As mobile application competitions Pivot 25, Garage48, AppCircus and IPO 48 demonstrated last year, Kenya is fast becoming “app country”. We are chock full of innovative minds, coming up with ingenious solutions to everyday problems. If the techies are not converting ideas into code at iHub, NaiLab or iLab Africa, they’re uploading them onto global app stores or on the newly-launched HewaniLife.

Launched in December 2011 by Virtual City, the latter is expected to bring together thousands of local-application developers. Interestingly, aside from making available apps that can work on Android and iPhone platforms, they shallalso feature those that are SMS based. So, what are the coolest apps you should have on your phone? Here are a few worth checking out.

Olaleshe

Price: Free

App Store: Google Android Market There are few things that come close to the paralyzing fear experienced when one realizes a friend or loved one has gone missing. Yet imagine the fear the individual in question experiences, in turn. Here’s an app that could help both parties. Developed by Capefield, (“brother” in Maasai) is a geo-alert SOS application that enables users to send a message with a link to their location to the emergency contacts in their phone book.Available on Android phones, the app (once downloaded) features a single-click widget button, located on the home screen for quick access.

NikoHapa

Price: Free

App Store: Google Android Market Love using FourSquare? Then, you’ll love NikoHapa application (“I’m here” in Swahili). It allows users to receive rewards for visiting places around Nairobi that have partnered with NikoHapa, allowing check-in via the app or through SMS. How does it work? Once a customer arrives at a venue, he/she scans a QR code available on site, or sends an SMS with short code to 6775. These check-ins then pop up on the NikoHapa website, announcing the user’s arrival.

With enough check-ins to a specific place, a user can then receive various discounts or rewards such as a free cup of coffee.

Payuka

Price: Free

App Store: Google Android Market Kenyans love their football. No doubt about it. A group of guys (or gals) flocking to the pub or at a local stadium to cheer on their favorite team is a common occurrence. Tandaza Technologies Limited’s Payuka slang for “talk excitedly”) was developed to connect football fans through social-media platforms. Synched live with over 70 top flight league and tournament matches worldwide, Payuka has the ability to connect using Facebook or Twitter accounts. It then accesses a live commentary feed. Payuka is a footie fan’s nirvana. It also allows a user to check out past match stats and scores. A “Payuka AfCON” version was developed for the 2012 African Cup of Nations.

MedAfrica

Price: Free

App Store: Nokia Ovi Store and Google Android Market Sometimes, Google-ing the location of a medical facility will not yield the most accurate results. And because carrying around health pamphlets from different medical facilities can be a bit of a drag, an app like MedAfrica is pretty handy. The app is a platform for patients to communicate with doctors from various fields.

Through the app, users can also locate nearby hospitals, find out what drugs are available, access a diet guide, enter their

symptoms, and much more.

The sound of horns blaring increases by the minute, rising up like smoke into the clear blue sky. The noon-day sun shines with a vengeance on the impatient and unruly drivers along Ngong Road. And here, meandering through the chaos, comes a dirtcovered boy in tattered clothes. He reaches out to preoccupied motorists, begging for a cent to survive. It seems twelve-year old John Njau’s life has become one endless search for a meal.

But in April of this year, his usual routine took a turn for the better. A German missionary, Hannah Kniess, who was shopping at the supermarket nearby walked past John. “Do you want to go to school?” she asked him. “Yes,” he replied. And with that, Kneiss was off to find John a home, a school and a family. Determined to personally engage sponsors for the boy’s education and upkeep, Kniess took the pre-teen to Real Stars, a registered foster care organization. Real Stars rescues destitute and disadvantaged children from hardship situations. By seeking out and obtaining support from international and local sponsors, it provides families with a monthly stipend to support the child and cover educational costs. In the most fundamental of ways, Real Stars gives such children a second chance in life.

The founder, Rose Muiu, is passionate about what she does. Having worked over a decade in the rehabilitation of street kids, she saw the need to do more. “Children need consistency. They need that one person who believes in them. And they get that through the family. And that is the environment Real Stars wants to provide for these disadvantaged young ones,” Muiu states.

