EvƎlyn's Thoughts

Awards: Making sense out of them!!

2011-11-09T10:35:00.004+03:00

The Ashden Awards for sustainable energy list is out - and am happy that one of the companies we partner with Toughstuff International - Won an award for their solar kits that light up Africa.

We share an office with a gentleman from LGT Venture Philanthropy and he had an interesting perspective to such awards that I found very interesting coming in from an Investor's perspective.

"People who run such awards need to stop focusing on products entirely - however fancy and cool they may look and start focusing on how those products actually do impact the people at the last mile." - He said.

How does your product get to a family deep in the village who needs it badly and create such change and impact in society?

It is one thing coming up with the most fancy product on the market, and I have seen pitches of so many energy efficient products on the market, everyone seems to be coming up with a solution to 'save Africa' and so they keep sending those down.

Question is, who in this cycle gives the right feedback to the manufacturers of these products?

Awards like the Ashden Awards I would think should focus more on how much impact these products are putting across and what the feedback is from real people who use the products, so for instance If I was an investor that is the feedback I would want to know.

We need to see a shift from just awarding products but also awarding models that bring these products to the actual people who need them.

Organisations like Solar Sister, living goods, livelyhood - are some of the examples of companies that do the last mile distribution - How does the product get to the last mile - where it is needed the most!

Forget the fancy designs, the cool presentations, what you need is the feedback and last mile distribution of these products where they make more sense and impact to the community.

I would love to see this shift happen in the future and we can happily celebrate the awards that touch real people, with real solutions and greater impact to society.

Creating my Vision Board

2011-11-09T06:44:00.004+03:00

"Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he." - Proverbs 29:18: This is a verse in the Bible that I love so much.

I believe that every single person who is serious about their life needs to have a vision, we need to live with a purpose that fully determines our future.

I have been running an online journal where I write about all things me. I like to write down things about what I want for the future, what my goals are, both short and long term goals, what I envision my family to be, what am ambitions are, and I set the bar so high because I believe I can attain all dreams if I put my mind to it! Remember our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are strong beyond measure!

Over time, I keep checking on my secret journal to see what I wrote down a long time a go , and I get amazed at how things that I believed would happen actually did happen without me noticing. Yes there is power in the tongue - and I like to speak out things that I believe I can achieve - even those that I don't think I can achieve.

So yesterday, I took some time off to create my vision board! Am a visual person, so I like to see things in pictures to put them in perspective:
A vision board in simple terms is a place where you write down your goals and aspirations in a place where you can see, so that you get reminded of them and keep working on achieving them.

Most vision boards have pictures on them, this helps you visualize your goals and work towards achieving them.

I used part of my online journal to complete this, I looked at the aspects of my life that am passionate about and looked for pictures that represent those items.

I have both short and long term goals on this board, for instance, attaining financial freedom, my dream car, my dream holiday destination, dreams for my businesses in future, my dream family, plans for my health and fitness to mention but a few.

So here is the process if you want to create your own vision board: Think about aspects of your life that you want to attain great success, it could be in your academics, in your family, businesses, career, dream destinations, whatever.

Second step is go to the Internet and look for pictures that represent those aspects, for instance if you are into fitness, look for a person you admire most and want to attain the same fitness, for my case, I would say I love Kelly Rowland's body and I just want to be as fully toned up as she is and look sexy in dresses - so I searched for her photos and got one amazing one!

Once you have all your photos in place, use a color printer and print them out - you might want to use smaller pictures so that you can fit them all on your board.

Write out words that match each picture, and cut those out properly too, these will be used later on your vision board.

Get a vision board itself. There are small boards that are sold in different stationery shops, in Uganda, I saw a couple on Nassar Road, but I bought mine at Aristoc - they have nice ones that you can get at a reasonable price, you should also buy some colorful pins, they have these at Aristoc too, these will help you pin up everything together.

Once we have everything we need, now is the time to create our collage, arrange your pictures on the board, with the pictures that mean the most to you on the center of your board! Stick your pictures on the board plus the writings using the pins!

Voila! And we are done, all that is left is to hang your board close to where you can see it every morning or all the time, to remind you of the goals and dreams you need to attain.

I loved the process when I was making mine, and I thought I should share some tips with you.

Here is an example of a random Desktop VISION BOARD - take a look! Have fun creating yours!

Desktop Vision Board!!

Energy poverty - Where does the answer lie?

2011-10-26T09:56:00.002+03:00

A quarter of the world's population - which is 1.6 billion people do not have access to reliable electricity worldwide today! This is a huge number, right?

In Uganda today, according to a report submitted by UNESCO "Overall, only 9 percent of Uganda’s population is supplied with grid electricity (20 percent in urban areas compared to only 3 percent in rural areas), and 70 percent of these customers reside in the three major towns of Kampala, Entebbe and Jinja."

The challenges that we face today because of this huge problem are diverse, I mean think about 9%, just 9% of the entire country's population is supplied by the grid.
When I go back home to the village to visit my grand parents once in a while, I see this as evident.

In a small village in Mbarara District, Rwobuyenge where my grand parents stay you can hardly see any grid lines of electricity, there is no infrastructure set out to cover the place, so possibly no hope for them to ever get any light in their households - in the near future!

Much as I have moved around most villages in Uganda to see evidently how people suffer from Energy poverty, I did not have anything to compare our situation with! This year however I had a chance to travel and visit Nigeria, the country I love so much for so many reasons!
The realities of what I found in Nigeria regarding energy poverty are similar or even worse than what we face in Uganda - every homestead owns a generator set!
Now before you think this is an exaggeration, picture this! Am at a salon having my hair done and suddenly electricity goes, - In just minutes after that, the entire shopping mall where this salon is, turned on their generator sets! Every salon with it's own set, every shop with it's own set!

When I think about all of this, one thing comes to mind, how does this affect our environment?
The pollution that goes on everyday, the dirty air that captures your nose when you hit the city due to all these fumes generated from the generator sets - is just one tip of the iceberg!

People in the villages where there is no Infrastructure at all suffer the most from Energy poverty - households spend about 40% of their income on buying of kerosene, candles, matchboxes, replacements of broken lamps, to mention but a few.

When we think about the fumes that are being inhaled day in day out, with the women at the center of this problem because women spend most of their time in the kitchen, either fixing a meal for the family, or doing household chores, their lives are so much at risk!

Women are at the center of this energy poverty problem - Inhaling of fumes!

Smoking causes cancer, they say! Many people think that this does not affect them, since they do not smoke cigarettes, but the reality is, a woman in the village who spends most of her time in the kitchen inhaling all the fumes from the kerosene lamps or candles probably is equivalent to a person who smokes 2 packets of cigarettes a day! We smoke these fumes day in day out, exposing our lungs to cancer, and eye sight is affected too!

What about the environment? - How is it affected? So many trees are being cut down to extend the infrastructure to different townships, these logs of trees being cut down everyday are part of the environment that we so badly want to protect! Count how many trees have been destroyed to have homes connected to the grid!

Pollution from the fumes, the noisy generator sets, when power goes off, it all affects our environment!

So where does the answer lie?

Is the solution with centralized Infrastructure or Distributed energy? If we look at Africa as a whole, I deeply feel that the answer to this energy poverty lies in using Distributed energy, and by this I mean Solar technology and the different renewable energy sources!

Centralized Infrastructure vs Distributed alternatives!

Infrastructure shouldn't be a hold up as to why people in the villages shouldn't have access to lighting in their homesteads, if we wait for this, I think we have a long way to go - to reach the most impacted lives that are in the villages.

Countries like Uganda are lucky that we have taxes on solar products being reduced to about 50% - this even makes it cheaper for people to access this kind of energy whenever they need it!

There are also handy cheaper solar products like the ones Solar Sister distributes to villages using our last mile distribution channels, and teams of enthusiastic Solar Sister Entrepreneurs, so definitely - these solutions should be put out there and focused on a lot more.

Somebody is going to have to distribute these alternatives - that person is Solar Sister!

My hope is to see that we all conserve our environment, and be responsible with actions that we take that might result in affecting our environment and climate change.

Adios .... Africans Nations Cup 2012

2011-10-09T09:19:00.005+03:00

It felt like a nightmare, one that you go to sleep and hope that when you wake up everything will be different! But that is a tale every football fanatic goes through day in day out. You get bad days and you have beautiful days, and that is the reason we love the sport!

The scoreline that never changed!

34 years of drought and still counting is the fate of Uganda Cranes as the Harambee stars denied us the chance to end the drought since we last took part in the Africa Nations Cup Final when we lost out to Ghana.

It was devastating to say the least, a team that has worked so hard to come this far, fans that have come out in numerous numbers every match to support us, it all ended on 8th October 2011, a day I will live to remember!

With Soccer, we normally love to reflect and focus on what went wrong, we were by far the better team, we played with too much tenacity, but I will point out we still lack a great finish! In football - unfortunately, it is not much about how much great display you bring out in the field - Ask Arsenal FC, it is about the final score board.

Decisions that the Football federations made 24 hours before the Nation's crucial match will always haunt us! Choosing to let David Obua out of the camp moments away from what was supposed to be history for us and the best present for the 49th Independence Day will have us always biased on their administrative abilities.

Indiscipline charges? - In any sporting event, and I follow Soccer closely, if there is such a charge, they will let a player play and then after that, have a board to hear the player's side and the one's accusing him, and if found guilty, a penalty is decided by the board, - but such a drastic measure of letting one of the best player off the camp will still haunt us!

Am not saying if Obua had played the final score line could be different, but then again, who knows at this point?

Bottomline, we lost a crucial match, we can blame it on Mulindwa, the president visiting the camp, or even the rain that gave us blessings moments before the match, or even the Government officials who showed up in big numbers to support the match, I mean we can blame anything, but it was painful to watch.

With Obua vowing not to play for Uganda Cranes again, as read in the Daily Monitor, we can only wait and see if this team will go back to the drawing board and prepare adequately for the 2013 African Nation's Cup in South Africa.

The wait is still on... and we will patiently wait, because we love Uganda Cranes, and we believe we have come so far!

I came out, I watched, I supported, I went home devastated, but don't worry much about me, it seems to be my recent tale since my English Premier League team Arsenal hasn't been giving me moments of joy of late!

I will be there when we qualify one day, and I will stand and proudly say - I am UGANDAN.

How I captured the moment below!

Showing my full support!

Paint my face, Black, yellow, red!

Myself and Javie, looking great!

Well.. I guess not, the wait is still on!

Line up of Uganda Cranes and Harambee Stars!

National pride, stadium painted, Black, Yellow, Red!!

Frustration piling up! We needed a goal :-(

Fans filled up the stadium!

Why I hate the new facebook layout

2011-09-23T11:41:00.005+03:00

Mark Zukerberg and Company are having a lot of fun rolling out their new fancy changes to Facebook, I know, it might seem super exciting to them but to some of us, some of the changes are more frustrating than fan.

Mark Zuckerberg, Chief Executive Officer - Facebook, Inc. unveiled the new features at the F8 developers conference in San Francisco Thursday.

I believe many of us have woken up to opening our Facebook pages and seeing all these changes, the bigger photo displays, arranging friends in groups - also known as lists [Thanks to Google Plus's Circle idea], Top stories / Recent Stories arranged for you on your home feed - [Remember not the top stories that you think should be top, but what Facebook calls a top story], and then the Ticker - [You should have seen some news feed on the right hand corner of your page, that shows real time updates from all your friends]..

Where do I start?

The Good:

LISTS:

Should I give credit to Facebook or Google Plus? I think Google Plus take the credit for coming up with the Circle innovation, where by I have the right to group my friends in categories, my nerd friends, my 'hi' friends, my family, my workmates, stalkers etc.., Facebook has also brought up the same innovation and they call it lists, now you can list up your friends in different categories and I hope post to only those people, if you have something to tell that particular group - Kudos.

The Bad:

There is simply too much going on, whatever happened to simplicity! It's like waking up and suddenly everything is changed and you have to learn using Facebook all over again.

One thing I hate is that it takes away the power of feeling that I own my page, we are constantly reminded that some top engineers own our pages and they decide how they want 'my profile' to look like over night, - I mean come on! It is like telling me, I hate the dress you have on, am gonna change it for you right now!

People to subscribe to??? - Anybody seen that? what the hell is that? I thought I had to first approve people to see my posts or allow them to be my friends before I can see their posts, now we see random faces popping up and I can subscribe to someone's posts without being their friends - what happened to privacy?

Top Stories / Recent Stories - Now appear on my home page, - I already complained about this, I know I can choose to hide a story if I don't need it to show up, but why does Facebook decide for me, which is a top story? I should make my own layout based on how I want my page to look like!

The Ugly

Ticker - yea, I know many people have mixed feeling about this one, if you are wondering what the ticker is, this is the new news feed that shows up on the top right corner of your page once you log in to your profile. Yes now you have a daily report of what your 402 friends [in my case] are doing in real time.

Ok I like bits of this but hate most of it - I like that when the updates come, with just one click I can check what someone is posting, and I can comment, or share a video without leaving my page, so that is good.

Here is my problem with the Ticker, I do not want to know what each of my 402 friends are doing all the time, I mean some friends we just add because the pop up bugs us a lot "Add as friend" so we don't really care about all the 402 friends we have. So why do I have to constantly receive updates from everybody? - If Facebook can put lists for these, such that I choose a list and enable a ticker for that list - perhaps that would be fancier for me.

Another thing, privacy is lost, everytime I comment on any body's post, everyone gets to know. I don't need to know why my boyfriend commented on some chic's photo - with a disturbing comment which comes to me in real time. Now we can't stalk people's profiles anymore, the other day a friend sent me text after I commented on someone's post that "Oh, now I know where you stalk this dude from, Facebook reported you when you commented on his post". There you go!

Am waiting for the Timeline to take effect, this is where your entire profile will change, instead of being a wall with tabs, your profile is now called “timeline” – a way to tell the story of your life on a single page.

