Name: Susi
Mahumba ni tombo
Vita hina macho
Yenda muno jakuura rurira
Moosecow on My hometown Dresden ...
Mo'nonymous on My hometown Dresden ...
Mo'nonymous on Salif Keita
today
June 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
africa
bezness
books
corruption
east germany - west germany
holocaust
kenya
learning kisuaheli/swahili
music
poetry
towns i visited
visited *loading* times
Swiss composer Niki Reiser studied flute, composing/arranging with the principal subject filmscoring at the Berklee College of Music, Boston, between 1980-1984. During his career he accomplished further studies in film scoring with Jerry Goldsmith, Herb Pomeroy, Michael Gibbs and Ennio Morricone and did advanced training in the field of classical music at the Basel conservatory.
His biggest success so far was the score for BEYOND SILENCE (1996, director: Caroline Link) for which he was awarded with the Bavarian Film Award as well as the German Film Award for best score. The same film was nominated for the Oscar 1998 in the category “Best Foreign Language Film”.
Beside his film scoring Niki is still an active Jazz flute player. Since 1985 he did several tours with bands like “People” (founding member), “Cocodrilo” (Europe, USA, Israel) and the successful Klezmer band “Kol Simcha”, for which he composed beside several album recordings numerous songs with symphony orchestra.
He also scored the epic feature NOWHERE IN AFRICA, which was awarded with 5 German Film Awards, including “Best Music”, and won the Academy Award for "Best Foreign Language Film" in 2003.
Feature Films + TV
LIEBESLEBEN / LOVE LIFE
R: Maria Schrader, 2007
MEIN FÜHRER - DIE WIRKLICH WAHRSTE WAHRHEIT ÜBER ADOLF HITLER / MEIN FÜHRER: THE TRULY TRUEST TRUTH ABOUT ADOLF HITLER
R: Dani Levy, 2006
DIE WEISSE MASSAI / THE WHITE MASSAI
R: Hermine Huntgeburth, 2005
ALLES AUF ZUCKER! / GO FOR ZUCKER!
R: Dani Levy, 2004
Deutscher Filmpreis: Beste Filmmusik / Best Music
SOMMERSTURM / SUMMER STORM
R: Marco Kreuzpaintner, 2004
BOUILLABAISSE
R: Frank Papenbroock, 2003
DAS FLIEGENDE KLASSENZIMMER / THE FLYING CLASSROOM
R: Tomy Wigand, 2002
VÄTER / I'M THE FATHER
R: Dani Levy, 2002
NIRGENDWO IN AFRIKA / NOWHERE IN AFRICA
R: Caroline Link, 2001
Bundesfilmpreis: Beste Musik / German Film Award: Best Music
Oscar-Gewinner 2003: Bester fremdsprachiger Film / Academy Award Winner 2003: Best Foreign Language Film
HEAVEN
Additional Music, R: Tom Tykwer, 2001
HEIDI
R: Markus Imboden, 2001
KALT IST DER ABENDHAUCH / COLD IS THE BREATH OF EVENING
R: Rainer Kaufmann, 1999
Swiss Film Music Award
DAS GEHEIMNIS DER SICHERHEIT / THE SECRET
IMAX-Film für die Autostadt Wolfsburg, R: Dani Levy, 1999
EIN TODSICHERES GESCHÄFT / UNDERTAKER'S PARADISE
R: Matthias X. Oberg, 1999
PÜNKTCHEN UND ANTON / ANNALUISE & ANTON
R: Caroline Link, 1998
Bundesfilmpreis: Beste Musik / German Film Award: Best Music
MESCHUGGE / THE GIRAFFE
R: Dani Levy, 1998
Bundesfilmpreis: Beste Musik / German Film Award: Best Music
DAS TRIO / THE TRIO
R: Hermine Hundgeburth, 1997
IM NAMEN DER UNSCHULD / IN THE NAME OF INNOCENCE (TV)
R: Andreas Kleinert, 1997
JENSEITS DER STILLE / BEYOND SILENCE
R: Caroline Link, 1996
Bayerischer Filmpreis & Bundesfilmpreis: Beste Musik / Bavarian Film Award & German Film Award: Best Music
I want to go to Africa for some months as development aid volunteer. Preferably to Kenya or Tanzania. Does anybody have some informations about? I haven´t got any academic studies but I´m working in prison and do lots of social work.
I´m thankful for any hint.
