Two weeks of pomp and fanfare in Mid West

A first visit by AFPF programs coordinator Katie Ravenel to Kansas City and a win for Manchester United in the European Champions League trophy were the major highlights of my second half of May.

I had a task of writing a preview of a soccer game, Chelsea Vs Manchester United, where deputy national desk editor Matt Schofield expected me not to be biased despite supporting one of the teams. In the end, reading the story, he praised me for remaining impartial, a key to media professionalism, even in a story many would have taken sides. Manchester United won the game to win a double, in addition to the English premier league.

Meanwhile, I was relishing my time at the features section learning how they commission, edit and layout their FYI pullout. Editors Keith Robinson, LaJean Keene and Jocelyn Jacobson had been all along wonderful in helping learn the ways of putting out nice features – both long and short. For instance, they asked me to file a small story on a book tour that was coming to Kansas City, which attracted many kids.

Sadly, as we were attempting to forget the turmoil in Kenya and Zimbabwe, more trouble broke in yet another African country - South Africa. More than five million foreigners in the country - many of them Zimbabweans who were running away from the political fires fanned by octogenarian leader Robert Mugabe’s determination to stay in power beyond 28 years - were being forced to leave the country violently. That situation gave me an idea to write an editorial.

Outside of the newsroom, I had a good opportunity to see how Americans celebrate their national holidays. Colleague Lynn Franey, her son Declan and I were at the local Union Station for a patriotic music concert by the Kansas City Symphony to remember war heroes. About 40,000 people attended. I was impressed by the way Americans were freely buying small calendars and T-shirts. Few Kenyans would care to buy goods that promote nationhood with some saying “we pity ourselves being Kenyan”. In America, I realized, citizens take pride in their country even as they complain of a battered economy. That also provided me with a topic for my international blog column.

Katie came to Kansas City for the first time in her life on May 27. In spite of being a visitor, she drove herself to a hotel near my host newspaper The Star and checked herself in. Secondary mentor Randy Smith and I picked her up at noon and took her to Ted’s Montana Grill, where my mentor, Mará Rose Williams, had reserved space to have lunch.

Here, we were joined by my mentor Mará Rose Williams, Lynn, editorial writer Barb Shelly, and investigations writer Mike Mansur. We enjoyed a fantastic lunch. Later, I took Katie to The Star for a tour where she met the people who have made my life worth the while.
I also took her to my “White House” like apartment for a tour, before we drove to the nearby American Jazz Museum. Here we admired archives of former and current Jazz musicians, occasionally dancing to the rhythms.

Later, we were joined by Randy and Mará for a dinner at the Country Club Plaza. At the end of the day, I was too happy that Katie had given us a king-size visit, treated us to fantastic lunch and dinner. But I was disappointed that she only spent less than 24 hours with us. “Two days would have worked better,” I suggested to her, though I realized she needed to visit my St Louis Post-Dispatch colleague, Ivan, the following day. Having spent six weeks as “staffer” at features section, I folded my equipment on May 30. From June 2, I am pitching camp at the Op-Ed section. I am excited to report to the section, where I have already been published three times in editorials since my arrival at The Star.