Rift Valley Festival 2012, Kenya

The Great Rift Valley Culture Experience (The Birthplace of Mankind) 

By Nikki Follis: For three days in early September, several thousand revellers from Kenya and beyond gathered on the shores of Lake Naivasha for the Rift Valley Festival (RVF). A showcase for local and emerging talent alongside more established African and international artists, the festival has been growing in reputation and ambition since its inception in 2010.

 

Photography Japhs Barikiwa
RVF is the brainchild of British brothers Ivan and Sean Ross, who admit that organising a festival of this scale has not been easy but that this year has marked a coming of age in terms of success. The pair divide their time between the Rift Valley and London, and run the event with a strong ethical spirit - all proceeds from ticket sales go directly to local community and environmental projects in the Naivaisha area. And by attracting festival goers from across the East Africa region as well as around the world, they also hope RVF will help promote Kenya as a safe and exciting tourist destination, a reputation that has been damaged in recent years due to media reporting of outbreaks of political unrest and violence in the country.









  

 Photography Julia McKay
This year’s line-up featured more than 40 artists across the several stages nestled around the beautiful, waterside setting of Fisherman’s Camp, owned by the Ross brothers’ parents, which in itself is one of RVF’s main draws. What other festival offers the chance to go hippo spotting under the watchful eye of Masaai security guards in between enjoying music, food, dancing and culture?

 
Photography  Japhs Barikiwa @ Dunsa Culture Safaris

The festival kicked off on Friday evening with DJs Under The Stars on the main stage, featuring spin-masters of the nascent Kenyan Afro-house scene, such as BBSA, Barney Barrow and one-to-watch Nairobi collective Electrique DJs & The Beat Parade Band. The UK’s Felix Buxton of Basement Jaxx fame headlined with a set heavily inspired by afrobeats old and new.

Saturday and Sunday's acts treated festival-goers to a musical smogasboard covering African roots, soul, jazz, ska, dub, reggae, house, hip hop and rock. Highlights included renowned Kenyan songstress Suzanna Owiyo; stalwarts of the global festival circuit Yunasi, whose East African sesube music style got a lazy late afternoon crowd on their feet; and the infectious rhythms of Congolese group Rumba Japan.

One of the biggest crowd-pleasers of the weekend was the Saturday night set by New York-based multi-instrumentalist, rapper and beat-boxer Joe Driscoll, whom Cee Lo Green has labelled ‘the gangsta with an iron lung’, with Guinean Sekou Kouyate, known in France as the ‘Jimi Hendrix of the kora’. Speaking of their collaboration, which was born when they met at the French festival Nuits Métis, Sekou noted, “He doesn’t speak any French, and I speak no English, but through music we understand”.

Pools And Family Vacations By Hilton Hotels & Resorts

Pools Rule In New Hilton Hotels & Resorts Study Of Family Vacations

Hilton Blue Paper Uncovers What Families Really Want in Resort Vacations: Pools Lead Wish List; Kids’ Clubs with Thrills and All-Inclusive Resorts on the Rise

This information originated in American English. http://news.hilton.com/index.cfm/newsroom/detail/22094

inShare

September 27, 2012
MCLEAN, Va. - Pools and water activities are the most important element of a family resort vacation, followed by spacious and potentially adjoining guest rooms, according to the latest Hilton Blue Paper - "Resort Travel Trends: What Families Want." Hilton Hotels & Resorts issues the study today as the flagship brand of Hilton Worldwide prepares to introduce Hilton Puerto Vallarta Resort as its 75th resort and first all-inclusive in Mexico this fall. The study explores top destinations along with the needs and preferences of parents and kids when it comes to family vacations. Hilton finds an increased interest in all-inclusive resorts, with 92 percent of U.S. parents and 95 percent of U.K. parents polled at least "somewhat interested" in this model.
Additional focus is given to the vacation planning process, today's desirable destinations and the preferred components of an ultimate kids' club experience. The report was commissioned by Hilton Hotels & Resorts and offers valuable insight from parents and kids - through a survey to more than 1,200 parents in the U.S. and U.K. in June and July 2012 as well as 20 focus groups that separated moms and kids in November 2011 in the U.S., U.K. and China.
"This new research offers a timely perspective on what today's families seek in resort vacations," said Dave Horton, global head, Hilton Hotels & Resorts. "Of particular note, the report's leading resort vacation considerations of pools and food for everyone are key touch points for our 75 resorts that all offer at least two pools or a pool and a beach and a minimum of two restaurants along with waterfront food and beverage services."
Key insights in this Hilton Blue Paper include:

• Pools and water activities are the No. 1 resort touch point for parents and kids, followed by spacious (and potentially adjoining) guest rooms and a variety of dining options
• Kids' clubs are a highly valued resort amenity for families, as they allow kids to have fun and enjoy group activities while parents take advantage of some "me" time - key considerations for kids' club use are safety, flexibility and diverse programming
• Top destinations where U.S. parents want to vacation now include Hawaii, Orlando, the Grand Canyon, Southern California and Continental Europe, while U.K. parents pair their top choice of Orlando with Disneyland Paris, Italy, Mallorca and Dubai
• An increasing interest in all-inclusive resorts, with 92 percent of U.S. parents and 95 percent of U.K. parents at least "somewhat interested" in this resort vacation option
• Mom serves as the family travel agent - researching travel options and seeking advice from trusted sources (including friends and family) before booking a family vacation
• While parents want to simply relax and create fond memories while vacationing, kids are most interested in fun pools and good food
• A checklist of parent recommendations for resort vacations that please everyone in the family

