Friday, June 22, 2007

Invitation to HongKong

Pendo Theatre a a group of youths from Korogocho has been invited to participate at the International IDEAS conference in HongKong during the month of July 2007.

That is yet another milestone and an indication of the efforts that the people of Korogocho are putting both at the local and at the internationa level.

At the International IDEAS conference 2007 Pendo Theatre has the opportunity to discuss with the participants Participatory Education Theatre that has worked considerably well in Korogocho in exploring and enhancing dialogue amongst community members who would otherwise not engage in mainstream forums.

The strength of Participatory Education Theatre as practiced in Koch draws from past experience by guru's like Agusto Boal who was able to contribute immensly to policy issues in debates in Brazil using communty theatre.

Pendo is on the track and in collaboration and with partnerships with other people from the world the feauture is bright.

Reach plitonde@yahoo.com for further debate on theatre as a tool for education in informal settllement.


Oti

KochFm we hold the mirror

For a long time people have considered journalism to be like a mirror that reflects things that are happening, what has not been acknowledged though was that the person holding the mirror influenced the reflection that was seen, and so for a long time the people of Korogocho and indeed people from the informal settlements excluded/minorities have had to bear the burden of watching a reflection from a distorted vantage point.

It's like looking at your face on a mirror only to see the reflection of your foot as good or bizare as that might be there is a sense of misrepresentation, there is a sense of momentary disorientation and bewilderment.

So the opportunity that KochFm brings to us today is tenfold, we will be able to see the whole of who we are, we will be able to highlight and abitrate issues for we will have the means.

The way I see our family, our school, our shops, our roads so different to someone who is visiting for a few days, being residents of Koch we are aware of the seasons we are aware of some of the dynamics within the community and it is that knowledge that we want to use to drive KochFm and indeed the initiatives of the people of Korogocho and other informal settlements.

And so as we journey in the new direction of creating a space for public dialogue we know our goal, we know our desires, we come with a bias, we come with an agenda, an agenda to harness the community efforts, an opportunity to biuld a stronger and vibrant community.

We are united by the universal committement to a just world.

Oti

Sunday, June 3, 2007

Roba of Kalamashaka in Oslo, Norway

Our KochFM-brother, Roba arrived in Oslo May 25th, and left today (June 3rd) after 10 hectic days in Oslo. Roba hooked up with a lot of Kenyans staying in Norway and also alot of rappers and producers, and he has been buzy recording new classics in a studio, doing radio interviews and concerts. Wish he could have stayed far longer he didn´t get to see town much and we got too little time to hang out, but last night we were partying until 5:30 am, so we had some fun after a legendary K-shaka concert at Fabrikken. K-shaka brother Jivinji was also in Oslo keeping the fire burning...