Milele

Last updated

Milele is a motor vehicle dealership specializing in the export of tax-free vehicles to Africa, Asia, and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The company focuses on vehicle procurement, export management, and customer service technology. Milele was established in the 1980s and is based in Dubai. The company's founder by M Riaz originally from Pakistan and managing by their sons, Faisal Riaz, Feroz Riaz, Fahad Riaz, and Rida Riaz.

Contents

The name 'Milele' is derived from the Swahili word meaning 'forever.' The company has a long-standing reputation and has been supplying quality vehicles to various entities, including government agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), hospitals, embassies, businesses, and private customers.

Milele maintains partnerships with major shipping lines, enabling them to provide CNF (Cost and Freight) rate quotes to various destinations. Additionally, customers have the option to arrange their own logistics and receive FOB (Free on Board) quotes. The company boasts a large inventory of vehicles ready for delivery from their yards.

History

Formation and early years

The members of Milele were childhood friends in Kenya up until high school when they separated to follow the path of their individual lives. Each of them pursued school and work in different arenas, however, one day, 10 years later and 10,000 miles away from home in California, all four of them found themselves in the same room at a prayer breakfast. They had all come to the US separately to pursue further education. They started singing together as a pastime but it slowly not only evolved into a successful musical ensemble, but also a unity of friends committed to remedying social injustices, poverty and resulting oppression. Milele has travelled extensively and succeeded in becoming well known musical ambassadors in Kenya as well as Christian circles in the US. What began as a celebration of God through music became using music as a vehicle to carry out work that would move and spread their ministry and outreach. In the past few years, Milele averaged about 150 concerts and performances annually, mainly at churches and schools. Some of these include Lake Avenue Church, Faith Community Church, Mariners Church, Bel'Air Presbyterian Church, La Canada Presbyterian Church, Cottonwood Christian Center, First Church of the Nazarene, Pasadena, Azusa Pacific University, Claremont School of Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary, and Biola University. They have also shared the same stage with such Gospel legends as Andrae Crouch and Helen Baylor.

Concerts and tours

In 2001, Milele held a special concert in the slums and also performed to over 30,000 young people at a stadium concert. In early 2002, they had a special concert dubbed 'True Love Waits,' which was geared towards promoting abstinence in a society that is being crippled by AIDS. Kanjii of Milele was quoted saying,"We saw the success of our efforts when many young people committed their lives to waiting for the partner that God has set aside for them." In summer 2003, Milele toured forty states across the US to promote their second album. Since their successful Level Up tour, they were the featured band at the "Blessings of the Shoes" interfaith service at the Orange County AIDS Walk, which drew over 10,000 people. Shortly after, they were nominated to be one of the top ten finalists of the 95.9FM Fish Festival award. These successes culminated in their first live recording concert at Mariners Church in Irvine, California which was also their kickoff for their 2004 summer tour.

Members

Kanjii Mbugua, Harry Kiiru, Christian Mungai and Kaima Mwiti. Additional members include African Guitarist Henry "Karis" Mburu, Nimo Mathenge, and Carol Ongera.

Charity works

Family Homes Project

Milele as a musical group and humanitarian organisation embarked upon the Milele Family Homes Project in light of the vast number of children who have been and continue to become deserted by the loss of their parents in Africa. The project gave them an avenue to resource all the influential people they have interacted with over the years through their music and travel. In collaboration with Infeneon Holdings, they used new technology that enabled the building of an average family home within 15 days. The panel technology involved panelling with pre-set plumbing and electricity being filled with a quick drying building material known as Moladi Chem. The panels are then removed within 10 hours to reveal the structure of a home. This enabled them to provide homes with the requirement of less time and less money.

Change Africa Campaign

Milele are now better known for their humanitarian involvement rather than their music. While their music remains popular and enjoyable to many, their presence and contribution through the Change Africa Campaign and Milele Homes Project acts to propagate hope to those who are the benefactors of the efforts of the organisation. In 2000 Milele Ministries Incorporated as a non-profit organisation under the 501(c) 3 American tax code to better accomplish this purpose and launched the Change Africa campaign to drive the vision of being able to see Africans embracing the idea that the change they wish to see in their individual lives and societies can be created through empowerment, knowledge, unity and hope.