Now I understand a little bit more about the culture of the Giriama. I didn´t found a explanation in german but in english right now:
Introduction
The Giriama(Agiryama) people are Bantus living along the coastal areas of Kenya. They have migrated from Singwaya in the north eastern sides of Kenyan coast bordering the Oromo.
The Giryama are a sub tribe of the Mijikenda Group of people, who are made up of nine sub groups.
Giriama extended families reside in homesteads, or compounds. There are usually three generations—a father, his wife or wives, all of his sons, the sons' wives, any unmarried children, as well as numerous grandchildren. Homesteads range in size from seven to 70 people.
Where are they located?
They largely leave along the Kenya coast, mostly found in the Kilifi and Malind district. They are found also sparsely in Mombasa and Kwale Districts of the coast province.
What are their lives like?
The Giriamas were largely famers, hunters and gatheres. They currently farm, though in really small scale. The crops they plannt include perennials like coconuts and cashewnuts which act as main cashcrops. They also plant Maise, Millet and peas. The Giriamas are largely social, leaving in extended families though recently the trend seems to be dropped. They live in Makuti thatched houses mostly which are mud walled, but recently iron sheets and brick structures have started to be common. Some take advanted of the close proximity to the Indian ocean by fishing through is small scale. those that do this practise it purely for subsistance.
What are their beliefs?
The Giriamas were originally traditionalist, believing in idols, called the Koma. They used to sacrifise at the Koma,nearly on weekely basis. Sacrifices included Alcohol(the traditional Manazi) which is palm wine. They believe that the koma were actually the representatives of the living dead, they would therefore name the komas with names og all the elders that have gone before them. The koma was a curves piece of wood, and the eldest of them that have already gone before them was represented with a bigger piece of wood called the Kigango. When trouble befalls a family, they would sometime go to scarifice by the koma side, sometimes porridge and blood would be used. The Giriama however are now largely migrating from these believes and majorly have become Christians, with some few becoming muslims. There are a few however that still practise the tradition religion. They also believed in witchcraft. That there are individuals in the community that would be witch others to the level.
Source: forafricanart.com and joshuaproject.net
The secret details of the high-level meetings US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice held with President Kibaki and ODM leader Raila Odinga in her few hours of diplomacy in Nairobi can be revealed today.
Dr Rice was once described as a “young lady who exhibited something very special” in 1986 when she served as an intern with the US Joint Chiefs of Staff. The fast pace of the talks in the past week can now be attributed to her one-day shuttle diplomacy last Monday.
US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice
The top US diplomat who was dispatched by President Bush to Kenya with the stern message that there must be an end to violence and that the PNU and ODM must share power to end the political crisis is reported by those who attended the closed-door sessions to have as easily navigated the issues on Monday as she did her difficult piano pieces as a girl and the tortuous field of Soviet military affairs as a junior female analyst.
In preparation for meeting her, it is understood that both parties burnt the midnight oil to prepare convincing arguments that their side was blameless in the violence, lawlessness and uncertainty that have convulsed much of the country since the results of the presidential election were announced on December 30.
Election results
What they did not know was that the diplomat had carried with her the details of the election results, the reports of domestic and international observers and the allegations that both parties had tabled.
On the basis of the information gathered since the disputed elections, Dr Rice is said to have delivered to President Kibaki and his team on the one side and to ODM leader Raila Odinga and his group on the other a three-fold message laying out the concerns of the United States and the international community.
First was the fear that instability in Kenya was likely to affect the entire region, including countries in eastern, central, and southern Africa as well as those in the Horn. Their concern ran the gamut of political stability, economic development, relations with other nations of the world and the search for democracy.
The second item in her message centred on the violence that had been well-documented by the media. Dr Rice is said to have urged the two sides to take steps to ensure that violence doesn’t engulf the entire country because, once it does, it would be difficult to stop.
She was categorical that the international community was not ready to allow the violence in Kenya to spiral out of control and risk a Rwanda-like situation in which hundreds of thousands were killed in 100 days. She is said to have made it clear that the two sides “must fix the violence,” which is why chief mediator Kofi Annan has been insistent that he will not leave Kenya until a political solution has been reached.
The third issue was based purely on Washington’s concern over international terrorism. It is understood Dr Rice told the two sides that the US believed that should political instability take hold in Kenya, then terrorism would have found a new home.
She is said to have argued that whenever security becomes endangered, civilians tended to buy a lot of guns, something that would make it difficult to tell a terrorist from a person fighting for a political cause or a tribal war.
