On February 5 2013, Annette Kilele and Marie Muyembi both received the same tragic news. Both women are refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo living in Johannesburg.
Kilele’s husband, Kilele Mukuti, and Muyembi’s brother, David Bakajika, were arrested, along with 18 others, by South African police on charges related to a coup attempt targeting their head of state, Joseph Kabila.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-29669 size-large aligncenter" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMG_7690-1024x683.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="683" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMG_7690.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMG_7690-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMG_7690-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMG_7690-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />
After a month-long and expensive battle, their men were denied bail and were detained for almost two years. However, a surprise decision by the judge changed all that. In late November 2014, Bakajika was released. Mukuti was not.
Both women now face a different set of challenges; Kilele must continue to support her five daughters despite her husband’s incarceration, while Muyembi must help her brother, and his two children that she cares for, come to terms with his traumatic return.
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AnnetteK_wife_2

The Women They Leave

When Jeanne Baret became the first woman to circumnavigate the globe in 1785, she had to disguise herself as a man to make the journey. More than two centuries later, women are making similar attempts to circumnavigate the planet, but by proudly flaunting their femininity.
Swedish company SCA, the world’s third largest producer of paper products and toiletries, has assembled a 13-woman crew, named Team SCA, to be the fourth all-female contingent competing in the 41-year-old Volvo Ocean Race. And they will be wearing pink on the seas.
The Volvo Ocean Race is a sailing event held every three years in which yachts travel around the world over nine months, stopping at nine ports, in pursuit of a trophy. There is no monetary prize for the winners.
SCA’s all-female crew this year, stationed in the Canary Islands for an intense program, has been through a rigorous 18-month preparation, including seven-day-a-week gym sessions lasting between 45 and 70 minutes. Ten months in, the women had already lifted a million kilograms each to ready themselves for the weight they would have to pull during the race. We caught up with them in Cape Town at the end of the first leg of the nine-month race.
“We hope to surprise people and make them sit up and take notice of us as a professional sports team. We would like to come out of this race as the best performing female team in the race,” says Sam Davies, Team SCA’s skipper.
For that to happen, Team SCA will have to finish the nine-leg, nine-month race in the top four. It is a tough task but the team spent months preparing for it thanks to the biggest funding budget a women’s outfit has received to date.
Onboard gear of 3,000 kilograms has to be moved every time the yacht changes direction over the course of 60,800 kilometers, which is why the women’s team are allowed three more crew members than the men’s teams.
“Females are never going to be as physically strong as men, but that is where we have to be a bit clever, which is why the training is important,” says Davies.
Preparation was not all plain-sailing. In April 2013, coach Magnus Olssen died after suffering a stroke and the crew had to commit to continuing without him. Olssen had competed in six Volvo Ocean Races and his experience was considered invaluable to a fairly new group.
Although Team SCA includes American Olympic medalist Sally Barlow, British Olympic meteorologist Libby Greenhalgh and the only woman to circumnavigate the globe both ways on her own, Des Caffari, only two of their group had participated in a Volvo Ocean Race before. Compare that to the 81 races the men in the other teams have done and the gulf between the girls and the rest becomes obvious. But the women do not see it that way.
“There really are not as many differences as you think. It depends on how professional the team is, how well they work together and their skills,” says Davies. Team SCA has plenty of the latter. Their late-surge at the end of the first leg saw them overtake Spanish yacht, MAPFRE in the final hour to finish in sixth position after struggling in last place for most of the way from Alicante in Spain.
They arrived in Cape Town, determined to “keep improving, get more experienced and stronger”, and to continue to be unashamedly feminine as the trip continues.

