JKUMUN Crowned Winners of Warm Up 2010Posted by Phoebe Khagame on 4th November, 2010
Congratulations are in order for our brilliant team of jkumuners who floored the competition to gain this year's title of top brains at the recent Warm Up competition.
On the 30th of October, the Kenya Model United Nations held a quizzical challenge at Catholic University of East Africa (CUEA). The participating teams were from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), University of Nairobi (UoN), Daystar, Kenya Methodist University (KeMU) and the hosts, CUEA.
JKUAT was represented by two teams, Team Jaguar with team members Derrick, Kevin and Phoebe, and Team Sabers with Calvin, Eva and Nicholas.
Team Sabers got to the semi-finals, with Jaguars scooping the first position, narrowly beating Team Promulgators from CUEA, who were the event’s favorite. The first, second and third teams were given books on the United Nations, which are available to the club members upon request, from the deputy secretary general, Phoebe.
JKUMUN Annual DinnerPosted by Phoebe Khagame on 8th September, 2010
Our young and dignified members of the Jomo Kenyatta Chapter of the Model United Nations held their long awaited dinner on the 23rd of July. The now annual event was a huge success and a feat like no other, putting to shame those who said it couldn’t be done, well we did it - for the second time! This time, it was bigger and better; growing from strength to strength is what we do best.
Guests and hosts of the diplomatic corps were treated to a superb time - a combination of leisure and pleasure in an environment that was a little different from our normal - so formal - setup.
The event went down at the Senate Hotel, Juja; the proximity of the vicinity to the University made it a popular choice with the hosts due to convenience, in terms of distance and security. Most diplomats and guests were largely punctual and the event kicked off a few minutes later than the set time of 7:45pm to the delight of everyone.
The master of ceremony, George Thinwa, who is also the Secretary General JKUMUN Main campus, was the right man on the driver’s seat in this event. He made everyone feel right at home and might have as well been the ice-breaker himself as he sure got everyone warmed-up to each other - couldn’t have had a better way to kick-off read more...
We were treated to a sumptuous buffet of an assortment of meals - that was there in plenty. Everyone’s gut feeling-pun intended-was specifically catered to. For the vegan, they couldn’t have asked for better veges and salad; the meat lover had both red and white meat available to them; fruits, in generous proportions were also served to us. All these, finger-licking, need I say more?
A Q&A session, aimed at showing that we are well rounded went on simultaneously as we had our meal. Apparently, ladies know more about soccer than their male counterparts - at least diplomatically speaking. Whoever said football is a man’s game, needed to be at the dinner to watch this theory being tramped, beyond a shadow of doubt! Who’s smatter now?!
Our sister campus, Karen campus, sent a few delegates to represent them in a show of solidarity in the important event.
Juliann, an alumni and a former member JKUMUN-Main campus, who was fortunate enough to attend the Global Model United Nations at the headquarters New York, let us in on her experience at the Big apple. Her talk was not only an eye-opener but also motivational in our quest to get to greater heights in the diplomatic circle.
Needless to say, the dinner was a huge success largely due to the our dedicated members but more so, because of our Planning Coordinators - Michael Chege and Yvonne Nyawanga - who worked tirelessly and gave their valuable time and input to ensure that event was perfect and everything went down according to plan.
After the photo session at the end of the dinner, diplomats and guests alike left at their own pleasure, having been satisfied and without any complains.
See you again next year, God-willing, Comrades!
To have a feel of what went down at the dinner, view our pictures here
On Equality: KenyaPosted by Sammy Lurinzu on 17th July, 2010
Leilah is a 41-year old single mother living at a village near Moyale in North Eastern province. Allow me to call this the 'outskirts of Kenya' because it seems so far from the reach of the government's provisions and presence. She has 2 children, a boy and a girl; children she loves with all her heart. She is fortunate to be among the 7% of educated women in her province. As a woman, it is not easy to fend for her children. She usually pities her daughter (ofcourse not showing it) when she ambitiously says she wants to be an MP. She knows only too well that it was a struggle for her to be educated, being a girl.
