The last place most of us look to for useful information is television soap operas. But Makutano Junction, a Kenyan-produced soap opera set in the fictional town of the same name is not your average TV drama. Broadcast in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and throughout English-speaking Africa on Digital Satellite Television (DSTV), Makutano Junction doesn't deal with the evil twins, amnesia, and dark family secrets typical of U.S. daytime dramas. Instead, the show's plot lines revolve around more grounded (although not necessarily less dramatic) subjects like access to health care and education, sustainable income-generation, and citizens' rights.
Funded by the U.K. Department for International Development, produced by the Mediae Trust, and broadcast by the Kenya Broadcast Corporation, the show was originally designed as a 13-part drama in 2004. But Makutano Junction was since developed into a six-season TV phenomenon, with over 7 million viewers in Kenya alone. Its website provides all the information one might expect from a television show site, including episode summaries and character profiles. It also features "extras" on themes from specific episodes and encourages viewers to text the producers for more information.
In Episode 8 of Season 6, which aired in 2008, the character Maspeedy gets into trouble for soaking seeds. Seed soaking works by essentially tricking the seed into thinking it has been planted, allowing it to soak up in one day as much water as it would in a week in the soil. This speeds up germination and significantly shortens the time between planting and growth, leading to a vegetable harvest in a quick amount of time.
But the other characters in the show are unfamiliar with this practice and, when they discover Maspeedy's project, have him thrown in jail because they are convinced that he is brewing alcohol illegally. After some plot twists and a little slapstick humor involving two trouble-making characters who attempt to drink the water in order to get drunk, the truth comes to light and Maspeedy is released from jail. He then teaches the rest of the town the simple technique of soaking seeds to speed plant-growth time.
After the episode aired in May 2008, thousands of viewers sent texts to Mediae requesting more information about seed-soaking techniques. These viewers were sent a pamphlet with detailed instructions on how to soak their own seeds. Follow-up calls- which were part of a study to test the effectiveness of the show's messaging- revealed that 95 percent of those who had texted for more information had found the pamphlets helpful. And 57 percent had tried out seed soaking even before the pamphlet arrived, just based on the information provided on the show. Ninety-four percent said that they had shared the information with up to five other people.
By peppering the drama-infused lives of its characters with demonstrations of agricultural practices, trips to the doctor for tuberculosis tests, and Kenyan history, Makutano Junction serves to both entertain and provide reliable information for families throughout sub-Saharan Africa. This is soap opera drama that people can actually relate to-and learn from.
Thank you for reading! As you may already know, Danielle Nierenberg is traveling across sub-Saharan Africa visiting organizations and projects that provide environmentally sustainable solutions to hunger and poverty. She has already traveled to over 19 countries and visited 130 projects highlighting stories of hope and success in the region. She will be in Benin next, so stay tuned for more writing, photos and video from her travels.
If you enjoy reading this diary, we blog daily on Nourishing the Planet, where you can also sign up for our newsletter to receive weekly blog and travel updates. Please don't hesitate to comment on our posts, we check them daily and look forward to an ongoing discussion with you. You can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
My mother died eight years ago at the ripe old age of 92. She had a vibrant and exciting life. Over her lifetime she mingled with both the rich and powerful. She knew a wide range of people from Bing Crosby to D. K. Ludwig. She had met Presidents and Prime Ministers. She personally knew both poverty and wealth. She had lived through both war and peace. She was well educated and well read.
Yet, for all her worldliness, for all the people she knew and counted as friends both black, white, Christian and Jew she was a both a racist and a anti-Semite. When she was young and raising us she kept these beliefs very much to herself. I think down deep inside somewhere she knew she was wrong and made a very conscious not to pass these ideas onto her children.
The photo above was 1925...over 85 years ago.
As a 62 year old black person raised by parents and grandparents who lived during those years, 1925 is not so long ago and far away.
"We're the only country I know that allows people to come in illegally, have a baby, and then that baby becomes a citizen," Paul told RT, an English-language station, shortly after his win over GOP establishment candidate Trey Grayson. "And I think that should stop also."
Mr Paul obviously knows zilch about countries other than the US. Which is not surprising, giving his propensity for spouting jingoistic rhetoric.
Michael Steele, on ABC's "This Week" program this morning, was asked about Rand Paul's statement that the Federal Government should not have the power to ban racial discrimination by private businesses. Steele attributed Paul's statement to a,
"... philosophical position held by a lot of libertarians, which Rand Paul is. They have a very, very strong view about the limitations of government intrusion into the private sector. That is a philosophical perspective."
Mr. Steele then tried to dismiss the issue by saying:
[A] lot of members go to the United States Senate with a lot of different philosophies, but when they get to the body, how they work to move the country forward matters. [...]
Jake Tapper tried to pin Chairman Steele down by asking him, "But do you condemn that view?"
Chairman Steele replied:
I can't condemn a person's view. That's like, you know, you believe something and I'm going to say, well, you know, I'm going to condemn your view of it. It's the people of Kentucky will judge whether or not that's a view that they would like to send-
Mr. Tapper then asked, "Are you comfortable with that?"
Mr. Steele replied:
I am not comfortable with a lot of things, but it doesn't matter what I'm comfortable with and not comfortable with. I don't vote in that election. The people of Kentucky will. As a national chairman, I'm here to say that our party will move forward in fighting for the civil rights and liberties of the American people, especially minorities in this country, and we're going to do everything in our power to make sure that everyone who's going to come to the United States Congress or go to state capitals with a Republican label are in that fight with us.
Mr. Tapper then said, "It sounds like you're not comfortable with it."
Several weeks ago in Haiti, Evangelicals, and missionaries attempted to stop Haitians from conducting traditional Vodou ceremonies for the dead.
Some of the same evangelicals have desecrated shrines erected for those who died in the earthquake.
Some of those same missionaries have withheld food and aid supplies to any Haitian who practices the traditional faith of a majority of the population.
Vodou is the religion of the masses in Haiti, along with Catholicism, and recognized by the government.
A man walks on a flooded path Sunday as he enters a house just outside the coastal city of Les Cayes, Haiti. As the world watched the aftermath of the Chilean earthquake, flooding triggered by heavy rain killed at least 11 people in Les Cayes, Haiti's third-most-populous city.
Yes, there is still reporting being done from Haiti. Even though it has slipped from the headlines efforts continue here to keep it on our minds and in our pockets.
Please view this video, and read the following sobering report:
"In Performance at the White House: A Celebration of Music from the Civil Rights Movement," is a concert in the White House East Room. President and Mrs. Obama will host the event in honor of Black History Month, and the evening will feature songs from the Civil Rights Movement performed by top entertainers, as well as readings from famous Civil Rights speeches and writings. Artists include Yolanda Adams, Joan Baez, Natalie Cole, Bob Dylan, Jennifer Hudson, John Legend, John Mellencamp, Smokey Robinson, Seal, the Blind Boys of Alabama, the Howard University Choir and The Freedom Singers, featuring Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon, Rutha Harris, Charles Neblett and Toshi Reagon. Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman, Queen Latifah and Joanne Woodward will be guest speakers. The music special airs on February 11 at 8 p.m. ET on PBS stations nationwide
Media Promotes Flawed Haiti Narrative is the headline and title of a commentary and new youtube video by Kris Broughton (*see editor's note below) at Brown Man Thinking Hard.
*editor's note: Kris Broughton, aka the Brown Man from Brown Man Thinking Hard, contacted Motley Moose and provided the link to his original post of the above video.
The video was written, voiced, and produced by Kris and kindly uploaded to Youtube by Baratunde Thurston.
The last place most of us look to for useful information is television soap operas. But 