Scroll down the timeline page year by year and see the stories of your life as uploaded to Facebook in chronological order – like an incredibly well organized digital scrapbook. - I don't know how I feel about that!

All in all, what I can say is that Social media and social networking is evolving by the day, but we have to remember to keep it simple. One reason why I love twitter so much is the simplicity, keep it simple - express yourself in 140 characters and let the fun begin.

That said, you can not please everybody, I believe with in no time, many people will be used to the new Facebook and use it normally, I may bow out at some point but I still have options in Google plus, and my first love twitter!

Depending on what you use social networking for, it is good to know what social media you want to use, or what is relevant to you in terms of business, work, or pleasure.

Happy Facebooking! :-)

Just my 2 cents!

GWIM55 - Abuja, Nigeria - Week 3, Day 1: Negotiation

2011-08-16T09:32:00.003+03:00

What a lovely way to begin the week. This week we began off with learning about Negotiation skills. We all negotiate in one way or another in our day to day lives, be it in our families, places of work, at the market etc.

Introducing the Negotiation topic to #GWIM55 participants

But just how important is being prepared for a negotiation? especially when we know the stakes for a certain negotiation are high? forget about negotiating for the price of tomatoes to come down, or for the price of a pair of shoes to be reduced, am talking about a bigger enough deal where losing such a negotiation can have a greater impact on your country, business or family.

It is important to learn to be prepared for these kinds of big negotiations, always do your research first about where you are going to meet for such a negotiation, who are you meeting? prepare to take questions, prepare to answer questions, there is a lot that goes in the preparation process but it is worth looking at.

Many of the world's biggest negotiation deals are not done by the faint hearted, think about the peace missions, negotiating policy issues, something where the stakes are so high that everyone depends on it.

Sue, taking on the session, lovely session

I had a lot to learn from the session yesterday, and I will not fail to mention that Sue, Director, Leadership and Capacity building team at CEDPA did am amazing job.

It was so engaging and very beautifully delivered.

Now I know what to think about the next time I go in for those meetings with the different solar lantern distributors who seek partnerships with us... I know the stakes, I know the right questions to think about.

Damn, am getting better each day!

Performing some role-play in the negotiation class, Evelyn(left)

International Night - A mix of cultures!

2011-08-14T13:02:00.002+03:00

It was a mix of cultures at the International night that GWIM55 organised for us. I found out that the best time for one to feel patriotic about their Country and culture is when they are far away from their country.

We had a wonderful night portraying our different cultures, ethnics and backgrounds, everyone dressed in the most traditional way, Cameroun, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Tanzania, Uganda, Ghana, Angola all in one room.

Music from our respective countries playing, telling stories of our countries and what makes us unique,.. it was a fun night!

This is how I froze the moment :-)

Angola in the building! Isabel & Elizabeth

Here comes Uganda, Irene, Evelyn & Hellen

Meet the Masai ladies, Tanzania representing!

Cameroon in the house!

East African spirit, Tanzania meets Uganda ;-)

Nigeria joins in, with the rest..

GWIM55 - Abuja, Nigeria - Week 2, Day 4 & 5: Product Development and Branding

2011-08-14T12:21:00.004+03:00

We focused most of Thursday and Friday tackling products and how to market different products appropriately.

What makes a product like Nike or Mc Donald's one of the best brands in the market? The answer lies in how they develop their product. These companies / organisations take a lot of time researching their market space and knowing their customers! It is important to know who your customer is, and how to strategically reach out to them.

Nike is doing great in the sporting world, a lot of this success is driven by the fact that they studied the market and know who their target group is, and how to reach the market, same goes for Mc Donalds.

The best way for any Company to succeed is to study your customers, and knowing what they want, plus also studying the competition out there. You need to have a competitive advantage over all your competitors.

After knowing the right product and demographic, we then need to think about the different marketing strategies and Branding for our businesses.

The Marketing Mix - being able to make tactical decisions on the following; - Product, Price, Place and Promotion.
How one positions their product speaks a lot about them, we need to figure out who our audiences are and find out the best way to position our products, for instance some companies like to position themselves for the high class, and luxury - this should be depicted in the branding and product statements, so that when one reads about your statement, they are able to associate what you stand for in that simple statement.

Place (Distribution) - How do you intend to distribute your products? Do you intend to do distribution directly to your consumers, or you wish to go through an intermediary? Either choice has a reason why, so these have to be figured out and a right decision made.

Pricing - Very important part of the mix, when considering how you should price your products, a lot of things have to be put into consideration, the competition out there, how do they price their similar products?, Cost of production, how much does it cost to come up with the finished product?, positioning, where will you be selling your products?, Value? - Will the customers get value for their money? I mean all of us buy things because we expect to get the best value out of our purchases, so we need to consider all that.

Promotion - How do we promote our products out there, again different companies have different strategies depending on how big the company is, or what they offer, etc, so we looked at so many aspects in the promotion mix that one can consider to give their products a competitive edge.

All that was tackled in 2 days, and we ended the session with another exciting Learning synthesis called Jeopardy!

Once again, the group I was in won the challenge! OH it feels good to always be on the winning side - 2 weeks in a row, I have been in the winning team, more gifts for us, Chocolate (we love those) - and Bars of soap! :-)

Mollie Conell, taking us through the Jeopardy game!

Looking forward to week three of GWIM55.

GWIM55 - Abuja, Nigeria - Week 2, Day 3: Field Trip - Nassarawa State

2011-08-13T11:26:00.003+03:00

After spending many days in a classroom setting, it was time for us to go for a field trip, again I think CEDPA needs to be commended for a job well done in putting together one of the most interesting sessions I have been to.

We visited Nassarawa state which is a two and a half hour drive from Abuja. It was refreshing seeing the country side of Nigeria and the realities of people in the deep rural setting away from the city.

We visited three projects with the idea of studying their business models, how they started, what programs they have?, if they have any social aspects related to their kind of work, where they get funding, what impact they have? etc.

FAHCI

Our first project was FAHCI, which stands for Family Health Care Foundation which was started in 2002 by a lady, Mary Noktilik Ashenanye. Her background is in Public Health care, and she used this asset to start up this Family Health care foundation - remember what talked about assets?

This initiative is funded by USAID and is doing a great job in the great community of Nassarawa state, they have programs on reproductive health, Female Genital Mutilation, HIV/AIDs awareness, Micro-Credit programs, - to mention a few.

Listening to Mary speak about this project also helped us realize that she is a great Social entrepreneur, she saw a need in her society which was basically health facilities and awareness and she used her skills and assets to impact her society through FAHCI.

Mrs.Mary Noktilik Ashenanye, sharing with us about FAHCI programs

We learned a lot from this NGO at the end of the day.

WOMEN'S CASSAVA PROCESSING CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY

We visited another project the Women's Cassava processing co-operative society and we also learned a lot from their experiences, especially in terms of how they source for market for their cassava products, how they deal with competition, what machinery they use in the different processing, what they have learned throughout the years.

GWIM55 participants visiting the cassava processing plant

Cassava packed in sacks, at the Cassava processing plant

RICE PROCESSING

The last project we visited was the rice processing, similar questions were asked in each of these projects and we got a broader understanding of these three projects.

It was fun to get out of class and check out the other part of Nigeria, the rural part.

Rice in the big pot, before it is processed

GWIM55 - Abuja, Nigeria - Week 2, Day 2: Business Planning and Market analysis

2011-08-13T10:26:00.004+03:00

How do all the businesses we see today start? What makes one business totally successful and the others fail? All these are questions I often ask myself when am thinking about starting a business.

Why do people choose the businesses they have, and what makes their businesses great or not great? These were most of the questions that we answered Day 2, of week 2 at the GWIM55 session last week.

A lot of businesses that start up, do not live to see their first birthday... why is this the case? One of the participants said, only 6% of start -up businesses in Nigeria live to see the end of their first year, and I think this speaks to most of the other countries too.

Every Business needs to be planned thoroughly, one needs to go through the planning process and do a lot of research too, to determine if they should enter a certain business or not. We focused most of day 2 discussing these aspects.

Why do we need planning? I think most of us plan our days, or our lives, you have to live by some sort of schedule, not just waking up and starting your day without knowing specifically what you will be doing next. So in business, planning is also a great aspect.

It all starts at the Idea generation, what are some of the great business ideas you have? what assets do you have, that can help you get to those ideas? what opportunities exist? once we have all these figured out, then we move on to the most important thing which is the feasibility assessment. From our thousands of ideas, how do we get to choose the one idea that sets itself apart from the rest? There is a whole lot of process to determine this decision.

One final step of this process is the Business plan.. I think for a business to be very successful, we need to think about the business plan properly. Decision making time, how do you execute the one most important Idea that sets itself apart from the rest? But let us be honest, it is not the business plan that makes the business successful, it is the implementation of the business plans. How many well thought about business plans have ended up failing to work? many! So I think it starts with a highly dedicated team that knows what exactly they need out of the business and carrying the mission forward.

Market research is another aspect that has to be thought about definitely, you have to know what you are getting into in detail. What other companies, or people have done the same thing, what will make your business stand out, what will give you the competitive advantage, what approach do you want to take to achieve your targets, etc.

We did a lot of thinking about businesses and assets we have in this sessions, and how we can turn those assets into business opportunities. Your biggest asset might be the one you don't even expect can be the greatest.

For example, most people use their professions as potential business ventures, for instance if one is a doctor, they can use that knowledge to start up a community health care centre, or a Computer Scientist like me, can use that knowledge to start up an IT firm, or Hardware/ Software shop, etc.

A lot of reflecting in this session but the outcome was great, it got all of us thinking about what possible businesses we could start up using our assets, both tangible and intangible.

Again, Rich Fromer did a great job delivering this one!

GWIM55 - Abuja, Nigeria - Week 2, Day 1: Social Entrepreneurship

2011-08-13T09:37:00.003+03:00

When I first started with Solar Sister, I had no idea what a Social Enterprise meant, I certainly could not differentiate between Social Enterprises and Not- for profit Organisations, it was a little complicated for me given my background was in computers and geeky stuff!

But as I dug in and looked at our model and the way we did things, I got an understanding of what that meant, basically. It was the work of Katherine Lucey who I love to call my mentor rather than Boss, that helped me understand how this model really works.

This second week at the GWIM55, we focused in detail about Social Entrepreneurs, Social Entrepreneurship, and Social Enterprises. This was a very exciting topic for me and suddenly all the missing links were found. I love that I went into the workshop with an idea due to the nature of my work with Solar Sister and I found the session very interesting and engaging.

Rich Fromer, delivered the content for the week and I loved all the sessions.

What was most relevant to me that day was how Social Enterprises are suddenly on a rise, people suddenly feel a need to care more about the social aspects and economic opportunity of the less privileged and it is working tremendously. Even companies that are entirely for profit now have sections that address some social needs of the community.

One thing I picked most from the session was what motivates a Social Entrepreneur to start a Social Enterprise. Finding a social need in a community and then addressing that need using a practical, innovative, and sustainable approach to benefit the marginalized or poor.

Rich Fromer, going through the Social Entrepreneurship model

With Social Enterprises, the approach certainly should be thought through in everything you do, however good the idea is, or the need, one needs to think profoundly about the approach they have to take to address the social need in the most innovative way, plus measuring the impact an idea has to the community.

That is why every time in the session I would reflect on our work as Solar Sister and why our model fits and works to help the communities we empower. The approach definitely works and we can measure our impact by the number of families we have reached through our solar lamps. - Approach and Product have to be at the core.
Katherine must have thought this through, and I believe she is an amazing Social Entrepreneur.

Most of us in the session had never even realized we were Social entrepreneurs, but we had our eyes opened and loved the session.

Totally loved that session, mostly because, it spoke about what I needed to understand the most and now I have a greater appreciation of my work.

Great way to start week two!

The Zuma Rock

2011-08-07T15:59:00.003+03:00

Work without play made, who? Jack a dull boy? No this time, Evelyn a dull girl. But no, we took time off the busy workshop schedule and went for sight seeing.

Nigeria is a beautiful country, I must admit, when you are this side of the world, [read East Africa] we hear a lot of stories about West African countries and most of them not so impressive... but I totally have a different view being on ground.

The people are good and friendly, well - at least the ones I have had contact with at the hotel and am enjoying my stay in this beautiful country.

The Zuma Rock is a large monolith located in Niger State, Nigeria. It is just north of Nigeria's capital Abuja, along the main road from Abuja to Kaduna, and is sometimes referred to as "Gateway to Abuja."
It is depicted on the 100 naira bill. Zuma Rock is 725 meters above its surroundings.

It is amazing how nature works, this is really a wonder from God, the rock seen from the front is cut out to be like a face of someone, and it has 'waters' dropping down it's face - looks like tears or sweat, and no one cut it out to be that way, it just happened, NATURE!

From behind, it is curved like an elephant...

The tour guide told us a few of the stories surrounding the rock, it is believed that some people think or believe it is a god and they go there to worship it. There are surrounding little rocks that are believed to be "sons" and "daughters" of Zuma?

What was interesting to note was that, in the neighborhood, just a few miles away from the rock, are houses that the government built but it is believed that people refused to enter the houses... I wished I stayed here so that I can just go and enter the houses..lol!

But seriously, I love nature, I love to see such things that can not be explained by man, but are just there in wonderment.

If you are planning a trip to Abuja, or Nigeria, be sure to check out the Zuma rock.

Pictures speak louder than words...

Zuma rock, seen from behind

Side view of the Rock

Took this picture on the road side, quite far away from the rock

That's the front view of the rock

Pointing at the rock

Part of the GWIM55 team, excited at this great adventure

GWIM55 team photo

Another team picture

GWIM55 - Abuja, Nigeria - Week 1, Day 5: Women, Tools and Technology

2011-08-07T13:55:00.004+03:00

Our last day of the week was a great one and it touched on three very important aspects in my life, Women, tools and technology. Those three words consist of the commonly used words in my vocabulary.