"This Hilton Blue Paper examines the family vacation experience from the planning period to key on-property touch points, with input coming from the most credible source of moms, dads and kids in cities around the world who regularly take resort vacations," said Bonnie Campagnuolo, senior director, global brand marketing, Hilton Hotels & Resorts. "We look forward to using the report to further shape the guiding principles and standards for our Hilton Resorts portfolio that offers 75 resorts in 28 countries."
The Hilton Blue Paper is released as the Hilton Resorts portfolio continues to expand its global footprint with 17 resorts in development while consistently offering memorable vacation experiences in the world's most desirable locations - as near as Florida and Hawaii and as exotic as Mauritius, Seychelles and Bora Bora. The portfolio, which features 10 all-inclusive resorts with the opening of Hilton Puerto Vallarta Resort in October 2012, will introduce exciting beach and city resorts by 2015 in destinations including Argentina, Austria, China, India, Egypt, U.A.E. and Jordan.
Hilton Resorts is a specific collection of premier properties within the Hilton Hotels & Resorts portfolio that are designed for travelers seeking relaxation and rejuvenation in the world's most sought-after destinations. This distinguished group of more than 70 properties located throughout 28 countries encompasses requirements above and beyond the Hilton brand standards.
To view a summary and full version of the "Resort Travel Trends: What Families Want" report and other Hilton Blue Papers, visit http://news.hilton.com/bluepaper. To learn more about Hilton Resorts, visit http://hilton.com/resorts or http://news.hilton.com/resorts.

Safaricom do not Own the Patents to the M-PESA Innovation

M-PESA is not a Kenyan Innovation

@ http://www.gmeltdown.com/2009/12/m-pesa-is-not-kenyan-innovation.html

Posted by John Kieti

Many Kenyans still believe that 'their' Safaricom owns the patents to the M-PESA innovation. Some Kenyans even claim that Safaricom hijacked their idea and developed it into M-PESA - a court case was once reported on this. The reality being that the system  was 'developed' by Sagentia on behalf of Vodafone, it goes without saying that the corresponding intellectual property (IP) does not belong to Safaricom. That is also not to forget that Kenya has enough software development capacity to build such a system on a robust platform.

Safaricom is paying patent fees to Vodafone just like any other network operator who will wish to use the money transfer platform. It might help for Michael Joseph to clarify if any benefits accrue to himself or others in Safaricom specifically for accepting to be the test platform for "Vodafone's innovation". Such a clarification should of course address the opportunity cost of a more direct contribution to Kenya's knowledge economy through the apparently foregone IP ownership.

I would like to suggest that if for any other reason M-PESA does not succeed in other markets outside Kenya, it will be because the M-PESA is merely a Kenyan innovation, whose success is a direct derivative of  Kenya's patriotism. As such the innovation's success may not be replicated where the corresponding patriotic emotion is inexistent.

Consider the patriotism displayed in the oversubscription of the Safaricom IPO of 2008. Consider the fanatical self imposed network (Safaricom) lock-in of over 14 million Kenyans. Then you might start understanding the success of M-PESA in Kenya. Many Kenyans found M-PESA compelling merely because it was supposed to be a 'Kenyan Invention'. Indeed the M-PESA success story may not be complete without mentioning the sense of belonging and patriotism of Kenyans as an aftermath of 2007/8 election crisis.

Had the 5+ Millions of M-PESA users initially learnt some of the facts in Olga Morawczynski's

article - What you don't know about M-PESA, the service might as well have been struggling as is the case with the Vodacom's attempt in Tanzania. Consider the question - why are ZAP and YuCash - alternatives to MPESA not yet success stories? In my opinion, the technological platform could have been developed by anyone else - including our own software developers. The business processes addressing the socio-economic context could only have come from the Kenyan populace - regardless of who eventually incorporated them into the software.    

I am sure at some point in history, the social scientists will have something to say about the role of Kenya's social-political crisis of 2007 and 2008 in the M-PESA success story.

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Happy Ethiopia New Year 2005, 11th September. Enkutatash!

Happy 2005 Ethiopian New Year

Culture, Ethiopia, Holidays, 

Ayanna Nahmias, Editor-in-Chief

 

This is an inspirational time of the year because of the proximity of the major holidays of the Abrahamic religions.

We have just concluded Ramadan and now we are celebrating the Ethiopian New Year.  Enkutatash is the  word for new year in Amharic the official language of Ethiopia.

The new year is also known as Ri’se Awde Amet (Head Anniversary) in Ge’ez, an appellation preferred by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.

It occurs on September 11 in the Gregorian calendar, except for leap years, when it occurs on September 12. The Ethiopian calendar year 1998 ‘Amätä Məhrät (“Year of Mercy”) began on September 11, 2005. However, the Ethiopian years 1996 and 1992 AM began on September 12, 2003 and 1999, respectively.

This date correspondence applies from the Gregorian years 1900 to 2099. Generally, because every fourth Ethiopian year is a leap year without exception, while Gregorian years divisible by 100 are not leap years, a set of corresponding dates will thus apply only for one century. However, because the Gregorian year 2000 is a leap year, then in this case the correspondences continue for two centuries. (Source: Wikipedia)

The Ethiopian New Year will be followed by the Jewish High Holidays of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.  We honor all of our readers by acknowledging and celebrating their holy holidays and we thank them and wish them happiness and joy on during these perennial festivals.

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