Volvo-Race-main

Pink Power  On The High Seas

Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy of satyagraha, or the insistence on truth and passive resistance, marked the beginning of his pursuit for equality and acceptance. My great great grandfather walked the two lands I hold dear, India and South Africa, paving the way for independence in each, shifting the course of history and setting ideals that would be emulated by many.
South Africa a hundred years ago was a starkly different country engulfed by the dark shadows of colonialism. Many learnt about Gandhi, the slight, bald and bespectacled man clad in little else than a loin cloth who began his journey of passive resistance in South Africa, which paved the way for India’s independence. I learnt about Bapuji (what Gandhi is fondly called) the man who instilled the value of satyagraha in his children and grandchildren.
His legacy was this power of satyagraha. Gandhi’s willingness to risk his freedom through civil disobedience without violence was the core of this phenomenon. Converting the opposing force or resisting with love was novel. The allure of the movement is that once you are charmed by the stories of passive resistance, satyagraha becomes firmly entrenched in you.
Perhaps the one legacy that has impacted the Gandhi family the most has been his printing press. After 10 years of a relentless crusade, Gandhi realized that the twin tasks of mobilizing public opinion and influencing official decisions required a newspaper.
As a great great grandchild returning to the Phoenix settlement in Durban in South Africa, it is often quite incredible to imagine that Gandhi, the commercial lawyer, had the foresight to understand the power of the media by starting a newspaper, Indian Opinion. This is perhaps why so many members of my family, and I, often seek solace in words to articulate our thoughts. The allure is in the history of Indian Opinion, where words became the cornerstone for change and acceptance.
As a family, we are often so disillusioned by the times, the violence and the conflict that seems to have engulfed the world. Disillusionment is soothed, however, by gentle reminders.
Phoenix transformed into a place for community living, a hundred acres of land with a school, a clinic and an arena for activists to meet in the true tradition of Gandhi’s philosophy. Family reunions are often spent retracing these moments with afternoons at Phoenix settlement in the company of my great aunt Ela Gandhi who takes us on nostalgic adventures.
We sit captivated by tales of our great great grandfather who began as a timid young boy, became a lawyer and transformed into a movement. We are awe-struck by the accounts of unwavering and untainted passive resistance, we listen with bated breath at the steadfast ideals he passed on from generation to generation, beginning with his four sons who were instilled with strong work ethics, a moral compass and ideals.
The narrative of satyagraha echoes in South Africa’s own stories of struggle. Born a few years before the end of the apartheid in South Africa, I grew up listening to stories of resistance, the underlying message of peace and passivity often serving as the moral. In tales that could compete with Aessop’s fables, I regaled in South Africa’s history as told by family and friends. Growing up, there was a lot I didn’t fully understand. I didn’t understand human rights, I didn’t understand equality or freedom, because I couldn’t fathom not having them or anyone else being denied them. Herein lies the magic of my family and the legacy that follows us. My bedtime stories were mesmerizing tales of people I knew, these formidable men and dignified women who had become the personification of satyagraha. They had guaranteed me my human rights, my equality, my freedom. I was surrounded by these people who had fought vehemently for what they believed in and told me their enthralling stories while I sat wide-eyed, listening intently, scared I might miss a word. These stories reincarnated Gandhi’s legacy in a timeline of differing contexts, satyagraha was imbibed into the fight for democracy.
Satyagraha has undoubtedly become a global movement but it is a legacy deep-rooted in my family. History lessons for 45 minutes a day, reading begrudgingly from a textbook or listening to my teachers, had little impact in comparison to the firsthand accounts I received, the anecdotes on Gandhi and his quest for equality.
Bapuji’s legacy has stretched far beyond the notion of satyagraha, it is entrenched in the freedoms I hold dear today, it is deeply embedded in the history of South Africa, and is a guiding force for anything I write. For me, his legacy is the ability to create a fundamental shift in the conscience of the masses through the written word.

