Maasai song and video

No matter what anyone says, the Maasai are one of the main attractions to Kenya.  Its not just their spectacular looks, their fierce ways and their big sky wilderness landscapes…the music penetrates the soul. Listen and tell me what you think

Bicycle Repairman in Karen

In Africa bicycle repair men can be found everywhere, from under a tree to in the local vegetable market. I met Mohammed Makokha at the Karen market where he very proudly showed me two of his home made gadgets that are critical for his business.

Now I know I’ve been wasting money at the  bike repair shops in town!

Video on climate change – Rhoda’s footprint

I made a mistake in a previous guys – no not about gays or wife beaters, but about Rhoda’s carbon footprint.

It’s actually much smaller than I’d estimated so I’ve made a movie about Rhoda’s Footprint.

Watch it here

Poor people living in African countries are feeling the brunt of global climate change even though it is believed that most Africans cause hardly any green house gas emissions. To find out more about the average Kenyan carbon footprint I spoke to my neighbor Rhoda.  Rhoda is a domestic worker and she came to Nairobi from her rural home in search of a  job. Like me Rhoda she rents her house, and lives with her husband and one child.  What’s her carbon footprint?

You can also  listen to the podcast here on PRX

Shocking – even poor Kenyans have a huge carbon footprint!

To find a way of reducing my carbon footprint I thought I’d emulate someone with a very simple lifestyle. So I asked my neighbours maid who lives in a one bedroomed house with her husband and child. These are her energy sources and carbon footprint calculations. Rhoda doesn’t have a car- she uses a bus, her house is not connected to the grid so she uses paraffin lamps for lighting and for her cooking. She also uses firewood and charcoal for cooking and heat.

A poor persons carbon footprint is still HUGE

So you see, even a relatively poor person has a carbon footprint of 4.5 tons which is 500 kg of CO² more than the global average and more than twice the global target! THIS IS SHOCKING! Thank God she doesn’t have a cow!

Compared to me, Rhoda uses an enormous number of plastic bags but that only amounts to 237 kg of carbon dioxide. It’s the charcoal that contributes to the bulk of her carbon footprint accounting for 80% of it.

Now I am even more despondent about the Copenhagen meeting this month and it’s ability to forge an agreement with nations that will actually establish realistic mechanisms for reaching climate change targets….. it’s clear that in order to reach the global target even poor people will have to change their habits.

That’s about 95% of the Kenyan population. How do you ask poor people not to aspire to owning  a car, or to stop using cheap fuel like charcoal?

We need some out of the box thinkers @kahenya @roomthinker @bankelele @rafikikenya @robertalai @eastlandah @petergrete @keggaz @iamkenei send ur thoughts here