Crisis in Kenya

With the Kenya Red Cross and other volunteer organisations appealing for more aid to help displaced people in Kenya, Milele's Christian Mungai teamed up with Atlanta-based Partners for Care, Glory Outreach Assembly in Kenya where they visited 11 camps in Maai Mahiu, Naivasha and Burnt Forest PCEA Church Nakuru. "I was totally heart broken and devastated," he says. "For once I felt so bad helping as I thought to myself that we would be there for a while, give food, medical assistance etc then leave and come back to America and now I'm here in my warm bed while so many faces and names I now know are still in Maai Mahiu, Naivasha, Burnt Forest PCEA Church Nakuru and they will be there for a long time. I feel so helpless that I can't resettle these people and while many are working so hard to help others are working day and night to capitulate violence. I'm so beat and worn out, I even feel bad about taking pictures like these seems like we are there for a photo opp and thats it. My heart breaks and for once im in a state of despair at least for now. God help us and save us now". A Georgia group managed to raise US$42,000 to help the affected areas and had several volunteers who provided food and medical assistance. [1]

Discography

Studio albums

Forever

  • Released: 6 June 2000
  • Label: Independent

Level Up

  • Released: 6 June 2003
  • Label: Independent

Afrique

  • Released: 6 June 2005
  • Label: Independent

Monday

  • Released: 6 June 2007
  • Label: Independent

Related Research Articles

The Gikuyu, Embu, Meru Association (GEMA) is an organisation in Kenya created to presumably advance the social and political needs of the Eastern Kenya Bantu people of Gikuyu, Embu, and Meru who though are closely related linguistically and culturally but don't have common mythologies or history. It was founded in 1971, with an economic arm, GEMA Holdings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Embu, Kenya</span> A Municipality in Kenya

Embu is a town located approximately 125 kilometres (78 mi) northeast of Nairobi towards Mount Kenya. Embu served as the provincial capital of the former Eastern Province and currently serves as the headquarters of the Eastern Region in Kenya. It is also the county headquarters of Embu County. Located on the south-eastern foothills of Mount Kenya, the Municipality of Embu had a population of 204,979 in 2019 census. Embu is also the 8th Largest Municipality in Kenya.Embu municipality has been ranked as the fastest growing municipality Outside municipalities within Nairobi.It is the commercial hub of the Central Eastern part of Kenya and provides an avenue for trade, tourism and highway transit between the national capital and the Northern Frontier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nakuru</span> City in Nakuru County, Kenya

Nakuru is a city in the Rift Valley region of Kenya. It is the capital of Nakuru County, and is the third largest city in Kenya. As of 2019, Nakuru has an urban population of 570,674, making it the largest urban centre in the Rift Valley, succeeding Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County. The city lies along the Nairobi–Nakuru Highway, 160 kilometres (99 mi) from Nairobi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nyahururu</span> Town in Nyeri County, Kenya

Nyahururu is a town in Kenya, lying north east of Nakuru. The town derives its name from the Maasai word e-naiwurruwurr, meaning waterfall and/or windy or place of storms. It is allegedly located in Laikipia County. Despite this, Nyahururu formerly functioned as the administrative capital of Nyandarua County, before it became a county, until the headquarters was shifted to Ol Kalou. There have been calls for a reversal. The town has an urban population of 36,450. The town still continues to be a central economic power of the immediate former district of Nyandarua. For that reason, the town has strong economic ties to the two counties.

Jon Robert Gibson is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumental musician and record producer. Originally a blue-eyed soul singer, he switched from secular music to contemporary Christian music in the late-1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matatu</span> Public transportation minibuses in Kenya

In Kenya matatu or matatus are privately owned minibuses used as share taxis. Often decorated, many matatu feature portraits of famous people or slogans and sayings. Likewise, the music they play is also aimed at quickly attracting riders. Over 70% of commuter trips are taken using matatu in cities like Nairobi.

Kiambu is a town in Kiambu County, Kenya within the Nairobi Metropolitan Region. It is 14 km (8.7 mi) from the capital Nairobi. It has a population of 2,417,735. It is the capital of the Kiambu County, which bounds the northern border of Nairobi. Other proximate towns are Ruiru, Gatundu (NE), Limuru (NW) and Kabete (SW).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Anthony Kaiser</span> 20th-century American Catholic priest and missionary

John Anthony Kaiser was a Roman Catholic priest and Mill Hill father from Perham, Minnesota, US, who was assassinated near his mission at Morendat, near Naivasha town in Rift Valley Province Kenya.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gilgil</span>

