There were some unhappy deaf leaders (who used to be active in the KNAD for a very long time and in some ways, responsible for KNAD’s demise in the first place) who are unhappy with the elections and declared the elections null. They said they will take the decision to the courts to have it legally declared null or something like that.

The elections was done under the old constitituion. The new chair said the KNAD constitution will be revised to allow more flexibility and more accountability.

We hope it will bring the deaf community together.

Kenyan National Association of the Deaf to be relived.

It will be a very interesting weekend.

You couldn’t help feeling, either, that Rwanda’s trade and industry minister, Vincent Karega, was deliberately rubbing salt in the wound when he explained why French was being scrapped. “French is spoken only in France, some parts of West Africa, and parts of Canada and Switzerland,” he said. (In parts of Belgium, too, actually, not to mention Haiti, but you get the point.) “English has emerged as a backbone for growth and development not only in the region but around the globe.”

No country cares more passionately for its language than France, and it has waged a long and expensive campaign to guarantee the survival of a French-speaking zone in Central and West Africa. It even provided the bulk of the foreign aid for the former Belgian colonies that spoke French: Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi. But the present government of Rwanda has special reasons not to be fond of France.

Getting very close to the regimes in African countries that have French as an official language, even sending troops to protect them from their domestic enemies, has always been part of Paris’s strategy for preserving the status of French as a world language. In Rwanda’s case, that put France in bed with the extremist Hutu-dominated regime that ruled the densely-populated country before the genocide, to such an extent that Paris largely paid for the tripling in size of the Rwandan army in 1990-91.

When the Hutu regime began murdering the minority Tutsis in industrial quantities in 1994, France did not abandon it. The French president at the time, Francois Mitterrand, is alleged to have remarked that “in such countries, genocide is not too important…” And a principal reason that France overlooked its Rwandan ally’s ghastly behaviour was that the Tutsi-led opposition in exile mostly spoke English, because its members had found refuge in English-speaking Uganda.

An estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered in 1994, but the Uganda-based Rwanda Patriotic Front put an end to the genocide by invading the country and overthrowing the regime. Even a direct French military intervention in Rwanda (thinly disguised as a humanitarian operation) could not save the Hutu “genocidiaires,” as they are universally known. So it was not to be expected that the new, mainly English-speaking government in Rwanda would have warm feelings towards France.

Fourteen years later, more than 95 percent of Rwanda’s secondary schools still teach mainly in French, although an alternative English instructional program or intensive English language courses are usually available. Knowledge of both English and French is required for university entrance (and for most government jobs) but the government’s own statistics say that only 3 percent of the population is fluent in English. Nevertheless, the new decision ends the teaching of French in Rwandan schools.

The government defends it as a purely-business decision, driven by Rwanda’s membership in the largely English-speaking East African Community (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi), but there is no question that resentment of France also plays a role. This is a country that has already expelled the French ambassador and closed down the French cultural centre, international school, and radio station.

But can an African country just switch from one European language to another like that? It can if, like Rwanda, it only uses one language domestically. Almost all Rwandans, whether Hutu or Tutsi, speak Kinyarwanda, so they have no need for a lingua franca to communicate among themselves. Only those going into higher education or working with foreigners need any other language at all—which is why only eight percent of Rwandans speak fluent French after all this time.

This is far from typical of African countries, most of which have many different ethnic groups, each with its own language. Such countries use the language of the former colonial power as a neutral “national” language, and have such a large investment in teaching it by now that switching is out of the question. The Congo will always use French; Nigeria will always use English; Mozambique will always use Portuguese.

So francophones can relax: their language is not about to vanish from the African continent. On the other hand, French will always lose out to English in situations like Rwanda, where there is a single national language and the main reason for learning a foreign language is communication with the rest of the world. Vietnam, an ex-French colony, has long taught English as the main foreign language in its schools, and Madagascar, also formerly ruled by France, made English a national language last year.

English-speakers often assume that this world role for their language owes something to its huge vocabulary and wonderful literature, or at least to the fact that Hollywood speaks English. However, nothing of the sort is true. The sole reason is that the world’s dominant powers for the past two centuries have been English-speaking: Britain in the 19th century, and the United States in the 20th. Timing is everything, and English just happened to be the leading candidate when globalization created the need for an agreed global second language.