Sunita-Menon

Gandhi

Paula Slier, Middle East Bureau Chief for Russia Today and CEO and founder of Newshoundmedia, has worked in broadcasting for over 20 years as a foreign correspondent, anchor and news editor, and received numerous awards for her work. Her work has included reporting live under fire in Tripoli while Muammar Gadaffi’s forces were on the offensive, and crawling through a tunnel with Hamas smugglers in Gaza.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-29783 alignleft" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/PS-Ukraine2-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/PS-Ukraine2-300x169.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/PS-Ukraine2-600x337.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/PS-Ukraine2-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/PS-Ukraine2-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/PS-Ukraine2.jpg 1023w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
A TEFI-nominated (Russia’s highest television award) journalist for her reporting on Libya, she also reports from the frontline in Iraq, Ukraine, Syria, Afghanistan, Libya, Egypt, Gaza and Lebanon. Prior to reporting for Russia Today, she was senior assignment news editor and anchored breaking news and special events for SABC.
Q.Where are you now
[in November]?
<ol>
<li>I am currently in Eastern Ukraine covering the battle between pro-Russian fighters and the Ukrainian military. [In October], I was on the Turkey-Syria border, 500 meters from the city of Kobane where Syrian Kurds are fighting with ISIS. Before that, I spent two weeks in Iraq embedded with the Peshmerga soldiers (Iraqi Kurds) on the frontline. I slept alongside them, outside behind their sandbags, to be woken up by US warplanes at three in the morning bombing ISIS positions nearby and the Peshmerga fighters’ firing shells a few kilometers into the distance. A highlight was spending time with the YPJ women fighters – some as young as 17 years old – who had given up school to fight ISIS.</li>
<li>What plans for the new year? Where will you be?</li>
<li>It’s impossible to say because I can get a call at any moment, even in the middle of the night, and be asked by my news editor to get on the next available flight to …and here the dots can be anywhere from Syria to Afghanistan to Egypt. The last time I took a holiday was a few months back. I’d gone to Thailand and was on the massage bed when the SMS came. Major fighting had broken out in Ukraine and I was asked if I could cut my holiday short and fly there immediately. As you can imagine I had the wrong clothing with me. I arrived in Ukraine with summer dresses, swimming costumes and sandals to cover a war. I had organized with the cameraman who met me in Ukraine to go past my home and pack warm, appropriate clothes for me, but he was stopped at airport security – not because he had bullet-proof jackets and helmets, but because he was traveling with women’s clothing!</li>
</ol>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-29781 alignleft" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/Iraq-2-300x168.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="168" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Iraq-2-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Iraq-2-600x336.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Iraq-2-768x430.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Iraq-2-1024x574.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Iraq-2.jpg 1023w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
<ol>
<li>Are holidays not in the diaries of war correspondents?</li>
<li>We like to pencil them in, but realistically we probably change the dates on average about four to five times for each trip. I’m supposed to take the rest of my Thailand holiday at the end of this month but I’m delaying booking the flights until the absolute last minute.</li>
<li>As a female war reporter, are there any specific challenges?</li>
<li>I’m often asked if I think being a woman aids or makes my job more difficult. I think it’s a mixture of both. On the one hand being female has helped me gain access to sources who might be more difficult to reach if I was a man. Especially in the Middle East, where many societies are quite patriarchal, women reporters often are seen as a third androgynous sex if you like – I get to sit with Taliban fighters and sip tea while their wives and daughters are in the other room. It feels like they don’t know what to do with me. But I’ve also interviewed Hamas leaders who don’t look directly at me when answering questions because I’m female. It was difficult covering the Egyptian protests in Tahrir Square as a woman. A few women journalists were raped and not-so-few were sexually assaulted and harassed, prompting ‘Reporters Without Borders’ to urge news organizations not to send women there. The association later amended their statement, warning rather that “security should be paramount”. Certainly some of the physical risks we face are greater than our male colleagues – although threats like kidnappings and intimidation are the same.</li>
<li>What are the highs of war reporting?</li>
<li>It’s a high to be on the cutting edge of news, to be at that spot on earth where all the world’s TV cameras are pointing, to be in the thick of history. I get to have experiences most people can only dream of – in the morning I could be interviewing street children, in the afternoon, I could be flying in a military helicopter and by evening, dining with a president. One of my favorite stories is when I was on foot patrol with US forces in Afghanistan and a group of children kept running after us. Much later, when we paused at a school for a few minutes, I took off my bullet-proof jacket and helmet and one of the boys, slightly aghast, came up to me and asked: “Ma’am, does your husband know you’ve left the house?”</li>
</ol>

grad5

‘I Arrived With Swimming Costumes To Cover A War’

