• Simon Onyango and Steven Otieno won 1st prize in the age 18-24 video category for their film “Water Bulb”
• Elijah Mumo won 2nd prize in the age 18-24 gender category for his photograph “A Dirty Dam”
• Julius Mwelu won 1st prize in the age 25-35 health category for his photograph “Homemade Soccer Ball – Dumpster on Fire”

The C4C winners were officially announced and exhibited at the Africa Pavilion on December 5, 2011 during the UN Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa.

The library has already become an important resource for the young people of Mathare, providing a place for students to study after school and a resource for schools themselves to utilise during the day.

News of the library was also included in the Wings of Support Newsletter (language: Dutch).

For more information, see the library page.

Caroline Liem from the Wings of Support Foundation opens the Mwelu Foundation library

The Governing Council meets every two years to examine UN-HABITAT’s work and relationships with its partners. It is a high-level forum of governments at the ministerial level during which policy guidelines and the organization’s budget are established for the next two-year period.

This year the theme of the Governing Council is sustainable urban development through expanding equitable access to land, housing, basic services and infrastructure.

Above: Ray, James, Elijah and Simon at the exhibition at the UN in Gigiri, Nairobi, Kenya.

The Mwelu Foundation team members pose for the photo with Mr. Ramsey Tokunbo Noauh, Nigerian Nollywood Actor, during the GC 23 in Nairobi, Kenya 2011

A group of 10 photography professionals nominated 100 photographers to submit proposals. The recipients were selected—based on the strength of their work and the importance of the issues they proposed to address—by an independent Editorial Board comprised of: Bob Dannin, former editorial director of Magnum Photos and professor of history at Suffolk University, renowned author Philip Gourevitch and Marc Kusnetz, former senior producer for NBC News and consultant for Human Rights First.

More information on the Magnum Foundation Emergency Fund.

Most students in Mathare do not have a safe, quiet place to study after normal school hours. Many students also have limited or no access to academic materials. In 2010, the Mwelu Foundation had 14 members sitting their final national exams. Faced with this, we have set up a library next door to our office on the edge of Mathare. The library is well stocked with relevant academic books, tables, desks and lighting.

The library has been made possible by the generous support of the Wings of Support Foundation and Africalia Belgium.

At the age of 12, Julius Mwelu – Mwelu Foundation founder – became involved in the Shootback project which taught photographic skills to a group of 31 children in the Mathare slums. This was Julius’s first experience with photography. Several of Julius’s Shootback photos were featured in the Foto Week DC 2010 exhibition as well as a selection of his award-winning photographs from his photo reportage on the post-election violence in Kenya.

Shootback Exhibition at Foto Week DC 2010 at Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington DC

The Global Observance of World Habitat Day this year was held at the Shanghai World Expo 2010, under the theme “Better city, better life”.

Read more.

The workshop participants will be guided and taught in developing and realising their visions and will be supported in attracting attention to their films not only in Africa, but also internationally. Participants will be taught to produce films independently and enhance their cinematographic and creative know-how.

The FilmAfrica training workshop is a partnership project between On Fine Day Films, Ginger Ink and DW-Akademie.