Woolgather Wednesday: Are You the Last One Standing? (MUNTU Zed Series)

Sipho Phiri is a proudly Zambian businessman.  He pursued a career in
banking and finance , with experience from the UK and Zambia.  After
two decades in the industry, he decided to take the plunge and explore
 his entrepreneurial side.  His current ventures include Leopards Hill
Memorial Park, Mukamunya Estate, and a hydroelectric
plant in Western Province.
© BongoHive 

Last Tuesday I attended BongoHive's Insaka featuring Sipho Phiri, a respected businessman renowned for his financial acumen and his shrewd understanding of how to navigate and profit in the Zambia's bureaucratic and at times frustratingly and unnecessarily hostile business environment. 

There were three main points that stood out to me in his talk:

1. Zambia is THE land of opportunity.

We are constantly hearing about how Zambia is one of the top 10 investment destinations on the continent.  We have a desireable political climate, great incentives for FDI and have an abundance of land and resources to be exploited.  For some reason we Zambians do not care to take advantage of this and gripe and complain when we see others come in and make their fortune.  Granted, the government does not have favourable policies and laws for local businesses to exploit, but the fact that there are so many gaps in the market to easily take advantage of and create opportunity far outweighs the hell you need to go through to make it happen.  This leads to the second point...

2. Do you have what it takes to be the last one standing?

Many of us start businesses or have an idea of what to do, but when we actually set forth to create and achieve our goals we fall short and then give up all together.  Either we do not want to partner and collaborate because we are afraid that our fellow Zambians will do the stereotypical thing and steal our ideas and set up something else on their own and take demand with them, or we get so tired of all the hoops we have to jump through to make our businesses viable that we remain moribund and ineffective for years, or we just close up shop altogether without really assessing what could be done different to be profitable and useful in the market.  We aren't willing to put in the work to formulate ideas or make them a reality either :(.

People just aren't willing to put in the time and work required for the kudos, respect and riches they have decided they are entitled to.  Half the time they neither have the experience, education, work ethic, product or service quality, and/ or the right to think they should have what they want and are willing to do insidiously clandestine things to get ahead because of their deficiencies.  So self motivation is really important to not lose hope and to continue to find the right people to collaborate with and the right entities to partner with.  

© BongoHive 

Sipho pointed out that you need to be the last one standing.  So many people will come and go in the arena you decide to play in, but in all likelihood they will not have the stamina, the mettle, the drive, the passion, the determination, the skill, the experience, the innovation, the creativity, and most importantly the overwhelming need to succeed.  So stick it out.  It will be hard.  You will be broke often.  You will not always know what to do.  But if you really want it, help will come just when you need it.  That breakthrough will happen when you least expect it.  Believe. Work hard.  Stay focused.  Remain steadfast.  It will come to pass.  Although painful to hear that it will probably not get any easier, it was comforting to know that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

3.. There is nothing wrong with staying small.

A lot of the times, when people create businesses they believe that we all have to be moguls.  We want to be billionaires so bleeping bad. Not everyone is meant to be a ridiculously wealthy.  Not everyone has to be as you don't necessarily need to be that loaded to accomplish your professional goals and live the lifestyle you desire. Economies of scale do not necessarily follow with upscaling.  There is an opportunity cost to artificially stalling growth as well as to swiftly expanding operations.  There should be a reason for being an SME or to becoming a huge corporate entity.  You need to ask yourself what works best for you, what works with your style of management, with the vision you have for your company and your employees and how you want to serve your clients.  You size determines the quality of what you want to achieve.  Big does not always mean better: you can lose a lot by expanding: your profit margins may shrink, and your personal rapport with employees and clients can be lost.  At the same time, you may not be able to serve without bringing in more people and to produce greater profits to keep innovating and creating you may have to attract more business.

Here is Sipho's entire talk at BongoHive:

  

For more information about upcoming talks follow BongoHive on Facebook and Twitter.

I have also now changed MUNTU format to accommodate changes in the blog, so anytime I write about someone I will add them to the tag and this post is part of the Zed Series about inspiring Zambians.

(Non)Sense: Startup Hour TODAY 17:30 and Twit Talk

Yesterday I Twitter blasted, okay spammed he he he he, all my Zambian followers and those I follow to invite them to Startup Junction's first Startup Hour.  As a company part of Project Cascade, my company Purple Tembo is co-sponsoring the event with C1rca 1964.  As a passionate entrepreneur with a start up myself, this was a no brainer.  Personally, it is really important for me to engage with people from all walks of life, in all fields, as to continue to grow personally and professionally, I believe interaction, skills transfer and knowledge sharing are paramount to perpetuate evolution.  Remember keep growing up, don't grow up he he he as I have said before here and here.