Having suffered panic attacks for 10 years, Zane Wilson could have easily thrown her hands in despair. Instead, pain led to creativity. She formed a support group to help others face their deepest fears, and is today free of the painful episodes that traumatized her life.
Today, this support group, which started in the hallowed halls of the Sandton library in Johannesburg initially attended by a group of 80 people 20 years ago, is the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG), founded by Wilson, a South African businesswoman.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-29776 alignleft" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/100_2074-225x300.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/100_2074-225x300.jpg 225w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/100_2074-300x400.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/100_2074-600x800.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/100_2074-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/100_2074.jpg 767w" sizes="(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px" />
“I started the group and soon had to get a second phone, which rang night and day. I have had calls from people all over Africa looking for help. I have never had an attack since.”
Wilson’s first experience of a panic attack was on the highway, on her way to a business meeting.
“I suddenly felt hot. My palms started sweating. I started shaking and my heart started beating fast. I was terrified, but couldn’t understand why. I thought I was losing my mind,” recalls Wilson.
The attacks got worse, at times going up to three or more episodes a day.
“I was the director of a very busy company and had more and more attacks. I became acutely suicidal.”
She sought medical help, which included blood tests, assessments, even a lumbar puncture, and attended counselling, but they were all in vain. It got to a point where she couldn’t lead a normal life.
“I couldn’t even go to a shopping mall or a grocery store without an attack starting. I was determined to keep working and my husband had to follow me to work and I’d come back with staff. It reached a point where I couldn’t even be at home on my own. I would have to be dropped off at a neighbor’s. Eventually I was sent to a professor of psychiatry and he told me that I was suffering from panic attacks,” says Wilson.
This is a route most victims are familiar with. According to SADAG, South Africans will, on average, visit 11 doctors and spend over R20,000 ($1,800) on medical investigations before arriving at the diagnosis.
Recent research points to strong genetic or hereditary factors that might predispose some to paralyzing panic. Attacks can be triggered by non-biological factors too. Stressful experiences, caffeine, cold and flu medications, Lariam (the anti-malarial drug), appetite suppressants and local anaesthetics containing adrenaline may cause attacks that last an average of four to six minutes.
Clinical psychologist Lee-Ann Hartman says of all the disorders within the spectrum of anxiety and depression, panic attacks are the most treatable. With the right therapy, she claims 90% of people recover greatly and the remaining 10% can experience significant recovery.
“It’s very important to seek help early on, as once it starts developing, the sufferer will associate the panic attack with a certain place, person or situation. Mental illness as a whole is greatly underestimated and grossly under-resourced. In South Africa, one in 10 people suffer from HIV/Aids – whereas one in three people will experience mental illness at some point in their lives.
“People suffer in silence and among high-achieving women, there is always the fear it will be seen as a weakness.”
Hartman says that a panic attack is a false alarm set off by our innate ‘fight or flight’ instinct where a slew of hormones are released.
“When the fight or flight response happens in an appropriate situation, you don’t think about your trembling, increased heart rate&#8230; But when it comes out of the blue for no reason, your cognitive interpretation is ‘what is happening to me, am I having a heart attack’?”
She recommends a full medical to determine the underlying physiological – and psychological – factors.

shutterstock_205206265

Don’t Hit The Panic Button,Yet

Even though indigenous African foods, eaten mostly in rural Africa and among low-income populations, are rarely promoted by mainstream healthy living analysts, they have some of the greatest health properties imaginable.
<h4>Preventing breast and cervical cancer</h4>
The massive shift from traditional diets to modern diets is one of the major reasons behind increasing incidences of breast cancer. Wild mushrooms and tamarind, a sweet and sour wild fruit, are among countless foods that have several powerful cancer-fighting nutrients. Both tamarind and mushrooms are rich in selenium, a nutrient widely renowned for not only preventing but also slowing the progression of cancer cells. These wonder foods are also packed with potent anti oxidants while tamarind boasts high levels of vitamin C, nutrients that work efficiently to scavenge cancer causing radicals.
Folate, also called vitamin B9, in amaranth and cowpeas, is a perfect antidote for cervical cancer. This amazing nutrient protects the cervix from the cancer-causing human papillomavirus in the event of exposure. And if cervical cancer already exists, folate immensely slows the progression of cancer cells.
<h4>For anti-aging</h4>
Indigenous African foods are endowed with unmatched anti-aging nutrients. The tartaric acid in tamarind, for example, is rich in strong antioxidants that slow down aging, keep skin looking young, and reduce the appearance of wrinkles while the amaranth plant has a unique mineral combination that delays grey hair and fights balding.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-29773 alignleft" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/Pregnant-ladyt-etch-146x300.jpg" alt="" width="146" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Pregnant-ladyt-etch-146x300.jpg 146w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Pregnant-ladyt-etch-300x616.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Pregnant-ladyt-etch.jpg 498w" sizes="(max-width: 146px) 100vw, 146px" />
<h4>For fertility and  healthy pregnancies</h4>
The tons of folate in amaranth and cowpeas increase a woman’s chances of becoming pregnant. And during pregnancy, folate safeguards against miscarriages and is instrumental in the formation and development of the spine and the brain of the unborn child. Folate is so vital to this process that lack of folate in the diets of pregnant women has been tied to birth deformities of the spine and brain. Iron, another key nutrient abundantly present in amaranth and cowpeas, ensures the supply of blood and oxygen to both mother and unborn child.

