Airtel Africa team brightens up orphaned children in Mathare school

Bharti Airtel, a leading telecommunications service provider with operations in 20 countries across South Asia and Africa, made a connection with over 800 orphaned children in Mathare, by visiting Mogra Star Academy, one of the most underprivileged institutions of its kind in the Kenyan capital.

Airtel Africa’s marketing team, which drives the company’s brand in the continent, made a donation of Kshs 150,000 and other items including clothes, blankets and toys to the children. More importantly, the team interacted with the children, inspiring them with tips on how to build their budding potential while in school.

Mogra Star is located in Nairobi’s Mathare, a slum area situated three miles east of the city’s central business district, and considered one of the worst in Africa. Mathare is home to over 600,000 inhabitants occupying an area of two square miles.

Airtel Africa Chief Marketing Officer Andre Beyers, who led the team, said: “Airtel’s marketing team has been inspired by the story of Mogra Star and its indomitable spirit of the founder who has been selfless in nurturing the dreams of these children. Our team’s hope is to see the institution developed in order to secure as many lives out there in the streets as possible, and transform them into tomorrow's leaders.”

Mr. Beyers said the marketing team’s philanthropic gesture is a part of the company’s larger corporate responsibility goal of supporting sustainable learning in schools, a model that Airtel has adopted for tens of schools across Africa.

Mogra Star Academy provides education at both primary and secondary levels and seeks to provide a better foundation for a brighter future to the pupils and students. The institution not only provides education but also food and shelter to the destitute children.

The Mogra Project was founded in 1998 as an initiative of Mrs. Hanna Njoroge. Having been brought up in the slums, she was aware of the many children unable to go to school because of abject poverty with their parents also unable to pay school fees.

Mrs Njoroge realized the children not attending school engaged in petty crime, scavenged for food and were being forced into child labour. She set up a children’s home in Mathare which she registered as a charitable children’s institution. She then realized many children were unable to attend a school and so founded Mogra Star Academy to provide free education in the Mathare slum.

Airtel Africa’s ‘Our School’ programme involves tens of primary schools which have been adopted in rural areas of 17 African countries where Airtel operates. Working closely with the governments in these countries, the initiative seeks to improve the delivery of quality education to children, especially those from underprivileged areas. So far the schools under the programme are catering to over 16,000 underprivileged children.

P&G Recognized for Excellence in Leadership Development

Chief Executive Magazine has named P&G the best overall company for leadership development in its list of the “2014 Best Companies for Leaders.” 

The awards seek to identify and recognize what world class companies are doing to identify and nurture people three or more levels down the chain from the CEO. Chief Executive looks at a variety of criteria when choosing a best company: the existence of a formal development program, the amount of time a CEO is involved, the percentage of leaders recruited internally, the strength of its recruiting program and the caliber of talent, and the long-term growth of market capitalization. 

Communications Manager Ms. Irene Mwathi-Miheso said that P&G places a premium on developing people from within, judging senior managers on their ability to develop those who report to them, and a development program that includes formal and informal training. 

“P&G’s formal training, known as our proven leadership development model, can be summed up like this: We hire the best, brightest and most diverse talent from throughout the world, teach them through hands-on responsibility, and coach them to drive the model to new levels of success, while always operating by our deeply held Purpose, Values and Principles,” said Ms. Mwathi.  

P&G’s Chairman A.G. Lafley, in his recent book Playing to Win, discusses how he benefitted from informal “on the job” training. “My years at P&G afforded me ample opportunity to learn about business strategy and practice business leadership and management by doing,” A.G. writes.  “There, with clear accountability for strategy, operations, and results, I learned from my mistakes, lived with my failures, and appreciated on a daily basis my colleagues’ contributions to whatever success we were able to achieve together.” Today, A.G. mentors high achievers across all levels of the Company.   

Other companies on the 2014 ranking that operate in Kenya include IBM (2), General Electric (3), Unilever (5) and Dow Chemical (6). This was P&G’s third time to win the award. 

In 2013, Deloitte named P&G the second best company to work for in Kenya.

Inside: Epson L550 A 4-In-1 Printer With Fax & ADF Capability

Review courtesy of Techmoran

We have used the Epson L550 Printer, a 4-in-1 for printing, scanning, copying and at times faxing, an we loved it.

Build with an integrated ink system, the printer is ideal for home offices and small offices like ours, but small to us is 20 people, each printing at least one document a day.

With Micro Piezo printhead technology, desktop printer comes with an ADF, a two-line LCD screen, Ethernet connectivity and two extra bottles of black ink. One can print from their desks on a LAN or internet network. It’s easy to refill the ink tank with their clear labelling and drip-free nozzle. With Epson iPrint one can print wirelessly from smartphones and tablet PCs within the office while its new multi-copy function also allows you to copy one page up to 99 times in a single go, making it ideal for creating documents quickly for meetings.

The L550 offers a low-cost per page for both black and colour printing, with each set of high-volume ink bottles capable of printing up to 4,000 pages in black and 6,500 pages in colour.

