SHOE WEAR FOR LADIES IN DIFFERENT OCCASIONS

Posted on March 22, 2012 by Ivy Winnie

When building your wardrobe, there are some items that one considers essentials and some luxuries. One establishes a wardrobe with shoes that would be suitable for the office, dines, weekends, parties and out of town. Victor is one of the best shoe sellers in Kibera who showed us different shoes that can be worn on different occasions.

The classic black pumps. This can be worn to the office, church, work and to any other occasion one can think of. The shoe should have a tow to three inch depending on one’s preference.

Flats. They are comfortable shoes and very versatile. They are of different colors and patterns. They can also be worn with jeans, Capri pants or any other wear.

Sandals. Flats or low heeled sandals are a must. One can choose flip-flop or any other type, and can pick bright colors , metallic, or African with beading or paints. If one spends a lot of time near water, then the best choice would be a rubber sandals.

Boots. They are good for the wet weather. One can choose a boot that is either black or brown, in leather or suede, which can be worn regularly with most colors. There are different colors like booties or ankle boots which are a great option. One can choose a pair of Traditional ankle boots that came up   just over the ankle. Heels can be flat, stacked or even depending on your taste.

Neutral low heel pumps. One cannot wear black with every color always. There is always a need for other neutral colors  like brown, taupe , or beige would do. However, one can choose navy if you have  clothing in those color schemes. It can be a low heeled shoe that is also a close toe. This shoes should be versatile enough to wear with trousers, slacks or even a dress.

Open toe dress heels. This is an open or peep-toe shoe that be a closed back pump or a sling back. The heel should be preferably three to four inches. This shoe is for dressing up either for going on a date, dinner, or even the company party. The open toe part of the shoe makes it sexy by the exposure or the toes.

Evening shoes. Every woman should have absolutely drop dead gorgeous evening shoes. One can choose a silver high-heel sandal, an elegant black evening shoes or a multitude of other styles. If one goes out to formal affairs often, don’t be afraid to spend a lot of money on an incredible shoe.

Trainers. If one is trying to keep in shape or physically fit, one must have a top quality trainer pair, in the same way, if one does a lot of running he\ she has to get a pair of trainers with plenty of cushioning and support.

Mules. Pick a leather or suede mules with two to three inch heel that can be worn from the office to a casual coffee date. These open black shoes come in variety of shapes and sizes.

Favorite shoes. This can be a trendy sandal a funky wedge pump or a wild pair of plat forms. It can be your favorite shoes for dressing up or your every shoes to wear on casual days.

When building your wardrobe, there are some items that one considers essentials and some luxuries. One establishes a wardrobe with shoes that would be suitable for the office, dines, weekends, parties and out of town. Victor is one of the best shoe sellers in Kibera who showed us different shoes that can be worn on different occasions.

The classic black pumps. This can be worn to the office, church, work and to any other occasion one can think of. The shoe should have a tow to three inch depending on one’s preference.

Flats. They are comfortable shoes and very versatile. They are of different colors and patterns. They can also be worn with jeans, Capri pants or any other wear.

Sandals. Flats or low heeled sandals are a must. One can choose flip-flop or any other type, and can pick bright colors , metallic, or African with beading or paints. If one spends a lot of time near water, then the best choice would be a rubber sandals.

Boots. They are good for the wet weather. One can choose a boot that is either black or brown, in leather or suede, which can be worn regularly with most colors. There are different colors like booties or ankle boots which are a great option. One can choose a pair of Traditional ankle boots that came up   just over the ankle. Heels can be flat, stacked or even depending on your taste.

Neutral low heel pumps. One cannot wear black with every color always. There is always a need for other neutral colors  like brown, taupe , or beige would do. However, one can choose navy if you have  clothing in those color schemes. It can be a low heeled shoe that is also a close toe. This shoes should be versatile enough to wear with trousers, slacks or even a dress.

Open toe dress heels. This is an open or peep-toe shoe that be a closed back pump or a sling back. The heel should be preferably three to four inches. This shoe is for dressing up either for going on a date, dinner, or even the company party. The open toe part of the shoe makes it sexy by the exposure or the toes.

