Airtel provides free internet to Siaya County students

Airtel Kenya Corporate Social Responsibility Manager Aigelgel Murbe installs the data device at Sigweng Karuoth

 Bharti Airtel will from today provide free data connectivity to Sigweng Karuoth Primary School in Siaya County, Kenya as part of its efforts to support Kenya’s education system,  giving students and teachers the opportunity to access unlimited amounts of information to broaden their learning.      

With more students and teachers turning to the Internet for learning resources, the project will enable students and teachers from the institution to receive free 24 hour access to the Internet, giving them full access to learning tools provided through the Internet which will aid their learning exercise through access to relevant sites available on the Internet. 

Speaking at the school, Siaya County Acting Commissioner Carolyn Onchoka said, “We are delighted that Airtel has taken the initiative of taking Education to a higher level. Pupils of Ukwala will  now to access information relevant to their studies like any other pupil cities like Nairobi and Kisumu". She further urged the school administration to open up the library and internet access to the locals so that they too can benefit from the connectivity.

On his part, Airtel Kenya CEO Adil El Youssefi said that with internet connectivity, Airtel is able to better equip students with information, more knowledge which will subsequently empowering to become successful and of economic relevance to the country.     

“Internet provides multitude of possibilities to students, allowing them to receive the same knowledge and exposure as other primary kids in the world. This project will continue to reach more schools in all the Counties as we seek to enhance education through the integration of Airtel’s internet technology in schools”, added Mr. El Youssefi.

The company has also enabled the following schools to freely access learning materials online: Muthei Primary School and Machakos Baptist School in Machakos County, Thuguma Children and Youth Empowerment Center from Nyeri County and Gitugi girls High School from Murang’a County.  Kayole Police Station in Nairobi County has also benefited from the internet program, easing communication between the police officers in the station, the local community and other security agents.    

You can now send in your photo entries, says Kenya Photography Awards

The Photographers’ Association of Kenya has today launched the 2015 Kenya Photography Awards and Expo.

Now in its second year, the awards will see photographers submit their photos on the Kenya Photography Awards website between December 19^th, 2014 to January 15, 2015 under nine (9) broad categories (From seven (7) last year, namely – Creative, Portraiture, News, Sports, Nature, Daily Life, Young Photographer of the Year with an additional two new categories; People’s Choice and Special category (Climate Change).

It will bring together suppliers and stakeholders in the industry in a 3-day-long interactive Expo showcasing their products and services to the end users.

Organized by PAWA 254, a social enterprise, in collaboration with the Photographers’ Association of Kenya (P.A.K), the awards will seek to recognize skill, talent and hard work among professionals and rising photographers in the country.

Commenting on the launch, General Manager PAWA 254, Njeri Mwangi noted,” Photography is an art that needs to be nurtured enough by all key stakeholders industry for it to grow in the country. The awards will provide that right platform for enthusiastic photo lovers to showcase their skills through the art.”

She added: “Last year we received a total of 1280 entries with a considerable low number of entries from ladies. I would like to call out to all those female photographers to come out and showcase their talent in this space.  

This comes at a time when the photography industry is steadily growing with many young people opting to choose the “art” as a professional full time career and erking a living from it.

On his part, 2013 Overall Photographer of the Year Thomas Mukoya noted: “This is a perfect opportunity for all those young photographers who have always wanted to try out something new. Together let’s grow the photography industry in the country.”

The awards will see winners walk away with both cash prizes, certificates and plaques. The awards event will be held in the first quarter of 2015.

Photographers that were feted in 2013 include – Thandiwe Muriu who scooped two awards, for the Portraiture and Young Photographer categories, Joe Kiragu who bagged the Creative award, Georgina Goodwin for the News award. Karim Kara for Nature and David Mutua for Daily Life. The overall photographer of the year 2013 was awarded to Thomas Mukoya.

Airtel rewards customers ahead of the festive season

Bharti Airtel has rewarded 48 lucky customers with a total of Ksh. 1,100,000 in the first draw of the 90 days “Chemsha Bongo na Airtel” promotion that started on 18 October, 2014.  
 

The promotion seeks to show appreciation to the company’s customers by changing their lives through various rewards. The company reward them in two categories with 41 daily winners and 7 weekly winners walking away with Ksh20, 000 and Ksh40, 000 each respectively.   

Expressing his excitement, one of the winners Mr. Joseph Musyoki who was rewarded Ksh. 40,000 said, “I am grateful to Airtel for the reward as one of the lucky customers in this value adding promotion. This money has come at a right time when I needed it most as it will ease my financial burden as I prepare for the festive season which comes with increased need for money. This reward provides a special opportunity for my family and I to enjoy the festive season in a memorable way. I would like to encourage other customers to participate in this promotion as they all stand and equal chance to be rewarded.”     

       

Airtel Kenya CEO Adil El Youssefi said: “We are delighted to reward our lucky customers in this promotion as they prepare to celebrate the festive season with friends and families. It is almost Christmas and all we want at Airtel is to put smiles on the faces of our customers. We want our customers to feel our impact during this season by rewarding them and making their Christmas holiday a memorable one.”      

Mr. El Youssefi expressed his confidence that with the New Year, customers will continue to enjoy unmatched level of quality of service, customer care and innovative solutions designed to meet their ever changing needs. He also explained that the company will continue to reward more customers in the remaining days of the promotion which will end on 14^th January 2015. A total of Kshs. 2,920,000 million will be awarded to lucky customers throughout the promotion.       

“Chemsha Bongo na Airtel” is a general knowledge quiz game service that gives Airtel customers the opportunity to test their knowledge by answering multiple choice questions via SMS. Customers participating in the promotion will earn 100 points for every right answer. Players with the highest number of points at the end of the promotion period will be awarded a grand prize of Ksh1, 000,000 cash.  

To enter the promotion, customers will follow the below process on their Airtel phones;

·         Dial a short code *395# and selecting the “Subscribe” option (FREE of charge)

·         Receive a set of questions by SMS (FREE of charge)

·         Reply to the SMS (Every SMS sent is charged at Ksh 5)

·         Dial the short code *395# and select “My Score” to check accumulated points (FREE of charge).

All winners will be notified through the official number 0734111777.