The focus was on the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW)'s research on the topic. The ICRW does an amazing work in looking at ways in which tools and technology have impacted the lives of women.

And through their research they have come out with models that they feel work in most of the cases.

We find out that in most times, women are eliminated in the design of new technology, people want to come up with new and innovative technologies but they do not involve the women in the design process, yet at the end of the day, the women are the recipients of such technology. We need to involve more women in these processes.

So we looked at ICRW's technology lifecycle and did case studies of some projects, and yes Solar Sister was one of the projects we did a case study on, and tried to see which of the steps in the technology lifecycle did we follow through. - Must I brag again, that only three projects were chosen for the case study and we made the cut!

ICRW Techology Lifecycle

The afternoon session was the most interesting one, we had a learning synthesis of all the things we did in one week in form of a 'scavenger hunt'. If you watch the Amazing Race, this is typically one version of the amazing race. We had different groups set up and given clues that take us to different locations, once you get your clue right, you find a person who gives you a question (s) about a certain topic learned in the week, once you answer that correctly, you get to the next clue.
That was a fun task, and yes, - my team won the race!

Team pose, my team after winning.

Winning pose, chocolate for us!

Lovely way to end the week - inspired and energized - Next week will be fun, we kick it off with Social Entrepreneurship - yea now, that speaks directly to me, plus I share my presentation about the Solar Sister Micro-Consignment Model on Tuesday next week. Fun times!

You have to read the next post, - touring Nigeria....

GWIM55 - Abuja, Nigeria - Week 1, Day 3 & 4: Leadership and Emotional Intelligence (EQ)

2011-08-05T00:05:00.004+03:00

Leadership is one topic that touches most people who are in authority in one way or the other.

The list of great leaders, African leaders to be specific is large and there are a lot of people out there who have done amazing things to inspire others through their work and leadership skills.

Day 3 reflected more about Leadership, who a good leader is and the traits of being a good leader. There are a lot of things we normally take for granted as leaders and as such neglect the important aspects of our work that would have made our organisations / businesses much better.

A leader is not only a title, a leader carries a lot more weight than just sitting in an office and commanding people on what to do. It takes knowing your team and being a part of it, motivating members, complimenting them, accepting feedback et el.

My best part was the Emotional Intelligence part.

Take time to reflect in your place of work, country etc, look at some of the great minds in business, or other companies, most of the people that make top managers are not the smartest kids in class... the guys whose IQ is high up there!

I remember in school we thought these guys had it all, but what happens to them when we throw them in a real life scenario? Most of the business heads, CEOs, etc are the people who were actually average students in class! The ones who passed, maybe not excelled but did just enough, and in some circumstances, actually most cases, some of these great minds in businesses did not even make it to high school!

So what is it about them that gives them the edge? That is when Emotional Intelligence comes in.
Research has found out that IQ, or being only intelligent is not good enough, you need to know how to deal with people and their emotions, and once you have these, then we see people excelling in different businesses, work etc.

I loved this quote "We are being judged by a new yardstick/criteria, not just how smart we are, or by our training and expertise, but also how well we handle ourselves and each other". - Daniel Goleman, PH.D - Working with Emotional Intelligence.

I learned a lot from this beautiful concept and will research it deeper. Once we are able to know how to deal with people's emotions in our homes, places of work, there is a lot that we accomplish and it definitely gives us an edge in our working environments.

Lovely 2 days of Leadership, and Emotional Intelligence!

GWIM55 - Abuja, Nigeria - Week 1, Day 2: Learning Style Inventory (LSI)

2011-08-03T06:13:00.005+03:00

We all learn in different ways. We all have preferences of how we tackle new experiences. Understanding the learning cycle, and how to go through it, can help explain how you deal with problems, people and new situations.
And understanding the differences between yourself and others can give insights into your personal and professional relationships.

Day 2, we focused on how we learn! One of the things that CEDPA focuses on as they deliver their workshops is to help each of the participants realize the best way they learn. We all learn differently, some are fast learners, others are slow, others prefer to observe, others prefer to actively participate, some prefer to analyse first, yet some prefer to jump in and just do it! Yes many different ways.

We did an interesting exercise that was meant to determine how each one of us learns. It was a very interesting exercise.
I always knew I was a very practical person from when I was young, I love to jump in and make things move.

I remember I taught myself Linux and then went to school to learn more about it, yes am typically that kind of person. Sit down, figure out how things are done on my own and then later patch up the hanging bits.

Who remembers the quick and dirty.. in computing, Linux! When any new software was to be installed on a machine, you had a choice to either read the manual, but in most instances, the quick and dirty worked, which basically involved about 3 commands, ./configure, make, make install... [yea- in my learning, I was usually like that].

We did a quiz, then mapped a few things on a graph, and pie chart, and each one of us ended up in a Cycle that represents how we learn best. This doesn't mean that when you are comfortable learning a certain way, then you can't learn in another way - it simply means where we landed in the cycle is where we are most comfortable.

And the 4 cycles included: 1. Accommodating -- Active Experimentation, 2. Diverging -- Concrete Experience, 3. Converging -- Reflective Observation 4. Assimilating -- Abstract Conceptualization.

From the description of myself above, you can guess where I landed, in the Accommodating Style - where basically people with this learning style have the ability to learn primarily from 'hands-on'experience. It is also important to note that most CEOs, EDs, and bosses lie in this group.

Where each participant ended up after the exercise

I learned a lot about the different learning styles too, and how each compliment each other. We can't do without the other, the 'doers', need the guys who look at things in different perspectives and come up with different ideas, the Diverging group, and then, we also need the guys who do the research, and analysis, who look at the bigger picture, but then again we need the guys who will make decisions for us from the many ideas - converging style, and then of course the guys who take action, the Accommodating people.

Every business as it starts up goes through all these phases, and it is important to learn to accommodate the different ways people learn.

Then we later looked at CEDPA's Integrated Model of Women's Economic participation, in the different sectors of Education, Health, Environment/Agriculture, Social/Cultural, Politics & Government, Human Rights/ Law.
We dissected this, and went into details of how Women and Girls are affected in the different fields and how their involvement in the re-designing process would change the world!

Nancy Tian, taking us through an exercise about the Learning Style Inventory (LSI)

Fun fun day two!

Global Women in Management Workshop (GWIM55) - Abuja, Nigeria - Week 1, Day 1: Who are you?

2011-08-01T23:17:00.004+03:00

Today was the start of a fun and exciting one month long workshop organized by CEDPA and sponsored by Exxonmobil.

What we did on day one was very exciting to say the least. All I can say is I can not wait for the remaining of the program to kick off as the week goes by.

Today was a special day of getting to know each other, participants, Instructors, Organisers, etc. So I decided to name the blogpost, Who are you?
I loved so much the nature of presentation that CEDPA is using to deliver the entire workshop so far, and am learning a thing or two from their format.

We had an innovative way of introducing ourselves, not the traditional, "Stand up and tell us your name" style. Each participant had key interview questions they were meant to ask their neighbor, in a form of conversation, and getting to know each other, some of the key things we asked were, our strengths, greatest achievements, what drives us to do what we do each day et el.
So after this exercise, we had a brief presentation where each one of us had to go and talk to the rest about their neighbor.

And I really have to brag here, this is my moment to shine, #bragright. I know I have many strong points but one of them is that once I stand before people and speak, I want people to remember me, I make sure I leave a mark so that people can talk about me.

Evelyn, giving an intro of her neighbour & friend, Caroline Linus Aboh

And yes, I did it again, I presented with so much tenacity, was audible enough and I could see heads turn when I left the stage. True story! Matter of fact, after all the presentations made today, I mean the introductions, the only project that was referred to in the entire session today was Solar Sister project.

Every example given about a project mentioned Solar Sister in it! Yes and that is how I knew I left a mark.

So we had a beautiful tree made out of all our fruits and what we want to achieve / ambitions [ as roots] and it was amazing watching it come together. When Women move forward, the world moves with them.

We had participant teams set up today, and we will be responsible for different tasks as the weeks go by, and what I love already about the set up of the workshop is the ability to engage us in every step of the way. Am going to be a kick ass woman leader after this workshop, I mean I feel it already.

So with a couple of exercises that we did and meeting many incredible women today, I feel more inspired that women really run the world. Am seated in the company of CEOs, PHD holders, Executive Directors, and Evelyn! But watch this space, this girl has a whole lot of good stuff ahead of her.

So the day ended in style, The girls threw a belated Birthday party for me at the poolside. I mean these girls know how to party, one has a grand child nearly my age, but they were able to rock them bikinis and take me for a pool party! So we crown day one! Tomorrow, serious business! I will report how that goes.

GWIM55 Workshop goals & objectives

Special feature! Profiling Solar Sisters - Lydia Chelangat

2011-07-19T09:04:00.002+03:00

Kapchorwa is a lovely city, I can not believe it took me this long before visiting this place.
If you have visited the western part of Uganda, and know how hilly and mountainous Kabale town is, that is the closest comparison to Kapchorwa.

The roads that lead up to this amazing town are cut out on beautiful landscaped hills. The village and scenery is just breath taking, all GREEN! You would think they have never had any droughts in Kapchorwa.

And then the winning spot is the Sipi falls - As you head closer to Kapchorwa town, you get to have an amazing view of the Sipi falls, best view ever.

It is in this city that we have a group of Solar Sisters that have gone an extra mile to do a fantastic job in their businesses.

Today, I profile Lydia Chelangat - When you first meet this fiery business woman, you can not imagine that she has got the fire for business because of her reserved nature.
She speaks in a low tone, very welcoming but that has nothing to do with her business.

Lydia Chelangat stays in Kapchorwa town, and is greatly involved with the Church of Uganda activities in Kapchorwa.
She is a member of the Mother's Union and we first got introduced to her through the Church of Uganda - Mother's Union in Kampala.

There is no doubt that this woman has the business acumen and is destined for greater success.
She owns one of the biggest shops in Kapchorwa, what does she stock? Think about all things electronic from mobile phones, electric kettles et el, household things, pretty much everything.

Because she came to us with such a tremendous business background, it was not hard for her to be a star as a Solar Sister, she knows just how to get the customers buy her products, she has a natural network of buyers who come to her shop everyday, she knows how to keep track of records.

What does she do when she gets the Solar Sister Inventory Stock? She stocks it in her shop and one by one as her customers come to the shop to buy different things, she pulls out her Solar lanterns and shows them just how much they can save by using Solar lanterns in their homes! - This has worked tremendously for her in terms of sales.

Lydia (right) shows some of her customers the "Powa Pack Junior 2.5w" from Barefoot power

In addition to stocking her Inventory in the shop, she visits her neighborhood at night and showcases the Solar lanterns! What better time to show the relevance of Solar lanterns, than at night when they speak for themselves!

A stock of Powa Packs from Barefoot power, in Lydia's shop

Her natural networks consist of her customers that flock the shop day in, day out, her church members, and fellow mother's union network, her neighbors back at home!

Another shot that shows Kiran Solar Laterns, which is a d.light product!

She is one of the successful Solar sisters to date, and we are proud to feature her today!

Go Lydia!

Lydia showing off the Kiran solar lantern, from D.light!

Business in a Bag - The Solar Sister Model

2011-07-01T16:29:00.005+03:00

One of the models that Solar Sister uses to reach out to the communities is the Micro- Consignment Model (MCM) which provides the women with 'Business-in-a-bag' as a start up kit that enables women kick start their own micro Solar businesses.

With the Solar Sister's Business-in-a-bag, the women are able to get start up Inventory for their business, which involves different Solar products and then on top of that get a cool Solar Sister t-shirt, a receipt book, a Ledger form where they can keep track of their sales, a beautiful Solar Sister pen, tips on being Successful Solar Sisters, et el.

With this kind of model, what we hope to achieve is not only send out women to sell a bunch of lamps with no help, but to help them be well equipped with the different ways they can record their sales, keep their Inventory in order and also be able to feel a part of the big network of Solar Sisters.

Last week, was a really exciting one in the Solar Sister family, starting off the week with a trip to Mityana, we met with our Entrepreneurs there and we handed them with their Business-in-a-bag items.

It was an exciting experience for both the Entrepreneurs and us.
They got to learn how to keep their own records in order, especially after making sales, how to use their receipt books, ledgers and the bank account and or Mobile Money services that Solar Sister encourages.

Women, taking time to learn the details of their 'business-in-a-bag'

Business-in-a-bag is not only a motivation to the ladies but also a way to say that at Solar Sister we take our entrepreneurs seriously and want to empower them beyond the selling of lamps. We want our entrepreneurs to have an entrepreneurial spirit and be able to use the skills learned from us to build more sustainable businesses for themselves.

They can open up a shop, and use the book keeping skills that we teach them to be successful in future.

Later in the week, the most exciting journey to Western Uganda began, and our destination was Ruhanga. The beautiful ambiance and hills in Ruhanga make the place so lovable.
We found all the women waiting for us anxiously for their items.

Solar Sister Entrepreneurs of Ruhanga posing for a group photo

Each day that goes by, we look for new ways to empower our women to be best at record keeping and also use of technology.
Being able to send us their orders using the mobile phones, and us responding to them in real time is something we also teach and encourage our women to do.

It was a lovely week and we will look for new ways to make our network of Solar Sisters the best out there!

From my Vantage Point! - Uganda Cranes Vs Guinea Bissau

2011-06-05T13:05:00.004+03:00

It's been a long time coming... The last time Uganda Cranes played in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) was in 1978, and in that dreaded final the Black Stars of Ghana took the lead with a 2-0 leader board in their favor. Since then the country has never come close to qualifying for the AFCON again.