While spamming I started a conversation with one of my followers, Charles Chitundu.  When you write, letting your thoughts and words float in the ether, you only hope that people read and actually take something out of it, while wondering if your humour resonates with others, bringing them the comic relief you intend: I am a devotee to the school of "Laughter is the best medicine". Though I tackle serious issues on this blog, I also want it to reflect my equally silly side that balances out the intellectual side.  It is important to be rounded methinks.  My favourite part of the blog is actually the Nonsense tag (which weirdly enough still hasn't overtaken the World Cup tag that started this blog off in 2010!).  I feel that the happier and carefree side of me has been in umbra lately, due to the specter of the dark side of uncertainty constantly looming overhead as I continue to fudge my way through establishing my business and coping with the dirty 30s, as a single woman, in a chauvanist society, that is still unaware of, and/ or has no idea how to deal with the both latent and blatant mysogyny that pervades every corner of our nation. I have blogged about this recently here and here.

I will leave Twitter to best tell the tale and enjoy the video at the end telling you why you should turn up for @StartupJunct #StartUpHr. Also follow @MatthewGrollnek, @PurpleTembo, me at @whoops_c, @c1rca1964, and @MsKkj to join in convo if you can't make it :). (And excuse my shifty eyes, we did so many takes I wanted to make sure I didn't miss my cue as I kept interrupting Matt.  Shameful seeing as I am meant to be the professional!)

“@charlyoficial92: just realised interacting w Author my of fav afroblog #Hugefan” 1st person to say that to me *blushing* Glad you enjoy it

— Ngosa Chungu (@whoops_c) September 24, 2013

@charlyoficial92 ha ha ha that is one of my all time favs. Can you imagine still moving from same old generation bb to bb with new probs

— Ngosa Chungu (@whoops_c) September 24, 2013

@charlyoficial92 at the time it was not funny, esp when I was escorted out like a criminal, and all the money I had was taken by flashmob!

— Ngosa Chungu (@whoops_c) September 24, 2013

@charlyoficial92 @kellvinace right now don't have time to write a book even if I wanted to. Too daunting, having trouble blogging regularly!

— Ngosa Chungu (@whoops_c) September 24, 2013

@charlyoficial92 thanks! Really do love writing, literally is cure for my nervous condition. One day will take up book challenge #bucketlist

— Ngosa Chungu (@whoops_c) September 25, 2013

He he he MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: a post that went from sense to nonsense that makes sense ;}!

A Tale of Self Motivation Through Video and Images

© Pencil Case Studios

Yesterday I was on the brink of a nervous breakdown as my professional and personal life seemed to be blurring in very disturbing and discomforting ways.  My mind is a terrible place to get lost in when my soul is morose and my spirit is flagging.  To help myself along, I posted this image on Facebook, laughed at the attempted typo correction, then decided to take the rest of the day off as it indicated that only men were meant to be working.  Yes I can twist anything to my benefit when needed.

With so many things up in the air, and unsatisfactorily so, I thought it best to forensically sift through my thoughts and feelings to root out the evil and get back on track.  Last week I blogged about maintaining the happiness inside while making sure it reflects outwardly too, and so need to keep honouring that. So here is what I came to realise:

I am a giant killer! I am David out to conquer her Goliaths.  Great things come in small packages ;}

© George Evans

I am fearless and this fuels my persistence.  I will never give up, I will find that rainbow and ride it till I get my gold: I am looking for more than just money, I need meaning to be truly content.  My journey may take a little longer but I WILL GET THERE! 

© Pencil Case Studios

I can auction a goat that doesn't want to be sold even after tries to run away then jumps and bites me in efforts to escape. That's some serious skill! 

Was asked last minute to help with an auction
to raise money for Chibolya Clinic to service
35,000 people with no immediate access
to healthcare.  Check out Empowerment Zambia

We all have been blessed with the power within to be our own hero, to fight our fights and to keep going, even when things are hard.

I am truly blessed with women in my life, old and new, who are there for me to rant, to be vulnerable, to encourage me when I doubt myself, and support me no matter what.  Communion with women I have found gets harder as one gets older.  Glad that the ones in my life aren't the kind that secretly hate you and are friends with you so they can feel better about themselves, or want minions to follow them and worship them.  My friends are invested in my happiness as much as I am in theirs.  A lot of my friends live scattered across the world, mainly elsewhere in Africa, Europe and the US so having a group here to support me so selflessly is really special. 

