Mama Shujaa

Ah, but if you have no expectations, You can never have a disappointment. (Stephen Joshua Sondheim (1930- ) I am disappointed. It seems the politics did not stay out of this . We were contacted by the Kenya Embassy in Washington, D.C. and charged with nominating amongst us, Kenyans in the Diaspora (the US, Mexico and Columbia), ONE member of the Diaspora to participate in the July 29- Aug 2 conference in Nairobi. The Ambassador gave us a mandate, with very little time to complete it. We volunteered hard-found time and energy to come up with a painstakingly transparent process. After numerous meetings, conference calls, and the review of writing samples, etc., we completed the process and communicated the selection of our nominee to the Embassy well within the given deadline, June 30, 2009. After receiving no response from the Embassy, I made the phone call that would intimate that perhaps all of our hard work was for naught. Chronic Politics As Usual?! And while I'm not o...

I have been conducting some interesting work: selecting one candidate to represent the Kenya Diaspora at the upcoming Biennial Ambassadors/High Commissioners Conference in Nairobi, Kenya in July-August, 2009. Just over a dozen of us were contacted by the Kenya Embassy in Washington, D.C. under three weeks ago. We were charged with nominating amongst us, Kenyans in the Diaspora (the US, Mexico and Columbia), ONE member of the Diaspora to participate in the conference. The original communique came from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nairobi. Exciting stuff. As a vetting committee member, I've especially enjoyed discovering our talented candidates and their commitment to moving Kenya's agenda forward. My recommendations on who will make a candidate for the role include: - an individual who is best able to represent the aspirations and needs of the Diaspora in such a meeting; - an individual who is able to participate effectively in the meeting; - someone who is an active m...

I have not had a moment to come out to my front porch to chat. My time-management skills have definitely been put to the test these past two weeks... - year-end school activities and season-end soccer activities for our 10 year old. - assisting with collecting book donations for the Books For Africa Atlanta warehouse grand opening on Thursday this week. - preparing and sending correspondence to Kenya regarding AKPA's upcoming Kenyan Diaspora Conference and Investment Forum in August this year. - preparing for and teaching a beginner's Kiswahili class in Atlanta this past weekend. - assisting a friend with some PR work related to Delta's inaugural direct flight from Atlanta to Nairobi, on June 2, this year. ...all the while being a mama na mke nyumbani [mother and wife at home] and holding down my 9-5. So, late this afternoon, when I received this video clip of a young Declan Galbraith, I thought I'd stop by, share and say Vipi Sasa [what's up]? A beautiful vo...