Quick-Shot-Shutterstock.com-

Bites Of Rural Africa

Africa was regarded the last frontier for adventure and exploration during the colonial rule. Today, it’s the polar seas, the Arctic and the Antarctic, that have not been invaded by mass tourism – yet.
Only a few years ago, it was daunting to travel to its far reaches, but today, for a hefty sum, one can step on the North Pole or South Pole – and proudly proclaim oneself an adventure tourist.
The land of the midnight sun offers some of the most scenic and finest wildlife experiences in the world. The most accessible parts of the Arctic are the seas between northern Canada, Greenland and the Svalbard archipelago in Norway. Thanks to modern travel, one can fly from Oslo to Longyearbyen, the largest settlement in Svalbard in Norway, by commercial jet and then approach 80 degrees N latitude by ice class ships, which offer adventure tourists some of the most magnificent vistas of the polar world.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-29769 alignleft" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/Photo-1-300x300.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Photo-1-300x300.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Photo-1-100x100.jpg 100w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Photo-1-600x600.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Photo-1-150x150.jpg 150w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Photo-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Photo-1.jpg 945w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
With glaciers and ice caps covering 24,000 square miles, Svalbard is one of the largest glaciated areas in the Arctic with 2,100 named glaciers. In comparison, the Himalayas only have 380 glaciers. The climate in the Arctic is currently warming at a faster rate than observed elsewhere on earth and future projections suggest that in 60 years, there may be no glaciers left.
Polar travel can be daunting, exhilarating and often disappointing, primarily due to unpredictable weather conditions. Like the weather, spotting wildlife can also be a hit or miss, depending on how lucky you are.
&nbsp;
Trekking The Tundra
My polar adventure began the moment I boarded the Russian registered expedition ship, Akademik Sergey Vavilov, in Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen. I had traveled on this same ship to Antarctica two years ago. It’s an ice class vessel capable of cutting through loose floes (sheets of floating ice).
The Arctic Ocean is a frozen landmass that extends across six million square miles in winter and drops to 145,000 square miles in summer. There is increasing evidence that it has shrunk over the past few years. The rigid ice cap is sometimes 50 feet thick. When it melts, it creates floes and icebergs that can block shipping lanes – remember how the Titanic sank?
The 70-odd passengers in the vessel with me embarked on daily boat expeditions, 10 per boat, to visit bird cliffs, track polar bears and walruses, land on isolated beaches or enjoy tundra walks of up to three miles. In doing so, we observed polar bears feasting on seals, pods of walruses on the beaches, cliffs with over 500,000 birds and rare arctic foxes. Trekking on the tundra, a frozen, barren land, with only peat and moss growing for months in a year, provided me a unique perspective on the ecology of the arctic lands.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-29766 alignleft" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/Photo-3-300x300.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Photo-3-300x300.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Photo-3-100x100.jpg 100w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Photo-3-600x600.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Photo-3-150x150.jpg 150w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Photo-3-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Photo-3.jpg 945w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
The tundra supports herbivores like reindeers that graze for two months to build enough reserves for the entire winter. There are over 120 species of arctic flowers amongst the 1,700 species of plant life.
Any visit to the Arctic is not complete without spotting a polar bear. The polar bear habitat encompasses the entire circumpolar Arctic region. Their main habitat is on offshore pack ice, and along coasts and islands of the Arctic region. Over 40% of all polar bears live in Northern Canada, on pack ice and along the shores of the many islands there. Bears will remain in this ice pack habitat all year. It is estimated that over 3,400 bears live in the Svalbard area.
The vast tundra, the glacial rivers of ice, animals on the brink of extinction due to global warming, and rich oceans where over 25 humpback whales feed all around the ship, are all experiences one can never forget. The camaraderie of an international group of passengers makes the trip even more enjoyable.

