Young Champions in Africa - Nairobi Kenya

Today, I want to introduce to you another great champion making positive change in our society, he goes by the name Daniel Onyango from Nairobi, Kenya. Daniel is a Singer/ Songwriter and Instrumentalist whose vision is to ignite cultural, social and economic empowerment through music.

I'm very honored to connect with the likes of Daniel during the creative entrepreneurship class where we were able to connect and also learn from each others creative life cycles.  The class comprised of young East Africans ( Kenya, Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda) who are actively involved in shaping our countries creative economy sector.

Daniel's passion for music started during his primary and secondary school days when growing up in the slums of Korogocho, and been the only one in the family who had interest in pursuing a career in arts which isn't consider a serious job to many in his community. He was convinced and determined from a very tender age that music was what he wanted to do because it gave him a platform to share, express himself and most importantly echo the voice of the voiceless from the disadvantaged communities.

In 2005, together with his friends he founded the Hope Raisers Band which he was the band leader. This is the first live band group from Korogocho, though later they separated the ideas and the spirit remained alive and later Hope Raisers emerged to become a community youth led art and sports organization.

For more about Daniel please visit;  http://creativeentrepreneurshipkenya.wordpress.com/2014/06/18/creative-entrepreneurship-2014-class-iv-profiles-daniel-onyango/

In my quest for knowledge sharing society, I designed Daniels blog and business cards as part of his footprints both online and offline.  I was very honored to discuss and share some online and offline visibility tips for Daniel's work and profile as someone who is really devoted to making our communities better through education and sports.

Here are the cards  and the blog (https://onyangokambanane.wordpress.com/) that I designed and I wish my friend all the best in sharing the African taste of rhythms and tunes. 

https://onyangokambanane.wordpress.com/

Grass Root Football in Kenya

What happened to the Sakata ball tournament? It is now three years since it was played last, the tournament was one of the greatest youth tournaments held in the country.  Are the champs still playing football? Where are they currently? This are an answered questions and many others that needs to be asked! This was the greatest resource and avenue our national team could use in empowering and preparing the youths for global stage like the Africa cup of National and World cup  and actually make the transition from the youth teams to the National team more sustainable etc.

Does Kenya (my homeland) has a youth program or academies for empowering, nurturing talented footballers for both boys and girls? We witness great stars turn into crime, drugs etc. because of frustrations, mismanagement, lack of adequate  facilities, lack of professionalism etc. Something needs to be done if we need to be recognized as a nation of great footballers like in athletics and rugby...

DO SOMETHING TODAY! Wilsen Initiative seeks to address this issues by empowering young people with the critical skills to make the right choices despite their situations and most importantly encourage the use of talent and skills for prosperity. It's so unfortunate our nation team lost to Lesotho 1-0 (20/07/201) after the World cup exposure!

I hope they will make us proud during the return match. It's high time we have a sports policy that have clear road map of implementation, if are really serious as a Nation that supports and recognizes sports for development on both social and economical pillars.

Daily Nation Tuesday August 30, 2011

The Creative Entrepreneurship Course

The GoDown Arts Centre’s creative entrepreneurship course is for artists and creative entrepreneurs across all creative arts disciplines. Through it artists hone their business and life skills in an inspiring learning environment, among peers and facilitators with whom they exchange experiences, challenges and insights. Together, they begin to build a community of like-minded, empowered individuals who beyond the course form networks of support that not only advance their individual careers but the wider creative sector as well.

For more please visit http://creativeentrepreneurshipkenya.org/ and http://creativeentrepreneurshipkenya.wordpress.com/

I would like to recommend this course to any artist either emerging or professionals. The course gave me a great avenue to connect with other creative’s and understand my life cycle and more important think of how to monetize my creative skills and talents while impacting on social change. Most of the lessons covered beamed many light bulbs of hope, connectivity, reflection, awareness etc.

My top eight favorite lessons;

1. Opportunity Spotting
2. Managing people ( Team building, hiring, firing and ethics)
3. Raising finances
4. Copyright and Intellectual Property (IP)
5. Contract and Negotiating. 
6. Pricing and Branding
7. Life cycle 
8. Money and Meaning

As I focus on my next move, I will share all the lessons learned while we continue to sharp the Wilsen Initiative model and other initiatives.

I thank the GoDown Art Centre (http://www.thegodownartscentre.com/) for developing this valuable course that connected us with top artists and experts in Kenya. The live interactions with the experts and masters in different forms of art should be emulated across the sector because through sharing their unique journey we were able to relate in different stages in our arts whereby they encouraged us to prepare well and never to fear to fail while focusing on success.

