Failing is A.C.E.

This photo was taken during our first A.C.E. shoot in 2016
Photo Credit: Fortress Media Styling: Mafashio

I have been failing. Spectacularly. All throughout 2016. And I have been winning. Why? Because failure is the route to success. If you are truly creative and or/ entrepreneurial, you live in the certainty of stumbling, mumble fumbling and falling.  A thick skin is required to keep picking yourself up, to keep, and carry on.  In Zambia , it is the norm to pretend like everything is okay, as admitting fault, inadequacy or challenges is seen as weakness, not as an opportunity to innovate, learn and grow. The fear of losing out or giving up power is so ingrained, it stops people from actually realising their dreams because they are spending so much time looking over their shoulder.

Moving on to your sophomore project is always hard.  My first production was a documentary about the Zambian National Football Team aka the Chipolopolo (Copper Bullets) called e18hteam (eighteam).  Last year it enjoyed much success after it premiered in October 2014.  From the unprecedented Zambeef sponsorship of the archival footage rights, to travelling around Zambia and film festivals around the world, winning awards in Indonesia, Spain, the USA, Nigeria and Peru, as well as screening in Cannes, I should be on floating in the clouds, basking in the rays of achievement. That is past glory though and cannot and should not sustain me.  The film continues to go to film festivals and is now used as a tool for motivational talks to motivate, inspire and/ or for cultural exchange, but it is time for a new challenge.

An artist never stops creating and the best place to start is inspiration from the depths of one’s soul.  That is where the African Cultural Exchange project, aka the ACE project, is borne from: a frustration so visceral, the only way to assuage it and turn that negative energy into the positive, is to work through it with my art.  It has taken much to get to this point and I haven’t really started.

Luckily I have 4 amazing people to work with here in Lusaka: 3 Zambians and 1 Zimbabwean. I have dubbed them ZeDream Team, because in another life I was named Big Pun, and they  were my first choice of crazy talent with beautiful spirits to work with. This blog will chronicle the entire process of this multimedia experiment aiming to re-imagine African storytelling, through creativity in all its forms, as I journey with this team down the rabbit hole.

What I have learnt so far, as I have embarked on this sojourn into the unknown, is that I still have much to learn, and that is okay because I believe life is about growth.  Leadership in this new capacity is much harder than I thought.  Collaborating and expressing what is going on in my head to get everyone up to speed is overwhelming, because my brain is too quick and sees everything at the same time perfectly laid out and connected in my head space.  It all makes sense to me, but parsing that out into the world in a way that makes sense is incredibly challenging. Focusing on what I want the project to address first has also taken a while to identify. But we have persevered and things are coming together.

I am known as the Queen of Passion and thankfully this Ndhlovukhazi Storyteller has enough fuel in the tank to keep regenerating, adapting, and is not afraid to change her mind. I am reveling in the uncertainty and in the crazy because beauty is starting to shine through. I just have to trust the process.  Keep tweaking. Keep researching.  Keep bandying ideas around. Staying open and allowing myself to be mentored by the team and people in my life whom I love and trust, while looking for new sources of knowledge and inspiration.

So as we count down to the official launch of the ACE project, to be announced on the blog in due time, please get to know ZeDream team through our Instagram account

In the meantime I will continue to fail spectacularly in style because I know it will all come together in the end.

Here’s to failing spectacularly to success.

For more on the A.C.E. project, bookmark the blog, where this post first appeared, and follow its progress and the ZeDream Team on Instagram.

Ngosa. Alive. Thrive.

So the last post I wrote (eons ago) was all about how I was going to do better at how I put my life out here on social media. I did start off well reloading Pellie Reign, particularly on my new Facebook page, as well as on Instagram and Twitter. However, I am now currently still wading through the right old mess that I have found myself in for most of the year. As usual, my writing on MbA has been affected. Something that really has to change as writing in this open diary is therapeutic. I chose this photo to accompany this article because at the time I was visually portraying my life storytelling in a patriarchal society. The storytelling has never been hard. It's the patriarchy part that is really throwing a spanner in the works amongst other things...

Trying to write my way back to lady bossing, to being my best, bubbly self.
Photo Credit: Kwitu Group Styling: Mafashio Location: KC Vaghela Brand Store

Life is a constant tackling of the haphazard, and it can blindside you when you least expect it. Somehow you are supposed to fashion interwoven narratives to make heads or tails of it all. A deluge of personal and professional f-ery has inundated me in ways that I not only did not expect, and found I was not quite equipped to deal with.  Trying to make sense of it has me battle weary. So much so that since my phone was stolen a few weeks ago, I have been rather listless. I am more overwhelmed than ever.  Last thing I needed to happen to me really.  It has messed with my story by cutting off easy access to global life lines and there is really no substitute for the function my phone has in that regard. So until my new phone arrives in a month, I'm likely to be not quite with it on another level.

