The People & Things that have Me Inspired this Week

Breakfast View| Bolsover Street

Soho| London

The Incredible Force that is Nurse, former diplomat and activist Edna Adan| http://www.ednahospital.org/tag/somaliland/

Aurelie

Greenwich Park

4:30am| Sleepless

Fambul den, this is how we do…








This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

3 Things.

I have spent the earlier part of 2014 dealing with health issues, feelings issues, family issues, myself and the intolerable am i where i am suppose to be issues, work issues, loving my partner and then myself issues, and of course the mourning my friend issues. I have mourned the death of only two people my entire life. My grandmother and my friend, my friend because his untimely death rocked my core.  It has being a lot of issues and i recluded, disenchanted by daily offerings that when truly looked at, were always nothing less than sublime. Amidst getting caught up in being busy three things happened. 1. my intern who is far from expressive said " you have a beautiful soul, don't become jaded", i was taken aback, non expressive people who become expressive in a singluar moment always amuse - awake me. I always take heed to their words, I had to be doing something right. 2. I received this message from a 22 year old stranger and it goes,

"Hello!!!

First off I would like to say that I am in L O V E with you, I know its awkward but I just had to tell you. I was sitting on my bed thinking of what it is I would like to do once I graduated from college this December, and I was searching on Google for Public Health Advisor Jobs in Freetown. Some how your name came up in my search and I was led to your blog. I have heard of you before with the TEDx event, but today I took the time and explored your blog, and thats how I fell in love with you. Just going through your blog I felt very inspired and felt as though I had a connection with you and your blog. I was born and raised in America and went to Salone for the first time in December 2011, from then on I was intrigued and knew Salone is where I wanted to be and grow as an individual. Since then I made sure that I went to Freetown once a year but this year will be my first time going twice in one year ( Im super excited)! My parents don't seem to understand why it is that I am so in love with a country that I did not originate from, but its hard to explain that, Salone is where my mind, body, and soul feel at home and at ease. Your blog gave me a sudden empowerment and inspiration. When I go through your blog its as though I picture myself as you in a few years from now. As a 22 year old I am still doing a bit of soul searching, but I just wanted to let you know that you helped steered me in the direction that I want to go.   

"

3. I walked out of my office in London at around 4:00pm only to

walk right into a friend from Vancouver who i was suppose to have met yesterday for brunch and did not. I had not seen her for 5 years +. I literally walked into her.

FatouWurie Photography

From that I derived 3 things:

1. Be still the universe has you

2. Focus on the work, we ain't all Beyonce but someone somewhere looks up to you - rise up to the responsibility to be your best self.

3. Be still, even when you cannot answer how or why as long as you have the WHAT, the universe has you.

i know this to be true.

Please, remain inspired and committed to either a. discovering your WHAT the vision the essence of what your existence means to you b. owning YOUR WHAT. The why and HOW will present itself. Be still, the universe has you.

Fambul dem, this is how we do....

5 New Events & Opportunities YOU should know about

OPPORTUNITY:   Young African Leaders Fellowship : A new flagship program of the President’s Young African Leaders Initiative. APPLY NOW.

EVENT: AFFORD UK - Sierra Leonean Health Matters : The Event will bring together the IOM and the authors of the UK mapping report to present the key findings of the UK mapping exercise, and a panel of experts to discuss issues raised by the study and the broader policy context. The presentations will be followed by an open question-and-answer session.

OPPORTUNITY:  Vacancy - GIZ Regional Resource Governance project for a "Senior Advisor for Private Sector Cooperation". The position is open for Sierra Leone nationals. Feel free to share.For further enquiries please contact me (janne.kaiser@giz.de) or Mrs. Robbin-Coker (ruby.robbin-coker@giz.de).

EVENT: Le Pop Up Marche - A month Fashion & Lifestyle Shopping Experience

OPPORTUNITY: Academic Scholarships for Study, Undergraduate, Post graduate and Doctoral - application deadlines are soon approaching.


Fambul dem, this is how we do...

Snapping - it is a Community Thing.

