Tom Morello to perform at tribute concert for John O’Brien

Tom Morello, a member of the band, Rage Against The Machine, will perform at the “Love You Madly: A Concert For John O’Brien” on Thursday, January 12 at the House of Blues in West Hollywood, California.

John O’Brien was found dead in his hotel room in August of last year, and is best known for composing the music for ‘Nightwatch‘,  ‘Iron Man‘, and many other movies and TV shows.

Other performers who will be paying tribute are Adam Levine, James Valentine (Maroon 5), Sheryl Crow, Velvet Revolver, and Stephen Stills. You can purchase your tickets on the website.

2011 in review

Kenyan Jewels would like to thank all the Kenyans in the Diaspora who continue to make a difference for all those around them.  You have inspired many with your continuous positive actions, sharing of resources, and community service.  May this next year be the best yet, full of blessings and higher achievements! This is the 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 41,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 15 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

10 Minute Fix Goes to Australia

The ’10 Minute Fix’  has been keeping us laughing and thinking as they address some of the topics that we deal with as Kenyans in the Diaspora.  Now into Season II (we apologize for being remiss in bringing the videos to you), they traveled to Australia to meet with the Kenyan Rugby team.

Here is a video of their experience in Australia, and their observations of life in Australia as compared to life in the America.  Don’t forget to follow them on Facebook and Twitter, or subscribe to their YouTube channel.

Shihab Rattansi – Washington DC

Shihab Rattansi works for Al Jazeera English as a lead news anchor in their Washington, DC Broadcast Center. He regularly anchors the Al Jazeera Newshour Wednesday or Thursday through to Saturday, presenting news and conducting interviews primarily relating to the Americas.

Shihab Ratansi

Before joining Al Jazeera English Shihab was a CNN International anchor based in Atlanta, Georgia. At CNN he anchored World News and regularly anchored other shows such as Insight, Your World Today, Global Challenges, CNN Today, and World News Asia. While working for CNN, Rattansi has presented the breaking news stories involving the capture of Saddam Hussein, the 2004 Tsunami, Beslan school hostage crisis, 7 July 2005 London bombings, the rape of Muktar Mai in Pakistan with international coverage, and the death of Pope John Paul II and the trial of Saddam Hussein. Rattansi formerly worked for Channel NewsAsia in Singapore. While there, he covered Indonesia’s turmoil involving the fall of political leader Suharto.

He was also involved in a Hollywood film entitled The Death of Salvador Dali. Rattansi is a Winner of 2006 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award.

Rattansi was born and raised in the United Kingdom and holds a degree in art history from University College London. His grandparents were from India and founded the Rattansi Educational Trust and his parents from Kenya. His father is emeritus Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at University College, London.

His brother, novelist and Sony award-winning journalist Afshin Rattansi, has worked for CNN, Al Jazeera Arabic’s “Top Secret” strand, the BBC’s Today program, Bloomberg and launched the developing world’s first financial news channel from the Middle East. He worked for the Iranian news network, Press TV from Tehran before founding his own independent production company which produces his weekly show, “Double Standards,” and previously “Rattansi & Ridley“.

Source: Wikipedia

Mucheru Njaga – San Francisco, CA

Born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya, Njaga moved to the United States after his time at Prince of Wales Boarding School in Kenya.

Njaga studied creative writing at Hunter College in New York City, combining his love for movies and video games by writing screenplays and video game programs. He discovered that one of his main passions was writing stories targeting youth and their life challenges, drawing inspiration from epic tales such as George Orwell’s Animal Farm and William Golding’s Lord of the Flies.
After reading an article about a boy who committed suicide because he could not cope with a local school bully, Njaga was struck by the familiarity of the boy’s struggle, and Patch was born. Loosely based on Njaga’s own experiences at Prince of Wales Boarding School, Patch is a coming of age story that illustrates the growing epidemic of teenage bullying. Though Patch is not a parent or student’s “how to” guide, Njaga views his debut book as a pathway to promote real debates about the true roots of the issue and how to actively address it. As a firsthand witness to the origins and complexities of harassment, Njaga believes that bullying is a universal problem affecting multiple educational systems worldwide. Njaga currently lives in San Francisco with his fiancée and is working on a screenplay adaptation of Patch in addition to the sequel. Njaga’s life goal remains is telling stories that capture the essence of human nature, and he hopes to bring old and lost ancient African folklore stories to life.

When he is not busy writing and helping combat bullying, he can be seen on the popular show 10 Minute Fix that highlights Kenyans in the Diaspora.

Source: Mucheru Njaga website

Yvonne Ndege – Abuja, Nigeria

Yvonne Ndege is a journalist with Al-Jazeera, English.  She previously worked with BBC from 1997 to 2007.  Dedicated to her work, she won the silver prize of the United Nations Foundations Prize, awarded by the United Nations Correspondents Association, for her coverage of the humanitarian and development work that the United Nations and its agencies did in the Congo.

Yvonne Ndege

According to her biography on the Al-Jazeera website, Yvonne Ndege’s “…..broadcasting career began as a researcher on the BBC’s flagship investigative show Panorama where she worked on specials such as the 1998 bombings of US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. She then became a senior producer on BBC’s Newsnight with Jeremy Paxman. In 2003, Yvonne moved to on-air reporting where she worked for BBC Breakfast, BBC World and BBC Radio 4. Yvonne joined Al Jazeera English in 2007.”

To learn more about her, or keep up with her, visit her Facebook page.

Dr. Wanjiru Kamau Wins one of the 2011 Purpose Prizes

Dr. Wanjiru Kamau was selected to receive a 2011 Purpose Prize by Civic Ventures.  The blurb from them is below.

