What Inspired Make Love Not War T-shirt design.

We are living in a world of uncertainty, we don’t know what will happen tomorrow but through God’s grace and strong belief we thank our almighty Father for life and health.  A big percentage of the world’s problem is created by human beings for example poverty, pollution, insecurity, hunger, war just to mention but a few.  Come to think of it,  where do we go wrong? I tend to believe there are many people out there that don’t have regard for humanity through perpetuating violence and other crime related issues that makes the world even more polarized.

Using my work, skills, talent and time I have been working on positive change projects  for example T-shirt design and sports venture.   Make Love Not War is a Kenyan T-shirt design collection designed by me, the first series was Tribes42: One Nation One People followed by Love Waves: United Kenya and now I have Make Love Not War. The year 2013 is a year of jubilee ( Kenya 50th anniversary, golden Jubilee)  for my beloved country Kenya, I wouldn’t like to witness what happened in 2007/2008 post election violence whereby most people from diverse backgrounds especially the women and children suffered a lot.

In future  I would love to vie for leadership position in my country to provide good leadership that we have been yearning for many decades and as Napoleon said; “A leader is a dealer in hope. “  Napoleon Bonaparte.  We can agree to disagree but we need not to fight each other,  we should agree that there is great power in diversity and that's why my country Kenya should always be proud of having all the 42 tribes in place.

My plea to all Kenyans during this forthcoming general election on March 4th , is to embrace Peace, Love and Unity. The concept of  Make Love Not War T-shirt design comes at an opportune time after what was witnessed with the hotly contested nominations which left many contestants crying foul of not being declared winners.

 Back View

Orayoz! Make Love Not War..

Kenyans should embrace peace before and after the election, and the best expression is to love one another and not fight each other.  The best way I can reach many Kenyans is through my T-shirt campaigns; Make Love Not War and tribes42 T-shirts, because I’m not privileged to get space to address a big audience like that of  the political rallies but there are many avenues we can promote peace and put our message across not forgetting to mention the power of the internet (online presence). I would urge all the politicians  to unite us all despite their/our political affiliations and use the public platform to unite us thus hope for a new Kenya...

Coming next is Africa Designs… Watch the space somewhere in May 2013

Changing Times

Gone are the days when people used to chat, eat and relax with friends without the ring of a cell phone interrupting the conversation. Nowadays it is common to find people in a meeting with their mobile phones on, forcing facilitators to create meeting norms before diving into the main content. The common norms that are always on the list are mobile phones off, switching to silent mode or switching to vibration mode depending on the participants. As per my own findings, The current surprising revelation is that on the the list of meeting norms it’s more common to find no use of a mobile phone than no smoking.

The reason being, for smoking there have been remarkable efforts towards sensitization in private and public domains and people are aware. When I was young a child, a friend visiting our home for the first time could either ask for picture albums, stare at the pictures on the walls, read a book or magazines and lastly wait patiently with either their arms or legs crossed for further instructions or conversation. In today's age, with the wide spread of technology especial mobile phones, it's rare to find someone seated thoughtful doing nothing especially if they have a mobile phone in their palm. A large number of youths are fond of the habit of using their phone ‘AA’(Anytime & Anywhere ) which they don’t realize might be costly either not get clear information or missing an opportunity of getting hired especially if you are attending an interview etc.

In a conversation, either formal or informal it is key to concentrate and listen more than you speak, but how can you do that if your concentration is spread too thin by using a computer or mobile phone during the meeting? Technology isn’t bad, thus exploring it to the maximum is a good thing. The only worrying trend is how we have administered it that has loosened the social fabric to the extent that people relate more to gadgets than their peers. If this isn’t enough, have you ever sat with a friend chatting but instead of them listening to you with eye contact, which suggests a high level of concentration, their eyes are glued to their cell phones not for business purposes but on social network site chatting with an online friend.

The worst instances are when a person is either playing games or using the social network while in a meeting, having food with a group or alone. Last year while in Germany I met a friend who invited us to his home in the Netherlands. Apart from his generosity was his use of a phrase that has stuck in my mind “No Mail Meals!” which meant that there was a time for everything. In his words, you shouldn’t be emailing or using a computer while having a meal; you need to concentrate on enjoying the good taste of the food, and if with friends it is of value to concentrate on them rather than on a computer of mobile phone. I know of a family which switches off the television while having a meal .

So think deeply about this on how it can contribute to an effective family, team, or company to not abuse technology at the expense of interacting with people. Next time you are in a social place like a hotel, restaurant or church, observe keenly the trends on how people abuse technology at the expense of having a relaxed day out with friends or listening to lectures. Add your workplace, or if you are going to attend any formal meeting or workshops, open your eyes wider to capture the culprits.

My message to everyone out there is to embrace technology but not at the expense of human interaction when it is convenient. If this is not well balanced we are heading into a World of more interaction with machines than with real people.

“To solve the World’s problem we need more of human interaction while embracing technology”. Wilsenx

‘Amani Mtaani’ Football Tournament.

The year is coming to an end and I’m  looking forward to ushering in the new year 2013, a lot is expected in the new year being the year our Nation shall be celebrating its 50th birthday, the year of  jubilee.  Never the less it is good  to take account of the year 2012 which has had its share of  tribulations and triumph, thus with insightful reflection it will help us if possible not to repeat the same mistakes hence fasten our seat belts and cast our net wider for greater opportunities in 2013.

God has been so great to me this year like many other years in my life, I’m thankful for the support given to me all around the clock that granted me the opportunity to travel to Germany and the latest being Arua in  Northern Uganda.  As one of many Kenya who embrace diversity and wants peace to prevail in our country I have always challenged myself and my friends to initiate activities that shall unite all Kenyans even with less resources.

After launching the tribes42 T-shirt campaign One Nation – One People: My tribe is Kenya… (http://wilsenx.blogspot.com/2011/08/what-is-your-contribution.html) I feel more encouraged  to engage the youth in other activities that could help them spend  their time in a meaningful way especially in December.  December being a festive season and  almost all the schools , colleges and universities are closed at this time, and looking at the local sporting scene some of the leagues has ended,  thus leaving many of us glued to our televisions watching overseas leagues, movies etc. This trends leaves many young people wandering  around in the community in search of how they can use their time effectively or even try new experiences which some might be misleading.

“Amani  Mtaani” means peace in the community,  and with keen observation on how we usually spend our festive season in December  I have organized  a football tournament dubbed “Amani Mtaani”  whereby ten teams compete in a league basis play off and finals to be payed on the 26th December 2012. The main objective of this tournament is to preach peace and have the youth play together and forge new friendships despite their tribes and political affiliation. The most important rule of the tournament is to shake hands before and after each much and we strongly recommend praying together after the match despite the results.
My plea to everyone especially the youth!

“ You don’t know the importance of PEACE until you lose it… Don’t let the evil spirits torment your mind at the expense of losing peace… Let us cherish peace and live to maintain it forever. Happy festive season! @Wilsenx

“There’s nothing like broken dreams… Keep on dreaming whilst you search for your success in the puzzle”. @Wilsenx

Metro Wazee versus Mathare North Rangers during the on going 'Amani Mtaani' football tournament organized by Wilsen Initiative. The match ended 1-1