I am a photographer, or rather at some point loved to really engage in photography and developing the craft as an artist as opposed to for commercial purposes. I am usually found behind the camera, yet i am most comfortable in front of the camera when a random, ordinary person i happen to meet in a location that inspires me, takes photograph. 99% of the photographs taken off me are by your average lay person walking, living, sitting, chilling on the streets of Freetown. It is such fun to teach someone the basics of just pressing a button as you adjust yourself at an angle you think may work for the photograph. 

Photography by: A Girl ( i really need to get her name next time)

 Today i did the same thing. I spent time hanging out with some women and their three ridiculously joyful children, taking photographs and listening to the list of things the kids wanted me to bring back from them. Like i said, i just met them today. This immediate connection has inspired a new project that i hope to get under way this year. See #2014 is back to the craft, the art, the study that makes me feel whole.

 Inspiration ( as corney as this may sound) lives everywhere. Just choose to See.

fambul dem, this is how we do...

Freetown Chronicles: Ethical Fashion, Fashion, White Privilege or Effective Brand Identity?

Okay, so those of you who know me personally know that for designers like Mary-Ann Kai Kai of Madame Wokie, Amizo Bah of Maryzo Designs, and Kadiatu Kamara of VIVID that i continually repeat the following:  1.  They need to work BETTER together, 2. Be GOOD to their customers with consistency and reliability 3. Continue to push the boundaries! THE ODDS will continue to be against these 3 designers who are quite popular in Sierra Leone and beyond. I choose to begin this blog post with this disclaimer because this piece is dedicated to these 3 women and other up and coming Sierra Leonean designers who are talented, sassy,  beautiful fashionistas , stylistists and business minded not to mention who have also made some news coverage (internationally). They are also predominatly BLACK, FEMALE,  SIERRA LEONEAN and/or AFRICAN. This means the onus lays heavily on them to strategically develop their brand identity otherwise they WILL get lost in the wide wide sea of  simply being just another 'African Designer'. I say this with the assumption that most well known African inspired designers work within the limited spectrum of 'fairly good quality fabrics'.
Take a moment, despite the short comings, to clap clap clap for them. It is not an easy business anywhere in the world, fashion that is, and particularly for African designers much less Sierra Leonean designers to break into main stream fashion/designing.   To be fair African designers are HOT, HIP AND HAPPENING at the moment, with a select few breaking out with African owned establishments like ARISE that provide a high profile podium for designers to spark, or NY African Fashion week and all the other African based fashion week’s whether it be in South Africa or Ghana. Africans are beginning to capitalize on the ‘Afro-Inspired/Tribal’ aesthetic particularly appreciated in the West and in that are also beginning to not only infiltrate but attract more main stream support and appreciation for the Afro, African, chic, high end, print, cultural trend currently being marketed and sold by popular bloggers like ONE NIGERIAN BOY and the likes. However,  African designers still remain very niched and rarely enter mainstream chain stores or platforms unless they subdue their African-ness. Also, their brand story is almost identical, African, African & Female, African female and empowering other women, African, young and female, African young & male/ or male and gay ----you get the idea, the underlying current in the their brand identity is  African or situating the locality of their context, ie Madame Wokie's situates their brand identity on evoking their ancestral heritage - Queen Wokie, VIVID very afro-urban. Yet, what we get walking away from each of these brands is WOMAN, AFRICAN, SIERRA LEONEAN who more less use very similar materials in their work.

 -

When in Nairobi, I kept on walking into a Mille Collines store, a Spanish woman who found inspiration in Rwanda and effectively catapulted into launching her high end brand with chain stores across East Africa. Her inspiration ‘the people of Rwanda,’ her market ‘ the African loving \westerns who won’t go too far off their comfort zone’, excuse me there, the fairly wealthy ‘expat westerners’ working in Africa or  who love ‘African-inspired clothing’  living in Africa or the West. Hey, I too am guilty of spending $20 on a thin note book from Mille Collines, I liked the quote at the front. See Note Book above. I digress. The Mille Collines' model also exists in Freetown with brands like Near Far and Salone Style. Lets start with Near Far who have a wonderful website, fantastic connections to some major magazines and  did I forget to mention, WHITE, okay, let us not play the race card here, people of Western decent....In short, Near Far considers itself an Ethical Brand based of out of Sierra Leone and according to Collins English dictionary if you "describe something as ethical, you mean that it is morally right or morally acceptable.” Please see summarized understanding of ETHICAL FASHION to base your understanding of the concept

