For the first time since its inception, the World Social Forum will be held in Africa . What better way to address the ills that ail our continent than to have dialogue with grassroots organizers from across the continent. All these thoughts ran through

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my mind as I sat with members of the Grassroots Global Justice (GGJ) as they prepared themselves for the World Social Forum in Nairobi in January next year.

Grassroots Global Justice (GGJ) is an alliance compromising grassroots organizations to build an agenda for power and working poor people. Their agenda: organize national grassroots campaigns to challenge corporate globalization, facilitate dialogues to develop progressive agenda, conduct popular education and leadership programs to help us understand the links between global policies and local struggles, and to form international alliances to achieve global justice.

I was invited to the group to orient them to Kenya. I have always known about my passion for Kenya, however, while interacting with these folk, I realized a renewed passion. I am a firm believer in Kenya, and the rest of Africa , in solving her own problems. We are not lacking in anything– not manpower, not education nor skill, and certainly not intellect.

The World Social Forum in Africa
In its seventh year, the World Social Forum , will bring together tens of thousands of activists, social movements, coalitions and other progressive forces from all over the world in Nairobi for five days of cultural resistance and celebration.

I have seen little in the Kenyan media in what I think will be one of the largest events in recent Kenyan history. With an estimated 100, 000 (s0me not-so conservative numbers put this at 150, 000) people expected to land in Nairobi, one can only imagine the impact this will have on the community.

Meanwhile, this is a historic event. This is the first time, this event which is held simultaneously with the World Economic Forum , will be hosted by an African country. The event, in the past, has attracted massive media attention, and will undoubtedly affect the social and economic scene, even if for a few days, of Nairobi.

During the opening and closing sessions there will be a colorful march. After that, there will be five days of intense workshops hosted by different organizers from all over the world. The workshops, hundreds of them, will focus on issues ranging from women, children, trade unions, resources, indigenous communities among others.

The main venue for the World Social Forum 2007 will be the MoiInternationalSportsCenter at Kasarani. Architects and designers are currently upgrading the stadium. (Do check out the virtual tour, and the google maps, pretty impressive!)

With the world increasingly becoming mobile, the effect of worldwide corporations is felt globally. Africa , home to the world’s largest poor, is the largest victim of globalization. When large corporations, with an interest in maximizing profits, move to Africa and other developing nations, the negative effects are massive to say the least. In Africa , globalization continues to create a few wealthy people while the masses live in abject poverty. Issues such as wages, safety in work environments

Organizations from all over Africa will have an opportunity to network to work together on issues that are affecting them locally. Presented will be an opportunity for these grassroots organizations to form alliances with global groups with similar ideologies. Also presented is an opportunity to challenge neo-liberalism: international fiscal and monetary policies that have crippled African economies, and find ways to solve local solutions to Africa’s problems.

Many have argued that globalization is inevitable. The World Social Forum, however, argues that making “another world [is] possible”.