Friday, 1 October 2010

Three eminent Panelists Sit for Emerging Designer’s Competition Selection

16 Semi Finalist Named for the emerging designers Competition

16 out of 31 neo talents have been selected as semi-finalist, for the Swahili Fashion Week 2010 Emerging Designer of the year Award.

The selection which was held on 29 September 2010 at the Southern Sun Hotel where 16 emerging designers were selected by a Panelist of Three Judges. The Judges were renowned designer Manju Msitta of Smart Afrika Design Label, Charles Washoma, CEO of African Life assurance and One of Dar es Salaams Fashionable man and Director of arts Nsao Shalua of Baraza la Sanaa la Taifa (National arts Council)

The selected 16 semi-finalist will once again yet undergo an Intensive Selection to select the 8 Finalist who shall compete for the prestigious title during the Swahili Fashion Week to be held in November this year.

Swahili Fashion week Fashion Coordinator Washington Benbella Commented “The response has been tremendous, and the Zeal and zest shown by the amazing talent we have in this country is phenomenal, but the journey of those who weren’t selected should not end here and not give up on their passion”

The semi-finals selections are Zarina Suleiman, Pooja Narendrakumar Jeshang, Abduel Urasa, Shaaban Mfaume, Annette Ngogi, Mwajabu Sadiki, Diana Malenge, Mgece Makory, Omary Bundalah, Kelvin Boniface, Subira Rahma Wahure, Nadia. A. Ahmed, Angelina Muna, Jacqueline Chipeta, Bumi Musese and Grace Kijo.

The judges were looking at various criteria to choose the candidates based upon the designers ability to sketch, sketch attractiveness, creativity, color and thematic relation.

Swahili Fashion Week is a platform for designers - both fashion and accessory - from Swahili speaking countries to showcase their creativity, market their art and network with their clientele. This is all aimed at promoting fashion as an income generating, job creating industry while emphasizing a “Made in East Africa “concept.

Initiating a dynamic and promising platform for the fashion industry in the region, Swahili Fashion Week is geared towards being the most sought out after fashion platform in Eastern Africa for the international market.

The third annual Swahili Fashion Week will take this November in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.

The competition, now in its third year has no age limit, and was open to anyone who believes he or she has the creative talent to be a fashion designer. “Swahili Fashion week is the perfect platform for a designer to showcases his creation, and the emerging designers competition, is a stage to jump start off ones career.” Added Mustafa Hassanali Swahili Fashion Week organizer

CONTACT PERSON: Saphia Ngalapi, Media & PR Manager
TELEPHONE NUMBER: +255-712-099834
EMAIL ADDRESS: media@swahilifashionweek.com

Sunday, 7 March 2010

Marehemu Mbaraka Mwinyishehe akicharaza gitaa kwa ufundi wa hali ya juu. picha kwa hisan ya BONGOcelebrity.com


Mbaraka Mwinshehe akimvisha mke wake, Amney Shadad, pete ya ndoa. Hiyo ilikuwa tarehe 17/3/1972 mjini Morogoro.
Mbaraka alianza kujitengenezea jina kwenye medani ya muziki wakati alipokuwa mmojawapo ya wanamuziki waliokuwa wanaunda bendi maarufu ya Morogoro Jazz kati ya mwaka 1964 mpaka 1973. Baadaye ndipo alipoanzisha bendi yake mwenyewe iliyojulikana kama Super Volcano mwaka 1973. Alidumu na kutamba na Super Volcano mpaka mauti ilipomfika miaka sita baadaye. Kuimba alijifunza kutoka kwa Salum Abdullah, mwanzilishi wa Morogoro Jazz ambaye baadaye alijiengua na kwenda kuunda Cuban Marimba Band.Picha kwa hisan ya BONGO Cerebrity.com

Saturday, 6 March 2010

Historia fupi ya Muziki wa Dansi.

Huwezi kuzungumzia muziki wa dansi nchini Tanzania bila ya kutaja majina mashughuli katika fani hiyo hapa nchini, kama vile Muhiddin Maalim (Gurumo), Hassani Bitchuka, Abel Balthazar, Nguza Mbangu, Mbaraka mWinyishehe, Saidi Mabera na Ndala Kasheba.

Majina hayo ni baadhi tu, ila wapo wengi ambao wametamba ipasavyo katika anga za muziki wa dansi, miongoni mwao wapo hai mpaka leo na baadhi yao wameshatangulia mbele ya haki.