I love this photograph – I don’t know who DJ Mick of Shanghai is but the picture is WORTH looking at! I guess hes a Chinese DJ hailing from the Phillippines, now based in Shanghai. I found the photo on the Shanghailist a blog talking about politics and culture in Shanghai. I won’t mind living there for at least a year maybe however I need a lot of money first!!!

When I got downstairs, there was a package from America – it turned out it was from the guy on the eBay who have sold me Wonder Woman 127! Yay! This back issue is very much in demand – can’t find a copy anywhere in the UK – and there is a shop or two that would sell this copy for 45 quids or something like that. Being from Belfast, I was determined not to waste a lot of money so I ended up buying on the eBay for just a fiver which is good I reckon. The guy was efficient – I got the comic just a week afterwards.

People who knows me very well will say that I am a bit, erm, obsessed about Wonder Woman (limited to comics mind you – I am not keen on the TV series – its not great! The stories in the WW comics are much more better – especially when based around the Greek mythology which I grew up on) – so far I have like 50 back issues for the 2nd WW volume (1987-2006) which led to 226 issues!

The issue numbered 127 is cool – the graphic there wasn’t mind-blowing but it did include the part where Diana (the present Wonder Woman) died and brought back to life by ascension (Hera caused magic on her) and she became the Goddess of Truth – brought up to Mount Olympus where the Greek gods were based. Cool cool *risking sound like a geek!*

Kisii School of the Deaf, originally uploaded by BelfastShane.

As some readers may know, there are several blogs in Kenya’s Deaf community, chiefly Mzee Bubu and Mzee Kiziwi. Unfortunately the comments on Mzee Bubu are not moderated so there are many abusive comments there – and Mzee Kiziwi – too out of order to be true in the first place!

However as Nickson said, its good that Deaf Kenyans do have access to information like that – in the past, they were ignored – ignorance do cause fear and that using fear to control the Deaf community, there would be very little empowerment for the majority.

That is why Nickson and I have set up a new blog – this time – focusing on the positive side of Kenya’s Deaf community is badly needed. That is why comments ARE moderated to prevent personal attacks. I do realise that it may earn us some enemies but at the same time, maybe some positive comments. I am getting tired of reading racist or negative comments about myself and Nickson. It will not get us anywhere.

One reader have sent a very good comment but sprinkled with a few cheeky/offensive lines about myself and my wife – I had to email back saying that the comment will not be approved. He emailed back getting personal saying that Nickson will approve this comment. I had to explain that Nickson will support me on this – and then he accursed me of stealing his ideas.

Oh well, ain’t we so great at sidetracking? There are so many BRIGHT and potential deafies in Kenya – a lot of energy are wasted on being negative and critical about everything.

But Ireland isn’t much better either but we have a growing number of deaf professionals in well-paid jobs i.e. Deaf teachers at our deaf schools here etc – and they have the freedom to speak out (they find it easier to be positive about deaf politics than trying to fight against it)

Wait and see.

The blog is at: http://deafkenya.wordpress.com/

on the ferry to Portaferry, originally uploaded by BelfastShane.

Last week my mate Jaq was over from England with her two gorgeous girls. Playing the tour guide, we went around East Down, visiting the usual tourist traps.

It was a bit chilly on the car ferry however the girls really loved being on the ferry – poor Jaq – she had to stay inside her car on the ferry back while we ran around the ferry. The girls were delighted to get their ice-creams from that wee shop that is still there from when I was wee.

Shiku is still in Kenya looking after her mother – the mother will have her plaster taken off at the end of next week – 7th or 9th November I think. We hope that she will be a lot more positive. Shiku texted me last night that Mami was in the dining room greeting the kids there which is a good sign there

I will write about the new blog that Nickson and I have set up in the next entry.

Are you talking to me?, originally uploaded by basheem.

While looking for cheap accommodation for Shiku and I (in Amsterdam), I had to use Flickr to find out what the general area is like as we wanted to live in Bijlmer or somewhere like that.

Found this really cool photo!

That is the photo of Shiku when she was wee – I think she must be 3 or 4 years old.

Update on her mother – they went to the hopsital earlier this week to have her leg checked. The doctor was happy with the way the leg was healed and that he have encouraged her to go and start walking on her crutch. Mami wasn’t very keen on this but that is something she needed to take up.

Fingers crossed that she ll start walking properly.