1978 is a long time back, I can't even reckon how long that is, because I wasn't even born yet. But today I can proudly say that it might just be our time to compete again. A lot has been said about this Uganda Cranes team and I can only say they have come a long way and have now commanded attention from most Ugandan fans.

Gone are the days when we would have big matches in Namboole and no one would really care, just one lane of the stadium would not even be filled with people. But with a lot of hard work and dedication, the Uganda Cranes team can not be ignored on Ugandan Soil.

With such a superb home record, Ugandans have learned to rally behind their own and support the team like never before. We have faced some of the hard teams to beat, but we have always come out with a result at home, talk of Nigeria, Angola, Niger etc..

Uganda Cranes 2:0 Guinea Bissau - 4th June 2011

The match played yesterday, between Uganda Cranes Vs Guinea Bissau was no exception, the only difference between that match and the rest of the matches I have watched at Namboole Stadium is the overwhelming number of people that came to support the game! The entire town was painted red, white and yellow. I couldn't have been more proudly Ugandan.

The fans were incredible and so were the players, now with two more matches left, with a trip to Angola and then back home to face the Harambee Stars of Kenya, this team is on the verge of qualifying for the Africa Cup of Nations 2012. I can't wait for that moment when we will be headed to Gabon!

MTN Uganda, must be applauded for the job well done in getting the masses aware of the game and fully publicising it. They came out and did an amazing job at that, and everyone knew about the match.

MTN, A job well done!

So where do we go from here? We head to Angola first, then come back home to show the Kenyans what we've got.
That will be a match not to be missed. The Kenyan side has been our biggest rival but we have always come out successful against them, clearly I think Uganda Cranes are a much better team than the Harambee Stars, but we'll have to wait and see how it all plays out.
Like I have learned a long the years, Soccer is Soccer, you have to expect a lot of surprises however good you may be! Ask Wenger! ;-)

Once again I would like to thank the fans for coming out in big numbers, and lets do the same on 8th October as we face the Harambee stars!

Uganda Cranes to play Harambee Stars at home next

Teach me how to fish!

2011-04-08T12:57:00.005+03:00

For such a long time we have lived and breathed poverty, especially in the developing world,
It has been a sorry state for quite some time,
The story of NGOs flooding these nations called 'Third world nations' with aid has done more harm than good.

I have travelled in rural parts of this lovely country Uganda,
I have seen first hand the mentality of people when they see a 'white person' coming up to them.
We always expect to receive, everything from these people, why? Well, they come out there and
give us anyway, all we have to do is receive with open arms.

I despise that, if for such a long time they had taught those poor people how to fish, rather than hand them food, we would be a wealthy nation.

I love this quote; reason is self explanatory, "give a man fish, feed him for a day, teach him how to fish, and you will have fed him until the river is contaminated.."

If all these NGOs that front aid would follow the same approach, we wouldn't have a problem.

Ok, am I a feminist, yes I am, there is a problem with the above quote, here is why...
"Teach a man to fish, he will eat for a life time", what about a woman? we are on our own!
Yes, we are, that is why over 60% of women in rural Uganda have nothing to do but sit home and wait for their husbands to bring food to the table.

Do you know how much power we are throwing out by not caring for the women? Alot!
Women are the most passionate, able willing people I have met. They go an extra mile to perfect any task given to them, that is why Solar Sister is the definition of hope to women in rural Uganda.

Do not expect to get it for free, they say. We have come to trade with you! We know you have the ability to sustain your families, pay your children's school fees, buy that nice outfit. Put on your working shoes and lets do business! How easy can this get?

A social enterprise that empowers women in rural Uganda get an extra income, have a much safer environment they live in by lighting up their families using a much cleaner solar powered energy, eliminating fire breakout scares due to candle frames, respiratory diseases due to inhalation of dangerous fumes, and Children being able to read even at night to improve their grades!

That is what Solar Sister brings to the table. It is an "Each one reaches one" approach, women selling to women and men. Now the quote is complete, and in my own words, I have re-written it.
"TEACH A WOMAN TO FISH, SHE EATS FOR A LIFETIME"

Tusker Project Fame! What happens when the cameras stop!

2011-03-22T22:55:00.003+03:00

Thousands of East Africans tune in every year to one the best talent shows that we have in the Region to see a star being born, but what happens when the cameras stop rolling?

This is a question that I have always pondered but I have never got the answer.
The Tusker Project Fame academy is one of those places where we see talent being developed through an academy, hopefuls being coached and taught everyday, and week by week we see these young people improve and become better singers.

But I guess the question is, do these talent shows have a place in Uganda? Can we develop real talent through such a show?
I love talent shows and I have seen them being successful for instance in the US, American Idol has produced talented guys like Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson, Fantasia Barrimo, to mention but a few.
Even the X- Factor in the UK has born great talent like Leona Lewis, Susan Boyle from Britain's Got Talent, and the list goes on.

Tusker Project Fame stars on the other hand have left me not very impressed.
While they all strive to be the best on the show, get that record deal and start producing music, once they get out there, we hear nothing much from them.

Season 4 winner of Tusker Project Fame, Davis Ntare Hillary from Uganda
Season one winner, Valerie Kimani was the first.
Well I could say she has had some bit of success, at least I have heard a few songs done by her and one of my favorite from her being 'village boy' that she did with Maurice Kirya but still not enough from what we really expected.

Season two winner, our very own Esther Nabaasa has also been a great disappointment, I haven't heard any serious song from her since she was crowned. Key word here is *serious.
I have heard a song or two, but is that really enough from these guys who receive all that cash prize and record deals? Why don't they give us more?

Alpha from Rwanda won the third series, and I won't speak too much about him because I do not know what is going on in Rwanda and then last but not least, one of my all time favorite winner and contestant, Ntare Hillary Davis.
I had too much faith in him, and I thought he was going to be different, but am disappointed that I haven't heard a song from him either!
He had the style and zeal to be like Maurice Kirya who is my favorite male Ugandan artist, and I was looking forward to his music but am disappointed that so far nothing has been done.

What changes after the cameras stop rolling? Why don't these stars use the stage given to them to become much bigger stars?
Is it that we are not really that ready for talent shows in Africa?

My desire to see these guys that we watch and support make us proud by producing music and using the platform given to them to be better, which I haven't seen from the talent so far.

The current situation needs to change.

Just my 2 cents!

New Hope for Ruhanga Women

2011-03-16T16:49:00.005+03:00

A trip to Western Uganda is one I always look forward to.
I haven't been in the western part of Uganda for quite sometime and thus it was exciting to be able to make a trip there to bring HOPE to the women of Ruhanga just a few miles away from the main town to Ntungamo.

The people of Ruhanga are faced with a challenge of POWER like most villages in Uganda. People can not afford the luxury of lighting up their houses because they know it is expensive and only meant for the affluent.

When we gathered a group of Women from all parts of the Village, I was thrilled that many of them were ready to travel long distances to learn about Solar Sister and an opportunity for them to kick start their own micro-businesses.

Women came from Itojo, Kinoni, and Ruhanga and gathered to listen and learn.
Gathering all their stories and what they do for a living is something we always do in our trainings, just to figure out how they earn a living.
Most of the women are housewives, farmers, cattle keepers, we also had a teacher, and a tailor in the group.

Brand new Solar Sister Enterprenuers from Ruhanga and neighbouring villages

This group of 18 women seemed to see HOPE in the message I carried for them, which was the power of Solar.
Many of the women did not realize how important Solar energy would change their lives, not only in terms of clean energy but also the ability to help their children improve on their grades given the fact that they could now study at night without 'wasting kerosene'.

As the training went on, many women realized they had an opportunity to live an Independent life and enjoy an income of their own that they would perhaps never would have experienced.

Solar Sister brought HOPE to this village and the Women were enthusiastic to spread the word across the village.
Today as I speak, we have got Solar Sister Enterprenuers that signed up in Ruhanga bringing in orders for more lamps from more village members.

It is this kind of positive HOPE that Solar Sister seeks to bring in people's lives. More women are being empowered down in Ruhanga and am very keen to follow up the success of this group of hopeful women.

An inspiring trip it was.

Building a future of Independent women

2011-02-28T12:50:00.005+03:00

It's about one month since I met a lady who would soon change my life, in terms of thinking and inspiration. Katherine Lucey, Founder and CEO of Solar Sister is one phenomenal lady with a vision to transform and help Women around the world.

I work with Solar Sister now, and the most amazing experience I love is being able to meet with real community challenges, and forge a way forward to a solution.

In Uganda today, according to a report submitted by UNESCO "Overall, only 9 percent of Uganda’s population is supplied with grid electricity (20 percent in urban areas compared to only 3 percent in rural areas), and 70 percent of these customers reside in the three major towns of Kampala, Entebbe and Jinja."

Just 9 percent, leaving the remaining 91 percent in energy poverty.

Solar Sister is doing something in trying to change this situation, by empowering women in rural areas of Uganda get out of poverty by becoming Solar sister enterprenuers.

Women are the heart and soul in any business if they put their mind to it.
Yet many women today in rural areas of Uganda are stay home mothers with out an income of their own. They depend entirely on what their husbands have to bring to the table.

Solar Sister seeks to target that woman because we believe that they have the potential to build themselves if only they are showed how. We believe women are passionate enough and ready to build their financial status, do their own business and do not have to depend on anyone else for a day to day income.

I travelled to Mityana this last week, and I experienced first hand the challenges women face, by introducing them to Solar Sister I saw them smile and have a hope that they can now also work and have some independence because they gain their own income.

Few of the Women who signed up as Solar Sister Enterprenuers in Mityana!

So what does Solar Sister do? Solar Sister basically seeks to empower the rural woman in Uganda by giving them an opportunity to get out of poverty by working, selling solar lamps.

By doing so, they get to help other women from the dangers of using Kerosene lamps which have alot of hazzards, like them being smoky, attaining respiratory diseases, poor eyesight for their children, accidents that happen with kerosene lamps like burning of houses and buildings, to mention but a few.

I believe we can empower more women to be independent by encouraging them to develop an entrepreneurial spirit, which is what we do at Solar sister.

She can now work at night, with her solar lamp!

Our vision is to see many women getting empowered, elevated, and living to the full potential of what their lives are meant to be like.

And that is why am a Solar Sister!

A family divided

2011-02-19T13:35:00.003+03:00

As Uganda headed to the polls on 18th of February 2011, one thing was certain, everyone had a favourite in the 8 presidential candidates that were presented to us.

I remember for the first time in my life I wanted to make a decision based on what I felt right, and not a decision my mother had always led me to believe was right.
I love my mum so much, and I can say that for the past presidential elections my vote was entirely because of her preaching to me.

She preached of how Uganda had been in such a sorry state with the different governments and how suddenly we were enjoying the peace that we deserve. I was only 2 years when President Museveni claimed power, so I had no idea whatsoever what the days were like without him.

2001, I was led to the polls, yes I was under age then, but I voted, and voted for the man I believed had led us out the most dangerous times Uganda had ever been through. It felt right, really right.

2006 under the guidance of my mum, I again went back to the polls and did the same thing, but I noticed one thing, my dad, was never enthusiastic about the whole election story just like my mum was. He was a more laid back, 'who cares who leads us' type of guy.

I sat with my dad to find out his side of the story, and oh boy did he have one!
I learned that my Dad had a different perspective, he had worked for the government for so long and when his time came to retire, he never got his retirement package.
He was the guy who had seen some of his sons go without jobs everyday while other people who do not necessarily deserve the jobs got them! He gave me a pretty much different perspective to the one sided story I knew.

My dad always stayed home, when my mum gathered all of us to go to the polls to vote for the one man she believes has a vision for this nation. My dad gave up on the system long ago, he has not gone to the polls because he believes it makes no difference... am beginning to believe him.

This time, 2011, saw our family divided! My brother who from the beginning always thought differently from the rest of us, did not change his mind. My family was divided with the presidential vote. I had a different perspective of who I thought would lead this nation best, my elder brother felt differently too, and my 2 younger brothers, were still under the wings of mummy.. and trust me she is good with convincing so she had those two do as she said.

Faithfuls line up at one of the polling stations in Kampala to cast their vote

The final results are not yet in... but one thing is for sure, the winner is already seen. Whether these will be the best 5 years Uganda has seen or the worst, I have no idea, all I know is that for the first time, I headed to the polls and did what I believed was right for me and the future of Uganda, whether what I thought was right will win or lose, I will live with that.

All in all I can say, I still enjoy the peaceful Uganda and I pray so many things and policies will change for the years to come.

"For God and My Country"

Working for a Big Company or Small Company?

2011-01-20T12:55:00.006+03:00

This whole week we have young graduates graduating from the presitigious University that is Makerere. Alot of these young hopeful graduates are going to hit the streets of Kampala looking for jobs.

What are their expectations in the industry? For the IT graduates, many I interruct with will tell you their dream work places are MTN, ORANGE, WARID, UTL, AIRTEL, BANKS to mention but a few. If you ask them why? Their answer is simple, it is prestigious to work in such a high place, the pay is good, life is definately good, but what we forget is that it is not always what it seems when you are on the inside. These so called big guns also come with alot of industry politics.

So what would you prefer? To work for a big company that is well established or a small company where every penny that gets into the company counts?

Building of a big company

Here are my views, working for a Big company is great, everyone wants to be associated with a brand,these guys always have the infrastructure, the best equipments around,the pay is probably good, but then again these big companies are already established!

If they want a new system in place, and here is my take, because I have been there and witnessed it, they will bring in another 'small company' or outsource someone from 'Group' which is their mother company to get the job done! then what remains is for the IT techies to now 'support' the systems that have been set up!

Another take is that in these big companies, you will not be allowed to play around with systems, 'If it ain't broken, don't fix it', and if you are directly not in-charge of a system, 'please don't touch'.

So for an IT kid straight from campus to want to be a part of a big company and be told, here is the one system you are supposed to manage, it is the Microsoft Exchange Server, your role will be to create mailboxes for new employees that come to the company, also do anything else on that system, but do not touch anything else! what becomes of such a person after they leave the company?

