Hi Wangui, are you online?

yes.

great

hope ur fine

I am at home and I am online. How are you?

very good

long day..

Yes, quite.

Great protest on the MPs salary. Wasn't there, though.

oh great.

I remember MPs in Kenya earn more then in Germany

And they want even more money. Ridiculous.

so there are some issues I'd like to discuss with you

okay, shoot.

As you know, we had great difficulties finding sponsors for our project

so we came out with the idea to reduce it a bit

we would like to invite 4-6 students to germany for summer (august/September) for about 3 weeks

the whole thing would be very low budget

we would provide for flights/visa/insurance/accomodation and food

but we wouldnt be able to provide for pocket money, or hotels or things like that

first of all we'd like to know from you if you thing the students could arange with a low budget programme

?

I had in mind the involvement of bonafide university student leaders, and there was great interest from the elected leaders.

ok

did you make some contacts allready?

Yes, they would. It would be great if part of the programme would get them in touch with other students. But they would be quite interested.

definately.

Yes, I have contact with student leaders from all 17 public universities and 32 private universities.

I helped the students set up 2 bodies to bring them together, hopefully jointly they will be able to tackle the rising fees.

so you think, it will be possible for them to sleep at other peoples houses and not in hotels etc?

Getting student leaders is not difficult, they are very interested.

this is very crucial for us, that there expectations twowards the comforts of their stay are not to high...

we found a new association just for that project. It's called "Jugend in der Welt" (Youth in the world)

As soon as possible we need to get the tickets to start the visa application process

Yes, why not. It is actually the better way to travel, that is what I prefer. It may be good to organize a speaker's tour if you can, just to give them a little cash to come back home with. Other than that, they should have no trouble at all, assuming that they will live as I usually do. I do not mind living with people at all, in fact, I prefer it.

It would be good for them, if possible, to visit squats and alternative living cooperatives, primarily because they need to organize similar setups.

Well this cash thing might be a problem. But we allready planed to collect during the speakers tour for that.

Ah, I can help them with the visa application process. I have a clue!

very good.

As I remember from Dorothea. We first need to get the tickets, is that right?

I see. They do not need much money, I expect the trip alone would be enough excitement for most.

I talked to her. And she said there is a travle agency that keeps the tickets reserved as long as the application process longs.

No, we need an affidavit from Jugend in der Welt, (the official one) and a letter of invitation. Hopefully with the details of the plan.

We need to buy health insurance, and book (not buy) the tickets.

whats an affidavit

There is an official document that the organization in Germany needs to get from the government that states that they will support the students. I think it comes from the government, it is a standard one. Most organizations that invite foreigners will know it, but I can also find a copy of one of those sent to me and forward it to you if you need it.

would be great

please forward

so when do you think the students wil be able to come? if we assume visa stuff will take about 1-2 month. do you think august/september is possible?

August September is possible and ideal. The semester here are staggered, and three weeks is not too long. I would need to consult with students themselves, I have just called the chairman of Students of Nairobi University, I will meet him tomorrow. Shall we mix male and female students?

3 of each?

would be perfect I guess

we can organize funds for 4 for sure. we thought of inviting 6 just in case some won't get the visas... do you thing this is a good way to go?

Yes. And it will be easier to get the visas if we involve the universities. They usually support the students, plus the students themselves have access to documents of support.

6 is okay, not too many so we do not get too much stress. Are you thinking of getting them to travel all at the same time?

I mean, will they live as a group or will you split them?

we'd like to have them as a group

because of our funding situation, the main place will propably be berlin

The students, ideally, will not come from one university so it will make an added advantage if the trip also allows them to bond in a way that will give impetus to their activities when they return.

but we would like to visit some protest camps with them

sound great

Well, I like Berlin well enough. Can we get two students from three different universities? Male and female?

And also, training in non violence.

good. the training will be included anyway. we can have a train the trainer weekend. or something like that. so what would be the next steps to take?

can you set up a team and send us their contacts?

after that we should try to get that affadavit and take care of insurance.

yes. I will start with the SONU leader and the KEPUSA students.That can be done within the day tomorrow.

There should be formal correspondence between Jugend and the student unions, and maybe even the universities. Just for formality.

I will help with the visa process. I shall get you the contacts.

For now we are not cooperating with any universities. The whole thing is very low profile

but we could arrange talks in universities. That would be no problem

No, no. I meant the universities here. Because that will help in the visa process, to get the confirmation of the student status. But the student leaders can organize that.

ah ok

so how long do you thing it will take to build the team?+

By the weekend. I shall meet with SONU chairman tomorrow and with the others. Shall we agree that we have 3 male and 3 female?

yes

so you send us their details, and we start the formal process

I will leave the students to organize how they decide who comes, but will probably require that whoever they choose already should have a passport so that we do not have to have stress.

very good

I will send both email and phone number.

another thing: what subjects do you think the students could talk about? For the speakers tour

Ah. Let me ask them about that and get back to you. I have my opinions, but that is largely a result of my interactions with many activists. They could talk about things like cost of education, fair trade, EPAs (which, btw, we are still being forced to sign)

ok

then I wanted to ask you another thing:

yes

there are two more sources of fundind we hope to get, and they are in east africa. we thought it would be best when you approach them

first there is the Heinrich Böll Stiftung. They have an office in Nairobi. Then again the Rosa Luxenburg Stiftung with an office in Tanzania

Okay, we can do that. Sounds okay. We can use KENGONET and the students unions, they are all legally recognized.

would be best

here are the contacts:

Heinrich Böll Foundation
Regional Office East and Horn of Africa
Katrin Seidel
Forest Road
P.O. Box 10799 – 00100 GPO
Nairobi, Kenya

Fon: +254-20-26 80 745
        +254-20-26 13 997
Fax: +254-752-37 26 76
E-Mail: ke-info@ke.boell.org

Heinrich Boll I know where it is, I participate in their monthly talks on women.

ah perfect

and Rosa Luxenburg Stiftung

47, Ndovu Road
Mikocheni B, P.O. Box 105527
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Telefon: +255 777 903894

Tanzania, hmmh. Just trying to figure it out, but there is email. We can also ask the German embassy for direct support. Maybe even GIZ.

The second one, is politically closer to us, but they refused to support us, because they don't know you yet. They also operate in Kenya. So maybe you could call then and ask for a meeting. I dont't know if it will help, but you can say that you cooperate with "skills for action". They fund us here in germany.

the embassy and GIZ would also be great. The more funds we get, the more things we will be able to do

Rosa Luxenburg? Will do. I will ask that they meet us with the students. I think I can organize that.

Okay. Let me first get the students on board. Will forward the contacts tomorrow.

sehr schön. we have our next phone conference on thursday. There we wanted to decide how to proceed.

Cheers. Thursday it is, then.

So when the budget issue is more transparent, it's easier for us to continue...

allright

Take care. Bye.

So I will call you thursday in the evening to come up with a procedure

cheers

good night

good night.