Sikiliza

  Things that make me happy Today, amid all the frenzied throngs of this mad punishing world: I feel radiant, as morning sunlight creeping in; warming, lighting, illuminating I feel beautiful, like a burst of colour speckled garden and neat dewy patches of green grass I feel alluring, with rhythmic sways to sounds of ‘Let me Back In’ by  Explosions in the Sky All this beauty provokes all senses and wraps me tight and close in a warm embrace… Hiding me from pain, harshness and the bluntness of cold hard reality How then can I not feel amazing today? ... Even just but for a little while….

Kilifi Dawn July 2016 Its a day before my birthday and waking up to a chesty cough but otherwise glad to be here and mostly alive…I have always been a sucker for birthdays a childish habit I have not grown out of. Nowadays though, I spend time reflecting on stuff; the past and speculating about the future quite a bit. This year I want to share three reflections that have been on my mind: 1.      Sometimes we are so self-absorbed and focused and inanely obsessed with people around us and what they are doing to us that we forget to pause, breathe and live. I remember one particularly bad time for me circa 2003 when I was going through so many misfortunes and so much angst. I had a handful of good friends who patiently listened to my non-stop rants about all the injustice around me. One day a friend interrupted me and asked in a quiet voice,  "Is this person you keep going on and on about your oxygen because you cant seem to get by a minute w...

I must admit, I am at a low point right this minute; my body mind and soul are screaming exhaustion and its not even 10am. Most nights, I toss and turn at flashes of ideas, pending things in my to-do list that now haunt and occupy my dreams. I sleep late and wake up early, almost guilty for 'wasting time' resting when there is so so much to do and so little time. It sounds ridiculous and unsustainable but I am afraid that thats the current situation. I enjoy the work I do but as we all know it is not always easy. Also, new developments! I am so happy to be back in University doing part time night classes. Even at the tail end of a busy workday my brain is absorbing everything I can - I keep having to virtually pinch myself in class to remind myself that my 16 year hiatus of studies has finally ended! I am soo excited! More and more, into my journey of embracing feminist principles, I am in awe of how much I do not know. I have been transitioning from a default shrug...

I have been known to be truly moved; moved to introspection, action, silence, tears, joy. It is not every day though I have been moved to words..Especially nowadays where stories remain vividly raw, too real but yet largely unspoken and unwritten. Pardon my clumsiness, tardiness and impertinence in capturing a slice of my reflections today: Me we us All of me Pulses, sways, sings Needs, takes, grabs Fights, confronts,  creates Connects,  Inspire. Me I us All of me, Breathes, exhales Desires, lusts Touches Reaches Fucks, likes Wants, loves Burns, consumes Falls, soars. Me we us All of me Questions, worries Cries, laughs Learns, dreams Hopes, open Lives Here  Now.

There is this monster we bore and raised called diplomatic immunity that rears its ugly head many a time. Anytime it comes to play it is when the proverbial sh*t has hit the fan…. Recently I came across a disturbing new article that reported that #UNEP employee Alphonse Kambu based in Nairobi from Papua New Guinea who has been accused of physically assaulting his estranged partner Ruth Gakii on Sunday night at Jacaranda estate, as their three-year-old son looked on . The United Nations Environmental Program - UNEP has expressed its willingness to assist with investigations into an incident where one of its staffers is accused of assaulting his estranged Kenyan lover and causing her grevious bodily harm. In a statement to newsrooms, the UN body has clarified that its employees are only immune from prosecution in actions or words spoken during the cause of their duty and not personal actions. The statement came even as police launched investigations into the matter, ...

L-R: Me, Melissa - MAVC, Mercy BHESP, Maya & Hannah - Tactical Tech and Nida - MAVC I got to know (and love) Tactical Tech in 2013 - its  a great non-profit organisation that advances the use of information and digital technologies used by advocates and activists worldwide. I particularly love and subscribe to the very cool toolkits they have developed for activists and NGO's around how to take stock of their advocacy or activism work and their digital security (or lack of it for that matter). I particularly love the Security-in-a-Box Toolkit with a multiplicities of cool tips and tricks on internet and web vulnerabilities that we encounter in daily tech lives as activists. I recently took part in a discussion and sharing of research findings that Tactical Tech undertook with the Kenyan LGBTI community (with support from a very cool organisation called  Making All Voices Count Fund .) The study is called  The Möbius Strip: How LGBTQ Keny...