I have started over so many times this year, only to have to scrap my course of action to jumpstart things and restart afresh, trying to find the passion I'm famous for. So I have decided to accept that life is a mess right now and that my fires need stoking before they are at full flame consistently. I'm going for (new) small victories to build up to a cohesive effort to make the big changes I had plans for, and the new ones I've discovered are required. So over for the foreseeable future on MbA, this is what I'm going to do:

Share the blogposts I wrote on my currently stalled next major creative undertaking, the African Cultural Exchange project: A.C.E. The first post was all about failure and how it can function as stageposting on the way to success. I am using my current inability to troubleshoot and jumpstart the project to reflect and share here on Soulfood Friday.

Things on Thursday will be, like this post, updating where I'm at in this process of metamorphosis, rediscovery, reclamation and change.

Mama Monday will feature posts on things in Zambia that have me disturbed about the lack of empathy we have for each other and those beyond our borders, and how that is manifesting in really disturbing ways.

I will finish my Love. Marraige. Sex. Babies. series that I started on Woolgather Wednesday.

I will not be furnishing Twit Tuesday on the blog as Twitter is where I'm most active currently, so if you'd like a daily dose of MbA, find you way to my profile.

So long as my name is Ngosa, and I am alive, I will always find a way to thrive he he ;} xo #NgosAliveThrive

Pellie Reign Reloaded

This photo was taken at PR Girl Media's the Travel Series Zanzibar event in
December 2016 at Latitude 15.
Styled by Mafashio in My Perfect Stitch.
Photo Credit Vince Banda

I coined the term Pellie Reign (#PellieReign): Purple Elephant Reign to signify the way I intend to live life.  This is the era of the Purple Tembo, my production company which derives its name from my favourite colour and my favourite animal - the elephant.  I have no brand. There is no art to what I do.  I basically find a way to incorporate what I love and what I am drawn to, into what I do.  There is no line between my professional and personal, except what I choose to make public or not.  I don't want to have to think about if this or that is on message. I just am.  So sometimes its messy. Sometimes it's slick.  That's life.  That's authentic. Whether it is icky or not, it's true.  

However, I have come to the conclusion that I do need to be a bit more serious about how I put myself out there on social media.  So I have created a new Facebook page to facilitate this.  In 4 days I will turn 35. Every year I create a theme.  Last year was my annus horribilus, and my theme was 34: get off the floor and find that open door. It was that bad.  I turned things around and wanted this milestone birthday to really celebrate the fact that I was able to find the strength to bounce back.  I always pick a rhyming theme so I have come up with:

35. Alive. Thrive.

I am sharing this openly for the first time on a public scale.  My birthday is my new year, so I move forward on my own terms.  I am very excited to share with you all the things in store, that I have lined up.  I will be officially launching the page on Monday the 6th of February. To find out what is just around the corner, please like on Facebook so that you are in the know.  

For previews and behind the scenes you can follow me on Instagram. Don't forget to like my page on Facebook ;}!

Ndhlovukhazi Storyteller Reloaded

Taken last year at our first the A.C.E. Project shoot by Fortress Media.
Styled by Mafashio

No you have not taken the blue pill. I would highly advise sticking to red with this little one - you don't want to really know how deranged and confused I truly am. However, I am expanding my matrix online by shutting down my public profile on Facebook.  It was originally created as an extension of this blog and a way to be able to connect with the Zambian and African media industry in a more accessible and organic way, that a page wouldn't have been able to do at the time, in my opinion.  However, it is clear I have outgrown it, and the best platform is now a page to interact in a way that I am comfortable with, and makes sense with where I am now, and where I want to go.  So I am in the process of shutting Mwana Ba Afrika down and I have launched the Ndhlovukhazi Storyteller page, aiming to take things to the next level. I believe that this is the best way for me to appear publicly on this platform going forward.  It is definitely the best way to better serve those of you interested in knowing about who I am and what I do in an easily accessible way.  Thank you for your continued support, I really appreciate it xo.  So, please like my new page, and I am looking forward to this new path to go on a journey together!

(To understand my decision better, you can read my Top 10 Posts of 2016, as they illustrate and expound on my growth and metamorphosis: thinking about leadership and finding a way to cope with public life better.)

You can find more information about who I am, what I do and the things I am interested in, from a different angle, by liking my new Facebook Page Ndhlovukhazi Storyteller ;}. 

Proudly Zambian Fashion More than Just Style Part II

In Part I, I focused on Kamanga Wear, my favourite designers, whom I now represent officially.