Evening shoes. Every woman should have absolutely drop dead gorgeous evening shoes. One can choose a silver high-heel sandal, an elegant black evening shoes or a multitude of other styles. If one goes out to formal affairs often, don’t be afraid to spend a lot of money on an incredible shoe.

Trainers. If one is trying to keep in shape or physically fit, one must have a top quality trainer pair, in the same way, if one does a lot of running he\ she has to get a pair of trainers with plenty of cushioning and support.

Mules. Pick a leather or suede mules with two to three inch heel that can be worn from the office to a casual coffee date. These open black shoes come in variety of shapes and sizes.

Favorite shoes. This can be a trendy sandal a funky wedge pump or a wild pair of plat forms. It can be your favorite shoes for dressing up or your every shoes to wear on casual days.

 

 

 

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Lack water in Kibera

Posted on February 25, 2012 by Lee Ibrahim

 Recently almost a week now there have been lack of water in different parts of Kibera. The water situation has affected the likes of Mashimoni, Lindi and Laini Saba just to mention but a few villages in Kibera. People have to wake up as early as 4.00 am to queue in long queue inorder to get some water for the day. By early as 9.00 am you come around empty taps which had water on the normal ordinary day. The small taps in parts of Kambi Muru have also started to rust due to lack of water for sometime.

The situation now is that the ‘Early bird catches the worm’ for people who wake up late have to walk long-distances to get water for there usage for the day. Hawkers with wheel-barrows and carts are seen around transporting water to hotels and homes in which they charge double or triple compared tonormal price.

 

The reason for the water shortage is not fully identified with water seller claiming it is water recession around Kibera while others saying its the water dealers cutting water inorder to get paid first to restore the water or the recent drought around could have caused the water shortage.

 

All in all something has to be done because some people have stopped their businesses due to the scarcity and some have to leave for work late because of the long queues experinced around water tanks.

Around the west of Kibera in places like Gatwekera and Soweto west we have Non-Governmental organisations who have come up with water projects which has helped in suppling water to the residents around there. These are the places the water hawkers go to get water for hawking to specific destinations where we have water scarcity. In these places you will find water been sold at Ksh. 2.00 compared to their neighbours in Mashimoni or Lindi who sell water for Ksh.5.00 per jerican.

 

The government has played a part in water supply around but the residents feel that they deserve more compared to the our places in the Nairobi county. The water projects in the West of Kibera should be introduced to the other side of the surbarb inorder to conqure and do away with these water problems.

 

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PLIGHT OF THE NAIROBI DAM

Posted on January 21, 2012 by Lee Ibrahim

I vividly remember just like it was yesterday when we use to go to the Nairobi Dam when we were young. We sometimes would wake up very early in the morning and meet with friends as we had planned the previous day. We would meet at a play ground near one of my friends house after breakfast and set off towards our destination.

 
After spending most of our time playing football, marbles and other ordinary games, we felt that we needed something different and this is what motivated us to go all the way to the east of Kibera. There was a lot going on there as people usually came in numbers. It was like a market place. Women who lived near would come with basins full of clothes and make use of the water which by then was clean and clear like crystal by washing their clothes and spread them to dry which took less than 30 minutes. On the other side of the river you could not fail to spot children swimming and others fishing from the clean water. This is one place which had different types of fish from Dagga, mudfish, catfish etc. It was a place of its kind in the heart of Nairobi.

Those days the Nairobi Dam was more than an attraction site. Unfortunately, heavy pollution emanating from the high-density population of the Kibera has stimulated growth of invasive plant species, especially Water Hyacinth which have infested the water body since and have curtailed recreational activities. Invasive aquatic weeds and solid waste dumping have completely altered the aquatic ecology and flow regimes of associated rivers.

 

Lack of proper waste management, solid waste and industrial waste is another problem. All the sewage contamination from the 13 villages of Kibera directed their waste into the Nairobi dam. This and other pollutants have rendered the water in the river system and the dam totally unusable and hazarous to human health.