With Small companies here is my take;

Every client for a small company counts, every penny counts, everything you do counts. You have to be on top of your game, why? because you are probably 5 or less people in the IT department and if you do not pull your weight, it is easily noticed.

I remember straight from college my first IT job was with a 'small company' and the rules were simple! We give you 3 months to learn to do what we do, if you don't get it, you are out of here... I was to learn a new Operation System that was Linux and not only as a user but as a person who will be am administrator, set up systems, learn to troubleshoot, learn to install different applications on it and do basically everything on it! That was the business and I had to do it.

Small companies give you the ability to learn, you run around and get to know how things are done... before you can then go to a big company.

If you are into it for the money, then you had better be good, but if you want to get the experience that comes with it, then you have to take the small jobs first, they do not pay much but you get a whole lot of experience that can help you stand on your own in the future.

So here is the thing, I love the energy that comes with working with a small company, everyone there is made to understand you have to work hard to earn... so the work gets done and you feel a part of a team.

However, I also love the stability and resources that come with working with a big company, you get alot and can use it to your advantage if you know how to. I mean who doesn't want a big pay cheque at the end of the month?

So for young employees out there, especially the graduates, I would recommend that you check into a small company and learn from the experiences there, then you can work your way up.

But at the end of the day, what is it that really matters to you anyway? You can decide to start up your own company or do things that you are more passionate about, but I guess we all start from somewhere!

Just my 2 cents ;-)

Workaholism may be killing you!

2011-01-19T17:49:00.003+03:00

It is the year 2011, and I know many of us have set goals that we hope to achieve this year and for some people, one constant goal never leaves their list, and that is WORK!

Do you find yourself working more than 12 hours a day?
Is it impossible to step away from the computer or cell phone even when you aren’t at the office?
While this drive for success may seem like a good thing to career-minded individuals and businesses, studies are finding long-term dangers accompany an addiction to work, and those extra hours aren’t really as productive as they may seem.

Take a look at the diagram below and see how best you can utilize your time at work and how too much work does affect you.

Peeps, take a break once in a while, you need it, your body needs to rest as much as you work!

Information Source: TermLifeIsnurance Blog

RIP Hilary Kenneth Hunter

2010-11-18T08:43:00.004+03:00

Gone too soon, Hilary Kenneth

Am weak in the knees, can't even begin to process what just happened. After that phone call, it all felt like a fallacy...

Suddenly He was no longer with us... I just can not believe it!
He was a dear friend, a person I would call up anytime and share a laugh, a hard worker he was,
an inspiration, this is crazy!

One of the guys I would joke with to the extreme, we went to the same School, I saw
him go through his Engineering course, we bonded so much!

Remembering all the memories we shared is just killing me!
A friend of true substance, A friend I will live to cherish for the rest of my life.

At 26yrs, just 26 yrs the Lord has called him.... I didn't see him to say my last bye - that kills me even more!
Died in a motor accident.

This is my tribute to you hilhunter!
I will forever cherish the friendship we shared.

May your soul RIP. Love you :-(

Just when will the madness stop....

2010-11-16T14:12:00.005+03:00

It weakens my heart every time I open a tabloid,... a Ugandan tabloid and see yet another story of a child missing, sacrificed, mutilated, to mention but a few.

The latest story is of a young Clavas Mpituma who was discovered by a herdsman in a thicket on Sunday morning.
The two-year old body of this young boy was found mutilated. Entire story can be read here;

It is so sad and heart breaking to see what is going on in our country. Children are a gift from God and to read these stories that happen everyday in our country is devastating.

Just where is the law when we need it the most? Who takes care of the Children's rights in Uganda? Where is the government and what has it done to see this awful act whipped out of Uganda?

We have had cases of children missing,being killed and no further investigations have been carried out, or if they have been done, no tangible results are felt. Do we not take this seriously?

I think as a country we need to get to that point where we stand up for rights for these children, raise awareness of the challenges faced... and get the people in the right positions to take seriously the issues of Child abuse.

Most of the kidnappings done are linked to Witchcraft, but what laws have been set aside to stop these acts?

We need our children safe! We need to fight for the children's rights.

Another Rap? ....and more Mr. President!

2010-11-15T10:25:00.003+03:00

Just how much of an influence will Y.K Museveni's rap have in the forth coming elections? One would ask. It is amazing how much vibe and coverage this single rap has had on the country and the Youths to be specific.

With about 52,000 hits and more on Youtube, too much vibe on facebook and twitter - it is clear that the youths in Uganda are now more empowered to use Social media than ever before.
With an increased number of Youths now able to use the computers and mobile phones, I think one of the best strategies would be to use these avenues that have not been tapped into before in Uganda.

Statistically, Y.K Museveni in the last election round did not get many votes from the youths. His strongest avenue for votes has always been the Women, especially rural women and the elderly in the villages. This is because these people lived through the 'bad' days of Uganda with different leaderships and when Museveni came to power, there was an era of peace.

The Youth however... not so much. But today, the youth are more empowered and they have the power to change the whole ball game. The 'You want another rap' from Y.K Museveni has ultimately caused a good vibe for him. Everyone is excited about the song. A friend told me that when it is played in the club, everyone just gets on their feet and dances to the tune.

I think it is time for the rest of the candidates to wake up and come up with strategies to win over the youths.

But Mr. Y.K Museveni, the Rap is good, but we would also want other facilities like better roads, better health care, employment opportunities for the many young graduates coming through from universities and colleges to mention but a few.

Digital Natives with a Cause?

2010-11-11T22:21:00.008+03:00

The last couple of days have been life changing days.... I like it when I feel challenged to sit back and reflect on a couple of things.

The Digital Natives with a cause? workshop put me in that state of mind. It was inspiring meeting people from across the globe who love to use social media / networking to bring a positive impact in society and community.

The word pairing exercise was empowering, choosing a word that you feel best describes what you represent... my word was PASSION.
I believe in order for one to do something and excel at it, they need to have a greater PASSION that pushes them to do so.

I coupled my word with EMPOWERMENT, I would like to think that for one to want to empower others, they have to have some PASSION for that kind of drive. First to figure out who is dis-empowered and then taking the step to empower them.

I also paired my word PASSION with a couple of other words, DISPOSSESSED, HOPE and CURIOSITY.. you can read here to see how that went!

I gained a lot of knowledge and understanding from the workshop. All the documentation of the 3 days of the 'My Bubble, My Space, My Voice workshop held in Johannesburg South Africa' can be read from the website; http://www.digitalnatives.in/

Digital Natives, in Johannesburg, South Africa

Tae Bo your way to fitness!

2010-10-26T08:00:00.001+03:00

How do I stay fit and healthy? I do a lot of exercises. Many people who find me jogging or being faithful to my fitness routines often ask me why I do it?

A lot of people think just because you are small, you do not have a reason to exercise. Lets face the facts, living a healthy life has nothing to do with how heavy you are, or how light you are. We all need to live a healthy life.

I do Tae Bo, the Advanced routine that was developed by Billy Blanks, and I do this one-hour routine 3 days a week, giving my body a day's rest in between the routines. If you are looking for a routine to follow even in the comfort of your home, you can buy a Billy Blanks Tae Bo DVD and you will love it.

My team doing the TAE-BO routine

Juanitah and I after the workout :-)

Exercises are not only meant for losing weight, there are a lot of reasons why regular exercise is important. Steve Marshal Caldwell states some of the advantages as below;

1. Daily exercise improves the immune system of the person. The resistance power of the person who indulges in the daily exercise is being noted to be at its best. The production of the antibodies is being boosted due to the daily exercise. Whoever does daily exercise very rarely falls ill. So, if you are always falling ill or getting infected with some infections then you must surely join a gym and start daily exercise under the guidance of the health expert.

2. Cardiovascular health problems are found to be in very less percentage in the people who engage in daily exercise regime. There are special types of the exercises meant for the people who are suffering with the heart problems. These exercises are known as cardio exercises. It has been noted that the people who did the cardiovascular exercises very rarely or never face the heart problems.

3. Blood circulation is being improved due to the daily exercise. The problems that you face due to the improper blood circulation are being resolved through the daily exercise. During the daily exercise session the arteries and veins that open up and this makes the blood to flow to all body parts in a proper way. Proper blood circulation gives you good stamina and energy. It also maintains the regular heart rate and helps you to overcome the problems like shortness of breath.

4. If you are suffering with the diabetes then daily exercise session can help the person to control the sugar levels. Both type 1 and type 2 diabetes can be controlled with the help of the daily exercise. Daily exercise reduces the excessive amount of the sugars in the body and boosts the production of the insulin. The daily exercise regime helps the diabetic person to stay away from the other health hazards caused due to the diabetes. Diabetes person are advised to consult the exercise trainer in the gymnasium because there are some special exercise given for the diabetic patients.

5. Obesity can be cured with the help of the daily exercise regime. Basically the obesity is caused due to the two major reasons, excessive weight gain and lack of physical activity. Very important role daily exercise routine plays in helping the person to overcome obesity. Firstly it controls the excessive weight gain taking place in the obese person and then it starts declining the weight of the person. Whatever may be the reason for the obesity, you can certainly help the person to lose the extra pounds to get back in shape.

6. Arthritis and osteoarthritis problems can be resolved through the daily exercise. You need to do the special exercises for this. You need to consult the physiotherapist for getting the ideas about exercises used to cure arthritis and osteoarthritis. By regularly doing these exercises you will certainly get the relief from the pain due to the arthritis and osteoarthritis.

Clash of the Titans

2010-10-25T10:38:00.004+03:00

Today 25th of October 2010, is the day the most talked about rivals in Ugandan Politics head to be nominated for Presidency come 2011 when Uganda heads over to the polls to elect the next president to lead us through the next 5 years [Ok... So we guess].

Trust me, I hate politics, and I want to set the record clear, ELOT [Evelyn's Line of Thoughts] wants nothing to do with all the political sagas but lets face the facts, Politics hate it or like it, it is what moves a nation forward.
For a country to be successful, it has got to have good and able leaders at the top!

My Country has seen days of war, days of peace and days of tranquility, but what do we as a nation look forward to with the next government in place?
The Incumbent has been in power since 26th January 1986. The only government I have known in my entire 26 years of existence has been this government, given President Museveni got the lead when I was only 2 years of age.

Throughout his reign, we have seen good days, a new day was born in Uganda after a lot of dark days of war in our country.
All I can relate to are the stories my mother used to tell me of the wars and how hard life was before then. Frankly I have no idea, but thank goodness for History, I was brought to speed about what was going on in my Country.

24 years down the road, A man that has done a lot for the nation is seeking another term. A lot of speculations surround this move.
Many think 24 years is enough time for any able minded President to bring forth the agendas that you had for a nation and therefore move on and let others hold the candle from where you leave it!
Others think, well, if we are having the 'peace' that we fought for 24 years ago, why do we have to change governance? I have my opinion but I will decide not to go there right now.

Along the way comes a man Dr. Kizza Besigye who was Minister of State for Internal Affairs in Mr. Museveni's first government, who believed so much in the fight to freedom Uganda had achieved
but years later felt it was time for another person to lead this nation.

Dr. Kizza Besigye, is the rival that President Museveni dreads a lot today. They went on logger heads the last election five years ago, which saw President Museveni victorious.

Today they all head for nominations yet again, and Uganda will be at it one more time. This time round the stakes are higher. The Opposition is very determined to pull off a win, and with young people who also feel 24 years down the road, we need change in governance, anything can happen.

I dread the final results though, If the Incumbent wins, it may not be an easy back down from the Opposition this time round, and if the Opposition wins, the people in the incumbent may also not back down with ease.

All am praying for after all is said and done, we do not turn out like Zimbabwe and Kenya with people killing each other and innocent people suffering at the expense of a Political turmoil. But anything can happen.

I pray for my Country so much as we head into this time and honestly pray that we shall happily live with the final result.

Just my 2 cents!

The Impact of Alcohol on your Body

2010-10-21T10:24:00.003+03:00

A few days back, the Red Pepper, one of the tabloids in Uganda published a list of 50 people who were caught drinking and driving...

Ironic enough my name appeared on the list.... yeah I was also surprised. Thing is, I wasn't the Evelyn Namara published but I got a couple of phone calls from friends asking me if that was actually me.

So to set the ground clear, guys, I do not drink and drive. Actually I do not refer myself as a drinker, I rarely drink, and if I do, I just take half a glass of wine and am done. I do not drink spirits, beers, name it.

The effects of alcohol consumption aren’t as simple or linear as your experiences would lead you to believe. Let’s take a look at the graphic below to better understand blood alcohol content and its effects at different levels of consumption.

Please drink responsibly and don’t drive under the influence.

Super Stars - How they are Born

2010-10-21T09:29:00.004+03:00

Yesterday I watched as Willow Smith's first single Whip my hair went viral on the Internet, just after its official release. I mean with a father like Will Smith and a mum like Jada Pinkett Smith, who can deny that the kid is also most likely to be talented?

The Internet has been one place that has seen many Super Stars rise to fame in our faces and it is just amazing just how much so many hits on a video posted on Youtube can make some one an overnight celebrity.

Takes me back to Justin Bieber, little talented kid who just posted videos of himself singing to his relatives and before he knew it, so many people had viewed them and just like that he caught the eye of Usher Raymond and the rest is history. Do you even know how many hits - Baby [One of his first singles featuring Ludacris] has? Millions and millions of on-line hits. Today JB is one of the most talented kids on the block to ever hit the scene of music all from You tube.

What about Susan Boyle who took the United Kingdom by storm. Her audition on Britain's Got Talent went viral and she became a super star just because everyone undermined the talent she had until she proved everyone wrong.

