[Imc-africa] Appendix to the WSF in Nairobi

[Danielle Chynoweth]

I appreciate Glenda's description of events - they ring true to my
experience.  I spoke with volunteers at the bus stop who were still
waiting to get paid - had gone the day after the WSF ended to get paid
as told, waited all day, and told to come back the next day.

I did not have a pass for the first 3 days of the event (the passes
were kept a 20 minute bus ride from the forum instead of the forum
itself, I couldn't print my receipt and needed one to prove I had paid
ssince they didn't have a list, it was chaos).  I was allowed in
because I was white.  No African got this treatment by themselves.  I
would put my arm around an African comrade and they were able to get
in stuck to my body.  This was ridiculous.

The Indymedia Convergence sponsored Kenyan independent journalists (10
from Koch FM) to get into the WSF and participate in Radio Huru 107.9
broadcast.  This was, as we understood, a bandaid solution, allowing a
few in.  He decided it was worth it so we could work together closely
for the few days we were there (and it was definitely worth it - we
learned so much from each other - and now our comrades are in Maseno
University with the group building a radio station).

If you haven't already, please check out the PDF of the newspaper we
produced which talks about the Celtel sham:
http://kenya.indymedia.org/uploads/2007/01/indymedia.pdf

Below is an e-mail I received from the WSF media team.  FYI.

- Danielle


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Christoph Haug <christoph at wsf2007.org>
Date: Jan 31, 2007 9:50 AM
Subject: Appendix to the WSF in Nairobi
To: chyn at ucimc.org

Dear Danielle Chynoweth,

 I am writing to you because you were an accredited journalist to the
World Social Forum 2007 in Nairobi. This global encounter of activists
has meanwhile been evaluated all around the world and many have
emphasized the high quality of the discussions and the importance of
the networking contacts of movements from Africa to the rest of the
world. For example, two major international networks have been
launched at this WSF: Firstly, the Tax Justice Network for Africa,
which is struggling against illicit capital flight, tax evasion, tax
competition and other harmful trends in tax policy and practice
(www.taxjustice4africa.net) and secondly, the new Africa Water Network
formed by more than 40 organizations across Africa opposing the
privatization of water (internet site not yet online, email:
msbillegeya at yahoo.com). Furthermore, the political impact of the WSF
in Kenya has become evident, for example when gay and lesbian rights
have become a public issue in Kenyan Media or when Economic
Partnership Agreements (EPSs) are being more and more criticized for
being yet another mechanism of control by 'the north'.

 But as you know, in terms of organization, some things at the Forum
did not work out the way we would have liked them to and I would like
to apologize for that. I hope that you enjoyed those days around the
stadium in Kasarani despite all adversities – which (by the way) are
not a specialty of the WSF in Africa but of any WSF so far.

 I had planned to provide accredited journalists with daily updates on
the Forum, announcements of press conferences and other media events.
I think this could have made everybody's work easier, even though
journalists will always need to find their own way through the WSF and
focus on the issues interesting to them (or their media house).
Unfortunately, there was a problem with my internet connection during
most of the event so that I could not even answer some of your email
requests. So we tried to focus on facilitating contacts between the
media and various activists and organizers of the Forum. A group of
volunteers eagerly went searching for any kind of contacts sought by
journalists at our media desk in the press lounge. Furthermore, we
worked basically night and day trying to supply journalists with the
most essential information, knowing that this would help communicating
the WSF to the world. Thank you for the many positive and encouraging
feedbacks which we received throughout the Forum and up to today. And
please accept our apologies if your request was amongst those which we
were unable to answer, despite all efforts. As you probably
experienced yourself, it is not easy to centralize flows of
information in a decentrally organized event. I very much hope that
you had a chance to experience also the positive sides of the
inspiring and creative 'hullabaloo' of this unique event.

 If you have your own report or evaluation of the WSF (text, visual,
audio) please consider sending it to our "Memory-Project" which
collects and archives any documents connected to the WSF process.
These sources will soon be available online at www.wsf2007.org. My
colleague Noela will be happy to receive any of your journalistic
pieces at memory at wsf2007.org.

 Let me finally give you some numbers on the WSF:
 - 66,000 registered participants
 - More than 1,400 registered organizations from more than 110 countries
 - 750 accredited journalists
 - 1,200 registered activities
 - 1,130 volunteers (incl. interpreters)
 - The total budget is still being calculated

 Since this is my last day as a volunteer at the WSF Secretariat, I
take this opportunity to thank you for covering the WSF, hoping that
you will follow the WSF process also in the future: In 2008, there
will be no single WSF-event like the previous Forums but a global week
of WSF activities with one day of joint mobilization throughout the
world. For 2009, you can expect a 'classic' WSF event again, but where
it's going to be is yet to be decided by the International Council.

 Good bye and see you next time,

 Christoph

 --
 Christoph Haug
 Media & Communication Commission
 of the World Social Forum 2007

 Website: www.wsf2007.org
 Individual email: christoph at wsf2007.org
 Commission email: media at wsf2007.org

 Main Office:
 Msanduku Lane, Off Vanga/Gitanga Road
 P.O. Box 63125, 00619 Nairobi, Kenya
 Tel: +254 20 3860745/6
 Fax: +254 20 3872671