Kwa mijibu wa historia Muziki wa dansi ni muziki asili yake ni kutoka nchini Tanzania. Ulianzishwa katika mji wa Dar es Salaam kunako miaka ya 1930, tangu ulipoanazishwa ulikuwa unapendwa hadi hii leo kuna baadhi ya watu hawawezi kuukosa.

Muziki wa dansi unatokana na muziki wa soukous kutoka Kongo-Kinshasa (au "rumba ya kikongo") na tokea hapo mwanzo ulipoanzishwa ukiitwa "rumba ya Tanzania", muziki wa dansi umekuwa ukiimbwa kwa lugha fasaha ya Kiswahili, muziki huu pia unaweza uita "swahili jazz" kwa lugha ya Kiingereza.
Kwa mujibu wa vyanzo mbalimbali vya mtandao Muziki wa dansi ulianzishwa kunako miaka ya 1920-1930, ukiwa na mandhari ya muziki wa "soukous" kutoka Kongo-Kinshasa, ambapo ulikuwa ukipendwa kote Afrika ya Mashariki.
Tokea hapo bendi mbalimbali zilianzidhwa na zilianza kubuni mitindo tofauti ya uimbaji , upigaji na uchezaji, kwa mfano Dar es Salaam Jazz Band, Morogoro Jazz na Tabora Jazz.
Baada ya uhuru wa Tanzania, bendi nyingi za muziki wa dansi zilitegemea ofisi au vyama. Kwa mfano, NUTA Jazz Band ilikuwa bendi bayana na ilitegemea Jumuiya ya Wafanyakazi Tanzania ("National Union of Tanzania", NUTA, kwa Kiingereza).
Kunako miaka ya 1960-1980 muziki wa dansi uliendelea kwa ajili ya bendi bayana kama Orchestra Safari Sound, Orchestra Maquis Original, International Orchestra Safari Sound, DCC Mlimani Park Orchestra na Vijana Jazz.
Bendi nyingi za muziki wa dansi zilikuwa zikifanya show mbalmbali kila usiku, katika vilabu, mahoteli na kadhalika, na wanamuziki walipokezana. Kwa mfano Morogoro Jazz ilicharaza katika hoteli ya "Morogoro Hotel" ya Morogoro. Pia wanamuziki walikuwa wakifanyakazi kwa kulipwa, na bendi ilikuwa imikimiliki vyombo vya muziki. Wanamuziki mashuuri walibadili bendi mara nyingi, hata kuchuma zaidi na hatimaye kuanzilisha bendi zao. Kwa mfano Muhiddin Maalin na Hassani Bitchuka walicharaza katika mabendi mengi.
Kila bendi huwa na mtindo unatambulikana, na mwanamuziki hujikaribisha kwa mtindo wa bendi yao baada ya kuajiriwa. Kwa kawaida jina la mtindo larejea gungu, kwa mfano ogelea piga mbizi ya Orchestra Maquis Original. Wasanii wengine walijulikana kwa sababu huweza kuunda mitindo vizuri.
Kwa kawaida, nyimbo za muziki wa dansi huanza polepole kusisitiza maneno, kasha muimbaji huongeza vionjo hatua kwa hatua na hukuwa haraka (kipande hiki huiitwa chemko), na ngoma na magitaa huongeza kwa sauti.
Katika kitu chochote ushindani ni lazima ambapo kuna kuwa na lengo moja kubwa zaidi ni kufanya kitu kivutie na kupendendwa zaidi na watu, hivyo hivyo Ushindani upo baina ya bendi zamuziki, Kwa mfano, Orchestra Maquis Original ilikuwa ikishindana na Orchestra Safari Sound (kunako miaka ya 1970-1980) na baadaye International Orchestra Safari Sound kushindana na Mlimani Park. Pamoja na hayo pia huwa na sherehe mbalimbali za muziki wa dansi ambapo mara nyingine hufanywa kama shindano.
Kwa kipindi hiki tulichonacho, katika dunia ya utandawazi muziki unaendelea kukua na mitindo ya aina mbalimbali inaibuka, tunashuhudia vijana wengi wanaingia katika fani hii, ila pamoja na hayo yote bado muziki wa dannsi upo katika chati na wasanii wakongwe kama Maalimu Gurumo wanaendelea kutamba.

Gender Equality and Respect: where does Africa Stand?

By
Florence Mukanga

Culture is an important instrument of development but can also be a strong obstacle to development especially with regards to issues such as gender equality and respect for gender rights. It is crucial to explore the relations between culture and gender equality as gender relations shape culture or maybe it is the other way round. I am not really interested in debating this issue. My issue revolves around the manipulation of culture to create gender-based violence.

