Tag Archives: blogmas

Of Oh Stop It, I Like It #2018BOTY

Day 21 of 25 Days of The Best Of The Year #2018BOTY

If you ask me why I blog, I would probably make some joke about about how I would like to immortalise myself the best way I know how, using the medium of the internet to express myself, sharing the beauty and chaos intertwined in the country I call home and most of all celebrate the magic in my ancestry…….

I cant do magic….. so I write

Even though some people consider blogging a hobby, it is something much more than that, its a tool with possibly far reaching unimaginable consequences, that can change perceptions, raise awareness, giving one the power to document their own history while it is happening and even safeguard our memories from the ravages of time. Long after we are gone our words will live on, if thats not imortality, it should be….

The compliment that made my year was from Pamela when she asked if she could print out a blog post of mine to share with in the journalism class she teaches; on the usefulness of blogs and blogging. How they can easily provide insights on world wide events or simply gain knowledge on living in other countries from the point of view of someone who is there, experiencing the life.

And how can I leave out all the responses to the tweet below, reading them has been making my heart melt. Sometimes I think no one notices the little things I am trying to do and other times I am completely taken by surprise by the blogging community I am a part of; helping to shape and build….

Blogging means comunity

Oh stop it…..

~B

Of Free Web Hosting #2018BOTY

Day 16 of 25 Days of Blogmas celebrating The Best Of The Year #2018BOTY

If you do not know by now you must know that I am passionate about self-expression, embracing the digital media to add your voice to the world. I am builder of local blogging communities

afrobloggers

Africa has so many untold stories, some almost magical and others well not so beautiful and I watch how people are quick to complain how only a certain kind of story or people get media coverage and funding, well thats what happens when you wait for someone to tell your story they will skip over to the things they want to talk about.

The blogging scene has evolved a long way from where it started, its no longer simply a past-time hobby, its tool that can open up worlds, even change perceptions and gives you the power to write your own history while you are witnessing it…

Sometimes I feel like we are the generation, the past will die with, as we lose ourselves to the future, that is why I write.

If you Google the word marooro the first search result is my blog post on the Zimbabwean traditional marriage ceremony, and just like that even Google thinks I am the go to person, its not because I am an authority on all things culture but because not enough people wrote or tagged it.

In light of this you understand way I was quite excited at what the Free Web Hosting guys are trying to do; offer free Web Hosting services to Zimbabwean Bloggers 

Zimbabwean Bloggers free web hosting

“Our main aim as Free Web Hosting Zimbabwe is to make sure that an online presence is available to any and all who need it, beginning with our creatives and more so the bloggers”

What Is Free Hosting?

The standard 100% free web hosting package comes with:

1G Diskspace

5G Bandwidth

1 Sql Database

5 Emails

*  Domain registration of a .co.zw on our platform costs $8/yr & a .com $13.50/yr. Payments in EcoCash

** offer is available only for local Zimbabweans

I am sure the first thing you will think is there’s got to be a catch right? That whole despise free lunch because well nothing is for free…. or whats in it for them

They are able to offer this package because their holding company Nivacity offers paid hosting packages in South Africa and they had servers laying idle and thought hey why not……..

Free Web Hosting

And watch this space might soon be giving bloggers digital skills to be visible and  survive in the digital space 

~B 

Of Coffee With Stephing Out Loud #2018BOTY

If you were having coffee with me I would tell you its Day 15 of 25 days blogmas celebrating highlight moments of the year #2018BOTY

If you were coffee with me, I would tell you that earlier this year, I met someone I have been friends with, for what feels like forever….

Stephanie Kapfunde #Stephingoutloud

She used to be a radio personality at a local radio station and I would tune in to her show from 6 to 9pm and tweet about it for the radio shout outs and well just to let them know someone was out there listening

If you having coffee with me I would tell you this tweet may or may not have been a story about falling in love with a voice on the radio and falling asleep to the sound of their voice.

Almost six years later we ran into each other at FVDN’s  Creative Hack where she was one of the speakers….

If you were having coffee with me I would tell you Stephanie Kapfunde used to speak for a living and now she is a digital storyteller using New Media to help generations of young Africans to identify themselves while conceptualising Internet based ideas for brands to relate to a growing Afrollennial Market through people, places and experiences.

Thats how her profile reads !!!!! She is doing the things, with Enthuse Afrika with a K

Its strange how we never met all these years even though we seem to move in almost the same circles, maybe the universe was waiting for the world to get ready.