1.    Apart from the quarterly events where one can actually purchase NEAR FAR products, these products are predominantly for export. I don’t see people running around parading Near Far merchandise in Freetown the way for example they would with Madame Wokie products or clothing from Maryzo Designs. By people I mean, most economically viable Sierra Leoneans. NearFar is an ethical brand. I am so struggling to understand the ‘ethical’ part of the product. Is it because they pay their workers ‘fair wages’ with ‘fair’ being relative to context, uuuh…. Or is it because they tell the stories of their tailors (also a marketing ploy- effective at that), or is it because they have revolutionized the lives of their workers and transformed the Sierra Leonean local economy? Or because they’ve found a way to not use our Chinese made Africana prints that we sell very cheaply on every street corner in Sierra Leone and instead use ‘Eco-friendly’ made in Salone fabric? which by the way does not ACTUALLY exist.  Also, according to Near Far founder, Stephanie Hogg, with her newest project Gather & See “she is determined to show the fashion forward set that ‘ethical’ is on-trend and wearable. Steph plans to create an online market place selling the best ethical brands from around the world.” For whom exactly?  However Mary-Ann, Amizo, Kadi, here is a fantastic lesson to learn from this, perhaps revisit your branding strategy?

SALONE STYLE & NEAR FAR - STORE IN EUROPE

SALONE STYLE- PEPPERMINT MAGAZINE

PS. every Sierra Leonean designer employes  between 5-10 tailors and pays them context 'specific fair wages', this is not the hook in their brand story.
   

    Salone Style, I personally really like their pieces. They are lovely and definitely identifiable with western consumers. The ethos behind the company, working with and in turn empowering female prisoners by teaching them how to make jewelry. Noble, yet I fail to understand the chain of commerce, for every piece produced how much goes to truly empowering these women break the cycle of poverty by empowering them to become business owners or at the very least self sufficient. I understand that these women are earning SOMETHING which better than NOTHING, but how much are they really loosing or not getting between the SOMETHING and the NOTHING?  See, my issue is this, the brand has a nice story, effective rather,  women, African, prisoners, etc…and yet beyond that I still do not understand how these women are TRULY benefiting from this brand nor do I understand how this brand  aids in tangibly transforming Sierra Leonean capacity, image or economy. Most Salone Style products can be found abroad.
  

Back to my Sierra Leonean designer sisters, what are brands like Near Far & Salone Style doing that you are not just getting yet? Why has Amizo not landed on Peppermint Magazine yet? Throw in Eco/ethical might help? Work better together? Better brand? How do you access these major main stream outlets from your Africaness? How do you define yourself beyond just ' an african designer' but rather a designer that simply makes beautiful clothing or accessories? Is your capital as strong as our expat designers?

Please understand that i am in no way shape or form laying claim that only 'African' designers should have access to African inspired designs, accessories, clothing or the proliferation of their products. What i am saying however is we must explore 'ETHICAL' from a local context, we must interrogate cultural appropriation and the gap it creates between local communities and international markets. We must begin to ask ourselves ( all i personally see is ______________ working at its best here), that beyond the notion of white privilege, what tactics, strategics and dots are brands like Near Far & Salone Style utilizing for their success?  Better yet, when they slap on Eco, ethical, social development on to their products, from  and for a local perspective what does that ACTUALLY MEAN?

Disclaimer II: This is not a them vs us article and I am open to stand corrected. However in the words of a facebook friend of mine:

“Next best culture to appropriate but oh no you are creating jobs eh? When is the last you checked your local unemployment rates? ..throw in eco, throw in fair trade...only fair i see is your white privilege...”

 

Fambul dem, this is how we do….

