Thirteen years of information, news, promotion, stories, interviews and passion to ideally unite Kenya with our country of origin.
The Portal of Italians in Kenya celebrates its thirteenth birthday.
It all started in the spring of 2008, a few weeks after the end of the terrible moments that led to fears of a civil war in the African country that was fortunately averted, confirming that unlike other nations of the continent, Kenya is a reality in which the peaceful nature of most citizens in the end prevails over the ancestral flaws of Africa that are tribalism, the conquest of power by all means by the oligarchies and the desperate struggle for poverty among the poor, which can lead to bloody battles for basic goods such as water, fertile land and livestock.
When there are episodes of violence that lead to instability, tourism inevitably comes to a standstill, jeopardising not only the investments and peaceful lives of many Kenyans, but also the salaries and therefore the survival of thousands of Kenyans.
For these reasons, the entrepreneurs of Malindi, Watamu and Mambrui asked me, as a professional journalist and expert on Kenya, to manage Malindikenya.net and to establish contacts with major Italian news agencies, newspapers and other useful subjects to receive the correct information from here and reassure future travellers and possible investors.
On 14 July 2008, the "transmissions" officially began. Since then, every day, the portal has been updated with all sorts of news that might be of interest to Italians. No political guidelines, excellent relations with our institutions and a sort of "information office" that has always been in contact with both the Honorary Consulate of Malindi and the Italian Embassy, as well as with the public and local realities of the country that hosts us.
We have grown over the years and personally I have managed to reconcile journalistic service with the informal but (I believe) professional service of councillor and with the parallel and passionate service of cultural, social and environmental operator, promoting initiatives and organising shows, recitals and other things to keep the attention on our tourist destinations alive.
In all these years we have been through some good and some less pleasant ones: terrorism (although not directly on the coast) has threatened us, with the attack on the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi in 2013 and the one on the University of Garissa in 2015. Not to mention the kidnapping of compatriot Silvia Romano in Chakama in 2019.
We have reported on the growth of Kenya and its entry into the list of developing countries in the world, the hardships of the great social inequalities by visiting the slums, the holidays of celebrities who have verified in person the magic and wonder of certain places, the will and the heart of the Italian NGOs, the initiatives of our Government to improve relations between the two states and much more. We have always strived to provide clarity on many issues that are not easy to interpret and to try to promote responsible, sustainable and honest tourism, as well as an integrated life without pettiness of our fellow countrymen and women residents.
I use the plural, "We", because although I have almost always done everything myself, and in recent years with the help of my wife Leni, I have always felt the support of many fellow countrymen around me: first and foremost the entrepreneurs who have never failed to give me their contribution, and then you readers who have always shown me esteem and affection.
And the adventure, thanks to your help and I hope to those that will come in the future, continues...
Happy birthday Malindikenya.net, best wishes also to all of you who read us every day.
This is the link to know how to send us a welcome gift ...
https://malindikenya.net/en/articles/news/last-news/malindikenyanet-needs-your-help-to-survive.html