I was afraid that my posts would eventually become less frequent and more sporadic. Just didn’t think it would happen this soon. My workload has been keeping me away from the writing I guess. Since I wrote last I have organized a Policy Forum for GESCI and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland where we hosted experts on ICT, Education, Science, Technology and Innovation from ministries across several African countries. We presented and discussed the critical link between skills development and education, innovation and enterprise creation (more here).
The capacity building part of “my” project, where we had 15 students within four areas (animation, graphic design, games development and digital music production) has also concluded and their graduation ceremony held. Their work was truly impressive and the animated short film below, which is the result of great cross-collaboration between the students, perhaps the most striking piece. More examples of their work is available at www.culturalindustriesafrica.org.
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I’ve also been on my first safari which was absolutely phenomenal. Watching leopards, lions, elephants, giraffes, rhinos, zebras, jackals, wild dogs etc. go about their day and play in the wild is something I would recommend everyone to do at least once in their lifetime.
Jackal and giraffe at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy with Mount Kenya in the background
However the main reason for this blog post is in regards to the upcoming Kenyan election. Last time the outcome spurred ethnic violence that left many dead and even more homeless. Whether or not we will see the same unfortunate turn of events unfold this time remains unclear, but is surely the main topic of conversation here right now. No matter what, and since I am not working on the elections, the decision has been made that I will be in Tanzania for the next couple of weeks.
I am not sure if I will have access to internet or a phone while there, so I feel it wise to inform everyone now in case I become seriously offline in March.
Laterz!
Mathias Antonsson 