Friday, October 31, 2008

Alego Kogelo- A King is born

Just like the biblical little village where Jesus was born from a small Benjamin tribe, Alego Kogelo hit the headline all over the world. That is the root of the American president in waiting Barack Obama.

Kogelo is a small village in Siya district in Nyanza province of Kenya. It is part of the big Alego. In Nyanza much has been said about Alego people and particularly Kogelo. If you ask any body coming from Nyanza, Alego was notorious for witchcraft and the area was nicknamed “Alego tat yien” ( Alego the roof of medicine”-literal interpretation). This name was given to Alego because of their wide knowledge in traditional medicine and charms. It was good and the medicine and charms were not used to harm others but to protect the innocent from evildoers.

Alego people including Kogelo are well educated and hold Key position in the Kenyan and worldwide society today, no wonder we have the Obama in USA. Alego has made a lot of history in Kenya and one more is soon coming as Barack Obama ascends to the highest seat in the world; the American presidency, on the 4th of November. As that will come to pass Kenya, Africa and the hitherto little known Kogelo village will get a place in the world map.

Barak Obama we all wish you well.

As American votes ’08, we salute Obama!

Americans have started early voting and so this is a good time for me to write about Barrack Obama. I have always thought of writing about this great son, born of a man from a humble village in Kenya and being a Kenyan there is excitement about the son of a Kenyan man becoming President of a great Nation like America. However I have held my excitement because I was once beaten by the Kenyan elections outcome last year and am now shy to get over-excited about a favorite candidate wining an election. Though I cannot imagine the outcome being similar to that of Kenya’s past elections (stolen in broad daylight in such a primitive manner) because the technology used in America is modern and the level of democracy is not like the Kenyan`s. I can be consoled that there is a ray of hope for the son of a Kenyan man in American than it would be in Kenya to win an election fairly.

His father’s home Alego Kogelo which used to be a humble village in Kenya located in Siaya District in Nyanza province has became a famous village since the time he visited as a Senator. Now that Barrack Obama Jnr has climbed with great strides the stairway to the most powerful office, in a country known to be the most powerful in the world, this small village and Kenya as a whole has featured a lot in his campaigns. There are many visitors including international media in the area. I can imagine some have purchased land there only to be in the neighborhood of anything/body associated with the American president in waiting. Kogelo village is like another state in America located in Kenya.

America’s coming elections is now part of daily news in Kenya, with reporters from Kenya representing different media houses already in the US to cover the elections. You would think Kenya is now part of America because of Obama. Hence there is a lot of expectations from Kenyans especially from Luo Nyanza his late father’s tribesmen, Luos in Kenya are considered to be proud and like great things like fame, good life etc…. so I can imagine what it would be like if Barrack Obama becomes the next President of America.

I believe he is also famous in most parts of the world and if an American President was to be elected by the world, he would have a landslide win against is opponent Mc Cain. I want to believe this is what the outcome will be to bring a change in America.

I take this opportunity to wish “wuod Ja Kogelo (son of a man from Kogelo)” all the best. We should remember that a victory to Obama is a victory to Kogelo, Kenya, Africa, America and the whole world at large.

Friday, October 3, 2008

Rushing to the land of "milk and honey"

Many people in Kenya dream about going to the US/UK and some countries in Europe to pursue greener pastures, new opportunities or to join family members. I can imagine its the same with others in Africa and some parts of the world, but I think more are interested in going to US than to other countries in Europe, because there are more opportunities in this part of the world than the others. So I would call US a country flowing with "milk and honey" a term used in the Bible as the land of hope.

There are so many ways of getting there like Green card lottery as seen on the web and newspaper ads. Many have applied and succeeded and are settled there now, some go to study, work and others join their family members through different means.

However there are other means that leave me wondering whether they are genuine or funny deals. I have heard of people talking about people willing to assist them to go abroad through some organisations like religious ones, they only need to get a passport and visa, then they take care of other issues including travelling expenses, homes and jobs for them and their dependants. I have not yet come across anyone who has succeeded this way and has finally settled there with their families as promised.

I find this to good to be true and cannot even bother pursue such an avenue. May be there are many who have succeeded and this could be genuine, I just need to know and could be of help to someone pursuing this way of getting to the land of hope. Many people are so desperate in Kenya and Africa because of hard times, so con people take advantage of those desperate to go abroad by whatever means.

May be am wrong and it could be true many have succeeded this way, please let me know.

Earning from your blog

I started my blog as a hobby after reading other blogs, then I noticed they had ads on them. I did a search on placing ads on blogs and that's how I came to know about AdSense.

This encouraged me to place AdSense ads on my blog, first I only did one ad at the top and with time I learnt how to place more ads and improved on my blog.

At first I never imaged I would soon get a check from Google for my blog because it was earning slowly, but one day I got a surprise when I was passing Nairobi town center to check my post box and got a check.

This really encouraged me to do more posts on my blog and realised one can truly earn from their blog thus making blogging interesting.

A word of caution to bloggers interested in placing AdSense on their blogs is to read the rules carefully and stick by them.