African women move on in strength

Karibu families show the clothes designed and made by Karibu's Sewing enterprise. Karibu Chairwoman, Laurentine Zibi, is extreme right wearing the headdress. Photograph by Ako Khalil Zada.

Karibu’s annual general meeting (agm) was as busy and productive as any gathering of African women could be.

The organisation was set up almost ten years ago to bring together women in Scotland who came from Africa so that their combined energy and talents would help them integrate and make them stronger and self-sufficient.

The agm was held in the Pearce Institute in Govan.

Among the many items on the programme were the launch of a Karibu tartan; a fashion show of clothes made by the Karibu Sewing Project; notice of an upcoming launch for Karibu Scotland’s African Tartan and Textiles book as well as Scottish Government Equalities Section speaker Mukami McCrum. This being Black History Month, there were celebrations to mark it. And, of course, there was sumptious food, glorious food as only Women of Africa can prepare.

The charity is planning to re-open the cafe in the Pearce Institute in collaboration with Tea in the Pot, a local women’s support group which has been at the Pearce for several years.

Laurentine Zibi, Chair of Karibu (Welcome in Swahali) said afterwards she was ‘proud and pleased’ that the charity had overcome various challenges this past year.

‘To see between 100 and 150 people here today is emotional for me.’ The group has moved offices from Albion Street to Gorbals’ Adelphi Centre and now to the Pearce Institute in Govan.

‘We didn’t have enough funding to carry on in the Gorbals,’ said Laurentine. A full time worker post was reduced to part-time and then was lost in April when funding finished.

But with the support of Oxfam, the volunteer work of the Karibu Sewing Project gathered in strength. ‘We hope to move this into a social enterprise soon,’ added Laurentine. Their exclusive Karibu African tartan – devised with the expertise of tartan expert David McGill – can be purchased in Byres Road Oxfam shop.

Founding Mother of Karibu, Henriette Koubakouenda, surrounded by the new generation who will carry on the work.

Karibu founder, Henriette Koubakouenda, declared at the end of the day she felt ‘comforted’ that the organisation was making progress. ‘To see people taking over is good. Even if I die, Karibu will continue. The fact that the next generation shares the same vision as we who founded Karibu – is worth more than a million pounds to me. This annual general meeting has been a real joy for me.’

Henriette arrived in Glasgow with her two young sons as refugees from the Congo. Along with other women she soon discovered their needs and wishes didn’t fit in with the system. ‘About 15 or 20 women gathered in my flat in Sighthill on 31 August 2003 to work out how we could organise ourselves. We needed to keep our self-respect and were willing to work hard but our voices were not being heard by the service providers. It was difficult for us because each woman was isolated and very few had fluent English. I knew that, individually, we would not be heard but together we could be strong and be the voice for our problems.’ Among the issues they had personal experience of that didn’t fit the official categories were human trafficking and genital mutilation.

Students taken to task

OUR STORY of students holding an ‘austerity auction’  and raising 46p which they tried to present to the Principal of the University of Glasgow last week, has brought re-action. Since this website operates a freedom of speech policy we have verified these people do exist and these are their genuine comments:-

From Jane - a 3rd year student:

I’m afraid your article gives completely the wrong picture. I saw these so-called ‘campaigners’ last week. There were a small group of eight activists from the Free Hetherington occupation, making fools of themselves on Byres Road with curious passers-by wondering which planet they had come down from as they carried out a silly auction. They then wandered aimlessly with this cheque around campus, with other students laughing and jeering at them.

The anti-cuts ‘campaign’ which you refer to is dead. The University doesn’t have financial problems, as you would know if you read the Glasgow Herald a couple of weeks ago. They have made proposals and worked with the Student Representative Council (SRC) to come up with agreed solutions to the course closures, which will now not happen. That is all thanks to the SRC, not to these extremists.

The so-called ‘Free Hetherington’ is now being occupied by a small group of extremists who are loathed by the rest of the student population, who think they are bringing bad publicity to the University and would like them to get out of there.

At Glasgow, we students are represented by the SRC and they’re doing a great job in working with the Principal and his managers. That’s the real picture, not a a dozen or so anarchists who don’t realise that the campaign finished two months ago!!

The only people whose support is plummeting (in fact it’s already below zero) are these losers, some of whom are not even Glasgow students…

From Jill who is not a student:-

Working on the Nite Zones

Two new Nite Zones were launched in Glasgow on Friday 24 September as the fight to combat violent crime continues.

The two new zones, on Albion Street in the Merchant City and Byres Road in the West End, will see marshalled taxi queues- often a source of trouble when pubs and clubs close- and more CCTV cameras, as well as better street lighting.