I have found community on and offline through people like Mwanabibi, Lwanga and MissBwalya, online forums like Zedian Naturals (sorry closed Facebook Group, but if you have natural hair and are thinking of transitioning, let me know on Facebook and I can request for you to join) and Insaka Chat, and have found my creative niche through a collaboration with fellow entrepreneurial creatives through Project Cascade: check out #ProjCascade.

@projcascade: @HartwrightAZ @PurpleTembo @c1rca1964
@pencilcasestudi @Yandapps @BongoHive @StartupJunct
© Dan Hartwright Photography

All the men in my life, most of whom I happen to be collaborating with on this project, treat me as an equal, respect my opinions and are such gentlemen. They express their indignation when the misogyny, chauvanism and sexual harrassment that comes with it, rear their ugly head in my life and in others.  As my father says: never be a lesser woman because of a weak man.  They never ask me to be anything other than myself and for this I am eternally grateful.  To the men in Zambia who chose to act like $"#@*&s:

After remembering all of this I said to myself quiet little one quiet! Hush, all is well :)  Hope this little sojourn through my thought process to keep my optimism afloat helps you too...

© Pencil Case Studios

Woman Talk

Asikana Network Meet-up, October 2012

This year I haven't posted as much but when I have, it has mostly been about women things.  And that is what is inspiring me to start blogging again.  It all started with a Twitter conversation (no I am still not a twit, I just have a handle for my newly launched media company that I will talk about once I have something to say he he he).  I happened to come across a comment contributing to the BBC Africa debate on women  from Chisenga, one of the lovely ladies who founded the Asikana Network, and my reaction to it snowballed into a late night conversation about being a professional woman with sentiments rooted in the Zed environment:

Yes these two little women may look rather young
but are filled with wisdom beyond their years.
OK I am not looking or acting my age but do not be
deceived he he he he....

Chisenga: The fact that a woman's survival in a position depends on her ability to 'act like a man' is in itself an indicator

MbA: It is sad that we still have to deal with these issues today.  I feel like that everyday...

Chisenga: True, if you do something well then being told "you do it like a man" is seen as a compliment but we are DIFFERENT!!

MbA: You have no idea how many times I've been told I operate like a man and it irritates me.  I do it like me man, like a woman hehe

Chisenga: But you do it like a competent woman! Once had a guy tell me I'm an 'evolved' woman just because I wasn't wearing make-up and heels!

MbA: It's sad that women are thought of as incompetent by default and that an indicator of that is make-up and heels.  We are diverse!

Chisenga: To them pretty and dolled-up = incompetent, masculine = competent! How does this play out [with you]?

MbA: Right now trying to strike a balance.  In Zed if I dress too 'manly' I intimidate generally and it makes women weirdly hostile

Chisenga: Ah and therein lies yet another challenge women hating and pulling each other  down instead of inspiring, mentoring and uplifting!

MbA:  These women stop me at the door when trying to see people...it's so sad.  I'm not out for your job! NO TO WOMAN HATE!

Chisenga: LOL!!! My friend once said never leave your CV with a woman if you're job hunting! This needs to stop!!

MbA: [Unfortunately] she would be right.  I have resorted to taking a man with me sometimes to bypass the hateration and he has noticed the hostility!

Chisenga: And when the other women see you talking to a man instead, they accuse you of trying to 'womanipulate'! Change begins with us!

MbA: It really does! Without knowing qualifications we like to judge.  And men don't help by favouring 'pretty' women

Chisenga: LOL sooo true!!!

This convo left me pretty bummed out as it reminded me of my struggle the last few months to present myself proudly as the woman I unapologetically am, while having to navigate the inherent negativities that have been infused into this identity by society, by both men and women, which are unfortunately magnfied in Zed :(.  Luckily a few days later I was able to meet with the Asikana girls and feel a lot better.  

The women who spoke at the meeting were both equally inspiring.  Shupe Mwanza, ICT Project Manager at World Vision Zambia was really encouraging about exploring and fighting for growth and development in your professional and personal life.  She also made me feel less alone when it comes to being perpetually exacerbated with Zed service as I have ranted about before on the blog.  She also said something that needs to continue to be said and that is that Zambians are lazy.  What I liked even more is that she was inspired by fellow Africans as an example to follow.  Her experiences working at EcoBank, a West African bank, showed her that Africans can be dedicated, hardworking and have high standards.  Their pursuit for excellence shamed her people on their own soil and instead of being intimidated, she embraced the challenge of being better and in turn is determined to encourage her fellow countrymen to follow suit.  As she said, how do we expect Zambia to change if we do not change ourselves?  To improve we need to constantly be evolving, to keep ahead through knowledge and reading and to stop with the excuses, the complaining. We need to take the initiative and just do it.