The government had taken measures to restore the Nairobi dam an initiative brought into act by the now Prime Minister and Mp of Langata Hon. Raila odinga. But this is not meaniful as disposal of waste material from Kibera was not stopped. The aquatic weed and Hyacinth covering the Nairobi dam has brought in a new expansive land for planting of Sukuma wiki, arrow roots, tomatoes and bananas. The residents living near there have taken advantage of the then Nairobi Dam to put food in their stomachs.

 

Which to me sounds like a good idea.
Most plans to restore the dam have ended in futility. An example is the The Nairobi Dam Initiative in 2004 launched by the then Vice President of Kenya Hon. Moody Awori and sponsored by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Farmers who have planted on the dam most of the time hinder its restoration fearing they will loss their produce which they claim its their source of living.

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FORCEFUL ACTS BY THE POLICE

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Fred

 

Police have been linked to several cases of extrajudicial killings, torture and forceful disappearances as perpetrated by them. However this might be a gone story, following the establishment of the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (Ipoa).

 Ipoa is set to upgrade the police operations and handling of complaints by the public against the law enforcers.

Over a long period of past time, police  officers have been  linked to the murder of innocent individuals and torture incidents, these cases have been let off the hook due to lack of clear laid down rules and unclear complaints mechanism by the aggrieved parties to facilitate evidence for  prosecution.

 The authority will help the police service and the public to effectively address the many complaints regarding police conduct, thereby producing the best police organisation Kenyans have always aspired. The public, through this legislation, they will have an opportunity to seek compensation where they have been wronged.

Recently, an 8 year old boy has been a victim of police harassment in Kibera. The boy, whose parents are suspected to be local brew producers, was beaten and handcuffed by the police, who demanded to know where his mother was. The boy was detained for a couple of hours without any prove, which is totally against the childrens’ right. The mother however denied being in brew business.

Past encounter.

There must be a strong mechanism for holding the police accountable as a way of ensuring, come next election, there won’t be a repeat as of the previous post election violence, besides it should be free, fair and peaceful .This is according to Waki Commission, Philip Alston (the UN Rapporteur General on extrajudicial executions) and the Ransley Taskforce

Initially, the public did not have an avenue to channel their complaints against the police force. But that is now possible following the ascending to the Ipoa Act by the President. People only used to forward their grievances against members of the police service at different police headquarters but the process of getting justice was purely frustrating as it was very slow some delaying tactics revolved around the cases,furthermore  it was not transparent.

If one feels offended by the police action or conduct, they can now report the matter to the Ipoa. The authority would come up with their findings and what they recommend. The National Police Service Commission (NPSC) would then deal with the disciplinary cases, besides; Ipoa will have their offices in the 47 counties where people will report their cases.

With this law in place, it will enable the police also deal with the errant officers within the unit, in transparent and satisfactory manner, leading to increased public confidence and trust in the service and for the public.

The function of the authority is to investigate complaints related to disciplinary or criminal offenses committed by any member of the police service, receive and investigate policing operations affecting public, besides there will be monitoring, review and audit investigation and action taken by the internal affairs unit in response to public community’s complaints.

Once Ipoa is established, it will facilitate the investigations and give direction in complaints raised by affected individuals

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FOLLOW UP ON DEMOLITION OF HOUSES IN SOWETO EAST, KIBERA.

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Ivy Winnie

After the last incident of houses being demolished in Soweto East in Kibera, that was in 12th January 2012. The voice of kibera made a follow up after two days that was on 14th January  to know the steps taken with those who were the victims managed to start on in life.

Today,  several people who had nowhere to go still live in this open filed where their houses were demolished for slum upgrading . With the harsh living condition in this open filed they now call their home, we met a widow,  Alise Anindo who lived with her two grandchildren who were left orphaned by their parents. The incident happened after she has taken her grandchildren to a near by day care and left for work as usual. She saved nothing and does not know how to move in in life. She asks the Government to at least help them with means of going back home(up country).

We talked to several people to gather more information on how they feel. Partrick Wasia, a landlord,  was given an ID for moving to decanting site. He said they are going to continue with the appeal in court on the demolition of the houses that is on 17th january2012. He said that the Government started with Soweto East Zone A after which they shall move to Zone B ,C and D.