2 Things Kelvin Doe Teaches Us

I’ve been quiet about my reaction to Kelvin Doe’s successes over the last year. I just wanted to watch his progression without overt praise although always in elation. I knew that watching him was going to be about learning or re-learning a few life lessons. You know the story we all hear about and rarely ever experience? The one about moving from rags to riches or fame,  Oprah’s story, Tyler Perry’s story, in some ways our own Sierra Leonean Sam King’s story and now Kelvin Doe. When I mean moving, I literally mean the JUMP that occurs from absolute obscurity to one of immense international recognition, fame, access to the world’s brilliant minds and financial fulfillment. The story we hear and the one many of us will not experience. How does a young boy dancing on the seams of society come to meet another Sierra Leonean pioneer David Sengeh who has access to the world’s best programs and connections create a catalytic partnership that spins the both of them to super stardom, meaning last time I checked David made Forbes List of 30under 30 brilliant minds to look out for, and Kelvin, well Kelvin Doe attends TEDx Austine with the likes of Chelsey Clinton, gets an interview at CNN and is now MIT’s favorite baby. Ah, the power of intention and its alignment to God’s plan is a power filled concept. As a multi-passionate person, recently just learned this from a friend,  whose passion aligns with being good at many and at times apposing things, I do not focus on being excellent at one thing, I’m everywhere and give  90% at everything with a substantial  focus on being successful, or rather to be precise, imagining what TOMORROW will look like if i continue to work HARD HARD. In turn i do not pay enough attention to today, to the now and here.  See, when you take care of the present, God, a high power,  takes care of the future. This concept/dogma becomes clear with the likes of Kelvin Doe. I highly doubt that when he was being resourceful by gathering scraps to build a generator that he was thinking about how MIT, HARVARD, THE CLINTON's AND the rest of the world would be singing his praises. He was in the moment, doing what was natural and authentic to him, he was taking care of the present and his future was being taken care off by God, the ( UNI) Verse.

Beyond re-learning that lesson with Kelvin Doe’s success, another point become very apparent to me -  the NEED to gestate the multiple talents and even naive concepts, ideas and dreams of our youth. As a young woman navigating the waters of Sierra Leone, professional and personally, the fact that I’m 20 something sitting on some decision-making tables is often a hindrance than a positive. I am lucky to have a boss/mentors who choose to nurture and help channel my overt passion, enthuse and energy productively, who believes in my sometimes premature idealism as a young person without feeling threatened, and do not say ‘ good job’ now go seat in the corner like a little girl that you are, they often ask "how are you going to strategically influence policy, or make change or convince a people that this issue matters". The simple act of listening further fuels confidence in my own ability as a young Sierra Leone to positively influence change. This is what I find lacking generally in our country. Young people are  underutilized and ineffectively at that. Kelvin Doe would never have become the Kelvin Doe that everyone in Sierra Leone is so very proud off at age 16 if the recognition had not come externally and so I wonder, how many Kelvin Doe’s across the country are we diminishing or  not  recognizing?

I get it, we are African. Respecting and honoring our elders is IMPERATIVE and imbedded in the fabric of our cultural heritage and I would not have it any other way. Yet, in a country where over 50% of the population are below the age of 18, it is a waste and shame to a. not gestate the talents of young people b. relegate their talents to menial tasks and in turn to not properly mentor, shape, or provide space for us to grow and become the ‘change agents’ that this country so desperately needs. We must learn from our elders and guess what, our elders must learn from us to. What we know best is adaptability, technology, inter-connectivity these are imperative skills in our growing global economy. 

In summary, Kelvin Doe’s success remind me that:

1.     1. Take care of the present, do your best by being clear on your intention. Be present, open and authentic in anything you do in the NOW and God will take care of your future. Remember, God’s dream for you is bigger than any dream you can dream.

2.       2. Young people have a lot to offer to our community, to our institutions to the growth of our country. If the Agenda for Prosperity’s focus is focused on building the capacity and infrastructure of human beings, then these very human beings will naturally build a nation they want to see. Learning is a two Way Street, Sierra Leone must begin to learn from its youth in a viable way, and I’m not talking governmental youth policies/strategies that do not always reflect or are not encompassing of ideas, dreams, and innovation.

