Highlights of the November 14 discussion of Indianapolis/Eldoret/Africa

Here are some quick highlights from the meeting on November 14 of the group that has been meeting for months to discuss partnerships with Eldoret. The consensus was that we ought to move in two parallel and partially overlapping directions: (1) continuing regular meetings about relations between Indianapolis and Eldoret/Kenya, regardless of whether a sister city relation is ever formalized; (2) starting to establish a broader infrastructure for supporting partnerships between Central Indiana and Africa as a whole.

Eldoret/Kenya: Everyone agrees that there should continue to be regular meetings to discuss the many existing and possible links between Indy and Eldoret.

• Everyone knows that some groups are going to be focusing on Eldoret and Kenya regardless of where there is a committee like this: big players such as IUPUI, Rotary, Umoja will continue doing the excellent work they are doing, and in fact there's probably enough overlap of these groups that they can informally keep one another informed about what they are doing. But many people who aren't part of these big players would like to be part of the remarkable relation that has blossomed between Indy and Eldoret.
• And just over the course of the discussion on Friday it became dramatically apparent that such meetings could yield unexpected benefits to everyone. Ian McIntosh and his colleagues have been organizing a major conference in Eldoret May 13-15 on reconciliation and justice (a topic on which Ian is a leading expert, by the way). It's a critical theme for Kenya, after the spasm of ethnic violence earlier this year; it's also important for other African countries such as Rwanda, Congo, etc, and scholars from these countries have been invited. Good for IUPUI and Moi University, putting on an important conference.
  
• But over the course of discussing the conference on Friday, it became apparent that more people wanted to attend than just IUPUI folks. Carole Darst said that Indianapolis Rotary has to make a visit in the spring and would be very eager to time it to coincide with the conference. Carol Johnston asserted that given the theme of reconciliation and their work in Kenya, 2nd Presbyterian Church would want to send a group. Kelly Campbell's Village Experience started planning the logistics of a trip for a substantial group ... and as Ian observed, once that happens our Kenyan partners can set up other interesting and important activities for the group in addition to the conference. So just as a result of the conversation Friday afternoon, something very cool for some people in Indy is taking shape, and IUPUI-Moi's conference may get a lot more intriguing.
• But wait, there's more! Not all of can afford to jet off to Kenya for a conference in May, but we'd still like to be part of it. Reconciliation and justice is something we ought to be talking about here as well as in Africa. IUPUI is a leader in the technology that makes cross-continental trans-dimensional discussions and learning easy. But Moi University is still not wired adequately. During Friday's discussion it became apparent that there will be a lot of Hoosiers, including but not limited to faculty and students of IUPUI, who'd like to "attend" the conference virtually. So here's a great project: Let's work to get Moi and Eldoret wired with proper telecommunication equipment by the time of this conference so even more of us in Indy can take part; and the result will be a greatly ability to connect in real time with our partners long after the conference has occurred.
• In January expect the regular Indy-Eldoret meetings to resume. If you would like to be part of them and haven't attended any meetings yet, you are in luck: send me an email at 2.john.clark@gmail.com and I will make sure your name is added to the list.
  

Indy-Africa Partnership Infrastructure. Independently of the desire to continue meeting to discuss Indy-Eldoret relations, it became apparent that we need something bigger that will facilitate relations with Africa in general.

• We are all aware of small and local initiatives that are working with groups in Benin, or Senegal, or Zimbabwe ... and that feel isolated and alone. Example: Before the meeting I got a v-mail from Joe Miller, who is looking for anyone interested in Mali; or businesspeople will ask Kelly for philanthropic opportunities in Africa. At the very least we should find a way of aggregate information about Indy-Africa, facilitate the formation of trustworthy partnerships, and perhaps engage in advocacy (even reminded Hoosiers that "Africa is really really important!"). This is do-able and I think necessary.
• The next step: Kelly Campbell and Paul Babcock are going to nail down a date for an after-work brainstorming session about what this Indy-Africa partnership committee could do, and how to push it along. The Athenaeum is a good place for a properly lubricated discussion. Let's make this initial meeting as big as possible ... it can be the start of the sort of networking that this committee will foster. Expect to hear a date and time for this meeting by the IMA discussion of Africa on Nov. 16.
  

IMA discussion of Africa Nov. 16. You didn't think I would forget this, did you? Go! 2:00 Sunday at IMA. For some background about the pieces that we'll discuss, go here: http://www.provocate.org/ima-event/.

Indy-Africa Blog at http://indyafrica.blogspot.com. There's a very interesting post by Linda Duke at the Indianapolis Museum of Art about some of IMA's Africa plans for the future. Some great stuff coming up. You can leave comments on the blog, you know, it can be another way of exchanging thoughts and ideas. Please let me know if there's anything you think should be posted.

If you have any questions or thoughts, please let me know.

john