ktravula – a travelogue!

Browsing the archives for the News category.

New York, Yesterday

I do not live in New York. I am miles away from it, but yesterday I successfully talked a good friend of mine who lives there to attend an event that I felt held some significance for me, for this blog and for Nigeria. It was titled 2020 Vision: Mobilizing for Women’s Rights and Eliminating Violence Against Women and it was held at the John Tishman Auditorium at the New School for Social Research.

The speakers included Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace laureate, 2003; Founder, Defenders of Human Rights Center, Iran, Thoraya Obaid, Executive Director of UNFPA, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mary Robinson, President, Realizing Rights, former President of Ireland and former U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights and Melanne Verveer, United States Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues.

The event was doubly memorable because by 12noon New York time, the winner of the WLP Essay Competition featuring about 100 entries from over thirty-three countries was announced, and it was no other person than Temitayo Olofinlua – the same Temitayo of Bookaholic Blog a regular commenter on this blog. Her entry was titled On Fear, a powerful exposition on the challenges of women in Nigeria and most of developing countries of the world.

I feel proud to be associated with her, not only because of the brilliance of the entry, but also because of the humility, dedication and hardwork of the strong young woman. Congratulations from me, from my friend, and from all of KTravula.com.

Let The Bidding Begin!

Here is my promised post about my short project to raise money for the victims of the Earthquake in Haiti, and the senseless ethnic pogrom in the Nigerian city of Jos. I know that many of you want to donate money but haven’t found the time or the way. Here is an opportunity to do so, and get something back for it. This is how it goes:

1. Choose one of my photographs that you want to receive on a 20×16 inches high quality photoprint paper (frame is optional, depending on where you live). It comes with a postcard and an autograph from ktravula.com. (You can tell me which of the photos you want by going to the page where the photos are posted, and starting your bid in the comment section. See the bottom of this post for a list.)

2. Make an offer in cash that you’ll like to pay for the said artwork. Bidding starts at $50, and has no upper limit. All you have to do is write something like this in the comment box on said page: “I want pic number 4, and I’m bidding to pay $80 for it.” or “I want the pic with the filename IMG_0114 for $500”. As soon as you do, your comment will show up on the comment bar on the right side of this blog, and anyone who has a higher bid will see it. In 24hours, and in the absence of a higher bid, you will be confirmed winner of the said artwork which will be sent to you by post as soon as you make the donation promised to the either of the following sources.

3. Donate 50% of the amount (or whatever percentage suits you) to facilitate relief for the homeless victims of the Jos crisis through this link, and ask for a proof of said donation either through email or through a written letter. (Read more about the Jos crises here on Jerremy’s Blog).

4. Donate the rest % via Yele Haiti,the American Red Cross, UNICEF or PlanUSA to the relief efforts in Haiti. When you do, you will be sent a confirmation email. Keep the email safe.

NOTE: You can make all your payments to either of these two causes, Jos or Haiti. You don’t necessarily have to split your donation, except you want to.

5. Send said proof of donation to me via JosHaiti@ktravula.com, with your name and postal address. You may also need to pay $50 for handling and postage of said artwork to you wherever you are all over the world. Residents of the United States will get their artwork within one week. For those overseas, it might take a few days later.

Now, here are the pages where you can find my photos all taken since August in locations in the United States. (Note: photo quality is better in print than on the computer screen):

To Carbondale and Back

Yesterday

An Evening Ride

Lights

In actual fact, you can ask for any photo on this blog, as long as it is the one I took myself.

Alright, let the bidding begin. I hope it’s simple enough. 🙂 If not, please let me know.

I heard that singer Lionel Richie is assembling a new cast to remake the 1984 hit We Are The World to raise money for Haiti. Actor Leonardo DiCaprio was praised today by the President Bush/Clinton Haiti relief funds for his personal donations. Singers Beyonce, Twista, Rihanna and Wyclef Jean are doing all they could in their capacities as musicians. I can’t sing, unfortunately. This is all I have. I hope that you find the pictures good enough for you to spend your money on, especially with the aim of saving lives in some other part of the world. Cheers.

NOTE: This is totally not-for-profit!

On January and the Friggin’ Weather

I was almost surprised to discover that it is already the 26th of January 2010. Oh how time flies. It was just a few days ago that this new decade began with fireworks and an almost panty bomb. And just like that, we’re already one month up the new dozen ladders of this new year. Impressive indeed. At ktravula.com, you know what that means, don’t you? It means that we’re getting close to another season of 10 Reasons. I still have no idea what we’ll be debating this time. But the blog always surprises. In a related info, by the end of this month I’d have blogged for six straight months on ktravula.com. What would that make me? A blogaholic? I think so. All I need is a dose of Nigeria to cure me of this malady. Today I heard that another opposition politician in the country was assassinated in Ogun State. Very classy indeed. What a good thing to spend the quality time of state doing – assassinating opposition. My country is never short of deep depressing distractions.