Jackline Jalenga who was also one of the people whose houses were demolished moved to a nearby church with some residents who were in the same situation. They moved to Maximum Miracle Center where only their children were aloud to sleep in and they being parents, sleeping in the cold outside as they await their properties .

A landlord known as Bokello, was one of the people who moved to the decanting site but being the landlord in the area where houses were brought down, him being a landlord , he now have to sleep in the cold in the open filled to await his properties.He as he hard of the Soweto Forum says that Slum upgrading was a good idea but the Government was too fast for a common Mwanainchi and the time which was given was not enough for them . He says the Government should try to intervene and look of a way out to help Kenyans.

As we walked down the place , we observed that the site was already fenced . Does the property that was not removed that is still inside now belong to those in charge of the slam upgrading?

With the tension going on , we were more interested to know more on the map on the areas that are yet to be demolished. This made us to go to the nearest chief’s camp for more details. We met a person whose identity withheld sowed us the map. He says that the demolition of houses is yet to continue with Zone B , C and D according to  how it was planed.

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RESIDENTS FROM SOWETO EAST MOVED TO DECANTING SITE.

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Ivy Winnie

Relocation of people from Soweto east was much of excitement as people were being moved from Soweto east to decanting site.Most of people saw it as a stepping stone from a lower life to a much advance level of life.

This being a three bed roomed house, a kitchen ,a toilet and a bathroom or rather a self contained house with a good living  environment.The challenge is that some people from the slum could not corp  up with the cost of the living standard  of the new environment.

Simon,who was one of the people that were relocated says that;To him being  moved from  soweto east where he pays 20 shillings to work he now pays more than that.He says life has been expensive from clothing, to food, and to other things like paying for the bills ie; electricity,water and rent. He also says that people would think that they have come to a better place but they also have their problems like since they moved there,they have not been having electricity for 7months.

With some people very excited with moving from soweto to decanting site,Magdaline was very happy as she says that the houses have water  and now she can wash her cloths and clean the house unlike  Soweto East where she had to walk a distance to fetch water that she could use for household purposes .She says some of her neighbours refused to move because the houses were  very expensive for them but some who wanted to move did not have the opportunity to .Despite all, she says that the living standard is quite expensive compared to Soweto East where she used to pay for 3 houses each at Ksh.  700 including electricity,  she now pays 3000 shillings for the 3 bed roomed house.

I also met Policup Ouko,who was also one of the residents who came to decanting site from  Soweto East. He says he has seen a big  change from bad to good and life is not the same again, He continued to say that they now have security and there has been an improvement despite the high living standard . He says that in Soweto East  he used to pay a rent of 1200 and pays 300 shillings for electricity that is a total of 1500 shillings.

The major disadvantage that they had was that, they had to remove their children from school, since it  was October and so their children had to stay out of school until January in order for them to join the new schools that are near by the houses they had moved to.

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HOUSES DEMOLITION IN SOWETO EAST

Posted on January 14, 2012 by Lee Ibrahim

Residents of Kibera, Soweto East region have been left homeless following the demolition that has been witnessed recently. The demolition was to pave way for the second phase of the slum upgrading project which had started early last year but caught many residents unaware. Some of the residents who were still at work received reports and came but it was all in vain as the bulldozer had destroyed many houses. There was no sufficient time to salvage property and residents households goods.

Hundreds of Soweto East woke up early morning on Thursday, 12th, January 2012 to watch in disbelieve as their houses were turned into rubbles in minutes. The residents had earlier been allocated to the new houses at Lang’ata area next to the Lan’gata Women Prison made by the government in collaboration with the UN-HABITAT in 2009. Some residents came back to Soweto East because of some reasons they encountered. Some of the reasons were:
-Residents claimed that the houses were expensive and many of them could not afford.
-Some residents said the life in the new houses was expensive compared to the life in Kibera.
-Some residents saw that as a source of revenue and rented their rooms and returned to the slums.
Many children from the affected families have now dropped school. “They have destroyed not only our houses but also the schools where our children go to.”, said an affected woman at the scene of demolision. Affected families said they are now putting up with relatives and freinds while some have no option but to go back to the rural area to start a new life.

