Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Pictures from the WSF Nairobi

There is a good discussion of the Nairobi Social Forum by Jordan Flaherty, who is an activist from New Orleans at http://kenya.indymedia.org/news/2007/01/526.php For a video interview with one of the founders of the Social Forum movement, go to http://movies7.arcoiris.tv/movies/WSF_nairobi_2007/
interviste/sylvia_borren_eng_big.ram I also recommend the comprehensive notes from Terry Wolfwood.
For an interview (in Spanish) with Roberto Savio, founder of Interpress Service: http://movies7.arcoiris.tv/movies/WSF_nairobi_2007/
interviste/savio_es_big.ramOne of the booths promoting organic agriculture.The organic booth also had a group of Massai women selling their beadwork.Ugo Vallauri, my former student from San Diego, is now in Nairobi working with Computer Aid International, which refurbishes computers from Europe for NGOs in Africa. This photo was taken during a panel on media and information which was sponsored by CRIS, Campaign for Rights in the Information Society, that was organized by Sally Burch and Jason Nardi.At the final ceremony there was a group of students from the Nairobi Aviation College.This fancy restaurant was one of the few food venues inside the stadium grounds of the WSF. The food was extremely expensive and all the food consessions at the venue were the property of Kenya's Interior Minister, a hated thug who is well known among the Niarobi populace as a torturer and murderer. Small food producers were not allowed in, and forced to hawk their wares outside the gates. Protests against this situation eventually lead to the "liberation" of the restaurants and the giving out of food free to many hungry youngsters. This is how the BBC reported it:Dozens of street children have invaded a five-star hotel food tent and feasted on meals meant for sale at the World Social Forum in Kenya's capital. The hungry urchins were joined by other participants who complained that the food was too expensive at the annual anti-capitalist get together. The police, caught unawares, were unable to stop the free-for-all that saw the food containers swept clean. The gathering in Nairobi is discussing social problems, including poverty. A plate of food at the tent being operated by the prestigious Windsor Hotel was selling for $7 in a country where many live on...

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