I have been drawn to believe that everyone of us has a special talent and no matter the platform, given that one chance to take your opportunity to shine, we should never waste it. Of course for some people where we live is not such a land of opportunity and thus we have to struggle a lot to even make an impression, but for others it is just right there and all you have to do is reach out.

Been following the X- factor this season and a lady born in Zimbabwe who has stayed in the UK for over 8 years, called Gamu Nhengu was one of my favorites. I watched her do her auditions and constantly nailed them all... obviously winning the hearts of many viewers across the world.

This all changed when Cheryl Cole did not choose her to be in the top 12 to hit the live stage, and oh boy the fans went crazy. Whether or not this decision was made because she had issues with her visa and faced fears of being deported back to Zimbabwe or because Cheryl felt she wasn't as talented as her other 2 acts, didn't stop the fans to show their frustrations.

And within hours of that episode airing, over 250,000 fans had hit facebook demanding Gamu to be back on the show. She didn't unfortunately, but the fact is, whether she made it to the X - Factor stage or not, she will have a great career. She has been under media attention for so long and everybody knows her, which will make her a super star, either way.

It is fascinating how Super Stars are born, but either way, we love them and live with them, but one thing is for sure, the Internet today has played a vital role in bringing up these stars to our knowledge that we perhaps wouldn't have known.

Nearly forgot about Charice Pempengco, the Filipino singer who rose to fame through Youtube? The first time I heard that young lady sing, I was taken ablaze, she is talented, she covers songs by Mariah Carey, Whitney, Beyonce, Celine Dion with ease. Today she has become one of the cast members of Glee... that is a career that would have been far away had she remained in Philippines.. Thank God for the Internet.

Anyway we love the stars, we love to watch them grow to fame, and we love to see their careers take off...

Am watching the space to see who rises up next, who knows, it could be me! [I see you grinning... have some faith in the sister! ]

AfNOGChix 2010, Nairobi, Kenya

2010-10-14T09:51:00.005+03:00

AfNOG is one of the technical groups that I have found extremely helpful in my career as an IT lady. The first time I enrolled for their trainings I was totally amazed at how much they put into these workshops.

AfNOG has got the best Instructors and the tracks are carefully thought about to help today's modern day Systems and Network administrators in their day to day tasks. I have done three of their tracks and I must say they have been incredibly helpful in my day to day work.

Through AfNOG, the women were privileged to have a special track organized for them as a branch from the main AfNOG event, and it was named the AfCHIX track, or AfNOGCHIX.

AfCHIX logo for 2010, Nairobi Kenya

Reasons for this special track rage from the fact that there were few women who would turn up for the main AfNOG events. When we did a survey as to why women would not apply for the main AfNOG events, we got a lot of outcomes. Some of the reasons ranged from the fact that the women felt intimidated by the Male engineers who wanted to dominate the labs and computers, or fear to ask questions in order not to be embarrassed in case they are wrong, et el.

So it is because of this that AfNOG together with ISOC started these tracks for women System Administrators to help them gain their confidence, give them the space to do their exercises on their own, and to freely ask their questions without feeling embarrassed. and it worked.

CHIX down to business... doing some work!

Today we have done four tracks and we are still going. The first AfCHIX was held in Nairobi, Kenya 2007, I attended the very first one, and more tracks followed and the recent one that we are doing right now in Nairobi Kenya again.

We met many more women at the workshop who are so inspired to be better System Administrators and am sure they will all go back better Administrators.

Am glad to have been involved and called upon to be one of the Instructors and I had a great time learning from the Chix and sharing with them my experiences.

AfNOGChix, 2010 in pictures;

AfCHIX group picture

AfCHIX Instructor team

Listening attentively

Happy Independence Day - Uganda

2010-10-09T08:00:00.002+03:00

Uganda National Flag

Today, 9th October 2010, marks 48yrs of Uganda as an Independent country.

Uganda gained Independence from the British in 1962, 9th October maintaining its Commonwealth membership.

We have come along way as a country and we are looking forward to more great years to come.

Happy Independence Day - Uganda.

Light at the end of the Tunnel?

2010-10-02T16:08:00.003+03:00

I feel compelled to write about something inspirational just maybe someone out there reading my blog can relate to this and have some faith!

All of life is a journey that we travel, a journey that is not necessarily predefined, and we can not guarantee what fate has to bring on this journey, but we travel, anyways!

So many times we are faced with a lot of 'stuff', call them baggage, problems, anything... that put us in a situation of questioning everything around us. We start wondering if we made the right decisions, or what would have happened if we had taken a different course of direction.

One thing for sure is that, sometimes we can not change what already happened! But we can choose to learn from those experiences, bad or good.
We start blaming ourselves for things that we could have done differently, all we need to do is accept that some things happen for a reason, to teach us that we can avoid such paths when we meet them again.

Every little challenge that has come your way, is an opportunity for you to prove that you are greater than it and can sail above it like a phoenix. That is how we become better people.

Many times though we go through what seems a roller coaster of things, and we do not seem to see the end of the tunnel! We ask ourselves why we are faced with so many challenges on our plates, why things tend to fail all the time, why when we think finally we have hopes of seeing that light.... only to be sunk back into a lot more challenges!
Hey, even then I believe there is no circumstance thrown at us that we can not handle. Trust me I know how it feels when everything seems to go wrong... but there is never a situation beyond what we can not bear.

Learn to talk to your inner self. Sometimes you feel that not even your best of friends can understand the situations you face.. Sometimes it may seem like it is only you who can understand what you are going through! Learn to gather inner strength. Learn to talk to yourself, learn to encourage yourself that everything will be alright. Where friends are not a solution, you can always gather inner strength.

Most times in life, the light at the end of the tunnel, is the ultimate,but we must remember the journey traveled in the tunnel is worth an experience. It is not always the finished line that makes everything merry, it is the journey, the breakups, the tears, the circumstances that you go through in that journey that make it worthwhile.

Once you have learned a lesson on that journey, the light at the end of that tunnel will bring greater joy!

My best statement ever still remains;

"Many of life's failures are men who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up!"

Don't give up yet... You are miles away from reaching that light!

XOXO

Technology trends! - More Androids

2010-10-02T10:23:00.007+03:00

Across the GALAXY!

THE ANDROID-POWERED Samsung Galaxy S is probably the device with the fastest GPU in an Android phone to date. The Hummingbird A8 chip on the Galaxy S is able to process around 90 million triangles per second, and when you compare that to the Motorola Droid’s 7 million tri/sec, and the Nexus One’s 22 million tri/sec, it’s certainly something.

It includes features such as an integrated calender, where all to-do lists and events are integrated into one interface, regardless of their source.

Car mode enables the phone to operate like a GPS device, using Google Maps.

In an augmented reality feature powered by Tele Atlas, a user can take a photo and the software will bring up nearby points of interest. This phone has features HD video recording, and a four-inch super AMOLED screen. Using wireless tethering, the device can be used as a modem. Sharing between devices can also be done wirelessly via DLNA technology.

The social hub feature allows the user to keep tabs on their friends by integrating email and social networking contacts into one phonebook.

Some other features include Swype technology for writing and the ThinkFree suite for office products.

Entry-level Smart - Vodafone's low-cost smartphone, the 845

ANOTHER ANDROID-POWERED phone is the Vodafone 845.

Manufactured by Chinese company Huawei and powered by Android 2.1 Eclair, the handset measures a slim 100 x 55 x 13 mm and features a 2.8 inch TFT touchscreen display, 320 x 240 resolution (QVGA), 3.2 megapixel camera, 128 MB RAM, 512 MB ROM, Bluetooth 2.1, WiFi b/g connectivity and support for triband GSM/GPRS/EDGE at 900/1800/1900 MHz as well as dualband UMTS/HSDPA at 900/2100 MHz.

The phone will come preloaded with Vodafone 360 services and have access to the Android Market.

Vodafone is targeting a wider audience with this low cost handset as opposed to traditional smartphone buyers of higher-end phones such as the iPhone 3G and 3GS, Blackberry Bold, Nokia E71, Plam Pre and Google Nexus One.

ICT Women's Summit

2010-10-01T10:46:00.004+03:00

I have been involved in so many of similar summits involving women and ICTs, Women and FOSS, etc,but this just concluded ICT Women empowerment Summit held at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand, Johannesburg South Africa was mostly inspiring.

Issues regarding women and ICTs have been discussed in so many forums, and some people have reached a point of concluding, or asking, Is it really an issue anymore? Being a part of this summit I got answers to this question.
And yes much as the world has fast evolved and the issues are not as pressing and bad as they used to be, there are still stereotypes surrounding women and ICTs in the Industry, challenges that are both social, economic, cultural that face women in ICTs.

I learned though from one woman, who owns her own business in Ghana, a CEO of Platinum Technologies, Mrs Sheila Bartels-Sam, that challenges will always be there. We can spend so much of our time discussing challenges but they will never go away, what we need to do is turn those challenges into business opportunities. And I totally agree with her, if we looked at all these challenges faced by Women in the Industry and turned them into business opportunities, we would go a long way.

This workshop was especially inspiring because it had a lot of the top heads in the industry. I met a lot of Women CEOs, COOs, CIOs, Women Business owners, IT Managers and it was a step in the good direction.
If we can be that empowered to have women in top positions which was not the case a few years ago, it gives me hope that we are finally headed in the right direction.

Women in ICT, at the just concluded ICT Women Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa

So issues discussed at this summit involved the journeys these top women have traveled to make it to the top, and if you thought it was not an issue any more to discuss women and ICT issues, then you had to be there to find out that we have come a long way and we still have a journey to travel.

I gave a keynote speech at the event, first day of the conference and I was inspired by how much energy all these women in ICTs have around them and how much they want to make the industry an equal player for both Men and Women.

A big thank you to CORPTRAIN for organizing this one, and am looking forward to another continuation of the same workshop / summit next year.

Hannington Evicted from Big Brother Africa

2010-09-18T14:09:00.004+03:00

Ok, first off, I will say I was a big fan of the show right until when Hannington got the boot out of the Big Brother house.
I was quite privileged to have been home and watching at the time the whole fight escalated and I was really really sad when Big Brother had to make that rather rude decision.

Ok, let's start off with the video..

The truth of the matter is, Hannington did not PUNCH, SLAP, HIT Lerato Sengadi from South Africa like most websites, blogs, journalists are instigating. What happened if you look at the video closely is that he pushed her on the left ear, that is all he did, and everything else followed.
I will not speak a lot about the video, but I will let everyone watch it and have their view.

What is disturbing to me is the verdict that Big Brother made.
I feel that it takes two to tangle, both parties were in wrong here. Lerato was verbally abusive to Hannington and did not respect his space at all, She even came straight to his face and started insulting him.... mistake number one.

Hannington on the other hand, could have chosen to walk away, but he did not do that, so he pushed her away all in self defense but yeah we get it, he is a man and men are not supposed to violet women, right?

I have a problem with this whole situation. First off, I will say am a woman, not only a woman but a woman who believes in Human rights and who believes Violence against women should not be tolerated. That said, I find it extremely Important that women need to know their limits. Laws have to be applied both ways. If you want to be respected, we ought to first respect ourselves. So in this situation I find it hard to believe everyone in the tabloids are making Hannington the Villain of the situation yet it is supposed to be blamed on both parties.

Big Brother, you were wrong in letting Hannington leave the house and leaving Lerato in the game. Both of them deserved a fair punishment in their involvement. There is no smoke without fire, Hannington was provoked, verbally attacked by Lerato, which let to the Physical attacking made by Hannington.

So just because a bunch of Women activists and Lerato's family made alot of noise about this, and tabloids also misreported what happened does not mean Big Brother had to be mean to one Contestant. The dude made news, He is on BBC, Dailymail, its interesting.

Having said all that, I think Uganda was robbed of a deserving victory, because am sure Hannington was the first choice to be voted back into the House, and who knows maybe ultimately win the whole thing!

It is a pity, but Hannington, I believe you will come out of this a better man. There are lessons learned and I believe the lessons will make him a better man. Good luck in everything else.

What is your say?

My Moroccan X-perience

2010-09-10T11:41:00.003+03:00

Morocco is one of the most beautiful North African Country.
I had a privilege of going to Rabat - The Capital and largest city of the Kingdom of Morocco and it was such an adventure.

Moroccans are very special people. They are friendly, very approachable, but for a person like me who speaks only one International language and that is English, it is hard to get around this beautiful country. Knowing French, and/or Arabic can be of great advantage when in Morocco.

I just love the old ancient buildings, the traditions of the local people, their values, its all great and different. I visited Casablanca and Rabat. I would love to go back to Morocco and visit Marrakesh, it is one of the most visited Tourist attraction places in Morocco.

Here are a few memories of my adventure!

Moroccan Ancient looking building

From left, Ahamat, Peter, Kossie and Evelyn... Taking a walk in Morocco

Writing on the wall... Wish I knew what it says :-)

Beautiful piece of artwork that we took, on the street

Evelyn, Kossie and Peter pose with an Arabic souq entertainer in an Arabic Market place...

I love Tortoises, found these in the Souq, in Morocco

Arabic local cousine

Moroccan food, this is what we used to eat!

True Arabic delicacy

Can't get enough of this Arabic food! Yummy.. Thats called Cous cous

Peace, Lebo, Evelyn, Kossie ... Party time, chilling with the gals in one of Morocco's beautiful hall

Its Peter, Ahamat, Kossie, Evelyn.. wandering the streets of Morocco

Evelyn and Kossie

Geert Jan, Noah Maina, Lebo, Randy Bush, Evelyn Namara.. pose for the pic!

White Water Rafting - The Ugandan X-perience

2010-09-09T16:01:00.006+03:00

Uganda is gifted with lots and I mean lots of interesting things that one can do when it comes to adventures.
Thing is, we the natives do not take time out of our busy schedules to appreciate what a beautiful country we have.

