Things on Thursday: e18hteam Tings

It's been a pretty big week for the film. I am focusing on the positive at the moment: publicity is going well.  The press are starting to report on the documentary and engagement continues to steadily increase on social media.  So the fact that, to date, no Zambian business has contributed to the film which is fine coz we managed without them, but now I have no idea how I am going to host the Premiere, which is expected due to the story being told and it being released a week before our 50th Independence Anniversary.  

It's my job as co-producer to find the money to do things.  Honestly, my passion for the story and the film has not translated to funds beyond what I have been able to scrap together over the years from my own pocket through presenting and social media jobs here in Zambia. This has frustrated me greatly as I have tried several different strategies to no avail.  You'd think that football, Zambia and the glitz of film would be a no brainer here.  I have been proven wrong for the last 2 years.  But as Steve Jobs said "stay hungry, stay foolish".  With a production partner like Juan, who has gone above and beyond to make this film, and has taken on the lion's share of the financial burden, it's not that hard to do that :).  

That is also why I changed the Amashiwi quotes on the blog to include Winston Churchill's "success consists of going from failure to failure without the loss of enthusiasm".  Even if organisations seem to be swayed by the Chipolopolo's performance and every time I need some help they decided to perform abysmally.  I continue support our national team through thick and thin, despite their secret conspiracy to thwart my efforts.  It would have been great if they started their AFCON 2015 qualifying campaign with a bang, rather than fizzling out after being paralysed to a nil draw against Os Mambas (The Black Mamba's aka Mocambique) and the venom taking hold by the time they got to Cape Verde last week, losing 2-1. You see my theory is not wholly unfounded and without merit.

Things are going well in large part due to Samba Yonga of Ku Atenga Media aka Grand Mukhazi in the Ndhlovukazi's matriach's circle aka Purple Tembo Media's publicity team:

Matriarch's circle is @e18hteam promotion team: Ndhlovukhazi @whoops_c Grand Mukhazi (Grand Woman) @Kuwaha pic.twitter.com/TNxWh1ymaG...
— Purple Tembo Media (@PurpleTembo) September 12, 2014

She is behind getting this great article written by Leelee Ngwenya about e18hteam features in the September/ October Issue of Proflight's Nkwazi Inflight Magazine. The magazine is FREE, MAHALA, GRATIS so get your copy to see it in all its glory.  Don't worry, if you aren't in Zambia or flying anytime soon I have scanned the article ;}.

Click to embiggen for easier reading :)

Slam Dunk Records TV and Inspire Abantu have posted the press release for the film to help get the word out.

This teaser seems to be the one that everyone who has seen them seems to be the most touched by.  I also think it's the most powerful.  Dennis Liwewe was our most prolific football pundit and a great ambassador for the game and Zambia.  It was an honour to interview him.

If you want to know more about writer, director and producer Juan Rodriguez-Briso, watch this Behind the Scenes video about his passion for football, how inspirational the story of the Chipolopolo is and about how we connected to co-produce e18hteam.

We revealed our official poster for the film yesterday during #DidYouKnoWednesday.  The exact release date is 17th October 2014 so mark your calendars and start saving your ngwees to make up the Kwacha you need for a ticket.

In theatres 17th October 2014 

Chipolopolo ana chimfya: The Chipololopolo triumphed in both Nyanja and Bemba.

To keep up with all things e18hteam, follow the film on Twitter so as not to miss out on weekly #DidYouKnoWednesday event, and like on Facebook for exclusive content only posted there.  You can find all my posts chronically my journey making e18hteam here.

Kisses This Christmas

If you were wondering about finding mistletoe on the continent to stir things up at Christmas have no fear. Just nip over to Mount Mabu in Northern Mocambique where some botanists found Africa's tropical version of this yuletide plant. You'll not only be taking a preemptive strike against those pesky holiday pounds you are sure to gain, but you also will be increasing your chances of holiday romance and cheer. You are welcome in advance ;}.