Recently, through my partnership with Mafashio, I have also been introduced to other proudly Zambian designers. My work wardrobe now fully showcases what the country has to offer creatively to fashion. Such an easy yet interesting way to keep the proudly Zambian theme I would like to permeate all that do.

Here are looks I have rocked in the last year:

 

ChizO Designs velvet and African embrodiery crop top with velvet trimmed stretch skirt, Chitenge Life Clutch and G by Mangishi chitenge and suede shoes

Photo Credit: PR Girl

 

Kamanga Wear crop top and cigarette geometric print trousers I bought during film festival trip to Germany earlier in the year

 

Photo Credit: PR Girl

 

Poleka Pemplum strapless LBD, Ted Baker clutch and Michael Kors heels

 

 

Dress by Desigual that I bought during film festival trip to Spain, with Chitenge Life Clutch

 

 

 

For more pictures and information about Zambian designers, please check out my social media: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

 

 

Kamanga Wear Love Affair: Proudly Zambian Fashion More Than Just Style Part I

Kabungo Mumbi- Habeenzu
in signature Kamanga Wear
dress that you can Kamanga
(tie) in many different ways.
That jumpsuit ended up being
my first ever purchase!

It is well documented on this blog that I love Kamanga Wear. My obsession with them started in 2012 out of desperation. I had to help out my Aunt, Miss Zambia 2005, for a Japanese Reality TV show starring her friend Miss Universe 1st Princess 2006. They were convenient and coincidentally, after I introduced myself and what I needed, designers Christina and Donna informed me their Ready-to-Wear brand is very popular with Japanese tourists and residents in Zambia! Kabungo was pregnant and their signature dress was easily able to accommodate her bump, as it can be tied 8 different ways and is a billowy dress that can be cinched in, or not, depending on how you choose to style it. A great last minute solution, as I had been given no time to deliver what was required. We then took the crew and her friend to shop there after touring Lusaka as part of the shoot.  I was Olivia Pope media world style, before she even existed lol.

Kurara Chibana trying on her
gift from Kabungo after a day's
work for Japanese Reality TV

After that, I had to come to my own aid, as I wanted to wear chitenge (aka ankara, kitenge, African print) and proudly Zambian designs when I got my gig as a TV presenter late 2012.  Their clothes fit my body type well, and required little or no alteration, so it was easy to pop in every 2 weeks or so to pick up new pieces and to be fitted to satisfy my wardrobe requirements, working around my crazy shooting schedule around the country.  Their clothes are such versatile, ready-to-wear items that can reflect the whimsical, playful side of me, as well as the serious, baller too.  Thus began our love affair that continues on.

I have the most extensive collection of their clothing according to Donna and Christina.  The only person who can rival me is Mwanabibi Sikamo, Uprooting the Pumpkin blogger and ZedHair co-founder.  We literally have to check in to see if we are planning to wear the same outfit when we know our paths will cross! Recently we coordinated when we were both appearing on TV together as guests on ZNBC's Press Club Live with Chilufya Mwelwa.  We both rocked Kamanga but luckily there was no who wore it better, Sex in the City II Miley-Samantha moment ...

#tbt #BuyQualityZambian #ProudlyZambian rocking @kamangawear and #naturalhair with @mwanabibi @zedhairdotcom for Press Club Live appearance on ZNBC last week. This awesome lady reminds me that there are like minded Zambians who don't let the frustrations that come with that hold them back, but use that fire to fuel them to make a difference. My hair was on point thanks to @lisciouscollections Chocolicious and Butterlicious products and a 3 strand twist out swept to the side. Styled in consultation with @mafashio_zambia. #pelliefun #kamangawearday #kamangawear #zambia #africa #fashion #zedfashion #mafashio #ankara #chitenge #kitenge #africanprint #print #afrohair #type4hair #zedhair #liciouscollections #baller #onfleek #trill #carefreeblackgirl #fake #selfie #throwbackthursday

A photo posted by Ngosa Whoopi Chungu (@whoops.c) on Aug 27, 2015 at 1:49am PDT

I also own the peplum top Mwanabibi is wearing but in a different print as Kamanga does not use the same print over and over for the same design and within sizes, so each piece is almost unique as they spread material across their collections. You see why we have to check in! I was styled by Mafashio for this TV appearance.

Since last October I have been officially Brand Ambassador for them.  I am so honoured to represent such a quality, affordable, quirky, stylish, edgy, iconoclastic yet classic brand, that uses primarily chitenge, but now also other African and global fabrics, in innovative, vanguard and creative ways. 

I have travelled to Europe and America with the film this year, and of course, Kamanga has come with me. I have dressed for success professionally and have been complimented wherever I go when I have worn something of theirs.  Whether I work hard or play hard, any day can be a #KamangaWearDay and that is why I I love them!

