Change.

Fantastic! I am very..I mean..VERY impressed and proud of you young ppl who can express themselves freely and truly. The sad part is our African govements will never change coz of the greediness and corruption which has been playing for a very long time. Hope and pray for the day I will see " CHANGE" in Kenya and Africa as a whole coz only the young generation is willing to bring that CHANGE. But what about thoese stoned in there?I hope u understand what I am talking about. I love my country and proud to be an african but the ways of Motherland are just SAD!!
- Anonymous
(posted on Aug 18th 2009 in response to my blog post - Obama Fever)

Dear Anonymous,
(wish I could address this personally to you as we could have a lively discussion on Kenya and the change that we wish to see for our nation..but alas, Anonymous it will have to be..)

I don't believe that our government will never change. Call it youthful idealism but someone with a dose of realism once said, "Change comes from within". That is true - be it at the national level in government offices or at the personal level within the home. Our governments continue to be 'greedy and corrupt', because we ALLOW this to happen.

It is easy to say that the ways of our motherland are sad, but harder to be the change that we want to see. Easy to rant and rave. Harder to attempt providing the solutions to some of the challenges. Easy to philosophize about the problem and point to historical reasons as to why we are in the pit that we are in. Harder to think ahead to the future to prevent history from being repeated.

Each one of us, (be it old or young) need to be engaged with our local elected leaders/community leaders to hold them accountable. If you are a citizen of a country, then there is NO reason why you shouldn't do this. If an engaged and vibrant group of Kenyans demand the service that public servants (aka elected officials) should give to the constituents, then change CAN happen.

It is not up to the 'young people'. It is up to YOU! Yes, you! You, who are reading this! Look around you. What is your passion in life? Are you simply existing? Or are you living? Truly, madly, deeply LIVING.

Back to Kenya: Being part of the diaspora, I actively read and follow Kenyan politics and current affairs on the Internet. I dream of the day that we, as part of the global Kenyan citizenry, can organize ourselves enough to go beyond the provision of the occasional remittances back home. Instead of sending money, can you send your time? Are you a doctor, a nurse, an engineer, business professional? Can you 'send' your skills and train others back home? There are SO MANY talented and smart people back home! Instead of sending gifts (and there's nothing wrong with that, by the way!), can we encourage others to look beyond the 'fish' and learn 'how to fish'? Can you contact your nearest embassy and find out who else in the diaspora lives in your area code and hold 'town hall' meetings in your home to discuss these issues?

As usual, I don't have answers. I rant and rave because Kenya is my home. And I wish that those who live at home (a place close to my heart) would simply stop existing and start living. Living to make change happen. Living to hold elected officials accountable. Living to make hard decisions that may or may not bear fruit as we understand 'fruit' to be. Living to engage in the environment around them. We CAN be the change that we wish to see in this world. It takes one step at a time. Make it happen!

Musicka - Cheb Mami

I don't know what it is about Arabic music. Perhaps it is the throaty sounds that sound so elegant to me. Perhaps it is reminiscing of the Arab culture and music that I grew up listening to in Mombasa, Kenya.

Either way, I'm always on the look-out for new artists to add to my collection. Some of my favorites - Amr Diab (Egypt), Mohamed Lamine (Algeria), Wael Kfoury (Lebanon) and now Cheb Mami.

From the guy who brought us Desert Storm by Sting. Here's another number that simply makes me want to go learn belly-dancing! :)

Back to business!

Ok...so, little did I know that things would work out so fast! A friend of mine once called it 'Holy ease'. When things that are meant to happen actually happen. They simply flow. Sort of like a river that takes turns and bends on its course. Not in the way that we thought they would but in other ways that are even more wonderful.

Short story: I got my visas! And am actually going to desiland! And they worked out in ways better than I thought. Getting excited again - but this time - it's a more sedate sort of an excitement. More like, 'Hmm..I'm going away for a little bit. Not bad.' Am looking forward to learning all manner of things. From the fact that I really should stick to bottled water, since my immune system has gone floppy on me now that I leave in 'clean' America. To the fact I'll meet all kinds of people - good people, bad people. People who'll make me laugh. People who might even exasperate me enough to make me cry!

Either way - I'm grateful for the opportunity. Sometimes I pinch myself because I would have never dreamt of this life – an opportunity to make a small difference in the world. While working out the details of each paint-stroke is painstaking at times, the overall picture is beautiful and exciting.

So watch out! Stories shall abound! Pictures shall be taken. And hopefully, I shall be consistent in capturing the emotions of the moment and penning them down in this space. More later!