Forgive me, I am in a giddy mood as I leave the cold and snow behind for a sunny Christmas, which is the only way it should be.  Snowy ones are for the movies: nice to look at but we don't need to actually experience the cold and craziness that comes with it.

If you are flying like I am, I hope you make it in time to be with your family and/ or friends and aren't delayed, especially if you are flying from Europe.

To those who are politically correct and/ or don't celebrate the birth of Jesus, Happy Holidays! To everyone else, Merry Christmas :)!

Shaka Zulu: A Trendy Hang Out With A Conscience

Shaka Zulu Lounge, Restaurant and Club recently had its launch party in Camden, London.  I know this because while satisfying my pop culture celebrity gossip fix, I saw pictures of Amy Winehouse stumbling out of the place, which made me curious and a just a little bit skeptical. Ok a lot skeptical.  I mean, calling your place Shaka Zulu is rather bold and potentially foolhardy. But upon researching the venture, this actually looks like a very classy affair and decadently appropriate for a place named after one of the greatest chiefs in African history.  Reminded me of the Double Club, inspired by Congolese culture and made possible with the help of Nigerian Bank Guaranty Trust, which I had the pleasure of going to when it was in London from 2008-9.  When I went there for a friend's birthday party, the food tasted like home and they actually played proper lingala and decale music (also referred to as rhumba). And they had all those creepily metrosexual Congolese guys giving their stamp of approval all ridiculously coiffed, clad in pink and white suits, too tight t-shirts and malanga mpamvus drinking and dancing the night away. The Double Club felt like a club at home, Xenon, that in its hayday was the place to go party when I was a teenager.  Plastic chairs outside, a very cosy dancefloor, a very warm atmosphere with too small a bar to serve all the customers.  Part of the proceeds of this art project went to crisis victims in the DRC through the City of Joy/ Unicef project.

Shaka Zulu takes this one step further, being a permanent fixture at the hip, boho, Stables Market location rather than the kinda scary, back lot, warehouse location of the temporary Double Club. The brainchild of Roger Payne, this venture seeks not only to celebrate Zulu and South African culture, it seeks to respect it as well.  Here is a video of Payne seeking King Goodwill Zwelethini's approval and support for the venture and its charitable intentions.



The menus for the bar, braai, and seafood and oyster bar source mainly from South Africa but the Zulu ubuntu spirit is alive and well too with inspiration from Namibia, Ethiopia, Madagascar and Mocambique. Dining comes with an optional £1 charge that goes towards the £1 million Shaka Zulu plans to raise to support Education Africa.  They also plan to have a shop that will sell African goods, including those created by King Zwelethini's initiative for job creation, Bayede!. The shop will also stock food and wine from South Africa.

There is a fine line between paying homage to a culture through inspiration and offending without meaning to.  This seems like a healthy respect and celebration of South African culture that is available to not only the celebrities but also the general public.  Unlike with fashion, it seems that concept restaurants are a more inclusive (and perhaps less pretentious) way to go for people to celebrate African culture and support development if they choose to.  A more democratic approach to living life to its fullest with a conscience every now and again.  I will definitely make the effort to check it out  the next time I am in London.

Obama's Address To The President's Forum With Young African Leaders: " You represent a different vision, a vision of Africa on the move."

President Barack Hussein Obama did not disappoint and gave a rousing speech, (here is the transcript, but I would advise you to watch the video), in keeping with his reputation as a gifted and insightful orator.  He made sure to single out the accomplishments of the audience from a Djiboutian starting off selling ice cream to now running his own accounting practice, a Malawian using her positive HIV status to break barriers, to an Ivorian journalist fighting for the rights of Muslim women (which made me think of North Africa's absence again :( ). He also drew from his father's life, telling of how he was able to take advantage of educational exchange and also how Kenya was in a better position economically that South Korea in the 60s but is now not as developed - a cautionary tale about all of our squandered opportunities.  He capped it off by answering questions from attendees representing Mocambique, Liberia, Mali, Ghana, Zimbabwe and Somalia.  He answered eloquently off-the-cuff about HIV, Zimbabwe, Somalia and the bombings in Uganda, the World Cup, brain drain, and the potential pitfalls and the opportunities for success on the continent.