Photo-2

Polar Bears And Rivers Of ice

At 50, Monica Zwolsman has a jovial irreverence about her. There is a reason behind that, the single mother of two has endured one tragedy after another.
In the course of a decade, she lost two husbands and an infant son. She moved cities numerously during this time and eventually settled in the Gold Coast, Australia, where she survived a divorce from “husband number three”, father of her two young boys.
Today, Zwolsman makes peace with her tragedies in a new book, Love. Loss. Life (published by Jacana).
“I’ve spent so much of my life trying to forget and I had to forget in order to survive&#8230;I had to be emotionally stable enough,” she says.
In April 1994, a week before South Africa’s historic elections, her award-winning photographer husband, Ken Oosterbroek, was shot and killed while out on assignment. He was a victim of the bloody political violence sweeping the country.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-29754 alignleft" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/benjamin-nicolson-hilton-barber-197x300.jpg" alt="" width="197" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/benjamin-nicolson-hilton-barber-197x300.jpg 197w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/benjamin-nicolson-hilton-barber-300x457.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/benjamin-nicolson-hilton-barber.jpg 399w" sizes="(max-width: 197px) 100vw, 197px" />
“Everyone knew he was dead except me&#8230;when I got there, people had just ran away and I ran into the hospital and I just saw his feet sticking out, he was [on a gurney] covered, with his feet sticking out and that’s when I realized [he was dead]&#8230;I was so stunned they probably had to steer me home.”
At the time, Zwolsman was a crime reporter with The Star, a popular Johannesburg daily, she knew the dangers of the time. But his death was a deafening blow.
“I just floated along in a cloud, babbling on mindlessly&#8230;eventually I took a lot of sleeping pills and I hid in the cupboard. Occasionally people would try to check up on me and I just hated that. I put my bed in the cupboard&#8230;I would take strong sleeping tablets and I just slept in the cupboard.”
Looking for a way forward, she left for London.
“I just left and I said to the estate agent, “pack up everything and take it to the dump”. I packed a suitcase of stuff; memorabilia, mainly photos, a shirt of his&#8230;and just left. I was so odd, I hid in London as well. I had a little apartment and I had a job. I would just wander around the streets, I would walk all the time because I never slept&#8230;because if I [didn’t] go sleep, I wouldn’t have to wake up and realize ‘Oh god, Ken’s dead’!”
But that difficult time eventually came to an end. Returning to South Africa in 1995 for the inquest into Oosterbroek’s death, she met a “friend-of-a-friend”, photographer Steven Hilton-Barber, in her words meeting him, on the anniversary of Ken’s death, was electric.
“&#8230;we spent the night together partying wildly. By morning, I was the Merry Widow personified. I’d totally lost the sympathy vote and nobody remained my friend. I returned to London but a few weeks later, Steven arrived in London and we got married soon after.”
Husband number two was a “wild, woolly man” and they traveled the world together seeking adventure. In 2002, they had a beautiful baby boy, Benjamin. However, their happiness was short-lived. That year, Hilton-Barber suffered a fatal heart attack. He was just 39 and Benjamin was five months old.
A few months after Hilton-Barber’s death, Benjamin had a minor operation, but wires crossed with medication, the baby went into a coma and never woke up. In the space of a year, she had lost both husband and son.
“So, there I was, now 40 years old, a widow with a dead son.  I could not imagine the agony of having to continue living&#8230;I begged people to put me out of my misery, like a dog.”
Once again, Zwolsman left town, to Australia, where she now lives. Fourteen months later, she had met and married “husband number three”, had a son and was pregnant with the next. She began a new life in earnest.
But that, too, was short-lived. She and her husband separated a few years later and she was at her lowest. Her memoir opens at that point, she is depressed, devastated and considering suicide, wondering if her children would ever forgive her.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-29755 alignleft" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/Monica-and-Steven-1995-300x210.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="210" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Monica-and-Steven-1995-300x210.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Monica-and-Steven-1995-600x420.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Monica-and-Steven-1995-768x537.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Monica-and-Steven-1995-1024x717.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Monica-and-Steven-1995.jpg 1023w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Fast-forward to the present, she is coping well. She is a proud mother of two and an English teacher.
Putting pen to paper, she says, is a ‘full stop’; the declaration of an end to a series of unfortunate events. And despite the sorrow she shares in her story, Zwolsman manages to let some humor seep in.
“Putting all my surnames [on the book] was supposed to be funny but now everyone goes Monica Nicholson Oosterbroek Hilton-Barber Zwolsman&#8230;it was supposed to be a joke but I think it backfired.”