Dr Rice reminded the government and ODM of America’s war on terror and the suspected Al Qaeda activities in the neighbouring Somalia which is struggling to establish a central government after 17 years of civil war.
Sources who attended the top-level diplomatic meetings revealed that Dr Rice insisted that Kenya must quickly stop the slide into the abyss and return to the democratic path as a stable, secure country.
She summed this up in her address after the closed-door meetings: “The international community is engaged; they are engaged because of their friendship for Kenya and they are here because of their solidarity with the Kenyan people, and we’re all working together to ensure that we get the right results and that Kenya becomes a stable, prosperous country and the haven it has been in this region for all the countries.”
To achieve the stability, she urged the two sides to forget about the question of who was the winner or the loser and work together under a grand coalition.
“We came in to join Kofi Annan, who is here on behalf of the African Union and the international community, to help the leadership and Kenyans to end the political crisis. There needs to be a coalition and sharing of responsibility in the governing of this country.” she said.
When she arrived on Monday morning, she first went to the Serena Hotel where Mr Annan and his team that includes former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa and former South African First Lady Graca Machel are based.
They briefed her on the issues, the mediation status and the hurdles that needed to be overcome before a political settlement could be reached.
From the hotel, she was driven to Harambee House to meet President Kibaki. Apparently, he and his team on national reconciliation led by Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka had held several sessions in preparation for the meeting.
It is understood that they had agreed on the legal positions and the rich history of how election disputes have been resolved that they were to present to Dr Rice.
The meeting took two hours, and it is understood that President Kibaki was the first to speak, summarising the issues that he believed showed clearly that he was the winner and that ODM was using violence to support their claim to power.
It was then that he invited Mbooni MP Mutula Kilonzo to take Dr Rice through their presentation which contained arguments pushing for ODM to assume the Opposition and that should power-sharing be the option, he explained the impossibility of immediately creating the position of executive prime minister.
Sources said Mr Kilonzo went into election disputes around the world, some drawn from US experience, to show a clear pattern of how they were solved. He was also said to have argued that ODM rigged the elections and had planned to use violence if necessary and that President Kibaki had shown readiness to share power by naming Mr Musyoka from ODM Kenya his VP.
It is understood that Dr Rice said that given the state of affairs in the country, it was the President’s duty to provide leadership by agreeing to share power with his rivals and prepare the ground for fresh elections.
The Kibaki team complained of what they called overbearing foreign involvement in the dispute in favour of ODM and stated they would not accept dictatorship.
This could explain why she said later: “What we hear is the insistence by the Kenyan people that the political crisis and the violence must come to an end. We are not dictating a solution to Kenyans.”
She then added: “We should, as one international community, observe certain standards that have been set. We object to the use of the word ‘dictate’. It is the Kenyan people who are insisting on an end to the crisis, and the international community is coming in to assist, to help.”
After the two-hour meeting with President Kibaki, she went to the residence of the US ambassador Michael Ranneberger in Muthaiga to meet the ODM team.
On its side, ODM had prepared a forensic audit of the votes to show how the final figures were altered at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC) to favour President Kibaki.
But when they arrived prepared to argue their case, Dr Rice reportedly made the task easier for them. She is understood to have said: “We have everything on the elections; let us not waste time on it.”
The meeting took one hour.
She was referring to election results announced by the ECK, reports of local and international observers and vote audits by each side.
The ODM leader Raila Odinga was the main speaker while the rest of the team chipped in to provide more details on the disputed election results.
Sources close to the meeting said the ODM team argued that a re-run of the presidential election was necessary to restore tespect for democracy in the country and clear the air over who the clear victor was.
But it is said Dr Rice replied that the environment was not yet conducive for an election and urged them to consider the sharing of power as the solution to the crisis.
She said it was no longer important to know who was the winner and the loser because of the damage that it had cost the country in terms of instability and the scale of violence.
Dr Rice made it clear that a grand coalition was necessary, that no obstacles should block the sharing of power and that the country should not rush into another election.
This position trumped the second ODM argument hat they were ready to enter into a coalition with PNU on condition that an election be held after two years.
In fact, it is said that Dr Rice insisted that the grand coalition should last long enough—five years—to enable those involved in the conflict to carry out the necessary constitutional, legal and judicial reforms that would seal the loopholes that led to the disputed poll results. Priority would be given to comprehensive review of the Constitution.
This, it is understood, was to ensure that the country took advantage of the disputed elections to enact reforms that would return it to the democratic path.