The launch of the two Nite Zones takes the total in Glasgow to four. The initiative was born in 2005, on  Sauchiehall Street and Gordon Street the two city centre spots chosen to pilot the scheme.

Glasgow City Council leader Gordon Matheson believes the initiative has been a success, and is confident the expansion into further zones will prove justified. Said Gordon: ‘Nite Zones have helped to significantly reduce levels of violent crime in recent years by creating safe areas for people to wait for transport home. We believe that expanding an already successful concept will lead to fewer incidents and will build on the city’s reputation of being a safe and enjoyable place to visit at weekends.’

Stewards will attempt to curb queue jumping while Glasgow Taxis Ltd continue to support the scheme, pledging that the flow of taxis will equal the flow of pleasure seekers pouring from pubs and clubs after the last bell has been tolled. Pleasure seekers should be able to find out where their nearest Nite Zone is situated, as many local pubs and clubs, near the four spots, have jumped aboard the scheme and may provide information on request.

The two new Nite Zones form part of Strathclyde Police’s Policing Plan for the weekends. City Centre Commander, Superintendent Bernhard Higgins sees the expansion as a good example of the cohesion at play within Glasgow’s public services. Said Bernhard: ‘ The extension of the Nite Zones to take in the Merchant City and the West End is a positive step which will enhance current service provision and will demonstrate the determination of the Council, Police and the GCSS to work together to make Glasgow City centre one of the safest places to visit in the UK.’

According to the Strathclyde Police the Glasgow city centre saw 24,023 crimes reported in 2009 with 24,847 already reported this year.

The new Nite Zones will operate every weekend from 11pm- running until 2am on Byres Road and 4am on Albion Street.

Prince commends Sustainable Glasgow

Story by Grace Franklin  Photographs by Stuart Maxwell

The Duke of Rothesay started it in Glasgow yesterday.
Aiming to encourage people to START to do what they can to make better use of natural resources and protect the environment, Prince Charles is making a whistle-stop tour of the UK in a train fuelled by recycled cooking oil, to visit good examples of what is being done already.
START – is a co-operative of partners who have all started down the eco friendly line.
The initiative was launched in Glasgow with the Duke going walk-about among the stands in Glasgow Central Station.
After being welcomed by Lord Provost Bob Winter, he chatted with people in the crowd and made Nancy Gray’s day. From Shettleston, the 74-year-old is an avowed Royalist. ‘I just love the Royal Family,’ said the retired tailoress. But when

The Duke of Rothesay with Lord Provost Bob Winter and Jane Wood, Chief Executive of Scottish Business in the Community in Glasgow Central Station at the launch of START.

Prince Charles shook her hand and said he hoped he was not interrupting her day, she went all aflutter. Literally shaking with excitement, Nancy told the LOCAL NEWS: ‘I came here specially to see him.’ She followed the Royal entourage around all the stalls which highlighted what could be done to START looking after the planet better.
Price Charles – who is correctly addressed as the Duke of Rothesay when he is in Scotland – first dropped off a pair of his old green cord trousers into the Oxfam clothes recycling point.
Waitrose showed off their new trolley which can be borrowed by customers from their Byres Road shop, starting this week. It is fitted to the customer’s bicycle and enables them to pedal home with a big amount of shopping.
Cube Housing Association was able to illustrate their new district heating scheme on the Wyndford Estate in Maryhill. The cost effective system delivers low-carbon energy and reduces carbon emissions in a whole neighbourhood.

Virgin Money had a wish tree to get people to promise to do something – and they’ll come back to you in a month’s time to see if you’ve done it for the planet.
B & Q staff showed the Prince how they make peat free compost. ‘He was really interested in what we’re doing,’ said Douglas Szafranek.
Husband and wife team Alan and Hazel Tomkins were delighted to be presented with their award for sustainable business for their restaurants which include Gamba, Urban and Dining Room in Glasgow. The first such award from the START group, the company has worked to train staff in food safety, minimising waste and maximising on local produce. Said Alan Tomkins: ‘It is very special to have been recognised for this.’
Four young apprentices from City Building’s Queenslie training centre in Glasgow, explained to the Prince how they are building two different models of sustainable houses to test what works best. Said Laura Twigg (18): ‘He was interested in the fact that we used tyres as one of the building materials.’ Michael Connelly (17) commented: ‘It was a great honour to meet Prince Charles. I never would have imagined I’d meet a member of the Royal family one day.’ Naveed Mohammed (19) admits he’s been bragging about meeting the Prince since he knew he’d been selected for the START event. And Brian Docherty (17) found the Prince asked a lot of questions about the pipe layout in the sustainable houses.

