40% raised of Ksh 1m (unofficially another 100k not paid through the platform). Almost there.
You might be wondering, why have we invested so much time in raising money for this hackathon for government transparency when we all have busy lives?
Allow me to digress...
We all know Kenya has SO much potential: smart people, easy access to the sea, year round growing season. And yet she hasn't reached close to that potential. Not only does Kenya have far fewer roads per area of habitable land than Pakistan (as an example), but if Kenya kept building roads at the current rate it will take until 2140 to reach the level of Pakistan (!!). Graph by yours truly:
To build roads we rely on government. It doesn't make sense for the private sector to have competing roads side by side with tolls every 5 km. No, we really, really rely on government to help us get our produce from the village to the sea to export. Maybe that explains things... Why Kenya still has only 1/5th the agriculture yield of places like Germany, that are covered in snow part of the year.
Kenya has had basically no improvement in agriculture yield in 60 years. If there are few roads to transport on, there's little incentive to grow more, amongst other issues.
Personally, I'm committed to Kenya. I see lots of potential. And for that potential to be realized we need to create better tools for taxpayers and government. So that voters can make informed decisions. So that government knows what taxpayers value. etc.
Pound for pound, kg for kg, creating software tools and media, is the most cost effective way to bring about the change everyone wants and will benefit everyone. That's why we are hosting HakiHack, hackathon to build tools for government transparency.
If you feel as inspired as I do, please donate here. I know some people like to make monthly contributions to various causes, so please consider HakiHack this month.
We envision HakiHack happening not just every year, but on every college campus. Indeed, one of the 5 organizers of HakiHack is a motivated Kenyan college student who will bring HakiHack to his University later this year. This is just the beginning.
Many people ask me, "but isn't it kinda hopeless?"
It may feel that way, but encourage you to look at previous successful examples of small groups of people setting off major changes.
The United States was once a cesspool. New York City was particularly infamous: 10,000 bags of cement were ordered, 5,000 showed up, and the government official and contractor split the difference.
In 1906, a group of young people wrote How Manhattan is Governed, detailing the price and quality of roads in one county vs. another. This set off a firestorm across the city and across the country, with similar reports in each city. Within 10 years, the politicians were gone, and corruption had moved from grand theft to a less problematic "I scratch your back, you scratch mine" kind of politics.
It can be done. And was done to transform the US into the largest economy in the world. It all started with 1 report in NYC in 1906 by a handful of recent university students.
If you enjoyed this and this was worth more than $0 zero dollars to you, please consider making a donation. All funds go to Kenyan Hackers and Builders for more transparency and betters tooling for governance.
Yours,
Kyle
And I know you waited patiently to find out what the graffiti artist was creating at the party, so here you go...
The day you kick-started HakiHack for government transparency
The day you kick-started HakiHack for government transparency
The day you kick-started HakiHack for government transparency
Hi Friends,
We had a great fundraiser party on Friday for HakiHack! Here's a little taste for you! link (can you tell what the graffiti is of?)
40% raised of Ksh 1m (unofficially another 100k not paid through the platform). Almost there.
You might be wondering, why have we invested so much time in raising money for this hackathon for government transparency when we all have busy lives?
Allow me to digress...
We all know Kenya has SO much potential: smart people, easy access to the sea, year round growing season. And yet she hasn't reached close to that potential. Not only does Kenya have far fewer roads per area of habitable land than Pakistan (as an example), but if Kenya kept building roads at the current rate it will take until 2140 to reach the level of Pakistan (!!). Graph by yours truly:
To build roads we rely on government. It doesn't make sense for the private sector to have competing roads side by side with tolls every 5 km. No, we really, really rely on government to help us get our produce from the village to the sea to export. Maybe that explains things... Why Kenya still has only 1/5th the agriculture yield of places like Germany, that are covered in snow part of the year.
Kenya has had basically no improvement in agriculture yield in 60 years. If there are few roads to transport on, there's little incentive to grow more, amongst other issues.
Personally, I'm committed to Kenya. I see lots of potential. And for that potential to be realized we need to create better tools for taxpayers and government. So that voters can make informed decisions. So that government knows what taxpayers value. etc.
Pound for pound, kg for kg, creating software tools and media, is the most cost effective way to bring about the change everyone wants and will benefit everyone. That's why we are hosting HakiHack, hackathon to build tools for government transparency.
If you feel as inspired as I do, please donate here. I know some people like to make monthly contributions to various causes, so please consider HakiHack this month.
We envision HakiHack happening not just every year, but on every college campus. Indeed, one of the 5 organizers of HakiHack is a motivated Kenyan college student who will bring HakiHack to his University later this year. This is just the beginning.
Many people ask me, "but isn't it kinda hopeless?"
It may feel that way, but encourage you to look at previous successful examples of small groups of people setting off major changes.
The United States was once a cesspool. New York City was particularly infamous: 10,000 bags of cement were ordered, 5,000 showed up, and the government official and contractor split the difference.
In 1906, a group of young people wrote How Manhattan is Governed, detailing the price and quality of roads in one county vs. another. This set off a firestorm across the city and across the country, with similar reports in each city. Within 10 years, the politicians were gone, and corruption had moved from grand theft to a less problematic "I scratch your back, you scratch mine" kind of politics.
It can be done. And was done to transform the US into the largest economy in the world. It all started with 1 report in NYC in 1906 by a handful of recent university students.
If you enjoyed this and this was worth more than $0 zero dollars to you, please consider making a donation. All funds go to Kenyan Hackers and Builders for more transparency and betters tooling for governance.
Yours,
Kyle
And I know you waited patiently to find out what the graffiti artist was creating at the party, so here you go...