In other news, the Winter season here has proven not to be Winter at all, but a winker one. I just don’t understand the darned weather at all. One day it’s freezing cold, and the other day, it’s hot. In the evening, it rains. I brought it to the attention of my students in class today and they gave me this wonderful nugget peculiar to Illinois, particularly Edwardsville: “You don’t like the weather? Just wait a few minutes!” I mean seriously, I’m depressed by its inconsistency. It just never stays too long to be defined. The ktravulake has refused to stay frozen long enough for me to play on it. It started de-freezing on the very first day of my planned play, and it has not frozen again since then, thanks to the weather. Well, it snowed today, but only for a little while. Let’s see for how long it stays cold before it warms up again.

I heard there was Harmattan in Nigeria. It was funny because I first heard it from a friend on gmail chat who had just gone to heat water for a shower. I was curious about how cold it could have been to necessitate boiling water, so I went to weather.com to see for myself. It was 28 degrees Celcious (82.4 degrees F). What? If we get that kind of temperature here, it will be called summer! I guess that explains why the first time I got off the plane, I was wearing three thick shirts and an overcoat. And that was in August. 28 degrees Celcius looks more like a very hot day to me right now, and Lagos and Ibadan people have absolutely no reason to take showers with hot water. Trust me 😀 If you doubt me, just take a look at the blog temperature on the upper right hand corner.

PS: I’m still waiting for the first bid on my KTravulartworks, seen on the wall of my apartment – without a frame – in that photo. The offer is still good to donate all profits to victims of disaster in Jos and in Haiti, so send me an email at ktravulart@ktravula.com to make an offer. It is your chance to get a beautiful artwork in your living room while donating money to a worthy cause. There’s nothing as fulfilling as killing two beasts with one shot. Is there?

Two Poems for Wenger

I wrote this poem last January for Susanne Wenger when news broke that she had passed, and sent it to a couple of friends and a few listservs. Friend Benson Eluma was one of the people who wrote a response in poetry to my offering back then. Click here to read his poem, now published in Nigeria’s NEXT newspaper. The poetic meeting of Benson and I on the campus of the Ibadan University is a long story for another day.

Here below is the final version of what I wrote back then, thanks to a few suggestions from Lola Shoneyin.

Like Chalk in the River

For Susanne, Olorisha!

They said it rained when Suzanne was buried.
It poured.
They spoke of a rumble of the heavens
as the Orisha Osun swam back, again, to her pristine source.

They talked of art.
They spoke of beauty.
They mentioned hands
That sculpted spirits.

But now when the forests have stopped dancing with the rain,
See the wind escape from that storied grove.
Look, amid the hallowed haze,
at a turning twirl of her spirit gaze.

Gone is the eye that looked out for the standing stems
When greed called for arms, and men scorned sense, and all she wove.

Today, the Spirit it was that left, again,
To return. To return: a time-bound god, or else a travelling dove.

NOTE: Susanne Wenger was the Austrian artist who lived most of her life in Osogbo Nigeria as a priestess of the river Osun. Born in Austria, she met and married the German artist Professor Ulli Beier who brought her to Nigeria in the 1949. The couple quickly assimilated in Nigeria, he as a teacher and she as an artist, but they moved from Ibadan to the nearby town of Ede in 1950 to escape what Wenger called the “artificial university compound”. In Ede, she met one of the last priests of the rapidly disappearing, ancestral-based Olorisha religion. She quickly became engrossed in his life and rituals, even though at that time she spoke no Yoruba. “Our only intercourse was the language of the trees,” she said later.

Her work in Osogbo for the many parts of her life included an enormous effort to protect the sacred grove of Osun, a forest along the banks of the Oshun river just outside Osogbo, which she turned into a sculpture garden filled with art made by her and others. The sacred groves of Osun are now UNESCO World Heritage Sites thanks in most part to her efforts. (Read more about her life here).

She died last January in Osogbo, her adopted home, at the age of 92.

Memories of Washington

Today is Dr. Martin Luther King Jnr Holiday in all the states of the US. It is a public holiday so school is closed. I don’t know if I like holidays a lot, but I can’t complain that I have got a chance to rest in preparation for work on Wednesday.

Today in memory of that youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and civil rights activist whose words, deeds and activism has challenged so many people across races, beliefs, age range and countries towards harmony, peace, quest for justice and non-violence, I am putting up these few photos that we took on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in December while we were in Washington.

It was on those steps in August 28, 1963 where Dr.King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. (See last image, obtained from Wikipedia images.)

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