Glasgow City Council had a large number of stands in their exhibition. Most noticeable was a Peugeot electric seven seater vehicle which came from Allied Vehicles in Possilpark and is one of the fleet of electric vehicles the city has purchased. Said Allied Vehicles managing director Paul Nelson: ‘The Prince was very interested in the project. Glasgow city has purchased 10 of these seven seaters and 30 smaller vehicles – called Peugeot Partners – from us.’
Quietly in the background, Richard Bellingham, Senior Research Fellow on energy Policy at the University of Strathclyde’s Fraser of Allander Institute, was pleased that a report produced by the Institute had brought together so many of the organisations in Glasgow which are STARTing to implement sustainability procedures. ‘By drawing in the right partners, the benefits will be real for the city and more likely to be supported and therefore, stronger,’ he said.
At the end of the tour, Jane Wood, Chief Executive of Scottish Business in the Community said that Scotland – home of the Enlightenment – should be proud of leading the way in carbon reduction and sustainability as instanced by the work shown on the stands the Duke of Rothesay had toured. She was wearing an eye-catching outfit designed by Joey Dee of Edinburgh and using 75% recycled materials.
Before Prince Charles boarded his train to go to Edinburgh where a similar exhibition was to be visited, he told the assembled crowd: ‘START is all about what each one of us can do for the benefit of our children and our children’s children. It can be really simple to make better use of natural resources. Each of the major sponsors of START have their own message because they know their own customers best. Through these initiatives we are leading by example and showing what can be done to make that first step to sustainability.’
He added: ‘Glasgow is good at working together. This will take the city forward to develop the brand Sustainable Glasgow.’

Nasim Jamil attacker’s clothes ‘may be bloodstained’, say police

Police seek more information on death of Nasim Jamil

Police investigating the murder of radio presenter Nasim Jamil have renewed their appeal for information after it emerged her assailant’s clothes may have been bloodstained in the attack.

The Awaz FM agony aunt, 54, died as a result of severe head injuries she sustained in the ‘brutal’ assault at her home, 128 Byres Road, Hillhead, on Wednesday, 9 December.

Detective Chief Inspector Louise Raphael, officer in charge of the investigation, said:

‘We believe she attended a doctor’s appointment nearby around 1.30pm. I would urge anyone who saw Nasim anytime between then and early evening to come forward.

‘Byres Road is always busy with shoppers, pedestrians and motorists, and I appreciate that it may be difficult to remember seeing someone entering a close.  However, I am interested in speaking to anyone who saw anyone leaving the close at 128 Byres Road on Wednesday.

‘Did anyone notice someone running from the area or someone behaving in a suspicious manner? It may well be that the person responsible’s clothing will have been bloodstained. It is important that we speak to any person who could provide that little bit of information that could prove vital to our investigation.’

Any members of the public with information can contact the Police incident room on 0141 532 3559 or call Crimestoppers freephone number 0800 555 111, where anonymity can be maintained.

Your chance to win a fantastic Waitrose Christmas hamper

Waitrose is in Glasgow and a £75 Christmas hamper is our prize

Waitrose – the food stores of the John Lewis Partnership – opened its first supermarket in Glasgow – on Byres Road – on Thursday 12 November.

 It carries a wide range of fresh produce and quality food including some locally sourced produce and it offers service of the quality kind expected from a John Lewis Partnership store.

To celebrate the opening of its first store in Glasgow, Waitrose and the LOCAL NEWS GLASGOW have teamed up to give LOCAL NEWS readers the chance to win a £75 Waitrose Joy of Christmas Hamper.

The company has a wide range of Christmas hampers presented in stylish wicker baskets and packed with all kinds of treats that will make wonderful presents.  For more information, go to www.waitrose.com 

Voted the UK’s favourite supermarket in several polls over the last two years, Waitrose is delighted to be launching in Glasgow at 373 Byres Road, Glasgow, G12 8AU. For opening times and directions see website: www.waitrose.com/branches/branchdetails )

For your chance to win this fantastic prize worth £75, just tell us: How many Waitrose Supermarkets are there in Glasgow? One, two or three?

Send your answer on a post card to: Waitrose comp, LOCAL NEWS, Yam Publications Ltd, 73 Robertson Street, Glasgow G2 8QD or by email – marked WAITROSE COMP – to: competitions@localnewsglasgow.co.uk to arrive no later than 9am on Monday 30 November.

Terms and conditions: There is no cash alternative. This competition is not open to employees of the John Lewis Partnership.