The L550 has a 12 percent smaller footprint than previous models, and easily complements any work environment.

Technology

Printing Method	On-demand inkjet (Piezo electric)
Nozzle Configuration	180 Nozzles black, 59 Nozzles per colour
Minimum Droplet Size	3 pl, With Variable-Sized Droplet Technology
Ink Technology	Epson Dye Ink
Printing Resolution	5.760 x 1.440 dpi
Category	Consumer
All-in-One Functions	Scan, Copy, Fax

Print

Printing Speed ISO/IEC 24734	9 Pages/min Monochrome, 4,5 Pages/min Color
Printing Speed	33 Pages/min Monochrome (plain paper 75 g/m²), 15 Pages/min Color (plain paper 75 g/m²)
Colours	Black, Cyan, Yellow, Magenta

Scan

Scan speed black A4	300 dpi 2,2 msec/line, 600 dpi 2,4 msec/line
Scan speed colour A4	300 dpi 7 msec/line, 600 dpi 12,7 msec/line
Scanning Resolution	1.200 dpi x 2.400 dpi (Horizontal x Vertical)
Output formats	PDF
Scanner type	Contact image sensor (CIS)

Fax

Type of fax	Walk-up black and white and colour fax capability
Error correction mode	CCITU/ITU Group3 fax with Error Correction Mode
Fax speed dials (max)	60 names and numbers
Page memory	Up to 180 pages (ITU-T No.1 chart)
Fax Functions	PC Fax, Auto Redial, Speed Dial

Paper / Media Handling

Number of paper trays	1
Paper Formats	A4, A5, A6, B5, C6 (Envelope), DL (Envelope), No. 10 (Envelope), Letter, 9 x 13 cm, 10 x 15 cm, 13 x 18 cm, 13 x 20 cm, 20 x 25 cm, 100 x 148 mm, 16:9, Legal
Duplex	Manual
Automatic Document Feeder	Standard (built-in)
Output Tray Capacity	30 Sheets
Paper Tray Capacity	100 Sheets Standard, 100 Sheets maximum, 20 Photo Sheets
Compatible Paper Weight	64 g/m² – 95 g/m²
Media Handling	Auto Sheet Feeder

General

Energy Use	ENERGY STAR® qualified all-in-one, 10 W (standalone copying, ISO/IEC 24712 pattern), 2 W (sleep mode)
Supply Voltage	AC 110 V – 240 V,50 Hz – 60 Hz
Product dimensions	474‎ x 377 x 226 mm (Width x Depth x Height)
Product weight	6,2 kg
Noise Level	5,2 B (A) with Epson Premium Glossy Photo Paper / Photo RPM mode – 37 dB (A) with Epson Premium Glossy Photo Paper / Photo RPM mode
Compatible Operating Systems	Mac OS 10.5.8 or later, Mac OS 10.6+, Windows 7, Windows 7 x64, Windows 8 (32/64 bit), Windows Vista, Windows Vista x64, Windows XP, Windows XP x64
Included Software	Epson Easy Photo Print, Epson Event Manager, Epson Scan, EpsonNet Print
Interfaces	USB, Ethernet
Mobile and Cloud printing services	Epson Connect (iPrint)
Power Supply	220V
What’s in the box	4 x 70ml individual ink bottles (Bk,C,Y,M) plus 2 extra black ink bottles, Driver and utilities (CD), Installation/safety manual, Power cable, Setup guide, Software (CD), User manual, User manual (CD)

Other Features

LCD screen

Type: Monochrome, 2-line text

Sony World Photography Awards 2014 – Judges revealed alongside last call for entries

·     An exclusive selection of submissions to the 2014 awards are available for publication via press.worldphoto.org  and image.net

·         “Winning… made my work reach out to a worldwide audience… opened up new opportunities for me and was a huge motivation to continue following the stories that I believe in.” Andrea Gjestvang, 2013 L’Iris d’Or/ Photographer of the Year

·         All competitions close 6 January 2014 except Professional categories which close on 9 January 2014 

With just over one month remaining for photographers to enter the 2014 Sony World Photography Awards, the World Photography Organisation (WPO) is proud to announce the Honorary Judging Committee for this year’s competition and to reveal an exclusive selection of submissions to the 2014 awards.

 The 2014 Honorary Judging Committee will be chaired by William Hunt, a New York-based photography consultant, who will once again also host the annual awards gala on 30 April 2014.  The full panel comprises of photography professionals from the World Photographic Academy including: Ruth Eichhorn, Director of Photography, Geo Magazine (Germany); Johanna Neurath, Design Director for Thames & Hudson publishing (UK); Isbaella Icoz, Curator (Turkey); Guy Harrington, Director, Soho Management (UK); Matthew Pillsbury, Photographer (US); Harry Hardie, Panos Pictures/ HERE Press (UK); Suzy Koo, Creative Media Manager, Burberry (UK); Poorna Bell, Lifestyle Editor, Huffington Post and Simon Barnett, Director of Photography, CNN Digital. 