Cultural meanings given to women and men vary from society to society. It is an undeniable fact that traditionally in most African societies (at least in my own Shona Culture) women have had a lesser influence in decision making and less autonomy. This culture, though it did not endorse sexual violence and harassment of women in these societies but it somehow promoted this kind of behavior indirectly by making women assume kind of an inferior position.

However the rising prominence of the promotion of women's rights has challenged these traditional norms of culture. This development I would like to call the rise of a ‘new culture.’

In the ‘new culture’ there has been a Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) which defines violence against women as ‘any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or mental harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, force or denial of freedom, whether happening in public or in private life.’

Bodies like the United Nations have also joined the world in the fight against gender violence. The development community’s approach to gender empowerment has evolved since the 1970s when the United Nations’ International Year of Women in 1975 and international women’s decade (1976-85) saw the formation of many women’s ministries and the adoption of ‘Women in Development’ policies by governments and non-governmental bodies.

Presently, when the whole world is fighting to achieve the Millenium Development Goals, respect for gender equality is crucial. The MDG of promoting gender equality and empowering women was set to be achieved 10 years earlier than most of the Millennium Development Goals that face a deadline of 2015 and this testifies to the importance that this goal carries.

The year 2010 marks the end of the first decade of the new millennium and presents an opportunity to examine past achievements and measure the extent to which we have all implemented the resolutions made at the beginning of the new millennium. The major questions that remain unanswered are: how far have we gone in terms of achieving this goal as Africans? Has the top to bottom approach been sufficient to thwart gender violence? What is the way forward on this issue?

There have been strides in the area of equal girls' enrolment in primary school but the other two indicators still lag behind with women's share of paid employment and women's equal representation in national parliaments still remaining very low in Africa according to the United Nations MDG report for 2009.

In my own country Zimbabwe, where women constitute 52 per cent of entire population, there were only 7 Female Ministers against 33 Male Ministers in the cabinet as at 17 June 2009. The same applies to Malawi where Women in Malawi also constitute 52 per cent of the total 12 million Malawi population and yet recent statistics indicate that there are 6 women cabinet ministers out of a total of 37, 9 female chairpersons of parastatal organisations out of 47 and only 4 of 27 judges of the High Court and Supreme Court are women. Men continue to dominate in the public life.

In my opinion, it is crucial for us to know that culture is not static but dynamic. Cultural values are continually being re-interpreted in response to new needs and conditions. Some values are reaffirmed in this process, while others are challenged as no longer appropriate. I think this whole idea is taking too long to sink in most of our African societies.

Sources

1. Eunice Chipangula, Malawi to adopt the legislative quota based system to achieve gender equality in politics and public life, an article published on the Standing upon God’s promise blog on Wednesday, September 26, 2007.












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Friday, 5 March 2010

Courses, seminars, & workshops

WHERE???
Botswana:

Minority Rights and Indigenous Peoples Media skills training - March 2010
2010-02-18, Issue 470
http://pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/62383
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This five-day training, offered by Minority Rights Group International (MRG), aims to equip minority and indigenous peoples activists (individuals and NGOs) with media skills to generate their own information and to interact with local, regional and international media especially in the European Union.

Minority Rights and Indigenous Peoples Media Skills training in Botswana

Start Date

March 22, 2010

End Date

March 26, 2010

Location

Gaborone, Botswana


Event summary

This five-day training, offered by Minority Rights Group International (MRG), aims to equip minority and indigenous peoples activists (individuals and NGOs) with media skills to generate their own information and to interact with local, regional and international media especially in the European Union.

Specific aim

· To build the capacity of minority and indigenous NGOs in the region to generate their own media material and to interact with European Union based and other international media.
· To develop contacts between community NGOs and European Union and other international journalists to provide better focus on indigenous and minority issues in relation to MDGs.

The course includes the following topics:

Theme Analysis
-- Analysing key issues that currently affect the specific minority/indigenous communities, which the participants represent.
--How to identify the International human rights standards that directly relate to the issues affecting indigenous and minority communities
-- How to identify community stories/ issues that would be of interest to EU and other international audiences.
-- Analysis of ways in which foreign audiences gather information on minority and indigenous communities e.g TV, internet social networking tools and sites etc.
-- How to determine the timing of stories to match major international newsworthy events.
-- How to Include gender focus in media stories,
--How to include other groups who often experience intersectional discrimination e.g. those with disabilities, HIV/AIDS etc.
-- How to make and build media contacts with the EU media

Technical Training
-- Training on effective use of still and video cameras
-- Training on recording and editing audio and video segments for online use
-- Training on using the Internet to get messages out to a wider media audience via pod-casts or download feeds.
-- Training on writing press releases, conducting interviews, responding to interviews by foreign and local journalists, using blogs and diary notes, analysing media content.