Can I just say that I loved the woman in the purple's outfit.  One because it's purple, my fav colour.  Two because it was beautiful.  She is one of those that people back home would tell you to watch out for.  He he he.  Also could not find the leader I knew in the audience.  I have eyes and ears everywhere.  I may be useless, but I like to surround myself with those that  bedazzle he he he...

Obama speeches always yield a healthy crop of quotes so I am going to let his words speak for themselves, with other little tidbits interspersed of course:

"Welcome to the White House, and welcome to the United States of America.  And that includes even our friends from Ghana, who beat us in the World Cup. (Laughter.) Where are you? Over there? That's all right.  It was close. We'll see you in 2014. (Laughter.)"

Later the response from a Ghanaian attendee:   A Ghanaian football pundits thoughts before the US-Ghana match:  "This is not war, it is football.  If it were war, then maybe we should be afraid because the might of America is more than us."

"You reflect the extraordinary history and diversity of the continent."

"In fact you represent the Africa that is so often overlooked - the great progress that many Africans have achieved and the unlimited potential that you've got going forward into the 21st Century."

"I don't see Africa as a world apart; I see Africa as a fundamental part of our interconnected world."

FYI, in case you didn't know Senegal, Gabon, Nigeria and Madagascar are all celebrating 50 years of Independence. Randomly, Scuttle the Seagull from A Little Mermaid's voice said all of that in my head because he says "In case you didn't know the prince is getting married today" to Ariel in a very silly voice.  Sorry! This is my third post today, overload of seriousness, needed a bit of nonsense he he he...;}

"Africa's future belongs to its young people."

"Yes Youth Can" Kenya's adoption of Obama's "Yes We Can."

A quote from an tweeting attendee "If your actions inspire others to dream more, to learn more, to do more and become more then you are a leader." - John Quincy Adams
This reminded me of how I  have no desire to become another twit on twitter. I'm sure its lovely.  I'm just not wired enough for that kind of deluge of information. So I now rely on MIghTy African to sieve for me so I can keep up-to-date with extra fast breaking news :).  You can read his comments on the Town Hall style meeting here. As my mother always says, "sieve, take what means something to you and discard the rest". Which has led me to coin a new euphemism:

"Sieve: don't be afraid to throw out the husks to keep the rice."


"The future is what you make it.  And so if you keep dreaming and keep working and keep learning and don't give up, then I'm confident that countries and the entire continent and the entire world will be better for it."

"Some old leaders get into old habits, and those habits are hard to break."

"Here is the interesting moment that we are in though - if you look at where the greatest opportunities are, they're actually now in emerging markets.  There are countries in Africa that are growing 7, 8, 9 percent a year.  So if you are an entrepreneur now with an idea you may be able to grow faster and achieve more back home that you could here."

"I've always said the destiny of Africa is going to be determined by Africans.  It's not going to be determined by me.  It is not going to be determined by people outside of the continent.  It's going to be determined by you.  All we can do is make sure our voices are heard and you're able to rise up and take hold of these opportunities.  If you do that, I think that there are going to be a lot of people who - even if they are educated abroad - want to come home to make their mark."

"I am a profound believer in not looking at violence as a solution to problems.  And I think the moral and ethical  power that comes with non-violence when properly mobilised is profound."
When I read this I was like hmmmm torture, rendition, Guantanamo, Afghanistan, Iraq...but a little bit later he said:

"And now it is not as if we are perfect.  Obviously we've got all kinds of problems as well.  But what it does mean is that the peaceful transfer of power and the notion that people always have a voice - our trust that democratic process is one that has to be embraced in all your countries as well."