Now the affected families are out requesting the government to show them alternative locations to move to. The demolition sanction by the state was to pave way for slum upgrading project in which the state says it had given people enough time to look for alternative premises. Some residents had a court order which they claimed that they were there legally and they were waiting for the second hearing of their case on 17th, January 2012 but the government came to demolish earlier before their hearing.

This was not the first time the government had made good its treat to mow down structures in Nairobi. It had earlier demolished multi-million shilling mansions in Syokimau, houses in East-Leigh near the Moi Airbase, Kyang’mbe and Maasai Village for allegedly being on the Kenya Airports Authority’s land.

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JITOLEE WOMEN

Posted on January 12, 2012 by Fred

Poverty is a lifestyle that one finds themselves adapted to either knowingly or unknowingly. The high rate of HIV/AIDS prevalence makes it even worse, not forgetting the high inflation rate that’s leading to the skyrocketing of prices of the basic commodities.

Here, no one seems to care about the other, you have to survive on your own! The marginalized areas are not spared either.

The immune system gets weaker and weaker to those who can’t afford to get food  to meet their nutrition requirements. Some end up feeding, not to strengthen their immune system but just to fill their stomachs.

There are widows and orphans, how do they survive in this competitive environment, where everyone is on their own? They are faced with stigma and are isolated from the rest of the community.

It is through these tough conditions that jitolee women crafts was borne!

Upon meeting in a support group for people with HIV/AIDS, in 2003 the 6 founding women of Jitolee Crafts acquired the skills and starting supplies to make traditional African crafts. That same year, Jitolee Crafts created an HIV/AIDS awareness pin that was worn by the Kenyan president.

Today, the group has expanded to 15 members and continues to innovate new designs.

Among the founding women is, Caroline Achieng Obuka was born in 1965 in Kanyadhi, the birthplace of Barack Obama Sr. She was orphaned as a baby and so was unable to attend primary education. After moving to Kibera, she began to take in laundry for a living. Unfortunately, when she discovered that she was HIV-positive, her clients did not return. Because of misunderstanding of how the HIV virus is transmitted, stigmatization against HIV-positive individuals is harsh. Desperate, she switched to beadwork, which constitutes her only source of income at present.

Carolyne Achieng.

Caroline is mother of three girls of 20, 17 and 15 years of age and a boy of 22 years of age; none of which have been infected. She also cares for two orphans. With her brother’s support she is able to afford primary education for two of her daughters. However, after the loss of her husband and her younger son to AIDS, times have become even tougher.

Despite her hardships, Caroline still believes in the power of laughter and has never lost hope for her children’s bright future.

Jitolee Crafts’ main goal is to provide HIV positive women with the means to reduce the stigma of HIV/AIDS within their community, build a support network that encourages healthy decisions, and generate income for themselves and their children.

The women at Jitolee Crafts aims to do this through making and selling traditional African crafts ranging from necklaces, bracelets, rings, pins, belts, bags, keychains, and various wire crafts. Some products are focused on Kenyan identity as well as HIV/AIDS awareness.

Jitolee Crafts has been operational since 2003. Since then the company has relied much on word of mouth to promote its business. The primary distribution channel is at the women’s homes which are accessed by customers through tours of Kibera and through personal networks. They are unable to find a selling place at the other African crafts market places because the charges of displaying their products are unaffordable to them.

Their profits are used to settling the bills i.e., rent, electricity and water, besides they have to buy food out of this and also have to cater for the education of the orphans under their care, which makes the burden more unbearable.

The group has been able to expand in its number of members but has not been able to achieve greater profits because of some major barriers, namely access to appropriate marketplaces and customer bases.

Jitolee Crafts intends to overcome these barriers with the use of a business loan that will provide the group with additional raw materials and marketing materials. Previously, the ideas of brand identity and additional product marketing have not been employed.

