A New Breeze Blows Clean Air Across Kenya.

There's an exciting article in i09.com about a new company called Lake Turkana Wind Power. According to the company's web site, they are "poised to provide 300 MW of clean power to Kenya's national electricity grid by taking advantage of a unique wind resource in Northwest Kenya near Lake Turkana. Using the latest wind turbine technology LTWP will provide reliable and continuous clean power to satisfy up to 17% of Kenya's planned total installed power upon commissioning in 2012." Let's hope some of this electricity will get to Kibera. In any case though, it's innovative ideas like this that will catapult Kenya into the 21st Century, maybe ahead of some Western nations, stuck with iron age concepts of non-renewable sources of energy.
Click here for the i09 article.
Click here for the Lake Turkana Wind Power website.

Other Films About Kibera

I think it's important to support fellow filmmakers. To make a movie is a very long, and difficult journey. Sure, it's a lot of fun, but it takes time, effort, tough skin, and tenacity to stick it through, because along that winding road of a journey, there are an infinite number of bumps and obstacles that threaten to derail you, just like an unpaved road in Kenya. So I think it's only right to support and share the work of fellow filmmakers who are working on some really interesting material that highlight Kiberan stories.

Togetherness Supreme is directed by Nathan Collett, and has recently won some awards, including best Audience Choice Awards at the Santa Barbara Film Festival.

And fellow Torontonian Robin Pierro also did a documentary on Kibera last year, called The Voice of Kibera, about the impact of the new constitution for Kiberans.

Please check out both their films, and support the stories of independent filmmakers, as it's important to promote independent thoughts and stories, especially those that cover a disenfranchised people.

Clean Energy Centers Arrive to Kibera

I wanted to profile a really neat NGO that is doing some remarkable work in Kibera.
Ok Habitat is partnering to build a "clean energy center" or commonly known a bio-latrine with Umande Trust a local NGO. With running water a major scarcity and a major health concern as far as human waste - these are sanitary toilet facilities which digests human waste to produce gas which in turn is used as a communical kitchen meaning that people don't have to pay for charcoal that is produced by cutting down forests, so not only does it help humans, it helps our environment as well.

Based in Kibera, Umande Trust have built more than 40 bio-centers all over Kenya. For more information, click here, and to contact Umande, or make a donation, check out their site here.

Update!

Hey everyone, I know it's been a super long time since I've updated this blog. I'm sorry for that. The truth is, when I started this blog as a record of my journey making this film, I realized how much I enjoyed writing in general, and sharing my experiences. At the encouragement of several people, I started a new blog when I returned to Toronto from Kenya. It's one of the things I've been able to focus on developing. I'm enjoying the ability to write about things I find inspiring, including pop, youth and underground culture, some of the very themes explored in Matatu Express.
So what else is new? I'm continuing to work on getting Matatu Express shown in film festivals all over North America. I'm also working on a book version of the making of Matatu Express, and I'm still working on my first documentary Sketched Out. So there will definitely be some exciting things happening in the future, keep the faith and stay tuned!