"Oftentimes women are not getting the same voice in African countries, despite the fact that they are carrying more than their fair share of burdens."

"I will say that in Africa in particular, one thing we know is that empowering women is going to be critical to reducing the [HIV] transmission rate. We know that because so often women, not having any control over sexual practices and their own body, end up having extremely high transmission rates."

"Africa has some of our most loyal friends.  Every survey that's take, when you ask what continent generally has the most positive view about America, it turns out Africa generally has a positive view of America and positive experiences so I think you should be confident even if I'm not President that the American people genuinely want to see Africa succeed."

"South Africa has its problems, but from what everybody could see during the World Cup,  the potential for moving that country forward as a multiracial, African democracy that can succeed on the world stage, that's the model so far at least Zimbabwe has not followed.  And that's where I'd like to see it go."

"I think that this metaphor of the success of the World Cup and the bombing [in Uganda] shows that each of you are going to be confronted with two paths.  There's going to be a path that takes us into a direction of more conflict, more bloodshed, less economic development, continued poverty even as the rest of the world races ahead - or there's a vision in which people come together for the betterment and development of their own country."

"And for all the great promise that's been fulfilled over the last 50 years, I want you to understand - because I think it's important for us to be honest with ourselves - Africa has also missed huge opportunities for too long."

African Union Announces Advisory Council and Peace Ambassadors

The AU has taken inspiration from the UN and has announced Advisory Councillors and Peace Ambassadors to help bring about stability around the continent.  The list is impressive and diverse, from former presidents and powerful businessmen appointed as Councillors to sports personalities and musicians named Ambassadors, including Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, President F. W. De Klerk, Mo Ibrahim, Graca Machel and Professor Wangari Maathai, as well as Micheal Essien, Maria Mutola, Angelique Kidjo and Youssou N'Dour.

The BBC's Africa Have Your Say  has started a debate about it. People are predictably skeptical.  It always irritates me when people provide diatribes, lamenting the state of Africa that completely ignore any positivity in the situation, instead of insight and ideas for change.


Without hope there is no way for progress.

Instead of shutting every idea down and being skeptical, try a little faith my fellow Africans and be proactive to to find a way to a better tomorrow.  Passive aggressiveness, anger and spite are not helpful really: They are debilitating - they poison the mind and dishearten the soul. I think it is great that we are taking the initiative to use Peace Day as a way of reinvigorating dedication to bettering Africa, using our own accomplished and prominent figures, both on the continent and globally, to lead the way.  Homophily is a powerful thing.  As much I am a fan of the Angelina Jolies and Bonos in the world, them turning up to a village to help perpetuates the notion that an outsider has to come for us Africans to be saved.  Having someone African coming to our aid sends a profoundly potent message - that we too have the initiative to change our fates for the better :)

What will you be doing on the 21st of September?

Desmond Tutu Announces His Imminent Retirement

Archbishop Tutu, one of Africa's most prized ambassadors has announced that he will be withdrawing from public life, set to retire by February 2011.  His presence in local and global affairs will be greatly missed.  However, we will not forget his great deeds that have superceded his physical presence.  When his name is invoked, we will remember the humanity, compassion, peace, love, courage, community, unity and humility that he stood for, as well as the passion that he had for South African, African and global affairs, seeking to emulate him however and whenever we can.

His most notable accomplishments are receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his efforts championing the anti-Apartheid cause in South Africa and around the world, leading him to create his own organisation - The Desmond Tutu Peace Centre, to continue the legacy he created.  He also headed the Truth and Reconcillation Committee set up by South Africa's first ANC government to help South Africa soothe and heal the wounds Apartheid inflicted.  He is also among the select group of accomplished global leaders that compose The Elders, congregated by Nelson Mandela to tackle global issues such as the situation in Zimbabwe, and equality for women and girls. Eminent Africans Koffi Annan and Graca Machel are included in the ranks too.  

