A Feast of Peace
(Original)

Elmad Ochieng
(Age 14, Kenya)
Jokevilla Academy, Kisii

... Go, go, gol!   Ale, Ale, Ale...

I sung and swayed with the rest of the world. Occupying a favorite seat besides my dad my eyes fixed on our family's television set. I was a young boy yet to date the memories of 1998, FIFA World Cup are still with me.

The world renowned musician Ricky Martin was on stage with the official song of the event "La Copa de la vida" - The cup of life – which gained instant popularity among legions soccer fans around the world.

Tu Y yo!  Ale, Ale, Ale, Ale,

Go, go, Gol! Ale, Ale, Ale…

Shouts and Chants rent the air, tears flowed freely, and Passion was at fever pitch. The season of frenzy, dust, sweat and blood – Soccer-mania – was with us again. Every participating national Team came forth in their best colors; Fans were decked out in nationalistic themed attires and decorations.  For a month, the world courtesy of the media and Information and Communication Technologies was treated to an array of soccer delights- climaxed with a final showdown between France and Brazil.

The success of 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, doubtless to say rested on Media and Information and Communication Technologies. Television and Radio channels world over beamed with news of the event. Internet sites were a buzz with the latest occurrence as pertaining to the event. Commercial entities outdid each other in fronting their products to take advantage of the wide viewer base. The fluidity of information made the event alive and interactive.

Media and Information and Communication Technologies are used to link people far and wide. The instruments involved include, Telephone, Telegraphic, Radio, Television, Internet, Magazines and Newspapers. (Print and electronic media). The relayed information may be in form of News, Advertisement, and Entertainment or Awareness Creation. These technologies have played a fundamental role in escalating: Commerce, Education, Science, Culture and Lifestyle.

On the negative side, media has been used to promote Corruption, Maladministration, Nepotism, Regionalism, Radicalism and many other vices which to date plagues our society.  Still fresh in our minds is the 1994 tribal conflict in Rwanda and Burundi in which a Rwandese named Felican Kabuga who owned a radio station used the same to fuel violence between Hutus and Tutsis. The war affected the combatants and non-combatants within 100 days approximately 2 million lives were shattered. As such the importance of media and ICT in just governance cannot be over-emphasized.

In the future the media and ICT should be used to counter vice and nurture a culture of peace. In order to achieve this objective there is need to reassess the use of these two powerful universal means of expression – music and Theatre arts (Movies). These can be effective weapons - for good or for bad - in manipulating minds of listeners and audience to do things they otherwise would not. This is because they touch the inner places of the soul and thus affect human Emotions, Intellect and Will which are the basis of Human Conscious or Unconscious Decisions.

Also Music should be used to rally people for social and humanitarian causes as in the case of Ethiopian in 1984 when a terrible famine struck the country. Unfortunately the country's government did not want to disclose to the international community the state of affair. However, a Kenyan photographer named Mohamed Amin sneaked in and captured pathetic scenes of people starving death and relayed it worldwide through the media. As a result a group of musicians like Michael Jackson, Lionel Ritchie and many others came together to produce the song, "We Are the World " to create awareness and solicit for donations, in that manner saving a whole generation from perishing.

To effectively inculcate peace I would organize a World Peace Music Fest held once every 5 years where Music Celebrities from all over the World would be invited to perform simultaneously within specific Cities in their Continents and broadcast live on Television, Radio and Internet channels worldwide. To crown the events would be an award sponsored by UNESCO for Musicians campaigning for peace through their songs as Voted for by fans through the internet and a selected wide based panel of jurist.

This would be a charity show whose proceeds would be used to supply Humanitarian aid to conflict zones.

…Go, go, go! For peace, peace, peace…