Gilgil, Kenya, is a town in Nakuru County, Kenya. The town is located between Naivasha and Nakuru and along the Nairobi - Nakuru highway. It is to the west of the Gilgil River, which flows south to feed Lake Naivasha.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Arthur (missionary)</span>

John William Arthur was a medical missionary and Church of Scotland minister who served in British East Africa (Kenya) from 1907 to 1937. He was known simply as Doctor Arthur to generations of Africans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kikuyu, Kenya</span> Town Council in Kiambu County, Kenya

Kikuyu is a town in Kiambu County, Kenya, which grew from a settlement of colonial missionaries. The town is located about 20 km (12 mi) northwest of central Nairobi. It is about 20 minutes from Nairobi via a number of routes, including a dual carriage road, and has a railway station on the Mombasa – Malaba Railway Line. The town is named after the Kikuyu/Gĩkũyũ people, the major ethnicity that settled in the area. As of 2019 the total population is 323,881.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenyan Premier League</span> Association football league in Kenya

The Kenyan Premier League (KPL), officially known as the FKF Premier League, is a professional league for men's association football clubs in Kenya. Standing at the top of the Kenyan football league system, the league was formed in 1963 under the Kenya Football Federation but is now controlled by the Football Kenya Federation. It is contested by 18 clubs and operates on a promotion and relegation system with the Kenyan National Super League. Gor Mahia are the current champions having won the 2022–23 season.

Manasses Kuria was a Kenyan Anglican archbishop. He was the second African archbishop and bishop of Nairobi in the Anglican Church of Kenya.

Nakuru Boys High School is an all-boys high school in Nakuru, Kenya. It is among the 17 traditional national schools of Kenya, that have been in existence for more than 30 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enterprise Cup</span>

The Enterprise Cup is an annual rugby union competition in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, though the competition frequently has the appearance of being an all-Kenyan affair as the majority of rugby clubs in the African Great Lakes region are based in this one country and frequently clubs in Tanzania and Uganda are unable to take part due to financial constraints. The original cup was donated by sailors from HMS Enterprise, who had toured British East Africa in 1928. The only years in which the competition has not been played is between 1940–1946 due to World War II and in 1987 because an international rugby competition was held on RFUEA Ground as part of the All Africa Games.

Housing Finance Company Limited, commonly referred to as Housing Finance, is a commercial bank in Kenya, regulated by the Central Bank of Kenya, the central bank and national banking regulator. HFC is major mortgage lender in Kenya and was the second-largest in the market with KSh33.7 billion in mortgage loans, as of December 2019. At that time, Kenya Commercial Bank, the largest mortgage lender in the country had KSh64.3 billion in mortgage loans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Criminal Court investigation in Kenya</span> 2010 investigation by the International Criminal Court

The International Criminal Court investigation in Kenya or the situation in the Republic of Kenya was an investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) into the responsibility for the 2007–2008 post-election violence in Kenya. The 2007–2008 crisis followed the presidential election that was held on 27 December 2007. The Electoral Commission of Kenya officially declared that the incumbent President Mwai Kibaki was re-elected however supporters of the opposition candidate Raila Odinga accused the government of electoral fraud and rejected the results. A series of protests and demonstrations followed, and fighting—mainly along tribal lines—led to an estimated 1,200 deaths and more than 500,000 people becoming internally displaced.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Rift Valley, Kenya</span> Part of an intra-continental ridge system that runs through Kenya

The Great Rift Valley is part of an intra-continental ridge system that runs through Kenya from north to south. It is part of the Gregory Rift, the eastern branch of the East African Rift, which starts in Tanzania to the south and continues northward into Ethiopia. It was formed on the "Kenyan Dome" a geographical upwelling created by the interactions of three major tectonics: the Arabian, Nubian, and Somalian plates. In the past, it was seen as part of a "Great Rift Valley" that ran from Madagascar to Syria. Most of the valley falls within the former Rift Valley Province.

The Africa Evangelical Presbyterian Church (AEPC) is a growing conservative Presbyterian and Reformed Church which adheres to the Westminster Confession of Faith started in Kenya, later spread to the surrounding countries like Burundi, Tanzania, Congo and as far as Zimbabwe. The headquarters of the church is located in Nairobi, Kenya. The current Moderator is Rev. Dr Joseph Mutei installed on Sunday 26th June 2022.

References

  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 6 May 2010. Retrieved 21 September 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)