What started off as a way to reconnect with my roots in a way that reflects my global sensibilities, ended up being a way to proudly fly the Zambian flag as a lifelong peripatetic. Thank you for all your comments on social media about my style of dress.  I am honoured to have inadvertently filled you with pride as I represent worldwide.  Happy to continue to show just how cool and creative we are, that we too have much to offer in many spheres such as fashion. Time people got educated. Yes Africans wear clothes and they are stylish too he he he...

Here are some of the looks I have rocked this year. Whether I am representing the film, making a public appearance, or just living life, Kamanga Wear has the ab fab garb to accommodate my lifestyle. Styling is in chronological order.  At this point I am styling myself exclusively.

Custom cigarette tuxedo trousers in African brocade
L-R: Chosa Mweemba, me, e18hteam co-producer Juan Rodriguez-Briso
Photo Credit George Mutale

This was my outfit for the premiere of e18hteam at Fresh View Cinemas, October 2014. My copper jewelry is from Free Zambia, kente bow tie from Ghana (though purchased in Zambia) and my clutch is by Ted Baker.

This photo is an outtake from the Extraordinary Project
Photo Credit Gareth Bentley

This photo was created by projecting e18hteam and smoke to create a rainbow effect in the bush in Chongwe, Zambia at night. The peacock effect is with a palm frond I brought with me from my garden, as I was told to bring something to add to my diminutive frame, so I didn't look like a midget and subsequently not have a strong presence in the photo!

#e18hteam @OffsideFest #PellieFun #Zambia #Chipolopolo #documentary #film #OffsideFest2015 #Barcelona #Spain #estrelladamm seleccion oficial. So proud to have not only made this film and preserved an important thread in my young nation's history, but to also now travel with it as it is embraced around the world. #Mafashio #KamangaWearDay #ProudlyZambian #PositivelyAfrican

A photo posted by Ngosa Whoopi Chungu (@whoops.c) on Mar 15, 2015 at 10:21am PDT

I layered with a black long sleeved stretch cotton shirt, as it was not quite Spring in Spain. Versatility to wear styles in different ways is important so things look fresh.  I am taking a leaf out of The Duchess of Cambridge's book - have much less money than she has so definitely have to repeat, mix and match my wardrobe pieces. That way, when I make public appearances, I am always sporting a new look.

L-R Chitundu Chanda Zambeef Brand Marketing Manager,
Zambeef Board Chairman Dr. Jacob Mwanza, me Zambeef Brand Ambassador,
Zambeef Joint Chief Executive Officer Dr. Carl Irwin,
French Ambassador to Zambia H.E. Emmanuel Cohet

This dress showcases Kamanga's timeless style.  They are great at making classic dresses that are interesting in an edgy, whimsical and/ or quirky way due to their careful selection of prints to reflect these qualities. This was at the press conference announcing the unprecedented sponsorship Zambeef provided to cover e18hteam's archival footage rights and my travel to film festivals.

 I have been working with the wonderful stylists, sisters Kii and Sekayi Fundafunda, of Mafashio since May 2015. All looks have either been put together by these lovely ladies, or I have consulted with them after picking out my outfit.

Custom variation of Kamanga Wear dress made strapless and out of
raw silk paired with a clutch from Chitenge Life and
shoes from Mangishi Love.

Are you watching Morning Live on ZNBC TV? #e18hteam co-producer Ngosa Chungu is about to share her thoughts on the role of women in Zambian film industry. #CurrentSituation #ProudlyZambian #ZedToNaija #ZedToCali

A photo posted by eighteam (@e18hteamovie) on Sep 17, 2015 at 10:50pm PDT

Kamanga have recently added jackets to their range and I am taking advantage. I have a lot of basic

monocoloured items that I can mix and match.  I can instantly up the ante with my go-to style, my uniform if you will: leggings/ jeggings and a bodycon top can instantly be more interesting by throwing on a print layer.

L-R me, Namwali Serpell 2015 Caine Prize winner at Audience with
Namwali Serpell event at Foxdale Court hosted by Lusaka Book Club.
Photo Credit PR Girl

I love colour and bold prints. Went all out with high waisted maxi skirt and picked up orange and yellow from the chitenge with my top and leather bag purchased during my trip to Ghana for New Years in 2014.

Zambia #svaff2015 #ClosingNight #svaff

A photo posted by SVAFF 2015 (@svaff2015) on Oct 18, 2015 at 8:27pm PDT

Both the dress and the necklace are from Kamanga Wear.

For even more fashion, information about my journey this year and to keep up-to-date with everything going on with the film as well my other projects in Zambia and globally, follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.