[Imc-africa] One step at a time

[John Bwakali]

Hamjamboni (Swahili for Hi All),
I have many thoughts to share with you but I will spare them for another fo=
rum. Internet is not easily available for the majority of people in Kenya a=
nd I believe many other parts of Africa. I am however delighted at the ongo=
ing email discussions even if I am not playing an active role in them. Allo=
w me to share some of my thoughts through a parable, "Two people wanted to =
swim in the Indian Ocean, so they left for Mombasa, a coastal town in Kenya=
 that is endowed with awesome beaches. When they arrived at one of the para=
dise-like beaches, they both had a mutual desire to dive head-first into th=
e wonderful blue waters. However, one of them wanted to know how deep the w=
ater was, how warm or cold it was, what fish species swam there, how many p=
eople had ever swam in that particular portion of water...The other person =
simply dived into the water without any further thought. Unfortunately, he =
lost his left arm to a hungry crocodile after swimming for one hour. When h=
e bravely swam back to the beach, his colleague was still pondering on his =
many questions. The two friends left a short while later."=20

I view the upcoming conference in particular and the Indymedia network in g=
eneral as an ocean of sorts. Some of us will cross the bridge when we come =
to it while some of us need more fact and all. I think it just has to do wi=
th our different worldviews and strategy inclinations. For me, the Senegal =
conference will be an opportunity to brainstrom so much that we shall be ab=
le to weather any storm. In light of this, reaching Senegal and meeting is =
the primary issue. The hows..(how to do this, how to do that..) are seconda=
ry issues that should of course be dealt with now, but also not allowed to =
dominate everything.=20

Internet discussions have tried to give everyone a chance to participate in=
 the run-up to the conference. I therefore appreciate this approach as it i=
s at the very least a step in the right direction. But it is also emerging =
that teh internet can infact discriminate against those who do not have acc=
ess to it. So what do we do and what is the alternative? Maybe Senegal will=
 help us to annswer this. So let us go to Senegal. But maybe we may lose an=
 arm in the process (like in the parable above). Maybe the conference may n=
ot meet our expectations or it may actually exceed our expectations. You ju=
st never know. But in case you have to know, we owe it to you to respect th=
at.

Jonbwak


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