Real Stars has 40 foster families based in and around Nairobi. These families either house the children for short periods while their situation is being assessed, or foster them for the duration, pending adoption. Most of the children are referred to Real Stars by local non-governmental organizations, individuals and churches around the city. The children’s relatives are subsequently sought out and evaluated to source the origin of the family issue. In John’s case, his grandmother was an alcoholic and brewed illicit chang’aa; she wasn’t interested in raising her grandson. Kniess, who had to return to Germany a few months later, then approached a close friend and colleague to take John in as his own.

The newly-married young man, Phillip Kigondu, 29, and his wife, Mercy, 27, had just begun settling into marriage and nursing their baby when Kneiss came calling. She introduced the Kigondus to Real Stars where they could be vetted further regarding fostering John. “The first day we met John, he was quiet. But by the second day, he spoke to me, asking if he could watch a certain movie. And from then on, we started chatting,” says Mrs. Kigondu. An extremely shy twelve-year-old, John loves school; his favorite subject is mathematics. When asked what he wants to be when he grows up, he smiles gently and then talks about his new home. “I enjoy living with the Kingondus. And I thank Mama Rose [Muiu] and Hannah.”

Sociologist Professor Pius Mutie believes that families like the Kigondus should do everything necessary to connect with the children they take under their wings. In fact, he strongly advocates that more Kenyans should explore foster care. “Our society needs to change its attitude toward taking in a child that is not your own,” he urges. “The government should undertake fostering as a national cause, encouraging it as something normal, and you will definitely see a difference.”

A spanner in the works

According to UNICEF statistics, some 300 million children worldwide go to bed hungry every day. And only 8% are victims of famine or emergency cases. In Kenya, 102,000 households in various districts receive a monthly stipend of only 2,000 shillings to care for three children in each household. This governmental support is meager, far from sufficient for addressing the basic needs of an estimated two million orphaned and vulnerable children. All across the country, in the face of ever-increasing domestic abuse, violence and exploitation, these children are being used and tossed aside. Consensual sex between minors and teachers is also a huge problem in the slums, reports Jane Anyango, the founder of the community-based Polycomdev. “These are children who actually think that it is a privilege to have sex with their teachers. It’s not news if it’s not violence. But this is one of the hugest challenges that we face.

Fashion designer Patricia Mbela is on a journey of reinvention. After 13 years in the industry, she hopes to win the hearts of African women and men through her new fashion house, Poisa (which means “to make or to craft” in Taita).

Being an award winner is certainly putting the wind in Patricia’s sails. The first Kenyan to showcase at the Nigerian Fashion Week this November, she also scooped the East Africa’s Fashion Designer of the Year Award at Swahili Fashion Week.Poisa marks Patricia’s return to an “avant-garde-wearable- art” style that incorporates hand painting and beading, in addition to focusing on intriguing garment construction. The line is meant to introduce people to a new world of adventurous dressing that is neither conservative nor “safe”. “I want Africa to know that the time for high fashion is here and its starts with Poisa,” says Patricia. This is evident in her new “Urban Warrior” line that she showcased at both Swahili and Nigerian Fashion Weeks. Inspired by Turkana and Maasai tribes, colonial explorers, gladiators and “steampunk”, the collection takes one on an exploratory journey of fantasy across Africa. It celebrates the rich heritage of these influences and the connection that we share with the world.

“I’m happy that I have gone back to my original style. [This] collection is designed to flatter all sizes and to accentuate a wearer’s preferred body parts. It offers bold textures and structures in a strong colour palette. I used Ankara (kitenge), checks (tweed/plaid), leather for spats, cotton, linen, silks, georgette and chiffon. ‘Urban Warrior’ is large and varied, which speaks of our unique and growing culture, “ says Patricia.

Her collection consists of 27 garments and plenty of jewellery. “I want to build my name here (because) the continent is the next investment frontier,” she adds. And international fashion brands certainly get this. For example,the Maasai shuka (blanket) was a prominent fabric in Louis Vuitton’s Menswear for Spring 2012. Suno’s, a high-end American fashion house, makes its garments through Soko Kenya at the coast. With such competition rearing its head in a market that still gravitates towards international fashion, Patricia is rolling up her sleeves for the battle ahead. “Participating in these fashion weeks is my way of getting the Poisa name out there,” she says.