As Kelvin Doe continues to soar, my deep hope is that we find more Kelvin Doe’s in Sierra Leone, on the continent and in every corner, township, village, slum, cervix, school, street and nourish their gifts, ah the surprises that could be bestowed on us.

Happy 2014. Be Inspired.

Fambul dem, this is how we do...

what 2013 taught me! the 5 HUGE LESSONS

5. Being busy ALL the time means you are not saying NO enough. It takes away from self time. Time to reflect, time to think about nothing, time to love oneself a little harder. Being busy all the time means you are occupied trying to please too many. I have learned it's okay to say NO sans an explanation sans guilt AND most importantly, when i am busy all the time without fail, i am not giving self enough self time

4.  Having BOUNDARIES equates to self respect. This year being young + woman took on a whole other meaning. In my money making avenues i learned that no one really took me seriously because 'me na pikin way sabi talk' only, i got told i was going to fail in life, i got cheated repeatedly with nearly every business transaction i made + i got boardline sexually harassed by the men i have to work with. As a self proclaimed 'independent woman' many times in those situations my voice ceased to exist and i quickly realised it was because i was not asserting my boundaries earlier on or at all. It is good to have boundaries, to be get-na-han as they say in krio, meaning picky or particular, it means you don't settle or buy into the bullshit. In the long run, I have learned that you will be more respected for that.

3. Love your Love first. If your partner makes you happy in the places that matter to you, exercise patience, if they don't, teach them how you want to be loved but never place someone else's desires before yours.  Love your love enough to know what it is worth. When you stop having fun or being loved right, let that shit go and keep it moving.  Me, today, i truly believe with every fibre of my being that God/Jah/the universe will allow my own partner and I to meet when the time is right. It is with that belief that i have learned to love my love first

2. Family means the people who care+protect+nourish YOU. I am blessed to have the mother, father and 2 sisters that i have. I have learned that just because we share a last name or some blood relation is just that, a last name and some blood relation. Your family should care+protect+nourish you and those human beings come in all shapes, shades, sizes, age and accents.

1. Be Gentle With SELF meaning forgive your past, kiss your palms trusting that every experience, hand held, shaken and or beaten by fever and fervour is part of the plan, hold yourself close once in awhile, breathe into your arms, release and love self knowing that your mistakes, tribulations, horrid choices made and not made = is all okay baby! Be good to yourself FIRST and all else will fall into place in its own time.

Middle Class Africa - A Driving Force

Secondary market research publisher yStats.com has released findings in its “Africa B2C E-Commerce Report – 2013” indicating that the growing Internet penetration, the spread of mobile technology and improvement of payment and delivery infrastructure are factors that can boost E-Commerce on the continent.

yStats.com CEO Yücel Yelken states “E-Commerce has a high potential in Africa as the growing middle class seeks more convenient shopping and better price quality, driving local and international Internet merchants to operate in the region.”

Several strong local players have already emerged, such as South Africa’s online fashion retailer Zando, and Nigeria’s online mass merchants Jumia and Konga. B2C E-Commerce sales were less than EUR 1 billion in 2012, but annual growth of around 40% is forecasted in the next ten years. The main obstacles to overcome on the way to B2C E-Commerce boom are poor logistics in rural areas, low banking penetration and limited consumer awareness.

M-Commerce and mobile payment especially have a high potential on the continent, where mobile phones are more widespread than computers, a significant proportion of the population has no banking relationship and the most common type of Internet access is through a mobile device. Moreover, over 10% of active Internet users in Africa shopped on mobile in 2013. In mobile shopper penetration, Nigeria, Egypt and Morocco are ahead of South Africa. Read more at Fiber2Fashion

Presenting the Soulful Voices of Azania & Gwyn Allen

Azania is in town, she is the beautifully talented soul singer who after 11 years is finally home. Her first    top business priority, raising funds for ALL AS ONE orphanage in Godrich Freetown. I went to see the holiday benefit at British Council last Sunday and her voice blew me away. Modupe and I decided we wanted to help her give back to the charity she is a good will ambassador for, All As One with a small concert at Bliss Restaurant, on Monday the 23rd of December. Entrance is SLL 50,000 with VIP tables at One Million Leones. All proceeds are going to All as One. Come out for a fantastic evening of music Azania and the gift that is Gwyn Jay Allen, food, good company and of course YOUR WAY of GIVING BACK this holiday season.

fambul dem, this is how we do....

