw the facts without fear, and I couldn’t agree with her more.

The exploitation of African countries has taken up different forms over the years- and has it is always said, same feces just a different toilet (excuse my terminology, there was no better way to put it) – From Western countries (European and United states), now China has also joined in and catching up real fast in sucking Africa dry, in fact they have made it a competition. They come with different strategies to exploit Africa. In the name of aid, they quickly formulate policies to take control of our resources using big corporates which spread fast like a virus.

We need to wake up as Africans, with unity we can draft our own future. Our leaders should also open their eyes and stop accepting unnecessary aid and signing exploitative pacts and contracts with these countries. For it is a rule of economics, nothing is for free- no one invest all that money in your country for free! There must be huge returns, it’s just business- Africa stand up!!!

It is around 10:00 pm on 30th, December 2017. I am chatting with my best friend via “sms” before retiring to sleep. Marking the date, this conversation is filled with resolutions and plan for 2018. “The Dos and the Don’ts.” What are friends for if not to build and empower each other? So we discussed lots of things, from our spiritual relationship with God, career, education, financially, e.t.c The whole intention of this conversation was to help each other to raise the bar in all aspects of life. We clearly have to achieve this!

I have develop a habit of waking up one hour earlier than my usual waking up time, just to dedicate it solely on reflecting and reviewing my life, what I want of it. What I should do and how to achieve it. This is because of The Reason listed above. One of my favorite lectures once told me we should always evaluate our relationship with friends, does it add value, is that value worth it? If not then such relationships should be terminated.

This is the same aspect that my beloved continent is facing, having various relations and engagements that are not worthy and if it has value then not valuable enough. Both inter and intra-states relationship has less to offer for our countries and Africa as a whole. The relationship is characterized by exploitation from other continents. They take more than what they give and yet African states seems to ignore that fact.

Kenya seems to be in those ‘flashy’ and ‘extravagant’ relationship which looks wonderful but quickly leads you to lots of dept. Ignorant plays a major role in this with greed being the fuel- its comparable to a jobless person borrowing lots of money just to buy expensive gadgets and spend the rest on leisure instead of investing on ventures that can generate wealth- Currently the Kenya’s principal debt is at sh4.4trillion threatening to hit sh5trillion celling by beginning of the year. Mathematically speaking, the government is borrowing approximately sh86billion per month! That’s huge, but where all this money do go is a mystery- has it changed your life now that each Kenyan owes at least sh97000 (computed against 45 million people according to the latest economic survey by Kenyan National Bureau of Statistic).

How you carry yourself is what defines you, it is what determines the kind of relationship with people around you. African states are like a beautiful lady, who is curvaceous, awesome make up. I mean appealing to the eye, just like what we Kenyans refer to as “slay queen” yet she does not have the same appeal intellectually. Not because she is dumb, but because she decided to be ignorant. We can all imagine the relationship that such a description will have with the opposite sex. African states are rich with resources, minerals, oil, agriculture, tourist attraction sites, awesome climate… name them, yet our foreign policy are wanting regarding how we engage with other countries based on our resources. I was quite disappointed when I read the Sino –Africa policy measures. The saddest fact is that they were drafted by Chinese, ours was just to sign the agreement. It looked all colorful and impressive but yet in action it is not.

If our country is really serious about getting industrialized by 2030- if that dream is still alive that is- we should seriously evaluate our bilateral trade policies with other countries. In 2017 alone, Kenya imported goods worth more than sh400billion from China alone! With Kenya only managing to export about 175billion worth of goods to China. This deficit of trade in the side of Kenya is unhealthy. Balance of trade is important in a country’s economic growth, it’s clear China is gaining whoppingly at the expense of Kenya. This must change, we cannot play dead in such a toxic relationship which is hurting our local industries which are going out of business with many more not seeing the light of day. Yet we want to industrialize by 2030, what a joke!

I think it is time African needs to raise their bar and behave or carry themselves like they are worth and not to be manipulated by short term goodies (if you like you can call it development) that will not take any impact in our society. We might just end up like Siri Lanka which is in a sorry state due to over-borrowing to build flashy infrastructure, which cannot generate enough income to pay the loan leave alone grow the economy. The country is slowly being placed under receivership by China in the bid to recover their money.

As a new year begin, let our country and Africa at large to do a serious sole searching. We should evaluate our relationship with the so called ‘Donor” countries to check if we are in a healthy or exploitive relationship. We should also use our loans to do economy improving and wealth creating projects for not only in improving our life (citizens) but also paying our loans with comfy or ease.

Wishing you a prosperous New Year filled of God’s Blessings

Says B.N

It is a day to “Christmas,” it does not matter to me. Ideally it should not!  It is just a normal day to me. It’s not that complicated but that’s a story for another day. Though, it is one of the valuable days, because it is among the two weeks which I have dedicated solely to reflect about my life… It is end year, right? I need to plan for next year, you know, reflecting is essential. Just as expressed in “the Monk who sold his Ferrari” Have you read the book?? I actually have a thing for the Buddhists/Monks or to be specific Dalai Lama… The way they handle themselves both spiritually, mentally, socially… it is just adorable. Just like I adore how people meditate during Yoga… Wait a second? Is meditation and reflection one or the same thing, or are they related? Anyway, I am doing both. My friend, Berlin, taught me on the importance of meditating and reflecting more so about your relationship with God. It is essential.

