Latest News

OCTOBER 2004 - PART ONE

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Under water restaurant in Israel

6 METRES BELOW THE SEA LEVEL

The new restaurant designed by Ayala Serfaty in Eilat, on the Riviera of the Red Sea, you can sip champagne and dine at the bottom of the exotic bay. The Red Sea Star, Ayala Serfaty's newly designed restaurant feels like an aquatic set for Alice in Wonderland. Have a seaweed salad on a coral table, sit on an anemone bar-stools and stare at the starfish lamps through your martini glass. Submerged 20 feet below sea level and 300 feet offshore at the bottom of Eilat bay, the restaurant is the new "must visit" place in this hip resort town at the southernmost tip of Israel. Imagine a dreamy cave where you can experience the odd sensation of staring into the eyes of a flute fish while sipping a cocktail, or enjoying a gourmet meal. Would you dare to order the seafood special?

In 1997, two Tel Aviv-based entrepreneurs commissioned Serfaty to design the interior of this 100-Seat gourmet restaurant, right at the busiest district of Eilat.
The site, just north of the famous underwater observatory and next to the newly opened Le Meridien Hotel and the trendy club hotel , is well-placed to attract a devoted clientele. First the owners installed three large sunken steel tanks built and welded together by an oil-container company. Then Serfaty was called in to configure and design the interior. "it was a square and painted technical blue; it was as claustrophobic as a submarine. I set off to make everything round, warm, soft and open."

Serfaty softened the tank's closed-in feeling by sculpting the walls around four-inch-thick acrylic glass windows with plaster. "The relationship between exterior and interior was very important," says Serfaty. "I balanced the blue tones of the water with a warm color palette and made the horizontal surfaces reflective so that the ceiling would float into the floor." Nearby schools of fish cast their shadows onto the floor of sand set in glossy resin and swim through the laser cut iron railings shaped like abstract sea anemones.

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British boy feels the heat during training in Kenya

Chris Casey in action in Kenya

A Northolt soldier is getting a taste for action deep in the African bush. Chris Casey, 24, a lance corporal in the Irish Guards, is spending almost two months on exercise in Kenya as part of Exercise Grand Prix in temperatures reaching 50c. It is not the first time the soldier has worked in the searing heat. During the war in Iraq Lance Corporal Casey and his colleagues fought their way into the southern Iraqi city of Basra. He was with the first assault platoon when they had to fight their way through narrow streets and take control of enemy held buildings. In the fighting two fellow guardsman lost their lives. But in the African bush the soldiers have been coming up against their own surprises. The former Gunnersbury School, Ealing, pupil said: "You are crawling through the bushes when all of a sudden you come across a set of lion prints and you think this really is the real thing. The training is tough but in the evening when you are sitting by a camp fire listening to the animals out there in the bush it is just awesome. There is just so much out here." The soldiers have built a maternity ward for villagers.

Safari so good

A Borehamwood soldier is being pushed to the limit on an Exercise Grand Prix in Kenya. Guardsman Steven Cullen, 19, is an infantry soldier with the 1st Battalion The Irish Guards, and is currently taking part in live firing training in Kenya, where the temperature is a scorching 50celsius. The battalion, affectionately known as The Micks, is practicing the basics of being a foot soldier including co-ordinating attacks on enemy bunkers. Each of the 550 Guardsmen carry 50lb packs, fire live rounds and dodge real mortar rounds. The training programme is one of the hardest in the world, but needs to be, as the guardsmen could one day be called upon to do the job for real. Four hundred of the soldiers taking part in the exercise were recently engaged in taking the city of Basra, Iraq, in which two guardsmen, Lance Corporal Ian Malone and Piper Christopher Muzuru, lost their lives. For Steven, the exercise has been like a long trip to the zoo: "Africa is an experience I won't forget. We had finished training and were relaxing in our camp when we decided to go down to a nearby river. "It was dusk and we were just relaxing when a family of elephants came right down to the other bank for an evening drink. I couldn't believe it. "At night you can hear the hyenas and I've come across recent lion tracks, but thankfully no lion." Besides practicing military manoeuvres, The Micks have been involved in community projects, and built a maternity ward at Onjuliu village. Steven said: "There was a church nearby that took ten years to build, and the locals couldn't believe that the Army would have completed it in three months. "This has made the trip so worthwhile. Local labourers have helped us, and on Sunday the children came and sang. The people were so unbelievably grateful. It puts everything in perspective. "The training has been extremely tough, but it has definitely been a worthwhile experience. As they say in Kenya, hakuna matata' no worries." The Irish Guards were due to return to London this month, and Guardsman Cullen is due to parade at the Cenotaph in Whitehall on Remembrance Day. Source: Borehamwood Times - www.borehamwoodtimes.co.uk

