2019 was a great year, one of my best years actually. I travelled out of the country a number of times within a short period of time. I produced important stories, I worked with amazing global organizations, and I got an opportunity to interview a significant number of important people in the African Society. Travelling, no question makes my work more exciting. After sitting in office working post-production a long while, when you get out you breathe a fresh air that comes with new ideas and unique perspectives in story telling-you learn more, acquire more and tell more. When you get assigned to work with an organization such as UN Women or Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, you feel important too, because at that moment you prove that you made the right choice in pursuing journalism and working hard to become a great audio-visual producer, at that very moment you get to feel so proud of yourself and proud of what you do to earn a living. In some instances, you even whisper to yourself ‘I’m in the right place, no question.’ When you get face to face with renown pioneers, advocates, activists, changemakers, or members of vulnerable communities or groups. It’s a reckoning moment of perfection before you meet them, introduce yourself as their interviewer, have them wear a lapel mic and sit in front of them to ask them important questions. Right away, you know that they are your story, so before sitting with them for an interview, you must already have it all figured out ─ What’s the story; Which questions will you ask, where is the setup location, which camera angles will you use, is the lighting and audio perfect, which language will you use… Because to make a great story, be it documentary, a feature, a corporate video, a success story, a PSA, a promo or a commercial, a producer simply cannot afford to miss a thing.
2019 was an amazing year for more than a reason ─ I lost my job.
Travelling is one of the most exciting adventures I can talk of any day and time. If you get to use the flag carrier airways of Kenya, you get that wonderful feeling flying with the pride of Africa, and if you get to use any other planes, you get the comparative exposure of flying with foreign flights. Besides the amazing plane rides you get to touch down on the fantastic African destinations, where you get to see it yourself, how beautiful Africa really is; its vast deserts, tropical rain forests, rugged mountains and fertile grasslands. But there is nothing more beautiful about Africa than its people… And the food of course. More exciting for me however, is the wealth of perspectives and exposure of Africa and the world at large. Travelling, especially on assignments, one gets to network with new people, and if favour is on your side, you also get new employer(s) in waiting while at it, which is exactly what happened to me.
When I went to film an African Agriculture Congress in Gabon, I did not know that I’d meet my future boss as we waited for our connecting flight at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Nigeria. So, when I lost my job, it was a blessing in disguise, in less than a month I was being onboarded into a new job with great colleagues and an upgraded compensation. This blessing, however came to a sudden end last year, 2020. Covid-19 churned through African borders, devouring lives of thousands of people, and with it came the loss of countless jobs ─ Mine was in the mix.
I’ve been freelancing for one year now, and I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that it has been a devastating year, it has been for thousands, maybe millions of others worldwide. But I cannot forget my 2019 ─ a great year when I travelled the most and produced some of my finest stories; a story on Child Marriages in Africa that looked at UN Women’s contribution in pulling together African traditional and religious leaders to help end the harmful cultural practices in Africa. From Malawi, Eswatini, Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia… They all came, discussed and agreed on policies to help reduce the practices. I also co-directed another great story on animal freedoms inspired by World Animal Protection, a documentary that was nominated in the 2019 Cannes Films Festival in Los Angeles, USA, and won A special Mention by the Jury Award in Bogota, Colombia. Then there was a story of young Ugandan entrepreneurs’ enterprise funded by Mastercard Foundation ─This enterprise seeks to lessen post-harvest losses through sustainable mechanization of food drying technologies.
These are just but a few examples why my 2019 was significantly exciting. I achieved the most, acquired the most and saw how, if Africa plays the cards right, she is on the verge of global civilization and self-sufficiency. And while Covid-19 began to encroach our borders, probably here to stay, a recollection of delightful memories helps me pull my focus back in place, because I want to see better days and more exuberant encounters worth sharing.
So, tell me, which is your most exciting year?