mon-695

Love And  Loss  Times

Class, culture and sheer opulence are hallmarks of an urban Nigerian wedding. Lagos is emerging a wedding planner’s playground. Every weekend sees one or the other wedding convoy making its grand sojourn through the city.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-29748 alignleft" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/c57907c076cb3533fdee4d24678e019d-291x300.jpg" alt="" width="291" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/c57907c076cb3533fdee4d24678e019d-291x300.jpg 291w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/c57907c076cb3533fdee4d24678e019d-300x309.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/c57907c076cb3533fdee4d24678e019d-600x618.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/c57907c076cb3533fdee4d24678e019d.jpg 617w" sizes="(max-width: 291px) 100vw, 291px" />
But destination weddings are the order of the day. Be it Mauritius, Cape Town or Dubai, the venues are getting more creative, and the event planners boast busy calendars, globe-trotting from one exotic venue to another. All they ask for is a meaty budget.
Mati Gono is a London-based wedding planner specializing in premium and tailor-made wedding experiences for her clients. The clientele of her events company, Just as Planned, is 85% elite Nigerian. Her specialty is organizing the A to Z of lavish nuptials.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-29747 alignleft" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/223A3795-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/223A3795-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/223A3795-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/223A3795-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/223A3795-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/223A3795.jpg 1023w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
“Nigerian weddings are very colorful, opulent and there is never a dull moment. They are full of culture and the family is usually the focus. So whether there is the traditional breaking of the Kola nut, an opening prayer, or a live band, Nigerian weddings are full of character and the guests really come out to celebrate the couple getting married,” says Gono.
Gono, who recently planned a $161,000 Nigerian wedding, is accustomed to the lofty expectations of her clients.
“On one of our most demanding weddings to date, we had to ensure the service and hospitality was 110%, due to the types of guests we had attending. The logistics were a little challenging [it was a wedding in central London] but I like a challenge and we pulled it off.”
Attending the wedding were high-profile guests, including the bride’s brother, Nigerian footballer Victor Chinedu Anichebe, who plays for West Bromwich Albion, and US reality TV star Angela Simmons.
The traditional aspects of a Nigerian wedding involve color, culture and identity. Cloth merchants who sell traditional fabrics experience year-round boom – the grander the nuptials, the more expensive and richer the fabric.
Glamorous designer gowns – as many as three – are a must. As is music. Best-selling artists and live bands are flown in from across the world to perform. In addition is the use of newer trends in technology and media. The runup to the wedding is given enough coverage on social media: hash tags are de rigeur.
“The couple use it to inform their guests as this enables friends and family to share their special day with the world,” says Gono.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-29749 alignleft" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/223A3784-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/223A3784-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/223A3784-300x450.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/223A3784-600x900.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/223A3784-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/223A3784-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/223A3784.jpg 682w" sizes="(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" />
Another trend is the unique chandelier wedding cake. It’s one of the many wow elements of a wedding, says Gono. From venues that cost £50,000, centerpieces and decorations that cost £5,000, to catering at £10,675, it is all about flashing the cash. Gono has been fully involved in the business of weddings, and already has bookings for the new year. But she has always had a love for event planning. The very first wedding she planned and executed successfully was in 2007, and there was no looking back. She started her company in 2011.
“It was a natural calling. It all started with coordinating a few events for friends and family and it grew from there,” says Gono, as she animatedly prepares for her next overseas trip looking for an even more exciting destination for another lucky bride and groom.

IMG_6526

The Wedding Cake  As Chandelier?