Entries to the Open and Youth competitions of the 2014 Sony World Photography Awards will close on 6 January, followed by the deadline for the Professional competition on 9 January. All entries are free via www.worldphoto.org. 

Exclusive images, which have been entered into the 2014 Open competition, can be downloaded from the WPO press centre at press.worldphoto.org.  

Now in its seventh year, the awards are one of the leading photography competitions in the world and it gives international exposure, recognition and opportunity to both its winning and shortlisted photographers. 

Norwegian photographer Andrea Gjestvang, winner of the 2013 Sony World Photography Awards Photographer of the Year title, comments: “Winning the L'Iris d'Or was a great recognition and it made my work reach out to a worldwide audience – not only to editors, collectors and potential collaborators in the business but, most importantly, the everyday readers who were moved and engaged by the images. It opened up new opportunities for me, and was a huge motivation to continue following the stories that I believe in.” 

In the 2014 awards professional photographers will compete for the coveted title of L'Iris d'Or/Sony World Photography Awards Professional Photographer of the Year, plus a $25,000 (USD) cash prize. Judges will also award the 15 winners for each of the Professional categories for their series of work.  

Amateur and enthusiast photographers will contend the Open Photographer of the Year 2014 title, plus a $5,000 (USD) cash prize.  The judges will also select the best single winning shot for each of the ten Open categories.  In addition, three photographers under 20 years old will be chosen as winners of the Youth competition. 

All category winners across the awards will receive the latest digital imaging equipment from Sony. Furthermore, the winning and finalist photographers will receive an exhibition of their work at Somerset House, London, from 1-18 May 2014, will be published in the 2014 edition of the Sony World Photography Awards book and will also be featured across the WPO website. 

The shortlists for the 2014 awards will be announced on 4 February, followed by the winners of the Open categories on 18 March.  The overall and Professional categories winners will be revealed at the Sony World Photography Awards gala ceremony held in London on 30 April. 

The Kenya National Award is new for the 2014 Sony World Photography Awards and is open to photographers of all abilities from across the country. Entries are free via www.worldphoto.org and photographers can enter one of ten categories.  The judges, including Documentary Photographer Amunga Eshuchi, Kennedy Gathuru, Sony Middle East & Africa local office representative and Astrid Merget, World Photography Organisation Representative, will uncover and honour the best single image by a Kenyan national from across these categories. 

Further details about the Sony World Photography Awards and the World Photography Organisation can be found atwww.worldphoto.org.

Consumers turn the heat on Gotv over actual cost of hardware

As Nairobi residents brace themselves for the imminent switch off of their analogue television sets, consumers have been in a rush to acquire approved set top boxes which will enable them continue accessing the essential service beyond the December 13^th date, a gazette deadline where Communication Commission of Kenya is expected to initiate the 1^st phase of ensuring Kenyans access television on the digital platform.

Pay television companies have taken advantage of this period to have brisk business but it seems in the process, the public are left at the mercy of companies eager to make money at the expense of the service they are to supposed to provide.

A letter sent by a concerned consumer to COFEK has been intercepted by Business News East Africa which shows a consumer raising concerns on how he was made to purchase a Pay Television decoder from Gotv only to realize that he had to pay monthly fees as opposed to what he thought was a decoder to migrate him to the digital platform at no fee.

In the end, the poor Kenyan is being pushed to spend up to Ksh 7,100 on a set top box whereas essentially there are those retailing at between Ksh 4,000 to 5,000 which would have seen him save up to Ksh 2,000!

See the letter copied below…Kenyans are urged to evaluate their options while purchasing their preferred set top boxes to avoid such frustrations as below. BE INFORMED! A visit to the digital Kenya website http://www.digitalkenya.go.ke/list-of-type-approved-dvb-t2-set-top-boxes-and-authorised-vendors will give you a list of approved set top boxes and their prices.

Consumer Exploitation by Gotv

My Name is Hesbon and I live in Kahawa Sukari. Given the indication that the Government intends to switch off the analogue television sets, I took up the initiative to purchase a set top box from Gotv for Ksh 4,500 where according to the company’s attendants who served me at a tent set up within the company’s compound in Westlands, I was to access all channels including our Kenyan channels.

Towards the end of October, I noticed I could only access KBC, I switched the decoder on and off and checked my aerial but the problem persisted. I then decided to take the decoder back to the company offices.

The attendant I met told me that what I paid when I purchased the decoder was inclusive of subscription which had now expired and if I want to continue accessing channels I had to pay monthly or pay another 2,600 to access Kenyan channels!! Why am I being charged extra money to access our channels which essentially should be free???

This means I will end up paying Ksh 7,100 (4,500 + 2,600) whereas had I known this before I purchased I would have purchased from another company which I see being advertised between 4,000 and 5,000. Gotv attendants said their decoder was cheaper now its evident it is very expensive!!

COFEK, don’t you protect consumers from such evident consumer exploitation? I feel cheated and bitter, I wonder how many Kenyans have been taken through the same.

Please do something.

Thank you.

Hesbon Wanyoike.