Tag: Kenyans in America

Health, News

Kenyan Senate probes state of Kenyan doctors in Cuba after one dies

By David Mwere

Kenya’s Senate has launched investigations into the welfare of 49 Kenyan doctors on an exchange programme in Cuba amid complaints that deplorable conditions led to the death of Dr Ali Juma.

Dr Juma, a postgraduate diploma student in family medicine, died by suicide after he was denied clearance to visit his family in Kenya.

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News

Ethiopian Airline Crash: Nigerian-Canadian Professor, Kenyan Georgetown University Student, among dead

Grief and sorrow know no borders, but Sunday’s Ethiopian Airline crash is truly an international tragedy.

The Nairobi, Kenya-bound plane went down within minutes of taking off from Addis Ababa.

The crash killed 157 people, seven of them crew members and one a security official, an airline spokeswoman said.

The passengers were from 35 nations, the airline said, with the greatest share from Kenya.

Among the victims was Cedric Asiavugwa, a third-year law student at Georgetown University and Nigerian-born Canadian, Professor Pius Adesanmi, the director of Carleton University’s Institute of African Studies.

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Sports

U.S. names five Kenyans in team for World Cross Country Championships

United States named up to five Kenyans in its team to Aarhus, Denmark as the battle for World Cross Country Championship medals heats up.

The USA cross country champion and Rio Olympics 10,000 meters’ champion Shadrack Kipchirchir is in a 28-person star-studded team that will take part in the event in Aarhus, Denmark.

The Kenyan born runner will be flanked by 2018 US cross-country champion Leonard Korir, Hillary Bor, Stanley Kebenei and Emmanuel Bor. The senior men’s team will have only one US-born athlete in the name of Mason Ferlic.

Three of the five Kenyan athletes serve in the US Army with Emmanuel Bor and Leonard Korir are Sergeants while Hillary Bor is a Staff Sergent.

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Military

Kenyans Rank First Among African Immigrants Serving in the US Military

Kenyan immigrants have been ranked first among African immigrants in the United States who are currently serving in the US military.

Latest data from the US Census Bureau shows that 0.4 percent of Kenyans in the US are serving in the army.

Ghanaians in the US come second with 0.3 percent serving in the armed forces.

The data shows that 0.1 percent of Nigerians and South Africans in America serve in the military.

While immigrants with Green Cards are eligible for recruitment to the US military, they cannot be assigned roles that need special security clearance.

These duties include intelligence, nuclear power as well as special operations.

More than 24,000 immigrants, including non-citizens and naturalized citizens, were serving on active duty in the US military in 2012, a report by the Department of Defense showed.

Continue reading “Kenyans Rank First Among African Immigrants Serving in the US Military” →

Music

This Kenyan musician followed his love for Dylan to a new life and career

J.S. Ondara discovered he loved the music of Bob Dylan when he lost a bet.

Ondara was in high school in Nairobi when he got in a fight with another student over the song “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.”

It’s a Guns N’ Roses song, Ondara argued. No, said his classmate, it’s originally from a folk singer named Bob Dylan.

“So, we got into this fight, and we made a bet,” Ondara explained. “I lost a bet. But I got to discover the music of Bob Dylan and fell into this rabbit hole, which eventually led me to Minneapolis, to his home state. ”

That’s right.

When Ondara won the US visa lottery five years ago he swapped Nairobi for Minneapolis — “straight to the cold” — because of his love for Bob Dylan.

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People

Kenyan-American Movie star Lupita Nyong’o at the Oscars

Kenyan screen beauty Lupita Nyong’o may not have won an award at the 91st Oscars but she made her presence felt with this beautiful outfit.

View this post on Instagram

Us at the #Oscars.

A post shared by Lupita Nyong'o (@lupitanyongo) on

Health

US organisation to embark on humanitarian clitoral restorative surgical mission in Kenya

The U.S. based humanitarian organization, Clitoraid, is launching its 2nd clitoral restorative surgical mission in Nairobi, Kenya, March 4 – 14, 2019 to help the victims of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) regain their dignity and sexual pleasure, thanks to a technique developed by a French urologist.

“According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 25% of the Kenyan female population has endured the horrific tradition of genital cutting though the practice is now illegal in Kenya,” explained Nadine Gary, Clitoraid Director of Operations.

The WHO estimates that 125 million women worldwide have had their genitals forcibly mutilated as babies or when they were toddlers or possibly as teenagers. This practice grossly violates the UNICEF Convention on the Right of the Child.

Clitoraid volunteer head-surgeon, Dr. Marci Bowers of San Francisco, USA, will co-lead the clitoral restorative medical procedure in partnership with Kenyan Dr. Adan Abdullahi affiliated with the Kenyan NGO, Garana.

“They will be assisted by local Kenyan doctors as well as MDs from the US, Canada and Australia,” said Gary.

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Business

Ten African companies to feature at New York’s COTERIE

By Kennedy kanethe

Ten women-owned businesses from Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya will next week attend COTERIE, one of the United States’ top fashion trade shows, with support from the International Trade Centre’s SheTrades initiative.

Taking place at the Javits Center, New York City, on 25 – 27 February, COTERIE provides an opportunity for the brands to showcase their collections and connect with international buyers.

All ten companies are part of SheTrades in the Commonwealth Programme, funded by the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID).

In 2018, SheTrades sponsored a delegation of 9 brands from Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria to attend the fall edition of COTERIE, which led to meetings with 100 buyers and secured US $495,000 USD in trade leads.

One of the participating companies was Afrodesiac, a Ghanaian company that has seen tremendous success following its attendance at COTERIE.