This year to me, has been both to the two extremes, I thank God for them. Because I was blessed abundantly, and I also learnt valuable lessons from my misfortunes. Enough about B.N. 

Currently, in almost the entire world, it is a festive season. As it is a custom to many, there will be numerous celebration. What will befall us after the merriment will depends on what choice we make during this season. And when it all ends, the reality may bite a little painfully- what have you achieved this year?! The year might have started with lots of expectations and enthuse, maybe it was that year which you looked forward to. But here we are again, another end of the year!

End year and New Year are closely linked, funny aha! Not really, I mean they are just seconds apart. So what’s the difference? I think it’s just acquired mentality, which is important though, for individual growth and society’s development. The society has learnt to use this two different yet similar days to its advantage.

The End year is the time when the society reflects upon whatever it has done or experience throughout the year. Achievements which led to growth and development of the society will be considered as good moral builder for the future. With the down falls and setbacks experienced during the years serving as the best learning point for a better future for the society.  

So what are the setbacks that our society have faced? Tribalism- not a surprise- has risen to a higher notch, politics playing a major role in its escalation. The democracy in Kenya and African countries is fixed or dictated democracy, where communities based on their ethnicity relations feel it is their solely right to be the ruling party of government. This has led to radical hatred between tribes in Kenya. Majorly Agikuyu, Luo’s’ and Kalenjin’s.

Unemployment rate has increased- not a story anymore-. The number of youths getting out on the streets with posters written boldly ‘SEAKING FOR A JOB. I HAVE BACHELOR DEGREE IN COMMERCE FINANCE OPTION AND CPA UPTO LEVEL K” has become the only way for some people to seek for employment. Back then in both primary, high school and even in the universities and colleges, people would study with an assurance or let me say a strong hope of getting job after… Business that should provide job opportunities to Kenyans have also collapsed or are almost collapsing due to poor business environment. We are left in a situation where we do not see the importance of the efforts we did put in our education. For the ones who are skilled and wants to start a business, they lack capital to support them in doing that, so what is left is a business idea that might never be implemented. 

Education- is proving not to be the key to success anymore-. There has been a remarkable failure in our education system. There has been high increase of failed students in this year and last year KCSE examinations. This is not something to smile about. It is a reflection of what our education system is. Our universities are producing non-qualified graduates, they do not have the skills that mark what is expressed in their transcript and certificate. Then you wonder what they were doing for the 4-6 years in campus.

Unity and cohesion- has reduced because everyone is accusing or suspecting each other of foul play. This is due to the economic disparities and favors from the government.  If the region which you come from receives more favors and resources from the government it brings tension. The coastal region wants or wanted to secede from Kenya because they feel like they have been sidelined in terms of development like other regions for instance central Kenya, where there has been an outstanding growth and support by the government.

Our Savior devolution has proved to be a nightmare “dubbed corruption brought closer to you” it has become a money minting business to those working there. It is an avenue for corruption and nepotism in the country.

Killings by police. Police have been noted to killing innocent civilians and beating innocent people in their homes. They have been seen harassing women in public and even shooting at innocent children. This is the same police whose mandate is to protect people and their properties from harms way. Contrarily to what they are doing. This has made relationship between civilians and police to soar. Kenyan police is ranked worst internationally this year.

We have also had significant achievements. There is a notable reduction of terrorism in Kenya compared to the previous years. The number of terrorist attack has reduced, this is a positive gesture that the government and other actors involved have been doing an awesome work on this. 

We also have an SGR train, this has remarkably boost transportation of people from one region to another. The means is cheap compared to other alternatives and it is also takes a short time, meaning you have a lot of time saved to doing other important duties. 

Tourism has improved, despite the political tension hotels recoded positive booking. Judging from the previous years, during election years, the number of tourist normally reduce due to the tension brought by the political moods. This means that the tourist sector played an important role of ensuring that they assured tourist of their safety and hence they had no need to fear.

So as we mark the end of yet another year and beginning of another one, it’s important for the society to evaluate itself. Thrive to make the good experiences and acts better and work towards eliminating bad vices out of our society. Through this therefore, our societies can then be capable of developing itself to the better.

Says B.N
 

We humans are a paradox- we a very complex in our biological function yet very simple to understand in terms of behavior- The way our brains take and passive free goodies is very different on our it passive hard worked for things. And you are left wondering why neurosurgeon is much different to psychologist! 
 Our behavior can be compared to an experiment conducted on two dogs (not that we are dogs, don’t get it twisted). One of the dogs, lets name it eeeh what’s that name again? Rex, let’s call it the dog’s common name Rex! It was given to hunters, and the instructions were very clear on how to treat Rex- it was to be trained to hunt, and every time it successfully completed a hunter, it was given the first share of the meat. Over several hunts, Rex was motivated to hunt and was excited every time it was hunting time, its speed and wit increased improving its efficiency in hunting. It became a healthy, happy and hardworking dog. 