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Archbishop Deya's Miracle Babies woman jailed

Betty Akinyi is escorted to the Nairobi law court cells on Thursday 28th October, 2004 after she was jailed for six months for giving false information on the registration of the births of three “miracle babies”, allegedly born to self-exiled Archbishop Gilbert Deya and his wife, Mary - The Standard

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British Airways and Africa Travel Centre

hosts a reception for their clients in London

African Travel Centre in conjunction with British Airways and South Africa organised a reception for their clients in London on Monday 25th October, 2004. The tourism promotion reception was held at a prestigious hotel, The Four Seasons Hotel in Park Lane, Central London. At the entrance the guests were welcomed with a glass of wine and  champagne with sounds of talking drums with African beat. It was a well attended function by different guests including some diplomats among them the Namibia High Commissioner in the UK H.E Monica Nashandi. Notably absent, was the Kenya High Commissioner who was expected to attend. The Kenyan team including the tourism department had been invited but nobody showed up. The event was dominated by the South African tourism who entertained the guests by showing them some very impressive film clips about South African Tourism. Every corner, every brochure and every gift talked about South Africa. The Kenyans present could not afford  not to ask - "Where is Kenya?". A Mr. Moses Murage, from Kenya Leo magazine, was unable to hold his peace and he had to ask the organisers: "Why didn't you invite Kenya?" The organisers were quick to tell him that they invited them but they never showed up. The reception was a well planned and organised event which left the Kenyans present asking themselves - why can't the Kenya Airways, Kenya Tourism Office and the Africa Travel Centre organise such a beautiful event to sell Kenya abroad? For a cheap air ticket to Kenya please contact Joyce Kanja,  Leo Muigai or Antony Mutaki at 08454501526. To participate in Kenya Airways raffle tickets please  CLICK HERE.

Waiters at the hotel welcoming guests with  glasses of wine and champagne	The talking drums team from Nigeria welcoming guests at the function - notably is the small boy following the beat step by step
HE Monica Nashandi the Namibia High Commissioner in the UK (left) having a word with the African Travel Centre Boss Mr. Gerald Bayol (centre)	Guests posing with a British Airways hostess
"Who is going to do the draw for the Kenya Airways tickets raffle?" - the man seems to be asking Rennelle (left) of Africa Travel Centre	From left is Leo Muigai of Africa Travel Centre, Mr. Seed and Namibian High Commissioner in the HE Monica Nashandi

Ms Cordellia Carol (right) of African Travel Centre displaying her Sierra Leone attire at the reception	Mr. Chris Wain (left) a manager with Africa Travel Centre with guests at the function
Mr. Marcus McKenzie the South Africa Marketing Trade Relation Manager in the UK addressing the guests	Posing with the boss is the Africa Travel Centre team at the welcoming desk. From right is Charles, Joyce Kanja and the boss Gerald

Guests watching a film clip from South Africa at the function

From right is Joyce Kanja, Frances Geogeghan the MD, Africa Travel Centre and a British Airways Manager

From right is Jackson Njiiri, of www.misterseed.com, Obalell Omoding the editor of Eastern Africa magazine, Mr. Moses Murage of Kenya Leo magazine and Leo Muigai

South Africa Art was on display

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Cat from the spirit world?

