Last month, I was very fortunate to attend the premiere of the film ‘Milking The Rhino’ at the Gene Siskel Film center in Chicago.
This film left an big impression on me. Long time readers of this blog know that I do have granola-head, green thumb, renewable-energy obsession, tree-huggery tendencies, so no surprise there eh.
Without giving too much away…the film opened my eyes to the link between Kenya’s history and our attitudes towards conservation. Before the British came, Kenyan communities had traditions around hunting wild animals (These traditions and folklore still persist - I visited Samburu in 2006 and learned a wee bit about this). I would posit that it was sustainable, because there was some balance between the hunting that was done and the populations of wildlife. When laws were enacted to forbid Kenyans from hunting…something they had been doing for millennia, that relationship with the natural world was broken. Why would one want to protect something that they are not benefitting from? Wildlife started to be seen as a nuisance. Granted that there is demand for ‘exotic’ skins, tusks, and bone from wild animals particularly in Asia; one of the factors behind poaching in the parks, there are instances of communities killing wildlife because their crops were destroyed by animals such as Elephants. Still, our attitudes towards conservation and environment bear some reflection.
The film profiles two communities, one in Kenya, at the Il Ngwesi lodge and the Lewa Conservancy, and another in Namibia. The narration is brilliantly voiced by a Kenyan Munyikombo Bukusi, a very talented guy. This film had me making plans to visit Il Ngwesi Group Ranch, if you need a place to get away and relax your cares away…Il Ngwesi lodge looks like just the place to go.
The blurb from the film’s site gives you a glimpse into the documentary…
A ferocious kill on the Serengeti… warnings about endangered species…
These clichés of nature documentaries ignore a key landscape feature: villagers just off-camera, who navigate the dangers and costs of living with wildlife.
The Maasai of Kenya and Namibia’s Himba – two of Earth’s oldest cattle cultures – are in the midst of upheaval. After a century of “white man conservation,” which displaced them and fueled resentment towards wildlife, they are vying to share the wildlife-tourism pie.
Community-based conservation, which tries to balance the needs of wildlife and people, has been touted by environmentalists as “win-win.” The reality is more complex. Charting the collision of ancient ways with Western expectations, MILKING THE RHINO tells intimate, hopeful and heartbreaking stories of people facing deep cultural change.
The film will premiere on PBS Spring 2009, hosted by Terence Howard (the famous actor - Crash, Hustle & Flow etc)
Till then, the following festivals and screenings are your best chance of watching it. If you cannot wait, you can purchase the DVD for $25.00 from Kartemquin films, just contact Xan. I would highly recommend the DVD.
Screenings:
November 2nd 2008 3pm: Chicago Humanities FestivalChicago Cultural Center
International Premiere
International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA)
November 2008
Washington, D.C. Premiere : D.C. Environmental Film Festival
March 11 - 22, 2009
*I will update this post if there will be screenings in Kenya. (I am asking about this and hoping we can arrange one soon)
I have been intently following the US presidential elections since Joe Biden, being the first to do so, announced his intentions to seek the Dems nomination. Since then the kamuthonjo (a clique) has congregated many a time and because the polls are in favor of my predictions i'm due to collect from Kangethe and Co. come November 5th.
My accurate (i can claim that now) forcast has not just been based on luck and a nag for making a quick buck, it is the ability to identify a force much larger than the usual politico that has shaped my ideas and opened my views.Why will Barack Obama gain the title of POTUS over John McCain?
John McCain /Sarah Palin campaign does not realize that they are not running against a presidential candidate but rather a movement that seeks to vote in its leader as president.I can imagine telling my kids of a fella with a funny name who run for the highest office in the land by offering Hope to its great citizen.
I don't condemn those who don't buy it, come to think of it, on paper this does seem to be straight out of the snake-oil salesman's handbook, then again he must be a really good salesman because not one iota of slander seems to stick. I don't know if i should give credit to the citizen who seem to have figured out the ridiculous claims or to John McCain who for his age should be very wise and should not have made some very puzzling decisions during the phase of the campaign.
With that I foresee a few new dictionary entries not too far from now:
Obama: verb the act of a true underdogs ability to achieve success with great measure without the use of fear mongering and deceptionBush: noun one who influences others by use of fear and wmd's ..or wait that is also known as a scarecrow.now let me go collect
Senator Barack Obama’s grandmother Sarah Hussein Obama during a past interview with the press at her Nyang’oma Kogelo village in Siaya. The press has been barred from the home until Nov 5 to give her a break from constant media engagements.
Hat tip to my trusty source! (now if someone can unleash those Waki names…)
The UN’s procurement task force recently unraveled a procurement corruption scandal at the UN offices in Nairobi. You can now read the full report here: un. I just skimmed over it…boy is the process bureaucratic or what? I’m sure there’s lots more stuff going on under the radar if this is what it takes to investigate corruption within the organization. Apparently UN staff have not been happy with the taskforce’s work because it “does not respect their rights” and the task force will soon be disbanded…don’t mess with the gravy train I guess.
Hey folks,
First of all welcome to all the new readers. I have been tickled pink by the fact that even though my writing frequency has reduced a little bit, the blog’s readership and subscribers have kept on increasing and so thanks to all of you and welcome to the new readers.
Following on from my last post about confusion and my podcast with Julia Sanna where I tried to put an african immigrant relationship manifesto together, today I thought I would go one step further and, with your help, try to carve out an African Immigrant Manifesto.
“Why What Is That My Good Man?” I hear you say
In a nutshell, its the answer to the question,
What are the characteristics of an ideal African immigrant?
After all, a man who aims for nothing is sure to get there. So what should we be aiming for? What should the end result be when you take all that Africa has created and leave it in the middle of the concrete jungles of the West?
And below I’ll list 9 characteristics (with a bonus) that I personally think are quintessential:
They Are……..
1) Goes beyond the limitations of his African community.
2) Expands the borders (whether psychologically, socially, financially etc etc) of that very same African community.
3) Takes advantage of the vast knowledge this land has to offer.
4) Materially secure and/or abundant (this one doesn’t tend to be too big of a problem for us)
5) Hard working (this one either)
6) Punctual when it counts (this one we do have a problem with)
7) Responsible parents (bringing children into secure, safe environments where they can grow up)
Able to adapt
9) Takes care of the body regardless of the plethora of temptation to do otherwise out here in the West.
What Should I Add to the List?
I have gone beyond my site and gone on the forum site, Mashada and asked the same question and you can find that thread here:
So either head on over to Mashada or leave a comment below, it can even be a one word response, and let me know (leave your first comment, you know you want to) what should an ideal African immigrant look like:
PS: As soon as I read the headline, I got a feeling that some of you want to leave the answer, “Obama”. I guess that’s alright, but if you do, state why………
Here is my 5-minute talk that I did at Pop!Tech this Saturday. It touches on Ushahidi, AfriGadget and why I’m optimistic about Africa.
The best part for me is that in a recording I can make sure I don’t forget any lines and I can add more images into the slideshow. I know I had to cut out a section of the talk in the live event as I was running out of time. Either way, I hope you enjoy it, as it’s a mixture of my history that explains a little of my present occupation.