How many times have I gone round my country to appreciate the beautiful sites and sceneries we have? Maybe not so many. Do I feel bothered about it? Ofcourse I do.

I want to start touring my country and do all those incredible things and I will report back here :-)

So today I report about White Water Rafting in Jinja, Uganda.

I did this a year ago :-) with a couple of friends and to say that we had a great time is an understatement. It was time well spent. I will treasure the experience for more years to come. I actually wanna do it again sometime.

It was a great adventure that we took with Adrift, the company that handled our travel to Jinja, facilitated everything we needed for the trip, and brought us back to town safe. All for a minimal amount of money.

If you live in Uganda or elsewhere but in Uganda visiting and want something worth the beautiful memories of our country, you might want to try out the White Water Rafting experience.

Here is what you will need to have on your checklist:

1. Comfortable clothings - preferably shorts and a light top
2. A pair of sandals - Though you won't need them in water
3. Sun Screen - Yeah, it gets hot on water, you do not want to tan
4. Changing Clothes - Needed after the whole experience.

Normally the company that takes you, in our case ADRIFT will give you lunch half way the rafting experience, so you get light lunch on water, then you continue rafting, and after everything, there is a BBQ prepared at the finishing line!

Plan to be on water for about 9 solid hours, but it is fun!

I think pictures say much more than words!- Click the read more link below to check out more fabulous pictures!

Team ready for Rafting

Let the journey begin!

Setting off slowly

Slow start

Rafting

White Water Rafting, Jinja

Rafting_jinja

Rafting Craze

Half_way through the journey

Deeper end?

You gatta love this!!

Flipping the Boat

Yes, Flipping!

Waves

Wanna Flip?

My love for Soccer!

2010-09-09T11:26:00.024+03:00

Uganda Cranes Vs Angola - 2008

Ok, I will admit I missed the last match between Angola and Uganda at Namboole... But I can explain why! I so much wanted to go watch this match after being a part of the the same match, a year ago... and we did almost a Dejavu this year.

I didn't go for the match because I must admit I was a coward. The bombings that happened at the World cup final in Kyadondo and Ethiopia village left a mark in my life and from then, I started having phobia for crowds. So yeah that was the reason.

I was so impressed non the less with the result. It took me back to the last match we had against Angola at Namboole, when we beat Angola 3:1.
The pictures posted here were from that match. It was a magical moment for the Uganda Cranes.
All I remember before that match was the doubt I had. I never thought we would get a positive result against a team as big as Angola, and guess what, the Uganda Cranes lads made me a believer.

Uganda Cranes has always impressed at home, I hope we can hold up such a candle for the away matches. For some reason I feel the boys are motivated by a crowd and good cheer-leading.
I pray that with our new Coach and new determination we can improve our away record too.

On the International Scene! Premiership is here, and yes am waiting in anticipation to see what my favorite team in the whole world will deliver!
Yes, you guessed right! You can say that again! Am A GUNNER for life. I love Arsenal, I love the team, I love the players, Arsene Wenger... well he makes some tough decisions sometimes that I don't really like, but I think he is an amazing coach.

The next match that we have for the Uganda Cranes.... I will suck up my fears and go cheer my boys!

GO UGANDA CRANES!!

Bad Guys finish first!

2010-09-04T11:09:00.008+03:00

It is interesting but I just had to write about this! The 'Bad guys' why do the good girls always fall for the 'Bad guys'?

I watch a lot of movies, series and we see this everywhere in the movies, the bad guys always end up with the good gals. But in reality it actually happens everywhere. Look at the celebrities around us, the normal people, and somewhere somehow you will notice it happens even in real life not just in movies.

There is something about the Bad guys that is simply unique. These guys oooz confidence when they speak, and boy, women love a man with confidence. They set the rules, and they break them, they keep a lady on their toes. They have this rhythmic sway to their stride, walk as if the whole world belongs to them, they are charming and eternally cool.

As a woman, your gut instincts always tell you there is nothing good that will ever come out of such a guy but when they start to speak, you get butterflies.

On the surface, the Bad boys tend to be the ultimate prize, but deep inside they are the not so serious, inconsistent, and not so ready to commit kind of dudes! In fact a mere mention of the word "commitment" and they will disappear.

So what is so seductive about the destructive behavior of a bad boy? Surely it doesn't make sense to fall in love with a man who treats you badly, never calls you, keeps you on the toes, keeps you guessing! Must I add, fears to commit to a relationship.

So why do we fall for them? One biggest thing is that they are overly confident... and that is sexy! A woman wants a man who believes in himself, Bad boys are interesting, they do interesting things, they will do things that you like, they just know how to do the right things. One more thing, they have an attitude, the take it or leave it attitude, they will call when they want, and then the rest of the times, keep a gal guessing!

And the good guys? Well they are the good guys, period. They will assume you see and know they love you, will get out of their way to call you all the time to let you know how much they care, they are genuine like that, but why don't women fall for them? Well I don't know, you tell me.

So my ladies, and guys [bad and good] let me know what you think about this. Ladies why? why not the good guys ;-) [I should ask myself the same question.. lol!] But yeah, let it out, tell me.

New line of small and powerful ipods

2010-09-03T12:10:00.010+03:00

Steve Jobs announced smaller and thinner iPods at Apple’s Fall Music Event. With smaller, new designs for the iPod Shuffle, iPod Nano and a thinner, more powerful iPod Touch, Apple is poised to hit the entertainment market in music, movies and gaming like never before. And just in time for the Holidays.

Let’s start with the iPod shuffle. As if it couldn’t get smaller, it does. And the best part is, Apple has brought back buttons along with voiceover to make navigation of songs easier. The Shuffle is a tad larger than your thumb, has a clip, and has over 15 hours of battery life. In 5 colors (Blue, Pink, Green, Yellow, and Silver), the Shuffle will sell for $49 for 8GB.

The biggest change has come in the iPod Nano, which is now 46% smaller and is multi-touch. That means that Apple has dumped the control wheel and gone to complete touch navigation. It’s slightly larger than the Shuffle, which shows how small it really has become. Apple has dropped the video camera feature but has brought in a clip to make it easier to wear (which is great for athletes and runners) , has an FM Radio, Nike Pedometer, and 24 hours of battery life. Comes in seven colors (the same colors as the shuffle plus black and red) and starts at $149.

Lastly, is the new iPod Touch, which has Apple’s blazing A4 processor and Apple’s pioneering HD Retina display with four times more pixels and an ultra sharp 326 ppi and 24-bit color. The iPod also sports the 3-axis gyro control and Apple also announced GAME CENTER, a social networking vehicle which will allow players to take on each other via WiFi in cyberspace playing a wide variety of games including a new game from Epic Games called Project Sword, and action packed RPG adventure with action happening in real time.
Additionally, the Touch will be able to take advantage of dual cameras and FaceTime with which it can communicate to iPhone 4 users and iPod Touch users over WiFi Video conferencing. And the latest iTunes has a great new social network called PING which enables fans to listen to new music from friends playlists, comment socially about it and download them on the spot. The iPod will also enjoy high dynamic range photography and HD video and be able to edit courtesy of the iMovie App.

The new iPod Touch goes on sale next week, just in time for Christmas for $229 / 8GB, $299/32GB and $399/64GB. With gaming, music, and HD movies, the new iPod Touch is going to be a hot item come Christmas.

Article from: Coolest gadgets

Super Women

2010-09-01T14:21:00.017+03:00

Influential, Powerful women

These women, love them or hate them, when I close my eyes and think of a woman that has a lot of influence, be it in Business, Entertainment, Politics, Career, they have it all.

I love looking up to women of influence. Lets take a look at them:

1. Oprah Winfrey:
She was ranked the World's most powerful woman by CNN and times.com. She has been rated as the richest African-American of the 20th Century. She is involved in Charity, hosts the Oprah show and an entrepreneur and business woman.

2. Michelle Obama:
She is Wife to the 44th US President Barack Obama.I love her style, she is like the most stylist First ladies I have ever seen. She is incredibly brilliant and was a strong force in Barack Obama's election campaign. Like they say "Behind every successful man, is a strong and powerful woman".

3. Condoleezza Rice:
She is an American professor, politician, diplomat and author who served as the 66th United States Secretary of State and was the second to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush. What a Woman! When she gets on that podium to speak, I bow down for her because all you can see is power.

4. Indra Nooyi:
She is the Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo Incorporated.
Forbes magazine ranked Nooyi third on the 2008 and 2009 list of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women.
Fortune magazine has named Nooyi number one on its annual ranking of Most Powerful Women in business for 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009.
What a super woman!

5. Tyra Banks:
She is a former Super Model, who has stayed successful to date. In her teen years, she rocked the runway, and was one of the most talked about Super models of the time. Today she is a TV host, hosts her own show, America's Next Top Model, and a business woman!
Tyra is surely a Super woman.

And all my Super Women, here is a little song for ya'all.

Harmful Effects of Soda on Your Body

2010-08-27T17:53:00.002+03:00

Sure, there’s nothing quite like soda to go along with that burger and fries you’ve decided to have for lunch. Not unless you care about what you put in your body and what long-term effects it is going to have on your well-being. If you do care about your health and your body, however, take a look at the harmful effects of soda consumption over time.

Peeps, after this creepy presentation, am officially off Soda! Ever!

Source: Term Life Insurance

10 Things Your Doctor May Not Tell You

2010-08-27T17:17:00.008+03:00

For better or for worse, your doctor doesn’t always tell you everything, and what you are told, isn’t always presented with complete objectivity. In most cases this is done to deter harmful activities you might be indulging while in other cases it’s simply because they’re trying to solve the particular issue you come in with as efficiently as possible, without discussing other potential problem areas. This graphic looks at 10 things your doctor may be less than clear about.

Source: Term Life Insurance

I will marry when I want!

2010-08-27T09:13:00.003+03:00

You know of late, everyone around me is either married, or planning a wedding, or announcing an engagement, things are happening for people.

Sometimes things like that put us in a state of thinking, Is something the matter with me? And then there these people who think they have figured out the whole equation of love, family, happiness, who tend to sit you down and try to tell you, Lady, its about time, the years are passing by.

Very many people have different theories about Marriage, when the right time is, what age you should get married, when you should have kids, etc. But my question is, Is there a pre-planned age of when one finds the right one? Or maybe not the right one, but the one that will be the person you spend the rest of your life with?

I think what I understand in my humble opinion is that everyone experiences Love when it comes to them. For the ladies out there who may be stuck up in the same circle of friends, trying to tell you, its now or never, I have got news for you.
I believe in Love, and I believe I will experience it when it comes, but am not going to search for it, it comes when it comes and you know it's true love when you are in it!

So all these stories of, you got to be married in your 20's and then by 35 you are supposed to have given birth to all your babies, and then sit down and wait to die, don't rock it for me.

Ladies, live your freakin lives like you have never before, enjoy every moment, live in the moment, rock them' dresses and high heels, go out, party, trust God and hey, before you know it, things will happen. All am saying is, there is no pre- defined formula for finding love. Just because your friend married at 20, and they feel its right, that is them, do not let them stuck it up to you to do the same.

I love my life, OMG, I can't even begin to tell you how much! But you know what, am living in the moment, doing what I got to do, and when that time comes, I will live that moment too.

And I want all the ladies out there to embrace that!

So, like Ngugi wa Thiong'o wrote "I will marry when I want".

Maverick Meerkat coming out soon! 10.10.10

2010-08-17T14:14:00.009+03:00

Anybody excited about the newer release of Ubuntu, the Maverick Meerkat 10.10?
Well, am so excited about it, and it will be released on 10.10.10.

I can't wait. There are lots of new features that are being announced, be sure to check out the Canonical Blog for all the details of the new features.

Check out Mark Shuttleworth in this exclusive interview, as he discusses the new release and what we should expect.

Am excited about the release, and am more excited that I love Ubuntu. For Desktop, I don't think I can be caught with another Operating System apart from Ubuntu.

I was priviledged to meet Mark Shuttleworth in person twice on two different conferences and I can't tell you how much of an excitement that was in my life.

I met him first at Africa Source II, that was held in Kalangala Islands way back in Jan 2006, and later the next month, we met at another conference in Nairobi called IDLELO 2 and I took this picture with him :-) [Am on the right, dressed in Black]

A friend, Mark Shuttleworth, Evelyn at IDLELO2 Conference, Nairobi

So I love Ubuntu as a person, but I love it more, because I met one of my mentors in person! How cool is that?

Back In-Style!

2010-08-13T12:13:00.012+03:00

My work today, in a nutshell

Experiment on Content (Yesterday's radio)

2010-08-11T10:39:00.003+03:00

A very interesting argument has been ongoing on my Linux User Group forum about some one or groups of people that came up with an Idea, which idea was simple.

According to these guys, Africa's content will mostly be audio and video. So they came up with an 'innovation' of creating 'Yesterday's radio'. The Idea is simple, they have an archive of broadcasts of popular radio stations in Uganda, that go as far back as the beginning of the year. They provide you with a url, and you are able to listen to broadcasts from these radio stations, which is basically an archive.

Now this story really caught so many people's attention, some feel it is a beautiful idea, others however feel, it is theft, these guys are not supposed to be re-broadcasting content that is not 'theirs'. They own no right to this content, and they haven't paid any royalties to the owners of the content, radio stations etc.

So the issue of copyrights, theft, royalties came up!

I want you to follow this thread and let me know what your views are about this issue.

Thread here;

Please take time to read through the different responses from the different folks and tell me where you stand.

Is it a great idea? or is it not?

Ubuntu 10.04 LTS with PHP 5.2.10

2010-08-11T09:47:00.003+03:00

We all love new releases, especially when it comes to software, all we think about is the need to upgrade and get all the fixes to the bugs we had with the previous stable version, but what we forget is that even the newer versions of software come with their down side, well at times.