Mr Mwinyi Wanje (right) displaying the vicious dead cat. It attacked him in Miritini, Mombasa, leaving shocked residents speculating it may have come from the spirit world. The victim was returning home from night prayers to mark the month of Ramadhan. He said he found the wild cat in his path and without warning, it jumped on his manhood, tearing him with claws and teeth. “I fought it off frantically, but it was set on biting my private parts. Luckily, I managed to get hold of its head and tear it away, but it went for my hands, scratching and biting,” he said. Wanje severed the cat’s head with a knife - The Standard.

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Equity Building Society opens its doors in the UK

The Chairman of Equity Building Society in Kenya Mr. P.K. Munga officially opened Equity Building Society offices in London on Monday 18th October, 2004. He was accompanied at the function by Legal Services Manager, Mrs. Mary Wangari Wamae. The offices are located at  Trocoll House, Barking, Essex IG11 8PD. A number of Kenya businessmen in the UK attended the function among them Mr. Seed. Afterwards several Kenyans arrived to open accounts with the bank. Arrangements for money transfer services are at advanced stages. The chairman told the guests that don't have any agents in the UK. Soon, Mr. Munga added that Kenyans in the US will be able to open the accounts while in the US as the building society is on the final stages towards that direction. For more information Tel: 0208 5078338 - Fax 0208 5078354.

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Power of the technology

With over 60 dishes on site, Goonhilly is the largest satellite earth station in the world. Able to transmit to every corner of the globe via space,and through undersea fibre optic cables, Goonhilly simultaneously handles millions of international phone calls,emails,and TV broadcasts.

There are many misconceptions about the dishes

There are over 60 satellite dishes in total at Goonhilly

Goonhilly Earth Station in the south-west of the UK is one of the largest communications stations in the world and keeps us talking to each other in real-time. Every e-mail, every TV picture, every phone conversation, is blasted into millions of tiny pieces of data and beamed through the air. And if you are sending your data a few thousand miles, the chances are you would be using a huge dish to do it, such as the ones at Goonhilly Downs, a flat, rocky space in a remote part of the Cornish peninsula. In 1901 the first ever radio message was sent from a site near Goonhilly Downs to Newfoundland across the Atlantic Ocean, and it was received by none other than the forefather of radio, Guglielmo Marconi. Marconi's discovery was a breakthrough in technology. Thanks to speedy developments, radio, and of course television, it was not long before the distances being covered were far greater than a few thousand miles across some water. Soon we were sending messages to and from space. Today there are over 60 dishes in total in Goonhilly, some as large as 32 metres in diameter, and 450 tonnes in weight. According to Alan Bradley, operations manager, at the Earth station: "Goonhilly is the site of probably one of the largest communications centres in the world. "At the moment we're carrying data, voice and internet connections around the world, and we provide banking services for very large banking organisations.

"Goonhilly's always been at the forefront of technology and as such has been involved in many ground-breaking communications events, such as the Olympic Games and the Muhammad Ali fights. "Goonhilly played a major part in Live Aid," says Mr Bradley. However, there is often confusion about what goes on at the Earth station. "The first two questions are always," says engineer Shaun Dunbar. "Is it military? Is it spy satellites? No, we're nothing to do with that, we're communications. "Other people think we're looking into space, looking for aliens. We're actually part of BT's UK network, but we're that bit that plugs in to the rest of the world. "If you put a one bar electric heater on the moon and stood on the Earth and put your hand up to it, that's the strength of signal we receive." Accuracy and alignment are also vital, according to engineer Shaun Dunbar. "We have to track at a thousandth of a degree accuracy. You imagine 22,000 miles out in space, a small movement down here is multiplied hugely out there. A one degree error down here misses the satellite by over a kilometre." There are also many common misconceptions about the satellite dishes. As Tony Hutchinson, engineer at Goonhilly explains: "While you're standing underneath a dish it looks like everything's completely still, but the antenna actually has to move all the time to keep tracking the satellite, because of how far away the satellite is. "The motors and gear boxes are continually moving a tiny little bit just to move the antenna and keep it perfectly aligned with the satellite at all times." The next time you make an international phone call remember that you are being squeezed down a phone wire and shot up into the sky and then back down again, all in the blink of an eye.