Dr. Wanjiru Kamau

Civic Ventures announced today, November 3, 2011 that Wanjiru Kamau, is one of five winners of its 2011 Purpose Prize, an annual $100,000 award for social entrepreneurs over 60 who are using their experience and passion to make an extraordinary impact on some of society’s biggest challenges. Now in its sixth year, the $17 million program is the nation’s only large-scale investment in social innovators in the second half of life.

“Wanjiru Kamau has improved the lives of thousands of children in the Washington, D.C., area,” said Marc Freedman, CEO and founder of Civic Ventures and author of The Big Shift (Public Affairs Books). “It’s really good news that Purpose Prize winners like Wanjiru – and millions of others in encore careers – are turning personal passions and decades of experience into invaluable contributions across sectors, continents and generations, often through entrepreneurship.”

Congratulations Dr. Kamau.  Continue making us proud. You can read all the details here.

XYZ show addresses real issues with comic relief

Okay, we at Kenyan Jewels are a little late in sharing, but it does mean that our readers get to enjoy several episodes of the ‘XYZ Show‘.   The ‘XYZ Show‘ is a politcal satire show that looks at some of the most talked-about issues in Kenya and shares them with tongue-in-cheek double entendre and innuendo.

Many of the shows are extremely hilarious, but you will need to know some Sheng and Swahili to understand the full meaning. Everything started in 2003. On a trip to Paris, for an exhibition Gado took time to visit the set of “Les Guignols de l’Info“, or the “News Puppets“. Les Guignols, just like XYZ, is a spoof newscast featuring latex puppets. It has been on the air for more than 20 years and is one of France’s most popular shows ever.

To Gado it was immediately obvious that the same concept would not only be a huge success in Kenya, but could also have an important social impact by exposing, with humor, the rampant corruption and mismanagement of the country.

He was right.  The show is now in it’s 5th season and is garnering a huge and loyal following.  To watch all the episodes and learn more about the origins and direction of the show, visit the website.  You can also follow along on their Facebook page.

John Nuraney – Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

John Nuraney was first elected as MLA for the riding of Burnaby-Willingdon in the 2001 provincial general election and was re-elected in 2005.

John has served on a variety of parliamentary committees such as the Select Standing Committees on Health and Finance and Government Services. He is also a member of the Government Multicultural Caucus Committee, Asian Economic Development Committee and the Government Caucus Committee for Education. Earlier he served as Chair of the Special Committee to Review the Police Complaints Process. John was also a member of the Government Caucus Committee for Health.

John owns five A&W Restaurants, and since 1978 has built seven new restaurants, creating over 100 new jobs. From 1955 to 1957 John trained with the Jubilee Insurance Company in Mombasa, Kenya, following which he obtained his professional insurance designation while working in London and Zurich.

John was the Financial Director of an international company until 1966 when he purchased and operated, until 1973, a successful electronic and music business which worked in partnership with Decca Records in Brussels recording, producing and distributing Zairian music.

John immigrated to Canada from Zaire in 1974 after his assets and business were nationalized by the Zairian government in 1973. After settling in Vancouver John worked with MacNaughton & Ward as a commercial insurance agent and a commercial realtor until 1978. John earned the Vancouver Real Estate Board’s Medallion Status in 1977.

John’s volunteer and community service experience included: Burnaby Rotary Club director and past president; Michael J. Fox Theatre director; Metrotown Community Policing Advisory Group member; and Family Services of Greater Vancouver director. John is an active volunteer helping to meet the needs of the less fortunate; he instigated the “Penny Harvest” project which feeds hungry children in Burnaby, a project which to date has served over 3,000 meals.

Born in Kenya, John has lived in the constituency for five years; he and his wife Gulshan have three children. John enjoys outdoor activities as well as chess and bridge and speaks French, Swahili, Lingala, Hindi and Gujarati.

Source: Legislative Assembly of British Columbia

Sheenaz Nanji – Calgary, Ontario, Canada

Shenaaz Nanji is proud of her heritage. She was born on the island of Mombasa on the East African coast and grew up amid a fusion of cultures: Bantu-Swahili, colonial British and East Indian. She has lived in three countries on two continents, and her career has been equally varied with employment in fields as diverse as teaching, systems analysis, and business administration. Yet she returns to her roots on the African coast as both catalyst and inspiration for her successful career as a children’s author and literacy advocate.

A long-time resident of Calgary, Shenaaz is an internationally published children’s author, whose works include the critically acclaimed “Child of Dandelions.” She is also a well-known and tireless advocate for children’s literacy, espousing a firm belief that “words have the power to change lives, especially young lives.” With that strong mission statement, Shenaaz achieved a postgraduate degree in Fine Arts in Writing at Vermont College while being a mother of two. Her stories are a reflection of her experiences raising a family in Calgary in the 1980s. She began to write stories that reflect that you can be cool even if you are different. Shenaaz has seven published works and a list of awards that include being a finalist for the Governor General’s award for Children’s Literature in 2008 by Canada Council and Notable Book for a Global Society by International Reading Association in 2009. She also makes time for school presentations at Literacy Festivals in Alberta and has been active in local initiatives such as the “It’s a Crime not to Read” program with the Calgary Police and Public Library.

She has sat on juries for The Writers Union, Canada Council of Arts, and Writers Guild of Alberta. She teaches Creative Writing for adults through Chinook Learning Services. Shenaaz aspires to make a difference in the lives of children and young adults by writing one story at a time. She writes: “The way I see it, we are all made up of stories…when these stories are written and shared they allow a larger group to belong, to understand who we are, where we have come from. Our stories will last longer than we will. In the end, they will be all that will be left.”

Source: Immigrant Services Calgary