Yesterday I had an experience with my new Lucid Lynx, after the upgrade I needed to install egroupware on it, the installation was seamless thank God for the already available software in the repositories.
One thing though is that Lucid comes with the latest PHP5.3 which is not yet so compatible with some applications and has a lot of deprecated errors.

If you are a person who uses Drupal alot, or even Wordpress you will find that you can not have these installations working on a machine with PHP 5.3 which Ubuntu 10.04 ships with. It throws alot of deprecated errors that are annoying and even make the applications fail to work.

So, egroupware also has an issue with the latest PHP 5.3, after my installation, I was not able to log into my egroupware application.
When you enter the right username and password, it just returns you back to the log in page with an error "wrong username or password", yet the credentials are right.
Took me time to crack what the issue was. Checked my database backend and all my users and there encrypted passwords were there. I checked the apache error logs, and there it was... alot of deprecated errors thrown by PHP.

I hit the web and the only solution I found was to actually down grade my PHP from 5.3 of Lucid to 5.2.10 of Karmic Koala.
I found a very nice site that helped me get started; click here.

So after removing all the PHP 5.3 files, I installed all the PHP 5.2.10 files I needed for egroupware to run, pinned them down so that Lucid doesn't try to upgrade my files to the latest again, and I was able to log into my install.Now I have a fully functional egroupware application on my Lucid Lynx.

So next time you face a similar situation, I hope you can get some answers here.

Let me know if you find this helpful.

Ubuntu offline upgrades using the Alternate CD

2010-08-09T10:41:00.004+03:00

I have done a couple of Ubuntu upgrades, and most recently to Lucid Lynx the latest Long Term Release[LTS] from Ubuntu.
Most of the times, I just do the online upgrades when am not in a hurry and it obviously takes long given our bandwidth speeds here in Africa.

I discovered I had downloaded an alternate Ubuntu 10.04 iso image when the release came out in April and I found an easier way to actually run the upgrades in the most minimal time.

If your bandwidth is not good enough, you might want to consider doing an offline upgrade to the latest Ubuntu 10.04 LTS from the version 9.10 [Karmic Koala]. If you have a much lower version for instance 9.04, then you will have to first upgrade it to 9.10 and then to the 10.04 LTS.

So here is the procedure - I did it this morning on one of the machines I had to upgrade and do some installations and found it much easier given the Internet speeds we have.

So first you will have to download the Ubuntu alternate 10.04 iso image from the Ubuntu website, and you can decide to make a CD from the iso, but if you hate CDs like I do, you can follow the steps below.

1. On your terminal, type the following command;
sudo mount -o loop /tmp/ubuntu-10.04-alternate-i386.iso /cdrom

Note: You can mount the iso to either /cdrom or even /media/cdrom they should both be able to work. The above command assumes that my iso image was saved in /tmp, choose the location where you kept your iso image and modify the command accordingly.

2. After running the above command, you should be able to see a pop-up window that says: 'A distribution volume with software packages has been detected". You can then follow the on-screen instructions and go on and do your upgrade.

If no pop shows up, try holding ALT and press F2, then type this in the Run window:

gsku "sh /cdrom/cdromupgrade"
OR
in Kubuntu "kdesudo "sh /cdrom/cdromupgrade"

A pop-up window should now show up, follow the on-screen instructions to upgrade your machine offline.

3. You are done! This process usually takes not more that an hour and a half, yet the online upgrade will take you atleast 3 hours or more to complete the installation.

So if you are want to upgrade your machine from the previous Ubuntu version and find that Internet connection is a problem, you can consider this method. Just always have your alternate iso image CD ready.

Note: The Ubuntu 10.04 LTS alternate iso image can be downloaded from this page;

Enjoy your Ubuntu experience.

Shooting the sacred cows of money - Robert Kiyosaki

2010-08-02T08:06:00.004+03:00

As I focus on my new year, obviously I look back and see what I have achieved in my last year!
Its been quite hectic, but finally I finished the "Go to School" part that Robert Kiyosaki talks about in the video below.

Financial education is one very important aspect that I love to venture in, and I can't tell you how reading 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad' has helped me prioritize my opportunities in life.

All of life is about learning to make your money work for you instead of the on going struggle that we go through everyday, waking up in the morning to go 'Work Hard' for somebody else.

So, I have put my guns down, will take one day at a time, but am going to purpose to make my life better, and learn about finances and learn about Investing! That is what smart people do.

I will let you know, every step of the way, how this goes!

Enjoy a series of videos below from Robert Kiyosaki's sacred cows!

Go to School from Rich Dad on Vimeo.

Today, The day I was born!

2010-07-30T07:58:00.004+03:00

One of my greatest movies of all times, especially as a young girl growing up were the Terminator movies, remember them? The very first ones, The Terminator and Terminator 2:Judgment Day .

The Terminator started showing in 1984, the year I was born, and it was one of my childhood most watched movies, every evening at the age of about 10, 11 yrs, I just had to watch Arnold Schwarzenegger do this thing and I never got tired of watching him.
Well, the production and quality of the movies speaks for itself, who can dispute what James Cameron can do? He is a brilliant film director and producer and it can be seen in the work he has put in the greatest movies of all times that he produced; Titanic,The Terminator 1 and 2, and more recently the Avatar... all great movies.

Does anyone remember the movie 'White Chicks'? Yeah that one that starred the Wayans brothers and Terry Crews? Hilarious right? Am a fan of comedy movies once in a while. It is not always good to take life seriously all the time. We need time to crack and laugh, and boy oh boy, White chicks was a nice comedy.

One movie that totally inspires me everytime I watch it, now I can't even tell you how many times I have watched this movie, Akeelah and the Bee. I love the storyline, I love the actors, Keke Palmer (Akeelah) starring alongside Laurence Fishburne (Dr. Larabee).
You will have to watch it to know what I mean ;-)

Well, you may be wondering why am blogging about movies on my birthday, I mean why not? Three great actors in these three movies share a birthday with me! Yeeeei, I mean how cool is that?

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Terry Crews, and Laurence Fishburne were all born on July 30th. I feel honored to have been born on the same day with such great guys.

I will end with a Maryanne Willianson's quote that am taking with me in my next year, and this quote was read by Akeelah in the movie 'Akeelah and the Bee'.

Hope you find it inspirational!


                     “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. 
                  Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. 
                 It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. 
                       We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, 
                            gorgeous, talented, fabulous? 

                          Actually, who are you not to be? 
                              You are a child of God. 
                  Your playing small does not serve the world. There is
                 nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't 
             feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. 
               We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. 
                           It's not just in some of us; 
                                 it's in everyone. 

                         And as we let our own light shine, 
                  we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. 
                       As we are liberated from our own fear,
                    our presence automatically liberates others.”

Vid Choice of the day

2010-07-26T07:46:00.004+03:00

Just fell in love with this video, by one of our very own Maurice Kirya.
Hope you like it too ;-)

Enjoy!

A review: Iphone 4, Google Nexus One, and Nokia N900

2010-07-20T10:01:00.011+03:00

If you are a gadgets person, you know what I mean when you simply can't make a choice on what is the best you can choose from.

A few days earlier I was all pumped up with the New Iphone 4, I mean it was the latest vibe on the market. The design is good, no one can dispute what Steve Jobs can bring out in terms of design and functionality, and honestly speaking I think Steve Jobs has been pretty consistent on the quality of work he's been doing on all products, right until the Iphone 4 came up.

Hey don't get me wrong, it is still a great product, but with all the vibes its getting, especially the Antenna issue, its not been a good day for Steve Jobs this time round.

Now I took a look at the Google Nexus; I haven't been an Android fan I will admit, but this gadget is the real deal. For a person who is into doing too much with a phone, and not just placing calls, and sending texts, I think this is it for the Nerds ;-)

With all the buzz going for the Iphone, one could have thought Google Nexus one is the phone to hold up to the pressure, however, I read a post today on the daily tech news that Google is discontinuing the Nexus one!

As for Google’s statement the very last shipment of Nexus One is now being off, and until the very last piece of Nexus One on their stocks are out that means that there will be no more Nexus One customers to own this phone in the US. This is really not good enough news.

Is it a failure for Google having the Nexus One? Maybe yes and maybe no. Having only one provider in the US that leave other retailer to sell this great phone limits Nexus One to spread in many other areas in the country or even world wide.

Am a Nokia fan and I have held a Nokia phone for as long as I owned a phone.I think Nokia has really been a fantastic brand for me to stick to.
A friend of mine sent me a link to this phone and I was blown away!

This phone is one in a million. I love open source, that goes without saying, and this phone comes with an Open Source Linux distribution based on Debian originally developed for Nokia Internet tablets.

As for the features, it can do wonders, if you have some time, you can check it out on this link;
Nokia N900

So from the 3 phones, you can guess what my pick is! I won't tell you my pick, but you can leave your opinion on the 3 gadgets and let me know what you think!

Place a poll before you leave! :-)

Safe after Bomb blasts!

2010-07-14T17:44:00.006+03:00

Hello everyone,

I hope everyone especially those in Uganda are safe. It has been a bad week in Uganda after what was supposed to be a joyful day of watching the world cup finals ended up with Bomb blasts in the city.

Having lost a friend and workmate that Saturday, 10th July, and then bomb blasts on Sunday 11th July, I can only say it is turning out to be a dark July.

Our Internet link was also cut due to the bomb blasts, the fiber cable was cut and we haven't been able to access Internet for about 2 painful days. But am back!

I only pray that we won't have any more bomb scares and that the city is back to normal.

My condolences go to the families of the folks that lost their loved ones in the blasts.

May their souls rest in Peace.

Gone too soon - RIP Lydia Sembuya

2010-07-11T09:49:00.006+03:00

Life is not always fair, never plays out the way we anticipate it to, most times!
God in the wee hours of Saturday morning called her to be with him!

She was a friend, an inspiration, a person full of energy.
One would think she had 1000 years ahead of her.... but like they say,
live everyday as if it were your last.
Lydia certainly did that!

My heart goes out to her family, the husband and her gorgeous boys!
Everything happens for a reason, and am sure she is smiling in heaven right now!

As a workmate, a friend, an admirer, I deeply say I was saddened by her death.

Gone too soon and will forever be missed!

RIP - Lydia Sembuya!

My track choice of the Day!

2010-07-09T11:41:00.004+03:00

This is my song of choice for the day!

Emmy Nominations list out! Excited for Glee

2010-07-09T11:01:00.004+03:00

The list for the Emmy Awards that will take place later this year, or to be more specific on the 29th of August is out! Yeeei.

Am just excited that Glee got 19 nominations, I mean the first season of Glee
has been great and we can only wait in anticipation for the second season!

Happy for the Gleeks! Go get those awards!

More can be found here;

http://www.emmys.com/

SYTYCD - Its a shame Wong won't lift his trophy!

2010-07-09T10:03:00.005+03:00

This season of SYTYCD hasn't been my best season so far! and I will tell you why in a bit.
Being a firm lover and believer in the show, I quite honestly did not agree with many of the changes that were made by the producers.

The whole format was strange from the start, but I gave it some benefit of doubt that it would perhaps get better.

My first frustration was choosing to let go one of the most incredible dancer I have ever met, Anthony Burrell. I mean seriously? The dude's body was just built for dance, as a contemporary dancer I think by far, him and Alex Wong were the best of the pack. So from day one I was already biased.
But.... am over Burrell now.

Lets focus on the show now!
Last evening we had the terrible news from Nigel Lythgoe about the medical report from Alex's accident, and he won't be participating on the show again this season. Now that was a blow! He needs 3 months to rest and get fully better to be able to compete again.

Alex has by far been in his own league if you ask me... week after week, he has produced the best technical performances and he has got a great personality.
Till date everyone is still speaking about the Nappytabs Hiphop choreography routine that he danced last week with all star Twitch! I mean that was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!

I can say right now that the show should end right away and Alex be handed the title America's favorite dancer because truth to tell he deserves it!

With Alex gone, I really know if I will be interested in the show again.. I think I will just wait for next season to see him come back, with Anthony Burrell. That will be great.

Checkout the link below for the Hiphop routine with Alex and Twitch!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WghpdgPc-24

Good bye Alex! you will truly be missed.

Am back! In July

2010-07-08T12:42:00.004+03:00

You know July has always been one of my best months! Reasons? Well it is the month in which I was born and I have beautiful sentiments of this month each year.

I have been away for so long, and I must say I missed blogging! But after last night, I promised myself to be a regular blogger. Imagine I slept and I dreamt about my blog, and all the amazing updates I should have put up for my readers! Its a shame I haven't done that in a while but I surely will be up to date.

What can I say, World Cup is just about done! Its been a beautiful ride. I have had some nice moments in the whole tournament and pretty sad ones! One incident was the Ghana loss to Uruguay in the quarter final clash! Man that hurt so bad... they came so close to the semi finals and gave it all away to Uruguay.

Am happy though with the final 2 in the finals. For once we have 2 teams, one that had never even made it into the Semi finals [Spain] and one that has been here many times but failed to lift the World cup [Netherlands]. For the first time I wont take sides! I will just sit down, lay back and watch, who ever wins I will be happy for them.

Now with my personal life, things haven't been easier but every step of the way, I have learned to Thank God and live in the moment. Am sure I will be smiling sooner or later.

Am glad to be back ;-) Missed you all.

2010, A new year, A new beginning

2010-01-02T12:28:00.003+03:00

2010, has been a year most anticipated.
A lot of events are set to happen this year.

1. Orange Africa Cup of Nations, Angola - This will happen this month [January] and we are looking forward to that great time and season.

2. 2010 World Cup - Held for the first time in Africa, I believe this will be a remarkable time for us Africans to shine and we hope for the very best of each African team come World cup time.

Ok, enough with Soccer!

This year am purposing to do a lot career wise and hopefully I will achieve all my goals and anticipations, overcome all the challenges that I have faced in 2009.

Lets embrace the new year......

Welcome 2010..."We couldn't wait"!!!!