Cassandra Mtine, founder of ShopZed.com also spoke about starting and sustaining an online business. The site orginally started by catering to the Zambian diaspora looking to be able to help those at home, while making sure the money that is allocated actually goes to what it is intended for.  It has now expanded to include a myriad of solutions for Zambians at home and abroad.  She started the business in the US and has now returned to Zambia and with her female business partner, they are looking to expand their business including providing a platform for Zed business to be able to showcase their products and services to the world.  It is lovely to see women in a male dominated tech world not being intimidated and just getting on with it.  These young girls are providing an invaluable service and are constantly looking for ways to expand, to further satisfy and protect their customers and to contribute to Zambia's development.  So young, yet so entrepreneurial, focused and driven.  Great role models I love it :).

Asikana's new logo by Ruth Zozi

Just talking with the rest of the group afterwards made me happy too.  It is lovely to see women communing and supporting one another.  Asikana is an awesome possum space for women in tech because of the lovely ladies that have created it who are leading by example  by being open, friendly and eager to encourage and inspire.  The group is filled with smart, driven women who are beautiful on the inside and the outside which is just lovely to be around.  These girls made me feel a lot better and I am glad I took the time to crawl out of the cave I have been hiding in.  Sometimes you do need to look to the outside to regenerate.  Thanks ladies xo!

Asikana Network are currently spearheading a project to map out all the female African tech groups across the continent.  Check it out and contribute to their efforts here. 

Mobile Tales: Part 2 - Mobile Monday Lusaka Launch

Gilbert Mwiinga, BongoHive member and App developer, unveiling his Zambian Draft 

Constitution Android App which he has since put on the Minister of Communications' 

mobile phone.  Photo by Silumesii Maboshe, Pencil Case Studios

On Monday 21st May, I attended the Launch of Mobile Monday Lusaka: MoMoLsk at TopFloor's Elunda 2, Rhodespark premises.  The building is beautiful and TopFloor's facilities are amazing! They have a first and world class set-up with great conference facilities and a generally cool, hip, modern, innovative, youthful vibe which  I'm sure helps to foster their goal to provide "business and technical Human Capital Development in Zambia."  I digress, but what is new ;}. I will continue down this road of diversion as I need to get this off my chest before I continue.  MoMoLsk sounds like a stammerer struggling to say mollusc and now all I can think of is snails while giggling to myself every time I say, write or read the acronym.  For more about my love of silly, giggle-worthy and/ or witty names, read this post about Innocent Mugabe (yes that is the name of a real person).

MobileMonday is a global organisation that seeks to provide an "open community platform of mobile industry visionaries, developers and influential individuals fostering brand neutral cooperation and cross-border P2P business opportunities through live networking events to demo products, share ideas and discuss trends from both local and global markets.  Originating in Helsinki, Finland in 2000, events are organised by some 300 dedicated volunteers from around the world and it has become an industry leading mobile platform.  Chapters have held events in over 100 cities worldwide and [continues] to launch new locations monthly." The month of May was Zambia's turn to launch MobileMonday in Lusaka.  The event was headed by Lead Organiser Gustaf Engstrand of Goe Consulting and was sponsored by BongoHive,  Airtel Zambia, and TopFloor who hosted the event.  Speakers included Airtel Zed's head honcho, former MD of Afri-Connect and one of the co-Founders of BongHive.  

First we were treated to Airtel's charismatic Fayaz King, who absolutely marvelled with his presentation about how it's all about personalisation and the mobile phone being a lifestyle device with little calling and mostly entertainment and social media driving usage.  As we move to 4G and beyond, it's all about getting a smartphone into Zambian hands that is less than $50 in order to migrate basic phone users who can't currently afford fancy communication technology. If you can read the sarcasm in my recounting, you are not imagining things.  Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed his presentation and his urging idea people and developers to come up with applications to give to Airtel and in return he would make them Appillionaires (millionaires from apps, get it, wink wink) with access to the 4 million customers in Zed and the 100+ million in Africa and the 250+ million in Africa and Asia if the App is really cool (I may have those numbers wrong, I am recounting all this from memory.)  I write with sarcasm as I am talking about AirFAIL, I mean Airtel.  