Posted in Art, Empowerment, Health, People | 3 Comments

We Have Faith Caravan on The Move

Posted on December 23, 2011 by Sande Wycliffe

Chitimba camp is in Malawi a country with 3 regions; The South, North and Central regions who all speak the Chichewa language while the South speaks Lomwe, Yao; Central maintains Chichewa and North speaks Tumbuga language.
It was about 7pm when we got at the camp with lots of expectations at hand, a nice place to pitch the tents, at least Wi-Fi for browsing and posting what we are doing and bath rooms that will accommodate everyone on the buses . This was not fully met even though it was an experience worth going through.
The morning came and we had to park and leave again so we could have a mini concert on the way mainly for helping us collect signatures in Malawi. Though not very many people were at Katoto Freedom Park in Zuzu city, we managed to go out of the way to get the petitions signed. After the whole exercise, we proceeded on with our journey for a while and stopped to have lunch on our way. I had left my bus no. 1 for bus no.3 so i was new here just trying to figure out what was on their menu, who was responsible for washing utensils afterwards, i enjoyed being in the company of guys on this bus though.
We did a bit of shopping at the local shop for drinks and we were ready to go. On our way, it was horrifying to see leave alone to talk about what we saw; a huge part of Chigangwa forest reduced to ashes, other trees cut and uprooted because the workers claimed they had not been paid their salaries so the solution according to them was to destroy the forest. Were this workers really aware of the adverse effects of climate change? Did they try to explore other ways to get the problem solved? Was burning the forest which attracts rainfall, acts as carbon sink for the already heavily polluted environment such a bold step to take? who will answer all this questions? who is responsible for this mess? is it Maliwi government ? or the workers or the people of Malawi?

Despite the experience of the forest being destroyed, we had a lot of fun in bus no.3 where we had a lot of music and dancing as the driver did what he knew best. It was not too long before we arrived at our next camp; Mabuyu in Lilongwe the Capital city of Malawi. I had to wait for my bus no.1 to arrive so i could take my tent and pitch it. Mabuyu is a nice place to be especially for me because we had a swimming pool which i could use to learn swimming for i was told i could never learn it in ocean/sea waters but too bad i did not have the time to do so instead i chose to make use of internet but not for too long before my laptop failed to connect forcing me to go and sleep even though i had not completed my work.The following day we had a big concert In Civo Stadium.

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The Road To Durban Finally Begins

Posted on December 23, 2011 by Sande Wycliffe

Our first day was of great importance to the youth and rest of people participating in the ” We have Faith Campaign”; that is heading to South Africa through other countries. With the theme: ‘We have faith act now for climate justice’, youth from faith-based organization have decided to approach the up-coming cop17 in Durban with a totally different strategy. A strategy to collect a million signatures from people with a view of petitioning world leaders to act now for climate justice even as the Kyoto protocol 1 enters its last stage.
Our journey started this morning after a briefing from organizers and a prayer for safe journey from one of our own. Since I was looking for comfort, I was the first one to get in the bus (Bus..Ted) so I would find myself and my beautiful friend a more comfortable place.
We left Multimedia University for Galleria Supermarket so we could do the last shopping for our trip, but for those of us who did not have the opportunity, we were just hanging around in the buses as we waited.
On our way, we stopped at… to have lunch, for the first time ever, i was moved by the team work exhibited by everyone getting involved at every stage of the lunch preparation. We had lunch, washed our utensils and continued with our journey. It did not take us long though to arrive at the border to start with the formalities of getting the necessary documents done at the immigration offices. The long lines, the many people in there, you can imagine how long it took us to process our documents so we could proceed on in Tanzania. I journey from the border of Namanga was smooth and we arrived in Arusha; Snake park at around 9pm and went straight to have our dinner.
Being my first camping experience, i had a lot to learn so that i can comfortably be part/identify with the putting up the tent was such a task for me to learn. I did manage and what happened till morning is history.
Our morning was characterised by a bit of confusion because of rains that poured as we prepared to leave early in the morning. On our way, one of our buses had a flat tire thus they had to repair it.

It was a very long journey from Arusha to Dar es Salaam but we tried and made it a bit early so we could have enough time to rest. everyone had to put up their tents first before going to have dinner and finally i had to make use of the available WIFI to make this story heard from every corner of the world. The energy, zeal and ego exhibited from the caravan participants is undoubtedly incredible; Africa, “we will do you proud in Durban South Africa”

 

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