Here some of the work I did for my colleagues at a pro bono basis;

• Strong karakire from Rwanda: Blog & Business cards http://imaginestrong.wordpress.com/
• Remy Nsanyiwa - Banners

My online portfolio; https://www.behance.net/wilsenx

Pictures during the graduation held at Crowne Plaza Upper Hill on 18th July 2014

Creative Entrepreneurship 2014 Class IV
http://creativeentrepreneurshipkenya.wordpress.com/

With ERIC OMONDI (Kenyan Comedian)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-JTL-_ghKc

With Suzanna Owiyo renowned Kenyan Musician & James Muriuki renowed photographer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNPYCNo6igE

Creative Entrepreneurship 2014 Class IV
http://creativeentrepreneurshipkenya.wordpress.com/

Creative Entrepreneurship 2014 Class IV  - Presentations
http://creativeentrepreneurshipkenya.wordpress.com/

With James Muriuki, Kenyan renowned photographer

Creative Entrepreneurship 2014 Class IV  - Presentation
http://creativeentrepreneurshipkenya.wordpress.com/

 Creative Entrepreneurship 2014 Class IV  - Presentations
http://creativeentrepreneurshipkenya.wordpress.com/

Sports and Education

On 13th July 2014 we marked another era in the World cup history after Germany clinched the most prestigious trophy in the World of football. Football is a team sport that connects people from all races and creed. There are many reasons why Germany won the trophy apart from building their own training facility fully fitted with everything in preparation for the games. This marks an era where adequate preparations and teamwork is required to achieve success and prosperity in any football organizations and should be emulated especially by the African nations.

Back home in Kenya, we are hosting the all Africa University Games 2014 under the banner peace and solidarity in Africa through varsity sports scheduled for 11th July to 18th July 2014. I have been wondering why we don’t make it in most regional tournaments, the time has come when we should start investing in sports for sustainable development and the top of the agenda is having people in leadership who have some history and passion for the game.  All sportsperson require empowerment through education because talent alone isn't enough. Through sports many skills are learned on and off the pitch and when it’s combined with well structured education the impact is immense.

In a special way I want to give credits to Kenya Methodist University (KeMU) for recognizing and supporting talented girls in football through awarding them scholarships.

KeMU’s Philosophy
The University's Philosophy is to foster the intellectual, spiritual and physical development of the wholesome individual in order to recognize and utilize the available opportunities for enhancement of human development with the appropriate recognition and respect for other creations

The Mission of the University is: "To contribute to the transformation of our society by providing high quality education that promotes excellence in scholarship, research and selfless service to the community". 

Website: http://www.kemu.ac.ke

In growing our economy, sport for development programs should cut across all sectors and be given adequate support for the growth of our nations. There are many other institutions that embrace sports as the avenues for education, employment, connecting people, peace building  etc.  This practice is also seen in the military institutions and the corporates though the only missing link is how to link it with education and the community with a more sustainable approach.

I wish all the women footballers  all the best in try to make both end meet by using their talent to access the best institutions of learning while they develop their careers.

Inner Glow Versus Outer Glow

Career versus Position (Titles)

Career is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as a person's "course or progress through life (or a distinct portion of life)". In this definition career is understood to relate to a range of aspects of an individual's life, learning and work. Career is also frequently understood to relate to the working aspects of an individuals life e.g. as in career woman. A third way in which the term career is used to describe an occupation or a profession that usually involves special training or formal education,[1] and is considered to be a person’s lifework.[2] In this case "a career" is seen as a sequence of related jobs usually pursued within a single industry or sector e.g. "a career in law" or "a career in the building trade". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Career

What is a career?
 Source: http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/students/beyond/pages/whatcareer.aspx

A career includes all the roles you undertake throughout your life - education, training, paid and unpaid work, family, volunteer work, leisure activities and more.
"Career" was traditionally associated with paid employment and referred to a single occupation. In today's world the term career is seen as a continuous process of learning and development.
Activities that contribute to a career can include:

• training
• education 
• employment 
• work experience 
• community activities 
• enterprise activities 
• employment 
• different life roles 
• volunteer work
• leisure activities  
• Career Choices

Making the best career choices involves:

• knowing yourself - what you like (your interests), what you are good at (your skills and abilities), what is important to you (values)
• getting to understand the world of work - what’s out there
• learning how to make informed decisions

What is a Position?
Position in team sports refers to the joint arrangement of a team on its field of play during a game and to the standardized place of any individual player in that arrangement. Much instruction, strategy, and reporting is organized by a set of individual player positions that is standard for the sport.
Some player positions may be official, others unofficial. For example, baseball rules govern the pitcher by that name, but not the shortstop, where pitcher and shortstop are two of baseball's nine fielding positions. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Position_%28team_sports%29

The position here relates to the title one holds in a company or institution which with time is bound to change has you move up your career ladder.  So from today choose a career path and create many opportunities for greater position with the country, county, organization, company etc.