Unfortunately, because the presentations were so engaging, we weren't able to ask the panel questions as time ran out.  If I had had the opportunity I would have asked Mr. King how exactly all this would happen, especially if he expects this to occur on his network which can't even make it to 4G, it's at 3.75 which is just weird.  If I need internet access to develop my App and I use an Airtel dongle/ router that keeps cutting in and out how long will it take for me to get my work done?  And all those customers he was talking about, will they even be able to access and use the App when even internet access directly from a phone is also prone to unreliability? If they are as frustrated as me by Airtel's blatant abuse of its customers, especially in Zed because Zambians are so complacent and are fine with being shafted and getting crap customer service, then Mr. King is deluded.  So I say to Mr. King, you are a very passionate and smart man so can you please trickle some of that down to your irritatingly nonchalant people whom I've stopped talking to because they either don't answer the phone at Customer Service or say without shame or enthusiasm to make change that there is nothing they can do in-person at stores.  Thanks.  Then I will believe all you said in your presentation can happen...

The next presentation was by Mark Bennett: a hilarious and clearly ridiculously passionate and smart man who has been involved in the Zambian Telecommunications industry since 1985.  He brought Africonnect to Zambia and recently resigned as Managing Director to focus on his medical, agricultural and educational websites.  My favourite is iSchool, "a comprehensive online multi-media eLearning package designed to cover the whole of the Zambian School curriculum.  This includes both full plans for teachers and interactive learning for students.  iSchool has been built in Zambia using entirely local examples and all early grade material is available in 8 local languages as well as English.  iSchool can provide all the resources necessary to make full use of the material anywhere in Zambia, including IT equipment, internet access, teacher training, mentoring and technical support." What's not to love: teachers having easy and free access to quality resources to teach our kids better, students of all  ages being able to access material and the option to go back and catch up after years without schooling and most important, localisation of examples and voices.  Local languages means that more of the population are included in education.  Hearing a Zambian voice narrating in English is also really important as it helps to reverse the characterisation that if you have a certain accent then you are smart and if you don't you aren't.  There are many a dumb person walking around speaking in posh British accents and some of those are faking it which is even worse. It also helps to show that we can do things we think can only be done overseas.

Simunza Muyangana, who co-founded BongoHive with Lukonga Lindunda, then gave a history of how the organisation started, and how it has expanded and spawned a sister organisation, Asikana Network, which launched two weeks ago.  It is scary that in Zambia people who say they are interested in technology do not know definitions of key terms.  You want to be an App developer and you don't know what Android is?! As Simunza said, it was imperative to create a space to root out people with technological expertise to be able to pass on their knowledge and foster innovation and talent incubation for Zed to become an ICT hub.  BongoHive, Asikana and MobileMonday are all great efforts to do this.  I also liked his emphasis on Zambians finding solutions to our problems and utilising our resources.  It is clear that Africa is the place to mine for content to put on the Internet and to pursue new opportunities due to our positive economic growth despite the global financial climate and the fact that we are underserved with regards to services.  He went on to say we shouldn't complain if someone from the outside comes in and creates and exploits opportunities and consequently lament we have been robbed because we allow this to happen by not being proactive.  There is so much potential, and we live in an era were you don't need much to start-up something due to the affordances of technology and mobile in particular. This ability to create solutions through technology was best exemplified by Gilbert Mwiinga, who then demonstrated his App.  

Last week on Facebook I had posted this link about the Naija Constitution App and thought it would be great if a Zed version for the Draft Constitution was created. The Technical Committee and various other interested parties have been complaining that citizens are not engaging and it is because they either have to trudge to some office to get a hard copy or have to access a soft copy on a computer via the Internet.  Luckily we have Gilbert Mwiinga, who even though has confessed to not having read the document, (and to be honest though I have posted it on Facebook, I have only read the parts that people have highlighted in posts),  has now made the Draft Constitution easily accessible thanks to his App.  It breaks the Constitution up into lovely bite-sized chunks that you can ingest if you are only interested in particular parts or you can read the whole document at your leisure.  You can even search and it will bring up all the sections of the Constitution pertaining to your inquiry.  You can also share chunks with your friends on social media platforms, through email and good old sms.  Just brilliant!  Such stories make me optimistic about my country.  For all the people who continue to feed the problems, (such as the ones I mentioned in my mini Airtel diatribe above), there are people like Gilbert creating solutions and making things happen.

The event was the best function I have ever attended in Zambia.  I was engaged the the whole time and each speaker handled themselves with charisma and aplomb.  And the people who attended were equally engaging and I enjoyed networking afterwards, something I really do not enjoy doing.

Here are more pictures of the event taken by Silumesii and check out his website Pencil Case Studios.