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SACOMA Scoops top excellence awards

Sahara Communities Abroad (SACOMA) has triumphed by winning top excellence awards for providing Information, Advice and Guidance services. The winners of the matrix Excellence Awards were announced on Thursday, 14 October 2004, at an awards gala in London hosted by the Minister for Skills and Vocational Education, Ivan Lewis.  The Awards were presented by actress Maureen Lipman. The matrix Excellence Awards seek to showcase excellence in the delivery of information, advice and guidance services (IAG). SACOMA holds the matrix Standard, a national quality Standard and was the first organisation to achieve the Standard in East London.

From Left to Right: Front row Frank Ambei, Perez Ochieng (the CEO of SACOMA), Maureen Lipman (Actress). From Left to Right back row: Ivan Ivan Lewis (Minister for Skills), Freda Obado, Omar Bakari, Sam Ochieng, Noah Gari, Victor Omondi, Dr Onias Mangena, Alex Babumba.	Ivan Lewis, Minister for Skills and Vocational Education addressing the guests at the awards ceremony which was held at The Institute of Directors house in central London
The winners....Perez Ochieng (right) posing with other winners at the ceremony	Notably among the winners is a group from North Ireland, Careers Service North Ireland

The Minister for Skills and Vocational Education, Ivan Lewis, said: “It is always a pleasure for a Minister to be involved in the celebration of success, and doubly so when the benefits mean individuals and organisations in the UK are given the opportunity for self improvement and development.“ Maureen Lipman popularly known as the BT lady, presenting the awards said: "Everyone needs good quality information, advice and guidance at some time during his or her life to help them make better and more informed decisions about learning and his or her career.  The matrix Quality Standard is achieved by companies providing high quality 'IAG' and matrix Excellence Awards recognise those organisations that have made a real difference and demonstrated excellence in their provision.

"The award winners should be very proud of what they have achieved and I hope their success inspires others to achieve the matrix Standard and join the best in the business." Other award recipient came from other UK cities such as Warwick, Doncaster,  Edinburgh, Warrington, York, Belfast, Derry Downpatrick, Birmingham  and Teeside  SACOMA has worn several other Awards evidencing commitment to Excellence in the community and voluntary sector in the UK. Other awards scooped by SACOMA include: Winner of “Moving Forward with People Awards 2002” for Excellence in the voluntary sector.   Winner for Champions of Learning Awards March 2004 scooping the award for employer of the Year. (LSC West Awards 2004). SACOMA was highly commended for Charity Awards 2003 putting the organisation in same level as national volunatry organisation such as Leonardo Cheshire, Comic Relief, Terrence Higgins Trust, CEMVO and many more.

The £75 per head award and lunch ceremony was dominated by the whites	Maureen Lipman one of Britain's most renowned actresses in theatres, television and cinema was the special guest and also entertained the guests
From right is Sam Ochieng  and Perez Ochieng posing with Millar MacDonald of DfES	For most of black men and especially Africans it is just another piece of metal but for white people it is a life time achievement - The Matrix Excellence Award

The matrix Excellence Awards were launched in 2004 to showcase excellence in the delivery of information, advice and guidance by organisations who hold the matrix Standard. The matrix Standard is the national quality standard for organisations delivering information, advice and guidance. The matrix Standard is held by more than 1,000 organisations from both the public and private sector.