And then there was the other dog, what can we call it? Max is the name, it’s not that its special but I picked it just because it rhymes with Rex. The instructions given to the hunters about Max were also clear- it was to remain at home, not subjected to any work, given food routinely and allowed to roam around. Max was enjoying life of free food and no work. Overtime Max became lazy, less lively and playful with its food.  When the hunters deliberately skipped feeding Max with an open opportunity to hunt for food, it could   rather stay and wait for free food.

Enough with the dogs! We are familiar with the saying, give a beggar free fish every time he/she comes to ask for food and will show up every single time he is hungry. But teach the beggar how to fish and he/she will fend for him/herself and will never show up at your doorstep again… You would have probably saved an entire generation from hunger by reducing dependency. This is comparable to Rex and Max. Rex having being taught that hunting brings food, even when left on its own it will use its skills to hunt and get food. For Max, getting free food without work might just make it starve to death if left unfed or even resort to other vices like stealing for a quick and easy fix.

So is charity and free food effective in poverty and hunger eradication? My answer is NO! Free goodies is not entirely that good. There are several relief organizations in Kenya and the number seems to be growing lately, from Humanitarian Africa Relief Organization, Islamic Relief Kenya Somali Programme and CARE International Kenya to Kenya Red Cross, World Vision and the many UN organizations. The question is, has poverty and hunger really been managed? From what I have noticed, we are stake in the same vicious circle year in year out. From annual floods, droughts, community clashes leading to hundreds of deaths yearly, and high child mortality rate due to malnutrition ( 340,000 children below the age of five are malnourished) and poor healthcare and hygiene. During such calamities, these organizations ran to offer humanitarian and relief services. They bring food and water, clothing, shelter (tents) and healthcare temporally and then they leave, this is an easy fix. They will wait till the next disaster strikes again (which is inevitable because no measures have been put in place to prevent and manage such disasters). It will be a routine for them, year in year out, and the circle will always continue without a permanent and a sustainable solution to these problems. 

According to the latest Red Cross statistics 2017, the number of Kenyans needing emergency relief food has doubled in the last four months to about 3 million people. This is solely due to the worsening of the devastating drought experienced in Kenya. “The situation is getting worse every day. Malnutrition rates among children are steadily climbing. Children are getting sick, and livelihoods of families have been decimated following the loss of thousands of their livestock,” Dr Abbas Gullet, secretary-general of the Kenya Red Cross Society, said in a statement. “It is more and more difficult for people to access water – people are having to travel for up to three times as long just to get water for their family….” Sadly, are this not the same situation we experience every year despite all the charity, relief and humanitarian services of all kinds? So what’s the catch here?

Turkanas’ and the Pokots’ are always the worst affected, in addition to the drought, famine, malnutrition, poor healthcare and education, high child mortality rate, there is also frequent tribal clashes among these pastoral communities resulting into several deaths and displacement of people. These calamities only attract more aid and relief and not real and sustainable solutions. Just like a friend of mine from West Pokot told me, the Turkanas’ ant the Pokots’ are so used to relief food that they are no longer willing to work or to farm, because all they need to do is wait for the relief food. This mentality always put them at high risk of famine, which is always the case. He further said, he is working to help break this mentality by offering mentorship regarding agricultural activities to provide a sustainable solution to hunger in that region.

Relief and aid is always an excuse for the government not to do its mandate.  Constructing dikes and better drainage to prevent the periodic floods which destroys property worth millions of shilling, crops and loss of life is a problem that the government is responsible to solve, and not waiting for relief and free staff to cover up temporally. Building dams, drilling boreholes, water desalination, creating irrigation schemes, education and initiating alternative sustainable economic activities to eradicate hunger and poverty is government’s responsibility to its people. Not being comfortable with aids and relief given to its people which is short lived. They expected relief organization to provide free health care to their citizens yet it is its responsibility as a government.

Do you remember Max? Continuous relief makes us more like Max, reliant on free things to the point where we can’t hunt on our own. Relief should be used to get people back on their feet, strong enough to teach them how to hunt for food and a better livelihood so that they would not need relief and aid next time. It should not be used as an alternative livelihood. That is the reason why we are having more and more relief organization while famine, hunger, poverty, name them is also on the rise, a clear indication that we are doing it all wrong. Rex is the way to go

Let’s teach our people to hunt too. Empower them to be able to fend for themselves, let relief not be an alternative livelihood to them and use it as an excuse for our own and government’s failure. Until then, we will hear these stories every year- “We are running out of words to describe the situation in affected parts of Kenya, and across the region,” said Fatoumata Nafo-Traore, the International Federation of Red Cross regional director for Africa. “Our message is simple: humanitarian organisations need resources to respond at the scale that is needed. If we don’t, then thousands of people may die, and children will be affected for the rest of their lives. “And we won’t be able to say ‘we didn’t know’.”