She alluded to this at her press conference: “Sometimes when there is a crisis, use it to put the country to a firmer footing. That is the message I passed on to all parties (PNU and ODM),” she said.
Story by BERNARD NAMUNANE
Publication Date: 2/24/2008
18 years after the wall fell down between East and West Germany the discussions doesn´t find an end...
Today we had a visitor in our prison who repaired the washing machine in our laundry. He´s an older man, I think about 55 years. When he realized that I´m originally came from East Germany (I live in West Germany since 5 years) he said: "In my opinion the wall has to be rebuild." I answered: "Yes and we will put you on it." All my West Germans collegues fell in big laughter and one of them said: "Then you can watching all out."
It´s a shame that after so many years after the reunion of Germany so much hate against the own people exists. A lot of East Germans are without work because after the reunion lots of industry broke down. Thousands of East Germans travelling every weekend or moving to West Germany to find work like me. We have no other possibility. That´s the point lots of West Germans have a hugh problem with. But I´m sure they would do the same.
Lots of them have the opinion that all East Germans are stupid and to lazy to work. But thats not true. Everywhere in the world bad humans exists not only in my home country. I hate that kind of discussion and I don´t be ashamed to say: "Yes, I´m an East German!"
The wood is lovely, dark and deep;
But I have promises to keep
And miles to go before I sleep.
The worst thing about violence is that it begets violence. Any attempts at avenging any violent acts in the hope that by so doing the other party is silenced, is the last thing that can make the violence stop. A party or parties have to be prepared to take a back seat and ask the question, till when the violence?
This is not the time for every party, individual or even community to take a hard line position. This is not the time for people to look at what the other party did or even to shout the loudest.
THIS IS THE TIME FOR EVERYBODY WHO cares for this nation to retreat and reach out to one another. It’s the time to realise we all need each other and that the one who retreats is not necessarily a coward or a weakling.
Retreating does not mean that one has failed. It just means that one is rational enough to see what is happening and taking responsible decisions.
And responsibility is not the preserve of elected leaders only. Every Kenyan should act and behave responsibly.
Who among us chose the ethnic community to be born in? Who among us chose the parents to be born to? Who among us has the capacity to change their ethnic destiny? Who? Now, when a matatu is stopped and a Kenyan is violently flushed out and killed, what do those killing expect the victim to have done so as to escape their heinous acts? And what would they themselves do if the roles were reversed? What would they do if they found themselves in such a situation? What would you do about your ethnic identity? I know I can’t do anything about mine. Yet, for it, I am already guilty and deserve to die in the court of some and I’m a hero in the court of others and yet both courts are wrong in passing judgment on the basis of my ethnicity.
I long for a Kenya in which we are all going to be proud of our ethnicity and, instead of using it negatively, use our diversity to realise more progress.
I want to be proud to be Wanjiku Wainaina, Otieno Onyango or Wakesho Mwabili. I don’t want to be scared to mention my name among a crowd for fear of being singled out for harassment or denied opportunities.
I am saddened by the events that have taken place over the last few weeks. What wrong did the priest killed in Eldama Ravine or the man pulled out of a bus and killed in Naivasha done to deserve a premature death? Or even hundreds of others who have lost their lives in the violence? Your guess is as good as mine. Their only mistake is to belong to a particular ethnic group.
Who will be the first to break this murderous cycle of violence? Who will let our people know that violence only begets violence and that no one among us, individual, organisation or community, shall emerge the winner? We are all losers in this game fellow Kenyans. There can never be any development without peace.
No meaningful dialogue without tolerance and patience. No progress without peace. If we are to forge ahead, we must all shun violence and embrace one another.
In the public court leaders are either heroes or losers, depending on which side one stands. For those fighting others, their leaders are heroes because they watch as others from other communities are violently robbed of their livelihood and lives.
They don’t utter a word even as others’ human rights are violated with impunity. Yet those harassed are loudly wondering where leadership is.
Watching men, especially young men, brandishing crude weapons is sad. I keep thinking if I had the ability to turn those young men into women I would do so promptly. And why not? Women suffer the most in times of conflict as mothers, as wives, and sisters.
THEY AGONISE FOR DAYS ON END AS TO the whereabouts of their sons and husbands. They agonise over whether their day to be raped has arrived and shrink in fear yet they know there is absolutely nothing they can do. They still have to carry the pregnancy to term despite the goings on around them and, when the hour comes, they fear how and where to deliver their little angels and bring them up.
They have the responsibility of ensuring that their little ones have food to eat, even when there is nowhere to buy the food and no one to turn to.