-- Training on observation of libel laws and avoiding damage to reputation.

On-line media for advocacy

Using social networks for advocacy.

Registration Information

Full sponsorship including travel and accommodation is available to 18 participants (10 local participants from Botswana and 8 international participants from Africa). However, those interested and can sponsor themselves are welcome to participate.

For a registration/application form and details of the training, please contact MRG using the contact details below.

Contact

Mohamed Matovu

mohamed.matovu@mrgmail.org
Minority Rights Group International, Africa Office
Lujjumwa House, Ggaba Road
P.O. Box 31607 Kampala, Uganda

Tel: +256 312 266832 (Office)
+256 782 748 189 (Mobile)

Friday, 12 February 2010

Nyota Ndogo.....Musician from Kenya





Born in Mombasa Kenya, Mwanaisha Abdallah aka Nyota Ndogo has been building an enthusiastic local and international fan base for her eclectic East African sound for the past decade. A powerful singer-songwriter and charismatic performer, she has a distinctly coastal yet modern and unique sound that deserves worldwide attention.

Nyota's father Abdallah Atibu was a musician with another band from Mombasa. Struggling to make ends meet, she dropped out of school early and worked as a house maid. She became inspired to embark on a musical career after hearing hiphop group K-South's lyrics. Composing meaningful and touching lyrics herself, she often tackles social issues in her songs, for example Nalia talks about albinos; others tackle problems people are faced with due to corrupt politicians, drugs and AIDS.

Nyota Ndogo is frequently called to bring her pure and soulful vocal talents to collaborations with other East African artists, eg Necessary Noise's Nataka Toa, Nonini's Nibebe. On her latest album Mama wa Kambo she collaborates with Ali Choki on Usinifiche, Bobby Mapesa and Collo of Kleptominiax on Mambo Kombo Remix.

Nyota Ndogo has released four CDs and featured on several international music compilations, including Charlie Gillett's World 2003, The Rough Guide to Kenya and Off the Beaten Track.

She is winner of many national awards, including Best Taarab Singer 2003, Best Female Singer 2005 (Kisima Music Awards, Kenya), Best Video Watu na Viatu 2007, Best Dressed Artist 2007, Best Song Mama 2008.

Regionally, she was also nominated for the Best Female Artist in 2007 PAM (Pearl of Africa Music Awards, Uganda). Her song Watu na Viatu was nominated for East Africa Song of the Year at the 2007 Tanzania Music Awards.

Beautifull African Girl


At Bwawani Hotel Zanzibar, during my lovely sister wedding.

Nice to have a funny with friends


Sophy with friends in Swaziland during the Bush fire festival in 2008

Thank you...

I would like to take this opportunity to thank MISA-TAN for organizing training like this, journalists now days they really need knowledge on how to work by using internet effectively as a tool or source for searching information in their daily activities. The training was good, it’s open my eyes especial opening blog,

Also my special thanks go to Mr. Peik and Mr Mjengwa. Kwa kweli mmetufungua macho, pia nawashukuru sana kwa uvumilivu wenu kwani tumekuwa tukiiliza maswali mbalimbali ambayo kwa njia moja au nyingine yamewakwaza.

Pia naomba msichoke tutakapo kuwa tunakuulizeni maswali mengi mengi about to develop our blog, I will be always disturb you to make sure that my blog look good and meet my aim to have a good blog which can provide good information to the community.

Kwa ufupi napenda kuwashukuru sana ten asana kwa mafunzo mazuri ambayo mmetupa kwa muda huu wa wiki moja, kwani pia najiona ni mwenye bahati kubwa kupata nafasi hii.

Sorry, but I really feel good to mix kiswaenglish in my story.

AKHASANTE SANA.

The location helps to give Mwanza its very unique atmosphere


Mwanza town is the capital of Mwanza region

Rasilimali za Africa


Congo Caves

Karibu Mapochopocho ya Zanzibar



Hapa ni Sehemu ambyo huwa napenda kupumzika na kupata mlo wa jioni.

Gauni


Ni gauni ambazi zinajulikana kwa jina la Dira au dishdash.... unaweza kujipatia moja kama utapenda.