I hope you laced up its about to get interesting

If you were having coffee with me I would tell you that I also met her again and the Enthuse team because they were working on the Connect.Hubs project by British Council Zimbabwe and Hivos Southern Africa with training led by NESTA, and support from Electric South , Enthuse Afrika and Young Blood Africa, when 22 Creatives Hubsters met and connected

If you were having coffee with me I would tell you the future looks like collaborations 

Compliments of the festive season

~B

PS have you met any interesting people you know only from the internet in the real world, maybe you are reading this thinking I should meet this guy for a real cup of coffee, yeah lets make it happen

if you have stumbled here why not say hello so I know you been here and yeah feel free to drop a link in the comments and if you see any links at click on them I like to say I roll with awesome company

Afrobloggers Comment thread

Of Awesome Impact: Coffee with Noloyiso #2018BOTY

Day 14 of 25 Days of Blogmas celebrating the best moments of the year 2018 #2018BOTY

The story @Nolo_yiso shared on her blog when she nominated me for an Awesome Impact Award (oh thank you for tagging me by the way)

Awesome Impact Award

A guest post by Noloyiso

If you were having coffee with me – well, I don’t have coffee in my matchbox. Maybe I would go out and buy coffee, you know, in the name of hospitality. Or maybe I would let you choose a tea. Tea is my preference – my matchbox, my rules! There would be a cheese cake – a recipe I recently tried. I also prefer an adventure of the tongue, you see.

If you were having tea with me, we would talk, my Muse, about our daily struggles. I’ve been struggling lately and cannot understand the human selfish nature. We would find some ways to cope with the world we find ourselves in. Over a cup of tea, I would ask you about your life, about what gets you excited. What gets you out of bed every morning.

If you were having tea with me, I would ask you what you think this life is for. What is the point of all the difficulties and all the people we cross paths with. I would want to know what your take is on this. I would want to see if you are living the first half of your life or the second.

If you were having tea with me, I would be constantly checking how your cup of tea was compared to a cup of coffee. I would also share my very easy cheese cake recipe, because of I can make it, anyone can!

Bio

Noloyiso is an English Teacher by day.

Blogger by night.

Lover of the written word. 

 1noloyiso.wordpress.com 

Twitter @nolo_yiso

Insta @nolo_yiso


PS If you wish to take part in the awesome impact award consider yourself tagged


The rules for the challenge are very simple:
1. Tag and thank the person who nominated you;
2. Post your Awesome Impact Award picture;
3. Talk about an incident that impacted your life in a positive way;
4. Nominate other awesome bloggers for the award.

25 Days Of Christmas: African Cinematics #2018BOTY

Hello December Hello 

The festive season is here can you feel it? My friends and I are doing 25 Days of Christmas to celebrate the Best Of The Year #2018BOTY

Day 1 should be easy right, what movie highlighted my year? Well the answer will surprise you…..

I havent seen them yet. 

First on my list is State Of Malambia

State of Malambia

State of Malambia is a local Zimbabwean production and at $105 000 its easily one of the biggest budget films this side of the Sahara desert has seen. I am sure pretty much everyone has heard of Wakanda, the fictitious state in Africa from which the Black Panther comes.

When I watched Black Panther I had this feeling at the back of my head, that why must we wait for Big Budget Movie Companies to create movies about Africa and get actors who have never set foot here to tell our stories and mangle our accents while they were at it.  I am sure we have a long way to go to reach cinematic excellence but I am all for anyone who is willing to put themselves out there and say “this, this is my part in reclaiming our narrative.”

“Boundaries also enslave and that is a State Of Malambia”

I missed out on a special screening on Wednesday (28 November) when one could have met up with the media cast and crew but State of Malambia is out and its coming  to a screen near you 

On a curious aside, a friend and fellow blogger is in the cast, how about that… I never knew they were in it until fairly recently when I spotted them in promo footage and I was never ready, I will wait for E to read this and come at me in the comments then you will know who it is too if you didnt ha!

Next is Chebet

Chebet

Chebet is a short animation project by the Samaritan Multimedia team of Uganda (again I dont mean to brag but I know someone who worked on the script, see my people do the most, I am doing a happy dance as I type this.)  

Chebet was not only nominated but won the award for best animation in the 2018 Uganda Film Festival.

I havent seen Chebet yet but I am keeping my eyes open and you should look out for it too…… 

But of course it would be cheating if I didnt mention a 2018 movie that I actually watched, no prizes for guessing….. Black Panther and you can read my thoughts HERE

~B

feel free to jumpand write your best of the year posts just include the hashtag #2018BOTY in your tags and when you share on social media