For more information or to congratulate SACOMA please - Tel:  0208 554 9444, - Fax: 0208 554 3336  - Email: info@sacoma.org.uk - www.sacoma.org.uk

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Nonini (popluar Kenya musician) in London

Nonini, Prezzo, Nameless, Necessary Noise, Wahu, Redsan - "who are all these names"? A Kenyan who have lived long in the UK would ask. These are groups of top young Kenyans musicians at the moment. They are not well known in the UK or the US but they are hit back in Kenya. Nonini, one of the top Kenyan musician was in London for a performance at Club Meantime. He also took time to meet organisers of Jamhuri 2004 to be held at Stratford Rex who signed him to join big names in all star line-up like Redsan, Prezzo, Wahu etc.

Nonini (left) with promoter Diggy at the Club Desire on Sunday

From right is Henry Otiende, Joey from Shaymless - Ugandans who are fashion designers and models and Nonini at far right  at Club Desire where they joined other Kenyans for nyama choma

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'Miss India Global Kenya'

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"I thought I had hit a stone"

The lucky deer

A deer survived a 25-mile ride in the bumper of a car after it was hit by a motorist travelling to work. The muntjac deer remained unnoticed by the driver who thought he had hit a stone and continued on his way. Only when he reached Sainsbury's distribution centre in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, did his colleagues point out the animal was stuck in his Rover. Vets examined the deer but found no injuries apart from cuts and bruises and released it back into the wild. Fire and RSPCA officers were called to the car park to free the deer before it was taken to the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) in Potters Bar. Virginia Fisher, from the RVC, said: "She did not need emergency care, she was very, very lucky, I don't know how she managed to survive. "One horn was bleeding as a result of a graze and she had superficial cuts and bruises, that's all." A spokeswoman for Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service said the driver of the Rover did not want to be interviewed, but is thought to have hit the deer in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, last Wednesday morning. "He thought he'd driven over a stone and didn't think anything of it, it was only when he got to work some colleagues pointed it out," she said. The RSPCA told BBC News Online a very similar accident involving a muntjac deer and a Rover car happened in Essex two years ago. The deer also survived in that case as well. Kevin Jones, communications manager at MG Rover, said: "We work hard to protect the driver and spend time on pedestrian safety. We are delighted that we can help save deer as well."

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Jumping from China's  tallest building

Nearly 40 stunt parachutists have been leaping off China's tallest building, the

Jinmao Tower in Shanghai. However, an Australian parachutist was seriously injured.

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Welcome mum, well not Miss Langata

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The film "Gari letu manyanga" to

be screened to Kenyans in the UK

The film to be screened to Kenyans in East London, North London, Luton, Northampton, Oxford, Reading and Slough

I am an independent filmmaker. Up to date, I have written, directed, edited and photographed two short films, Report Card Anxious (1998), A Video Poem (2000) and one feature documentary film, Gari Letu Manyanga -- closely trans. Our Vehicle is Beautiful Girl  (2004), currently in post-production. Gari Letu Manyanga is my most important filmmaking project yet. The film is a story about the colourful private public transport system in Kenya. It features three professionals and their vehicles whom we follow on the job. The story reveals the forces at play in the often times controversial operations of the Kenyan public transport system known as the Matatu industry. Also, I have recently finished a fictional feature film script titled Siku Zangu Shuleni -- trans. My Days in School (2003), and this is ready for production.