They fall in love with men of all shades and ethnicities and have to live with their families even when they belong to different communities and clans. I would turn those young men into women and then ask them to deal with the circumstances. And why not?
To live together as Kenyans again, we need to separate ourselves from the clan, ethnic identity and live freely as human beings. We all need to do as a man of God in Nairobi asked his congregation to do recently.
Write down all the things that we do not like about other communities and together burn them to symbolise a rebirth. Failure to free ourselves from the yolk of tribalism will only see this country disintegrate, leaving us with no country to belong to or talk about.
Let us all take our roles seriously. Wananchi should seriously guard their neighbours instead of guarding themselves against their neighbours. Let us embrace one another. The leaders should preach peace regardless of which regions they come from.
I have waited for leaders say, from Coast or North Eastern or any other region, to come together to condemn the ongoing violence but all in vain. Leaders should be universal.
The fact that your ethnic group is not “affected” by violence doesn’t mean that you can’t offer your leadership skills to get those fighting out of the quagmire. It is the effort of every Kenyan that will help end this violence and save our country. This includes you.
The writer is Deputy Director, Media Focus on Africa.
Story by MBURUGU GIKUNDA
Publication Date: 2/3/2008
ODM has accused President Kibaki of undermining the ongoing talks to find a lasting solution to post-election violence in the country.
And the party demanded that the President apologise to Kenyans for his remarks at the African Union summit that problems in Kenya can be resolved locally through the courts.
ODM leader Raila Odinga addresses the press at Pentagon House on Saturday where he repeated that he is committed to the mediation talks. He is with leaders Najib Balala (left) and William Ruto. Photo/MICHAEL MUTE
The President is said to have also accused ODM of being behind the post-election violence that he claimed was premeditated.
ODM figures led by Langata MP Raila Odinga said the President’s statements at a time when talks were underway to end political turmoil in the country was not only an insult to the party but to Kenyans in general.
“He should come forward and renounce the statement. He should not utter things that could worsen the current problems,” Mr Odinga said.
Speaking at Pentagon House, accompanied by MPs William Ruto, Najib Balala, Dalmas Otieno, Omingo Magara and Henry Kosgey, and Pentagon member Joseph Nyagah, Mr Odinga asked why PNU had sent representatives to the talks mediated by Kofi Annan if its leader still insisted ODM should go to court.
“Is he (Kibaki) going to be bound by the resolution passed (by the mediation team)?” Mr Odinga asked.
He said ODM feared the President wanted to turn the talks into an academic exercise, adding that his party was unwilling to be drawn into a blame game.
ODM, Mr Odinga added, was fully committed to the success of the negotiations, “and we are doing everything in our power to ensure that the ground is stable for this to happen.”
“Mr Kibaki should also approach mediation in good faith. We would be comforted and encouraged in our commitment if we were assured of equal commitment by PNU and its leaders,” Mr Odinga said.
He said President Kibaki had expressed his commitment to talks and that ODM was disappointed with his statement in Addis Ababa.
He said ODM would not go to court over disputed presidential election results because the judicial process was slow, the fraudulent election results were announced by lawyers in a legally constituted body, the chief justice himself was on hand to swear Mr Kibaki in and that documents relating to elections had been tampered with.
The courts, he added, were also full of President Kibaki’s cronies.
Defeated
Mr Odinga said the fact that ODM won 99 parliamentary and 998 civic seats compared to PNU’s 43 and 322 respectively show that it won the elections. Twenty-three Cabinet ministers were also defeated in the legislative election by ODM candidates.
President Kibaki, he said, was trying to use the propaganda ploy of repeating something repeatedly to make people believe it.
Mr Odinga said ODM will not withdraw from the Annan-led talks as it had confidence in the former UN boss’s ability to steer the teams meeting under his chairmanship “towards a just solution that will rescue our country.”
He said ODM had decided to give peace a chance and accused President Kibaki of trying to derail the mediation efforts.
“We are prepared to walk the extra mile. We are doing this for the sake of Kenyans, not Mr Kibaki. This country is not owned by one Emilio Mwai Kibaki. It belongs to all Kenyans,” Mr Odinga said.
Many people have lost their lives at the hands of police, he said, and some areas of the country have become no-go zones, something that should not be trivialised.
Insisting there can be no peace without justice, Mr Odinga said absence of violence and ceasefire in a state of war was not peace.
Story by LUCAS BARASA
Publication Date: 2/3/2008
Source: The Standard
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