You can connect with MoMoLsk (he he he he he he, I canna help myself), BongoHive, Asikana Network, TopFloor and me, Mwana ba Afrika on Facebook.  If you haven't already read Part 1, about my BlackBerry's demise and my ludicrous attempts to use it even after it was beyond salvation, you can find it here.

Affordable African Fashion

Today, it seems, two of my fellow Afropolitan sisters had fashion on the brain. Ms Afropolitan has just launched her Boutique, a tribute to the African Woman's decade 2010-20.  The Art is particularly cheap, £30 for a painting is a real bargain.  And you get a 10% discount for purchasing items through her site and the profits go to Forward UK, an effort by the African Diaspora to safeguard female human rights.  The prices are comparable with high street shops in the UK, are really cute and are a great way to support African designers.

Afri-love also discovered cute African Print hair clips made by Wasijiru.  You can find more affordable accessories to hold back afro hair by Wasijiru here and they ship to America and a decent number of European countries.

African style does not have to leave you when you leave the motherland - you can take it with you and help others while you're at it :).

Leadership, Shopping And Recycled Wonders

Obama's Forum got me thinking about youth leaders and how it is important for not only Africa's young to start taking the helm, but for all the youth around the world to start thinking about what they can be doing to better their families, communities, countries, continents and ultimately the planet.  Even though our world has always been interconnected through shipping routes, the slave trade, and spices, never before have people been able to connect so easily and in a plethora of ways both physically and virtually.

This reminded me of Kimmie Week's initiative, Youth Action International, YAI.  He was not at the conference, I think they are trying to give other people who may not have the fame that Week's has a chance in the limelight.  Week's started his leadership journey very young.  At 17 he was already writing reports exposing the injustices of child soldiers!  And now his efforts not only help his home country Liberia, but also now extend to Sierra Leone and Uganda, other places on the continent where child soldiers have been deployed.

He moved to the US when the government set out to assassinate him, after his efforts to expose the wrongs in his country.  He took advantage of the opportunity to set up an international network and now has people volunteering from all over America through YAI Chapters based at universities.  He demands commitment from the people he allows to travel with him.  Every year 3 interns get to travel around Africa with him.  They have to have served an YAI chapter for at least year and they have to raise their own funds.  People who move with him are another level of "wanting to help out" - they are seriously dedicated.  Here is a video on their latest project:



You can find out how to get involved with YAI here.

Here is a video that, even though is not his full speech, really gives a good idea of the kind of person Kimmie is and why he is in demand as a public speaker, and also an inkling into who he is as a person and his passion for humanity:



This speech was for Humanity Uniting Brilliance, HUB, an organisation that provides a social enterprise platform to help those in need take ownership of their destiny through entrepreneurial endeavors, while learning from brilliant leaders around the world.  I took a look at The Global Marketplace, where the goods produced by the people they empower can be bought, and of course naturally gravitated to their African collection.  Unlike in my post about fair trade, ethical fashion, these products are available to a wider group of people looking to buy products that not only make them feel good, but also help the environment and people around the world trying to alleviate the poverty in their lives.  You can buy a bracelet for $8 all the way to a "Village in a Box" (hmmmmm as my sister would say) for $535.  The Box is intended to be used to get your family and friends to be as excited about HUB as you are by selling the items and using them to create events and things.

It is amazing what can be made from recycled paper, pata patas, and plastic! Right now the countries in Africa benefitting from this intiative are Mali, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Kenya.  The great thing about this is that it is a worldwide venture too.  You can get items from from all over such, as a wallet made from recycled tire tube from El Salvador if you want!! It just blows my mind what people can do with someone else's rubbish.  Reminds me of the Welcome to Lagos Series. If you haven't taken a gander, you can see the 3 episodes here, here and here.

"Welcome To Lagos" Concluded

The last episode of the BBC's Welcome To Lagos looks to the future, while focusing on a slum under constant threat of demolition.  It is located on a beachy patch right across from Victoria Island, where everyone aspires to live in its big houses one day.  You can't help but like Esther, she had me at "Chelsea for Life"! Anyone who bleeds blue is good with me he he he...

As we watch Esther keep house at the beach, her hair changes from weave, to braids, to gelled with a hair piece to unkempt and in equal measure we witness the twists and turns in her tale.  She is there to dig a ditch to protect the homestead when the rains come and the sea swells up and takes up more of the slums space, destroying anything in its path.  She dreams of a better life without needing a man to help her get there.  She tries the best she can with the circumstances she has been dealt with the pride, dignity and resourcefulness of a strong African woman.  And with a little silliness too :). All with a smile and an unfazed optimism, even though she lives with constant uncertainty.