Currently doing his PhD in media in the UK but doing his filming in Kenya

Mr. George Ngugi King'ara posing as he explains his intentions to screen the film "Gari Letu Manyanga"  to Kenyans in the UK

George is never short of ideas nor is he short of posing styles - Contact 07906659922 email ngugik2001@yahoo.com

He has been in the US studying for over 10 years

Name: George Ngugi Kingara

Country of Origin: Kenya

Education:

School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, 2006: PhD Media Studies

*California State University, Los Angeles, 2000: Masters, Communication Studies (Script Writing)

*California State University, Los Angeles, 1999: Bachelor of Arts, Film & TV Broadcasting

*Kennesaw State University, Georgia, 1993: Bachelor of Science, Mass Communication

I am an independent filmmaker. Up to date, I have written, directed, edited and photographed two short films, Report Card Anxious (1998), A Video Poem (2000) and one feature documentary film, Gari Letu Manyanga -- closely trans. Our Vehicle is Beautiful Girl  (2004), currently in post-production. Gari Letu Manyanga is my most important filmmaking project yet. The film is a story about the colourful private public transport system in Kenya. It features three professionals and their vehicles whom we follow on the job. The story reveals the forces at play in the often times controversial operations of the Kenyan public transport system known as the Matatu industry. Also, I have recently finished a fictional feature film script titled Siku Zangu Shuleni -- trans. My Days in School (2003), and this is ready for production.

I am a member of the Kenya Film and Television Professional Association (KFTPA).

Between January 2001 and May 2003, I taught Screen Writing and Broadcast Writing at Daystar University, Kenya.

The title of my research project is TELEVISION AUDIENCES IN NAIROBI, KENYA: ETHNOGRAPHY OF A DISCOURSE IN THE MAKING. This project is based on my observation that there exists in Kenya diverse institutional ‘realities’ of the television audience, as varied discursive formations. This apparent diverse discursively in the construction of the TV audience by the institution of the television industry, government, private enterprise etc. also confirms, therefore, that underlying each category formation is a dynamic agent that spawns its unique constitution.

My study attempts to gain insight into the sites of the rooting of the above formations, that is, the particularities of the agencies that instigate the production of these varied discursive constructions (audiences), and whose agendas are represented in the profiles of the audience they construct. At the onset of this task, a summary of assumptions about Kenyan Television and audiences in relation to the aforementioned bedrock of the agency that determines the conduct of the institutions of television in their business, particularly that of imagining their audiences, promise to be a good entry point into this problem:

1. The political and economic history of Kenya has provided the occasion for public (state) television to function as a tool for fabricating an ideal ‘tribeless’ (national) Kenyan identity, and as a tool for the project of development/ modernisation. Therefore state television is a good site for investigating how the power of the state is manifested in the identity of the television audience.

2. For commercial television in Kenya, the audience is a market-- an abstraction created with a ‘front’ of knowledge over the audience’s needs, identity, desires and interests.

3.‘Other’ media in Kenya acquiesce in the power position they are subjected to by the state and the machinery of capitalism, and therefore articulate the audience in a way that reinforces either the state’s view of its subjects, or that of commercial television of its subjects.

These assumptions will enable this study to focus on the conditions under which various groups, namely the producers and professionals of state television, producers and professionals of commercial television, commentators on Kenyan Television, and legislators of media, have tried to articulate particular accounts of Kenya as a modernizing nation through their understanding of the role of television in Kenya. Hence, this study will also try to account how these people have set about imagining audiences (constructing them as existing categories of people), in order to discover the singularities of this process that are specifically of the Kenyan Television context. In accomplishing this task, I shall contrain myself to possible answers to the following key questions relating to television audiences in Kenya:

1. How has the Kenyan TV audience been imagined? First, by the producers of the state (public) television. Second, by the producers of commercial and other private television. Third, by other media during the significant periods in Kenyan television history?

2.In other words, when has the Kenyan television audience been imagined (‘constituted’) by whom (e.g. the state or commercial enterprise) as what for the purposes of what, and in which occasions?

This study will engage in an empirical ethnographic study of the ‘workings’ of specific commercial and national television stations in their process of production—of both the audience and media products, and whose agendas are represented in the profiles of the audience they construct. It will also analyse inter-media commentary texts from two newspaper dailies and one weekly magazine, and discussion notes from interviews with people affiliated with the profession of television in order to explore how audiences of television can also be imagined by other media.

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