An avid user of Facebook and Twitter, Patricia taps into such platforms to help get her name out to the younger generation. At her shop in Cathy Flats on Lenana Road, clients are allowed to walk around the studio to understand the process of her work. She is also collaborating with other local designers. Her jewellery line was used to complement John Kaveke’s debut showcase at the London Fashion Week back in September. “It is my boldest collection to date. I am really excited to see how Africa will react to it. My aim is to bring out Poisa as an avant-garde fashion house and popularize my niche, which is wearable art,” says Patricia.

He has struck again -- that heart-shaped headed dude in a blue jump suit, this time without warning. Nairobi’s Love Hero and a bunch of his loyal followers launched a love parade and public space action in Kibera, 27 November 201l. Their mission? To occupy a public space lost to fire in the election violence aftermath. Upendo sat down with us once again and explained his recent movement.

My name is Upendo Hero. I’m not a journalist, so please forgive me if my style is not professional and I’m not a totally objective observer. Forgive me if my words will sound revolutionary. I think most of you know me by now. Big love to all my supporters here in Nairobi: Maasai Mbili (big up to these cats, some of the original love warriors locally), and the Urban Mirrors folks, of course, who got this thing really moving in the first place. Maybe you’ve seen my documentary “Twende Berlin”, featuring Ukoo Flani (check out YouTube). And, of course, my props to UP magazine, these guys Myrobi, and many other volunteers who simply show random acts of love in times of need.

If you haven’t heard of me, then look me up on the web. Google “Nairobi Super Heroes”. Check me out on Facebook, or whatever. I’m the voice of Nairobi’s public space activism and, in general, the voice of the urban voiceless from all over the world.

Recently, these boys from Denmark contacted me and the team in Nairobi. I mean, most people don’t know this, but I was born in Freedom Park…yeah, freakin’ Uhuru Park , can you believe that? Well, Nairobi is my home. (What’s up, Westside!) There’s a lot of love here, but we need a lot more. So yeah, these Danish dudes made a plea to the love army: “Let’s march in Kibera, reclaim public space and spread the message, ya know?” I was like, yeah, I know. My brothers and sisters are in Kibera, most of them know me. I know there’s been a lot of press and whatnot about “Occupy Wall Street”. We get it, and those guys are doing a good job. We’re doing our own form of occupation. We call it “No Public Space, No Love”.

Dear Nairobians and revolutionary fellows coming from abroad, it’s time to react, it’s time to reclaim our public space. We have to do it now before it’s too late. I mean, we’re not here to deny anything to anyone, especially love. But look, we need to start somewhere, right? I don’t have any huge message beyond the power of love. The only way we can have love in these big modern cities of ours is to have public spaces where we can gather, peacefully, freely and to build a community. Without these things, what do we have, really?

So I’m in Kibera today with my love army. It is a march to create new public land from the ashes of destruction. Kibera is in desperate need of more space for children and community to come together in positive ways. Our target is a building (next to the Kibera House of Prayer) that was owned by the government and destroyed during the post-election violence. Since then it has been abandoned and my soldiers are taking it over. Kibera needs help reclaiming this important community building.

My fellows have so many ideas on what to do with it. They want to convert the place into a space for the youths of Kibera, a place where they can develop their talent and avoid bad company, a venue for visual street artists and a place where Kibera people can come and heal the wounds of the poll violence. Among my fellow soldiers, Victor and Gigi are two of the most intelligent and pro-active ones. I told them that this should not be only their struggle, but the struggle of all Nairobians. We need to support them and to make the government understand that it’s time to give space to these youths, and then they will show us the way forward.

I also told them that it’s time to occupy the building. Other people have already moved in to open their private businesses and more will follow. Then, who knows? I said to them, take the building now to show that you are doing the right thing for the community, and then it will be impossible to take it away from you. We stand on your side, kazi iendelee, soldiers. Upendo kote