Today she woke up at sunrise to prepare to walk to the market in town. Every morning she doesn't forget to pray for her children because of the insecurity in her village. She couldn't wake up sooner because it would have been too dark - they have no electricity and she ran out of kerosene, what they use for lighting, and that's one of the reasons she needs to go for shopping. She plucks a paper from her notebook and jots down a few things she needs to get. On the list is credit for her phone. She's glad she was able to get a solar phone which makes charging easy. The life they live is not at all easy and she doesn't want her children to live like this. She dreams of enabling them to go to Nairobi. The revered land of milk and honey that is supposed to be in the same Kenya as her little village is read more...
Michael, a 32-year old, rich, single man, lives in an upmarket neighbourhood in Nairobi. He is the CEO if his own company and is the looked up to by society. He is living his dream. As a man, he has satisfied society by being wealthy and a leader in his field. He appreciates the encouragement he got that brought him this far. He is among the 10% of the population that control 42% of the income of our country.
By the time Leilah woke up, he had read all his important emails and replied to the urgent ones. He already has the day's schedule set in his mind. He goes for his morning jog around his secure, beautiful neighbourhood. At 7:10am, he's sitting at the backseat of his BMW listening to relaxing blues and reading the paper being driven to work. He's a big man. No jostling in matatus or walking on an empty stomach to do manual labour that won't be appreciated.
Leilah and Michael have one thing in common: they are citizens of this state called Kenya. Inequality which is defined as the variation of living standards across the population is a stark reality in our country. Any Kenyan would easily relate to these two characters. In a booklet by the Society for International Development: Pulling Apart, several statistics are given that illustrate this situation.
The wealthiest 10% of the population controls 42 percent of the total income with the bottom 10% having less than 1 percent. Life expectancy in Central province is 16 years above that in North Eastern province. 93% of women in North Eastern have no education while only 3% face the same situation in Central province. The Gini Index (an index of inequality) shows that Kenya is more unequal than both Uganda and Tanzania and even Nigeria!
The enrolment in primary school is 106% in Central province and 18% in North Eastern. Wealth-wise, 86% of the highest 20% against 61.3% in the lowest 20% economic section attend primary school. 93.7% of the wealthiest 20% have access to clean water as opposed to 28% of the poorest 20%. Regionally, the percentages in North Eastern, Central and Nairobi are respectively 1%, 12% and 33%. The rural-urban migration prompted by perceived opportunities in urban areas leads to a higher unemployment rate in these areas. In as far as electricity is concerned, in all the provinces except Nairobi, less then half the population has access to electricity with rural areas having only 4.6% with electricity.
Gender is a rather big issue with respect to inequality. The mean monthly incomes for women are KShs. 5,752 compared to KShs. 8,440 for men despite having a participation rate of 72.6% and 74.7% respectively. The participation is clearly not commensurate to the income! Twice as many women than men are illiterate. In the age bracket of 20-24, which would be that of most university students, 3.75 times more women than men are infected. Politically, in the 2002 elections, 201 men were elected as MPs compared to 9 women!
These issues of inequality are clearly gross and need to be addressed. This is a huge challenge for young people who want to see a better country. Our vision 2030 seeks to address these issues and it is upon every one of us to struggle and change this. In as much as these are real issues, we also need to realize that there are still many good things that we have. We have people who love each other and help their families and friends. People like Leilah who love their children and have the greatest joy seeing them succeed and struggle so much for them. A reason for hope.
(Disclaimer: Some of these statistics may be slightly dated - by a few years)
Recruitment DrivePosted by Waweru Gichuhi on 9th July, 2010
On Thursday, JKUMUN set out on an ambitious recruitment drive set to boost the number of members currently active in the club as well as replace finalists who were leaving the club. The exercise targeted all members of the student body who were eligible to join. Current members had also been encouraged to seize the opportunity to officially register themselves with the club by submitting some personal data and paying up their annual registration fees.
The event kicked off earnestly at 5:00 pm with the newly elected officials strategically locating themselves at two busy channels to attract as many interested people as possible. The first station was situated at the intersection between the assembly hall and the school cafeteria while the second was based outside the New Science Complex lecture theatre. In about an hour, about 40 new members were registered while many more expressed their interest to join the club. This went a long way to show that the popularity of the club was still high and that many of the youthful students in the school had a desire to make a difference in their environment by having their voices heard through forums that the club could provide.
The USG described the event as successful and wishes all new members a fruitful time as they get involved in the club's activities.
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