It is only fitting include some wise words from the man himself.  Here are his thoughts on leadership, which reminded me of a Nelson Mandela quote: "It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur.  You take the front line when there is danger.  Then people will appreciate leadership."

I just have a bit of advice for Archbishop Tutu (I know really what can I offer to such a man?!).  If he has to drink Rooibos tea during his retirement, can he make it into iced tea because really that tea tastes like the devil unless its taste is masked by lemon and lots of sugar (As you can see not much to offer at all)!! And I hope all you dudes took note of how he wants to make hot chocolate for his wife and actually wants to spend time with her because he believes she is the best decision he ever made.  He is inspirational in every way!

How can you not adore this man! He believed that the World Cup was the most notable event in South Africa since the end of Apartheid. I too believe it will have positive ramifications in both South Africa and the rest of the continent.  Here is a video of  him demonstrating World Cup and Nelson Mandela fever.  It also shows how even though he deals with serious issues on a daily basis, he is also a little bit silly! Further proof to support my belief:

You have to have a bit of youthful silliness in your life in order to be a positive instrument of change in this world ;}.

WORLD CUP FEVER AND MY TEMPERATURE IS ONLY GOING TO GET HOTTER!! ;}

I cannot contain myself and I hope I am contagious because if you are going to spread any kind of fever, it should be of the football variety!!!!

The Kick-Off concert was good.  Shakira left her weird hair adornments at home and gave a lovely performance. Alicia Keys played two of my fav songs - No One and Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart. K'NAAN was also good.  The Black Eyed Peas were disappointing because Fergie seemed to have forgotten to pack her voice and/ or her confidence - her performance was horrible.  She was pitchy, off-key or sounded like she was trying too hard, and when everyone came together at the end things continued to go south for her unfortunately.  Loved Lira's dress, although she had issues with it when she first came on. Will troll for my fav clips and info on the dress and if I find, I will post. My only critique is that there could have been more contemporary African artists like D'Banj, Jozi and Lizha James who could have played more upbeat songs and gave the concert more of a party flavour.

Just when I thought ESPN had gotten it together they decided to disappoint me! Their coverage is an antidote to the fever, it really gets you down :(. Not really bothered about all the hype surrounding the US-England game on Sat because that is understandable and the pundits aren't trying to sugar coat the fact that England are most likely to win.  However, the coverage on Sports Nation is not worthy of a reputatable sports station! They compared Christano Ronaldo to Jonah Hex (ya, I know! who is that?), Messi to A-Rod (pulease yes he's pretty popular in the US but even his stature here is nothing compared to Messi's globally) and the Brazil squad to the film The Expendables (features old-school action heros Swartzenegger, Stallone and Willis).  Really???!!!! Clearly a way to squeeze in marketing and it's just pathetic.  I LOVE MOVIES AND I LOVE SPORT BUT THAT SORT OF THING IS UNACCEPTABLE ESPN!!!  Insert expletives amongst the capitalised words because that is how infuriated I am.  I think that the US's limit on not understanding football and treating it like soccer is over. GET WITH IT!!!!! :( I VOW NEVER TO WATCH THE WORLD CUP IN THE USA EVER AGAIN UNTIL THIS IS FIXED - HAVING TO BEAR IT FOR THE SECOND TIME IS MORE THAN ENOUGH :(. I miss the BBC and Super Sport! I am afraid of what may happen if the US win the 2018 bid and its funny because their tagline is "The Game is in US". Nice play on words but it is ALL A LIE!!!! You may have the money to host but still don't have the heart or the passion, where is your football soul America??!!

So in order to get the fever back up I had to remember that Nadal won despite a little hiccup on the grass and that he was in Shakira's Gypsy video. (See how slick that was, World Cup connection and eye candy :})



And seeing as we are on to eye candy here is the last of the Vanity Fair pics :)

Ah, the fever is back up again he he he...

And now that you are in a good mood check out 1 GOAL: Education For ALL and spread the love :)