We also see a traffic cop turned beautification squad leader and traditional dance instructor (! ;}) romp through the streets tearing down any illegal construction.  He is a Lagos native whose pride in his roots has led him to clean up his city during the day and teach they young their culture in his free time.  Although his tactics may be a rather crude and rough, ultimately he is carrying out his orders.  However, one cannot help but wonder about how there is no care for people's belongings and goods as this "beautification" is being carried out, and where they are to go as the better places the Government are planning to build have not been created yet.  Progress is a double-edged sword.  While it is clear that chasing away the area boys to clean up the patches they trolled is creating Green spaces that both benefit the people and the environment, the guerrilla-style slum destruction seems a little too chaotic and callous.

Either way it is clear that Lagos is moving forward and there is nothing to stop the city from thriving and becoming a megacity rivaling any around the world.  We will have wait to see the social costs borne from all of Lagos' economic development.

All in all this was a well crafted docu-series that I felt gave me insight into a part of Lagos life.

"Welcome To Lagos" Continued

The second episode contains more of the first, except the setting is the Makoko slum.  Likened to Venice (hmmmmm really?!), it is a place where people have taken matters into their own hands and have built their own houses in the lagoon that surrounds Lagos and get from here to there in boats.  Their story is linked to the sawmills, as that is where the timber that is the primary material for slum houses is processed.

Once again the resourcefulness and entrepreneurial spirit is displayed.  However, with the man we follow this episode, there is something more.  You can really see a pride in this man.  A pride bourne from being able to retain his customs while moving into the future by being a part of the megacity.  A pride of thinking of innovative ways to make sure that his children and grandchildren are able to go to school and university.  A pride that allows him to gather all his family for a meal every day to teach them his ways. A pride from knowing that even if the Government seeks to destroy rather than help to build his community, he and his neighbours have found ways to reclaim land, erect their houses and make their own expansion plans.  Combining the old with the new.  That is Africa in a nutshell really.

This sense of community is also shown when the workers at the sawmills gather money together to pay for a fellow worker's funeral and for his family to be taken back to the village.  People are not waiting around for someone to take care of them, they are finding ways to take care of each other. It was also nice to see a woman running one of the sawmills. With many a story about how women are subjugated on the continent, I thought it was refreshing to see the other side being told.  There are many a businesswoman and entrepreneuress about too.  However the two children who had run away from home and lied about their age and were fighting to work at the woman's sawmill is disturbing.  But which society in the world has never profitted from child labour at some point in its transition to being fully modern?  At least it didn't look like they were being worked to the bone.  And they did have time to be able to be children and make kites and fly them.  With modernity come its ills unfortunately.

Here are links to Episode 2:

"Welcome To Lagos"

Finally started watching the BBC Docu-miniseries Welcome to Lagos that BIMBO had told me about a coupla months back. Was a little apprehensive going in, wondering how the Western Eye was going to interpret the images and the lives of the people in the slums.  I was pleasantly surprised though.  They really highlighted the ingenuity, resourcefulness, entrepreneurial spirit, camaraderie and optimism of the Nigerians who are moving from the rural areas at a rate of 600,000 a year, to one of the world's megacities, Lagos.  Felt that the documentary kept riding the comparisons to the Western world a little - we get it, there is more that meets the eye, these people are diamonds in the rough once you get over the superficial.

I was happy to see that even though the focus was on the slums, images of the developed areas of the city were interspersed throughout the episode so as not to make Lagos seem like one big ghetto, as was done with Lusaka in the RED documentary. I also like how everything wasn't romanticised - we witnessed the daily city-wide power cuts and the lawlessness that happens in the dumps.  I also liked how the man with the family found a way to give his wife and children what they needed either by fixing things or finding a way to refurbish what the rich threw away.  It also shed light on how wasteful people get once they are not living from day to day and how many things that still have use get thrown away.  It showed how recycling is already a way of life in Lagos.  "Living Green" sometimes starts out of necessity.

I was really impressed with the cattle market. It showed how people apply their knowledge and are able to use every part of the cow, bar the hair, for something - horns for plastic, the contents of the cows digestive tract for fertiliser, blood for chicken feed and who knew you could eat the skin?! That and the fact that even in the slums there already is an transnational network with cattle herders travelling from Mali, Cameroun and Chad to come an trade.  The awareness of the world around them shows how the people realise we are all interconnected, like the man said as the dollar goes up and down, life in the slum is affected. When cattle were not able to come in from Chad prices skyrocketed.

Here are links to the first episode:

African Fashion: Green, Ethical, Trendy, Not For Africans?