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Music

The American Choral Music Association invites Kenya’s Nairobi Chamber Chorus to perform in Kansas City.

The American Choral Music Association (ACDA) has invited the Nairobi Chamber Chorus, a Kenyan choir group, to perform in the associations’ 60th jubilee conference in Kansas City.

It is the largest choral music event in America bringing in the very best from across the globe for the annual extravaganza.

“Congratulations to you and your singers on your exemplary achievement,” read an excerpt of their invitation letter from Sara Lynn Baird, the Performing Choir Chair.

Nairobi Chamber Chorus director, Ken Wakia, guided them on their way to becoming the first ever Kenyan group to perform on Broadway at the famed Lincoln Center back in 2018.

Broadway at the famed Lincoln Center back in 2018.

Along with London’s West End theatre, Broadway theatre is widely considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English-speaking world.

The Kenyan choir didn’t disappoint and went on to belt out such polished melodies and tamed voices, engulfing the hall packed with nearly 400 black tie executives drawn for the US, Germany and the rest of the World.

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Music

Meet J.S Ondara: The next big musical export from Kenya to the world

You might hear his voice and wonder why you’ve never heard of J.S Ondara but that is set to change because we are going to introduce you to the silky-voiced crooner.

Ondara is a Kenyan who moved to the United States of America six years ago after winning a Green Card lottery that allowed him to settle down there, where he picked up guitar playing from scratch.

The interesting thing about his artistic journey is that it all started with a bet gone wrong!

He had bet with a friend that the song Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door was written by the band, Guns N’ Roses, his favourite band and not by the legendary musician Bob Dylan.

Continue reading “Meet J.S Ondara: The next big musical export from Kenya to the world” →

Music

After 20 year sojourn in America, kenyan band, Jabali Afrika, returns home

Nimetembea sijamuona msichana kama Aoko…

imetembea sijamuona msichana kama Aoko…

This is one of the most famous lines in arguably Jabali Afrika’s greatest song of all time, Aoko.

Teenage Kenyan music fans — and most certainly those in their early 20s — may not resonate with songs by one of the continent’s most iconic Afro-rock jam bands, but the journey by the legendary ensemble reads like a fairytale.

Teenage Kenyan music fans — and most certainly those in their early 20s — may not resonate with songs by one of the continent’s most iconic Afro-rock jam bands, but the journey by the legendary ensemble reads like a fairytale.

After bolting out due to unresolvable differences, former members of Kenya National Theatre (KNT) Dance Troupe formed Jabali Afrika on February 12, 1993.

Justo Asikoye, Peter Mutua, Josek Asikoye, Evans Chagala, Victor Savana Elolo and Robert Owino threw in the towel to chart their own way, but one would wonder why this powerful troupe split even after making a serious musical impact in the country and beyond.

Justo Asikoye, Peter Mutua, Josek Asikoye, Evans Chagala, Victor Savana Elolo and Robert Owino threw in the towel to chart their own way, but one would wonder why this powerful troupe split even after making a serious musical impact in the country and beyond.

“We wanted independence, freedom and space to express our creativity in a more profound manner. Our decision to break away wasn’t that easy because we had already established ourselves at KNT, but we had to make a decision anyway,” says Justo Asikoye, 48, one of the most recognisable faces of Jabali Afrika.

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Celebrity

Lupita Nyong’o, A Gracious Role Model for Our Times

Photography– Willy Vanderperre   Styling-Olivier Rizzo     Text-Lynette Nylander

It’s been just six years since her Oscar-winning turn as Patsey in 12 Years a Slave but Lupita Nyong’o has already redefined what screen actresses might be, what they might achieve, what they might represent, and how they might inspire others. In fiction, she has inhabited different worlds, told different stories. In reality, she has affirmed the beauty of millions of black women across the globe, reaching way beyond the limitations of cinema.

Last year, as special-forces operative Nakia in Ryan Coogler’s Oscar-nominated Black Panther, Lupita Nyong’o and her accompanying all-black lead cast – unprecedented in the superhero-movie genre – caused a seismic shift.

Marrying the black experience, which in Hollywood is rarely seen through the African lens, with fantasy fiction, the resultant epic carries an enormous cultural significance that will be its legacy. It was wildly popular:

Black Panther was the ninth-highest-grossing film of all time. 2018 also saw Nyong’o reprise her performance as Maz Kanata in the Star Wars franchise, due for release later this year. Both roles – pivotal to megawatt, mega-buck productions – transcend any vague notion of Nyong’o as an ingenue, a rising star.

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Business

Kenyans in the US Sent Home $1.17 billion in 10 Months to October 2018

Kenyans living and working in the United States contributed the lion’s share of the total diaspora remittances in 2018. Latest data from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) shows that Kenyans in the US sent home $1.17 billion (Sh119.9 billion) in 10 months to October 2018 according to this report from mwakilishi.com Continue reading “Kenyans in the US Sent Home $1.17 billion in 10 Months to October 2018” →

Communities

More Africans seek education in America. Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana lead the pack

The 2018 Open Doors report on international education has revealed that the United States hosted 1.09 million international students during the 2017/2018 academic year.This marks a 1.5 percent increase over the prior year. The number of Sub-Saharan African students hit a record high at 39,479, marking a 4.6 percent increase over the prior year. This report from modernghana.com gives more details
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Investments

Kenya-Americans investment fuel real estate boom in Kissi

Investment from Kenya-Americans is fueling a real estate boom in Kisii, a city in south-western Kenya. Kisii is the main urban and commercial center in the Gusii Highlands and the South Nyanza region. This report by MAGATI OBEBO in Nation reveals this trend.
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