Urgent Evoke

A crash course in changing the world.

Shakwei Mbindyo's Blog (52)

Passing on the gift



As the 3rd of 3 girls in my family, I am used to get "hand me downs" from my siblings. I did not appreciate this system when I was younger but today I love it! My sisters are so used to handing stuff down to me such that all I have to do is stare at my sisters shoes for a couple of seconds and they will offer them to me - lucky…

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Added by Shakwei Mbindyo on March 13, 2010 at 9:23pm — 2 Comments

Urban living

60% of Kenya's population live in the rural areas. Out of the 40% who live in the urban areas, almost half lives in over 100 slums and squatter settlements. The slum areas of Nairobi are swollen to record numbers. The most famous (or infamous) urban slum in Kenya - Kibera - accounts for less than 1% of Nairobi's total area, but holds more than a quarter of its population.

Many of the people living in urban slums are educated young men and women who moved to the city in search…

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Added by Shakwei Mbindyo on March 12, 2010 at 2:00pm — 4 Comments

Hero from Ghana via USA

My search for a hero has taken my across the globe. From Wangari Maathai and Dr. James Mwangi, to President Paul Kagame, to Prof. Mohammad Yunus, to Paul Meyer ... and the list goes on!

I finaly settled for Cliff Schmidt of Ghana via the USA. I first heard Cliff Schmidt speak to a Googlers regarding his innocation the "Talking Book". The Talking Book is a simple, durable and portable audio…

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Added by Shakwei Mbindyo on March 11, 2010 at 9:05pm — 4 Comments

Garden In A Sack



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Added by Shakwei Mbindyo on March 11, 2010 at 6:56pm — 16 Comments

Who will feed me?

Like many Africans, I have an "ancestral home" (or shags as we call it in Kenya) where we have a farm. Just 10 years ago my shags was considered to be in the RURAL areas. But with the growth in urban population and the expansion of the cities, my shags in now considered to be in the suburb. Which means that real estate is now booming business as all the farms are targeted for shopping malls and apartment complexes.

So, who will feed all the people "encroaching" on…

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Added by Shakwei Mbindyo on March 10, 2010 at 9:04am — 17 Comments

In Memorium



Every minute somewhere in the world a woman dies in pregnancy or childbirth. In my country Kenya, 22 women…

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Added by Shakwei Mbindyo on March 8, 2010 at 6:30am — 4 Comments

Cellphones and the visually impared

As I continue my search for a hero, I came across the term "assistive technology" which i learnt is technology targeted towards persons with disabilities.

In Kenya (and I reckon most of the developing world), if you are blind, deaf or otherwise impared, it means you are dumb. You are generally excluded from formal educational opportunities at an early age and even shunned by your family and community. Although there are numerous…

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Added by Shakwei Mbindyo on March 5, 2010 at 2:30pm — 6 Comments

Student-designed device still in use in Kenya

In my search for a hero, I came across the story of Brigham Young University student engineers who designed an innovative and cost-effective apparatus that enables poor women from Tanzania turn abundant coconuts into valuable coconut oil in 2008. Their story highlighted here is further evidence of what social innovation is all about. I searched to see if/how…

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Added by Shakwei Mbindyo on March 5, 2010 at 12:00pm — 3 Comments

Social Innovator = CNN Hero?



Driving to work this morning along the very bery busy Langata Road in Nairobi I heard the story of Evans Wadongo. Instead of brewing moonshine - as many freshmen in Kenya are wont to do - Evans started working on a solar lantern while in university.…

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Added by Shakwei Mbindyo on March 5, 2010 at 10:11am — 4 Comments

Education for all

I spent this morning sharing expiences with some members of a research team at Strathmore University in Nairobi, kenya. This team of young researchers has recieved a grant from HP to do research on the use of ICT in Enhancing Teaching and Curriculum Delivery in Marginalized Secondary Schools in Kenya. The aim of the project is to build capacity and champion learning of ICTs use in secondary schools with little computing resources in…

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Added by Shakwei Mbindyo on March 4, 2010 at 5:41pm — 11 Comments

Beautiful Africa

Although Kenyan and African, I have lived in all but 2 continents and consider myself a citizen of the world. But I have a stong connection with Africa which (not suprisingly) I consider the most beautiful place ever. "Popular" stories in the media focus on poverty, hunger, disease and debt - true challenges for most Africans. But what about the joy, generosity, crazy humour, rich history and culture; love for soccer, singing & education? What about the stunning landscape and wildlife?…

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Added by Shakwei Mbindyo on March 4, 2010 at 4:57pm — 4 Comments

Honoring individuals, communities and cultures

For the past few months, my email signature has been (and still is) the African proverb "To go quickly go alone, to go far go together". Though I read it everyday - and share it willy nilly with the rest of the world - I have not thought about "going far together" and social innovation.

As I think of this proverb today, I think about the importance of honoring individuals, communities and cultures in social innovation. The usual /…

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Added by Shakwei Mbindyo on March 4, 2010 at 9:30am — 3 Comments

Latest Activity

Ning Admin is now a member of Urgent Evoke
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Sep 25, 2020
Sophie C. commented on Asger Jon Vistisen's blog post Stinging Nettle
"I love that you've brought this to attention. An extensive database of uncommon but resistant and hardy plants/foods could be developed and organized by climate. Ease of growth and processing should also be taken in to account. I will try to…"
Aug 19, 2020
Meghan Mulvey posted a blog post

Fourth of July on the Lake

This past weekend was the annual celebration at the lake house in Connecticut. It is amazing that the lake is still so clear and beautiful after all these years. The watershed association has done a wonderful job protecting these waters from the damaging effects of development.The wood grill was finally ready to cook on, so we didn't miss the propane tank fueled grill anymore. The food actually tasted fresher than in the past and was easy to keep fueled.Dad was very proud of the solar hybrid…See More
Jul 6, 2020
Asger Jon Vistisen posted a blog post

Stinging Nettle

In this blog post I will focus on a plant that is abundant in our nature, and which is immensely nutritious. It's of course the Stinging Nettle. Let's start with the chemical constituents of this plant:37 % Non-Nitrogen-Extracts19 - 29 % Ash9 - 21 % Fiber4 % Fat22 % ProteinOnce the leaves are drid, their protein content can reach an astounding 40 %, which is much higher than beef, which even under the best of circ**stances can never exceed 31 % protein. In addition the Stinging Nettle consists…See More
Apr 13, 2020
Jonathon McCallum posted a blog post

The meal

It is 7'oclock, I was late home from work due to an assignment that i wanted to get ahead on. By the time I get home I am feeling extremley tired and I cannot be bothered to make a proper meal. I walk to the fridge and open it to see what there is for me to eat. All of the out of date foodstuffs have been automaticaly thrown away by the fridge, they will be recycled tomorrow as animal feed or something. I see i have organic local eggs and some local cheese. Foods are vacc** sealded for easy…See More
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Mar 1, 2020
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Future

FutureToday is 2020/1/1. It is just like yesterday. The war is still continuing. It has started since 2010. In 2010, that year was a horrible year. Almost every energy ran out. Every country’s governments were crushed down at the same time. There were riots everywhere. All of the big company’s bosses were killed xdeadx in the riots. Troops fought each other everywhere. Food was bought up xawayx at once. There were no more food supplies in any shops. The economy was all crushed down. All the…See More
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public servants

The exchange works directly for state and public workers and servants. It gives them credit in exchange for the amount of public work they contribute to the community. The more constructive they are based off a base rate the more credit they recieve.
May 2, 2015

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