Fashion model Liya Kebede, who has acted in The Lord of War and The Good Shepherd, is not only a UN Goodwill Ambassador, but also an African businesswoman.  In an effort to help local artisans, she created her fashion line Lemlem in 2007 "to inspire economic independence in her native country, [Ethiopia], and to preserve the art of weaving." Here are some lovely photos of the weaving process.  However, most of the clothes are for kids and all of the items are rather pricey. It is clear that this venture is not meant for African consumption, but to appeal to elite Western consumers.

This seems to be a trend - eco-chic and/ or ethical style.  Dressing is one of the easiest ways we can express who we are and what we stand for, and it seems fashion has no intention of not jumping on the green and ethical bandwagon.

Lauren Pierce is a line by designer Lauren Bush, that boasts one-of-a-kind pieces made from sustainable textiles dyed by DRC women with ten percent of the profits going to Women for Women International to help women in post-conflict areas. The targeted demographic is the natural, confident, vanguard, humanitarian, activist woman.  She also has to have deep pockets.

Yodit Eklund, an Ethiopian-American, created the line Bantu, that offers swimwear that intends to get Africa to be thought of as producing finished products, rather than the raw materials that are of less economic value. Vanity Fair sold it to the consumers Bantu was trying to reach as a way to save Africa.   Hmmmmm  :* (that is me kissing my teeth at the simplification of how to make a difference in Africa).  However, this sentiment sort of encapsulates the novel ways a certain conscious, proactive and ethical class of Westerners are got into helping our continent nowadays.

What makes me sad is that upwardly mobile Africans are not targeted too.  There are people in the diaspora and indeed even people across Africa who can afford to help their own.  And yet they are not marketed to.  They are not encouraged to take pride in dressing in fine garb designed and created by their own.  They are not at the forefront, being the trendsetters.  At the same time, why aren't we seeking out these avenues to contribute and to show what Africa has to offer with pride? Instead we will be the ones to ask our Western friend where they got their clothing from and they get to tell this great story of how fashion is doing its part to to move Africa in a positive direction both economically and culturally.

Rape in Africa

This article on Kenyan women living in fear in the slums reminded me of something passed on to me about a new female condom that was to be passed out during the World Cup.

A South African woman has invented a female condom, called Rape-aXe, which latches onto the male assailant during process of him violating his female victim.  Some people think this is barbaric.  Others think what is the point, what is done is done, the man effectively has succeeded in raping the woman.  I think it is a way for women to at least feel confident in the fact that even if they cannot stop the act from occurring completely, when it does happen, the man does not derive any pleasure from it because of the pain that ensues once he penetrates.  Also more importantly, this means that there is concrete evidence, as he is inextricably fused to the device until he seeks medical help. Doctors can collect evidence, and they can report the incident to the appropriate authorities and this information can corroborate the woman's statement. I think more women would report their rape if they knew they had backing from at least the evidence.   A lot of the time such cases play out as a 'he said she said' fighting match. It also protects from STDs.  Its uses in high rape location such as the slums of Nairobi and the war zone in DRC cannot be denied.



This condom has the potential to empower women.  I do not think it reinforces fear.  Being able to have some control over what happens to your body is potent to me.  It reminds me of a conversation I had with BIMBO a long time ago while walking in the dark and I mentioned how it was nice to be able to walk with someone on campus after hearing about the man who was going around sexually assaulting women on his bike.  Her and her twin sister LOLZ are over 6ft.  She said to me that she never has that fear of being overpowered, she  is confident she can fight toe to toe with most dudes.  I am a pygmy not an amazon and constantly have that fear when I find myself alone at night.  I know that even though I am feisty, really if faced with such a situation, my fight would be futile, knowing that inevitably I would lose. So this device makes sense to me. Even if you cannot completely protect yourself physically, being able to stop someone from violating you and others in the process through the justice system is a huge step to deterring others who may be thinking about doing the same.  Which man wants to be marked for life with the little scars the teeth leave?! This will make them think twice before trying to get away with such abuse.  Every woman after the incident will know what he has done.  The only con I see is if a woman forgets she has the condom in and a poor dude suffers from her lapse during a consensual encounter!



Of course there will be abuse of the condom from scorned lovers and the unhinged, vengeful type.  But there are always two sides to a story.  Isn't sex supposed to be an expression of your love for someone, a way to deeply connect with another human being, and if you are lucky to be able to create the miracle of life, or a bit of fun (of course so long as you are SAFE) and yet is is used as a weapon to manipulate, to control and to traumatise just as often too?

Thanks HAYLEY for sending me the article about this.