kenyansforkenya: saving kenya, through a brilliant new web-platform

For every moment that passes, another Kenyan is suffering and starving. But this time, Kenyans are raising their voices and making a difference. Instead of just sitting around and waiting for outside help, Kenya’s digital natives have put together initiatives to help resolve the crisis.

We are constantly rediscovering the wonders that can be effected within the digital space. Ideas, resources, and funds are being collected by both individual and corporate citizens. Here are just a few of the current initiatives.

1] Squad Digital has donated its website for the cause, and individual employees are sacrificing things that are precious to them. The monetary equivalent of these sacrifices will be donated to help feed our starving countrymen.

2] Safaricom Kenya has pushed the Kenyans for Kenya campaign which encourages Kenyans to donate funds through M-PESA PayBill No. 111111. The plan is to raise Ksh 500,000,000 in four weeks, and within the first week, the campaign has passed the Ksh 150,000,000 mark.

3] Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) has set up a Kenyans for Kenya Account No. 11 333 333 38 where well-wishers can deposit funds.

4] #FeedKE is a campaign initiated by Ahmed Salims of Fluid Tees. He has used his blog, his brand, and his online presence to encourage fellow Kenyans to donate to the cause. Funds are being channeled directly to The Kenya Red Cross through M-PESA, PayBill No. 10,000. The Account name is FeedKE.

5] Barclays Bank of Kenya has set up The Partnerships and Empowerment Against Hunger (PEAH) initiative. Employees are giving up their lunch and pushing other initiatives to raise funds. These activities include fundraising walks and selling handkerchiefs. The bank will match employee contributions shilling for shilling.

Everybody has a role to play to relieve this situation in the short, medium, and long term. The people of Turkana are doing their best to survive this crisis, with a lot of help from the Turkana Basin Institute.

Take a moment to think of how you can help, whether it’s giving up luxuries, donating funds, redirecting web traffic, or simply spreading the world. What are you giving up for Kenya? What solutions can be implemented to prevent this recurring problem? Let us know in the comments section. No one person can fix this, but together, we can save our starving countrymen.

[Disclaimer: Asif Khan, curator of the ufahari platform is Manager of Digital Strategy at Squad Digital, the agency that came up with the concept for the Kenyans for Kenya web platform]