A Site of Conscious - Sierra Leone's Peace Museum

I have always complained that we do not remember enough. We do not remember the 11 years of war that destroyed our little nation spiritual and physically. I did not like the fact that January 6th is a date many know, but in the two + years i've lived in Freetown it was not a date that we commemorated at a national scale. 

A Compliation of Creative Art Work - A Tribute to Mandela

African Digital Art compiles creative art pieces by various artists in memory of Nelson Mandela, Madiba, the revolutionary man that gave us HOPE in the possible. 

Be inspired, fambul dem, this is how we do....

BRAND FIND: WHIP IT!

The first time i got introduced to Pantene was in the mid nineties while living in London. Barely reached two digits in age, i remember being fascinated by the Pantene shampoo advertisements on TV, wishing i too could have shiny long hair (every black girl's dream at some point or another). Fast forward 10+ years and other cool beauty product campaigns later like  Dove's Real Beauty campaign (which my then seemingly awkward & VERY chubby body could so identify with) and of course the  catch phrase most us have to come know so well, L'oreal's ' Because i'm worth it'.....i have now stumbled across 2013's brilliant brand advert by Pantene Phillipines, themed WHIP IT.  It is sassy, it is hip, it is so fitting and applicable and better yet it successfully connects to the source of confidence for many women - HAIR. WHIP IT also re-conceptualizes how WHIPPING of the hair can be seeing as POWERFUL, FEMININE, STRONG, BOLD, so very 21ST century. To me WHIP IT is asking women to OWN IT. 

I also commend them for including Filipino women of varying religious backgrounds, age and physical features. In short, this campaign is dope! I'd love to see a similar effective brand campaign for women done somewhere on the continent for the 21st century African woman in whatever the context may be.

Please Note: i completely understand the power behind effective packaging/marketing/consumerism attached to such adverts and i am a fan of them. Yes, a fan. We are bombard every day with millions of images, words, marketing ploys & messages that simple gestate clutter.....and i am a sucker for the good ones that 'get me'  so when beauty campaigns get it RIGHT especially to their female customers it is quite A-OK that their return on investment is HIGH. 

I'm all about commemorating 16 Day of Activism Against Gender Based Violence and so in the spirit of ACTING & celebrating woman - women + the girls girls girls....WHIP IT....please do. Always.

fambul dem, this is how we do....

In Pictures: An Afternoon in my home town, BO

For Us Girls - Young & Grown

I would tell my daughter this - as we continue to commemorate The Official 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence Campaign I would tell my daughter this....and i'd tell my girlfriends this too. So here goes the telling, the reminding, the passing on-ing...

“when the boys pull your hair and push you to the ground

during recess
I promise not to tell you that it’s because they like you.
when the teachers call home to tell me that
you pushed them to the ground in return
I’ll take you out of school early and buy
you your favorite ice cream.
when you get older and the boys
try to touch you when you don’t want to be touched
I’ll look at you like the sun when you come home
with anger in your fists.
they all tell you not to fight fire with fire
but that is only because they are afraid of your flames.
when the boys yell after you like hyenas
you yell back, baby.
I will not teach you to be afraid of your anger
so that you look for it in others.
I will not make you be the better person
because you already are.
you wanna fight ‘em? fight ‘em.
don’t you dare apologize for the fierce love
you have for yourself
and the lengths you go to preserve it.
when the boys try to tell you to soften up
I hope you make them bleed with your edges.
I hope you remember that you are not theirs
that their disappointment in you is not yours.
when the boys come to your door with pretty words and
angry eyes
I hope you show them the anger in yours.
I hope you show them just how strong your mommy
thinks you are.
I hope you show them the animal they can’t always
see in their own reflection.
when the boys come with the intention of hurting you
my advice will always stay the same, my darling:
give ‘em hell.”

—	when the boys come | Caitlyn S.