Let’s face it – literally. In an environment where women work hard, live hard and play hard, they want to stay looking as young as possible for as long as possible.
Women nowadays are healthier and fitter than ever. They want to look as young as they feel, to remain competitive in the career place and social environment. So they need to appear younger and fresher to hold on to their careers and self-confidence.
Thanks to non-invasive aesthetic procedures or ‘liquid facelifts’ with a combination of rejuvenation aids like Botox, fillers, volume enhancers, Fraxel lasers, ultrasound, Intense Pulse Light (IPL) and skin resurfacing technology, surgical procedures like facelifts and mini facelifts can now be considerably postponed.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-29742 alignleft" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/shutterstock_188711069-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/shutterstock_188711069-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/shutterstock_188711069-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/shutterstock_188711069-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/shutterstock_188711069.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
According to a New York Times report, the waiting lists of A-list plastic surgeons in the Big Apple have shortened from almost a year to a matter of weeks. Women are postponing ‘taking the cut’ thanks to non-invasive alternatives.
The good news is: unless your skin has lost all its elasticity, the knife can wait. But you will have to combine several procedures for the best, holistic rejuvenation results.
Two issues need to be addressed, says aesthetic doctor Alistair Clark of Sandton Aesthetic Institute (www.sandtonaesthetics.co.za) in Johannesburg, South Africa: loss of firmness and loss of volume.
Loss of volume is getting a lot of airtime at the moment. With age, the natural volume in the upper part of the face shifts downward, resulting in double chin, slack jowls and turkey neck. The face looks ‘flat’, having lost its sweet youthful curve, explains Johannesburg dermatologist Dr Pholile Mphofu.
The answer lies in a combination of Botox to iron out wrinkles, fillers like Restylane SubQ to repair loss of volume (cheeks, temples, lips) and a procedure like Ulthera ultrasound (which Madonna reportedly does) to stimulate collagen production and firm up features. Ultherapy can make one look 10-15 years younger, says Dr Natasha Chapman from Laserderm MedSpa in Sandton (www.laserderm.co.za) in Johannesburg and the results can last for two to five years.
One of the most exciting new treatments with Botox is its use for the so-called Nefertiti Facelift, relaxing the tight horizontal platysmal bands in the neck, softening horizontal neck lines and giving the neck and jowls a firmer, younger appearance says Dr Mphofu. Dr Nanita Dalton from Centurion (www.nanitadalton.co.za) says this is one of her favorite treatments for patients, because of marvelous results.
<h4>Other Rejuvenation Procedures</h4>
<ul>
<li>Carboxy therapy helps to improve blood flow to an area, delivering oxygen and nutrients, and stimulating wound healing and collagen formation. In France, carboxy therapy is used in many major operations to speed up recovery.</li>
<li>Fraxel laser treatments reduce and improve the appearance of marks and scars. They are very effective in removing sun damage and pigmentation. It can significantly reduce scarring after any plastic surgery, including facelifts, neck lifts, breast augmentations, tummy tucks, and even mole removal.</li>
<li>Ulthera and Thermage can be used to help tighten loose skin.</li>
<li>Chemical peels improve the appearance of the skin, particularly significant sun damage, fine lines, or poor texture. A peel increases cell turnover by removing layers of dead skin cells. As we age, our cell turnover rate decreases, leading to a build-up of dead cells, which makes skin appear dull, lifeless, and unevenly pigmented.</li>
</ul>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-29741 alignleft" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/shutterstock_170628404-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/shutterstock_170628404-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/shutterstock_170628404-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/shutterstock_170628404-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/shutterstock_170628404.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
<h4>What it means</h4>
Botox: Botulinum toxin is a naturally occurring protein. When used as a drug it blocks the signals from the nerves telling the muscles to contract. It is used for expression lines like frowns and crows’ feet.
Fillers: Filler is a generic term for the 200+ products on the European market, of which about 10 are used in South Africa. The quality of fillers varies enormously and problems generally occur with inferior products and inexperienced injectors.
Fillers are a wonderful way to add volume, soften lines and take years off your age. The art of injecting fillers lies not only in the injecting technique, but also in being able to see what effect injecting fillers into certain areas will have on the patient&#8217;s appearance, says Dr Chapman.
Only reputable hyaluronic acid fillers should be used for lip and volume rejuvenation. There are hundreds of new hyaluronic fillers that have flooded the aesthetic market over the last few years. If cheap fillers are used and they are not FDA approved or are not a safe tried and tested filler that has stood the test of time, they could cause problems such as granulomas, keloids and infections.
Peels: Peels are generally acids that come in different strengths. Mid and deep dermal peels should only be done by doctors who are experienced.
Lasers: Laser treatments are suitable for hair removal, skin rejuvenation, skin resurfacing, treatment of pigmentation and melasma, skin tightening, acne scarring, vein removal, birth mark removal, wart removal, tattoo removal&#8230; the list is endless. Different wavelengths are used to treat different problems, and the laser operator needs to have a good understanding of laser physics and treatment protocols to avoid serious side effects. Certain lasers are not suitable for African or Asian skin, so do your homework beforehand.
&nbsp;
<h4>Facelift Safaris</h4>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-29743 alignleft" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/shutterstock_109377494-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/shutterstock_109377494-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/shutterstock_109377494-300x450.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/shutterstock_109377494-600x900.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/shutterstock_109377494-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/shutterstock_109377494.jpg 682w" sizes="(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" />
Cosmetic and medical tourism is growing amongst the wealthy and emerging middle class in Africa and also those from the UK and Europe, says Lorriane Melvill, founder of Surgeon and Safari in Johannesburg. Well-heeled women from neighboring countries like Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, Kenya and Tanzania are increasingly choosing to combine a South African ‘holiday’ with some cosmetic surgery. “Surgery in South Africa offers them value for money,” she says. Clients can choose whether they want to combine a Cape winelands and coastal experience with a nip and a tuck, or opt for a bush experience during recuperation and follow-up doctors’ visits. The most sought-after procedures for medical tourists are breast augmentation, liposuction and tummy tucks amongst younger women, while facelifts and eyelid surgery are popular with women who are over 50.

shutterstock_109378910

The Surgeon’s Knife Can Wait

Renowned Nigerian public relations executive Bukky Karibi Whyte has, through her business, The Bobby Taylor Company, represented top local and international brands and managed some of Nigeria’s leading public personalities. She is a regular fixture at some of the country’s acclaimed social events. FORBES WOMAN AFRICA got Karibi Whyte to take a morning off her busy schedule to meet 22-year-old Nigerian celebrity makeup artist, Theodora Mogo, whose company, Dorrane Beauty, counts corporate divas and media personalities such as Toke Makinwa, Mo Abudu and Seyi Shay among its clients. As Mogo worked her magic with the brush, beauty and banter resulted.
Bukky Karibi Whyte
PR professional
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-29737 alignleft" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/FORBES-BOBBY-TAYLOR-69-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/FORBES-BOBBY-TAYLOR-69-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/FORBES-BOBBY-TAYLOR-69-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/FORBES-BOBBY-TAYLOR-69-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/FORBES-BOBBY-TAYLOR-69-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/FORBES-BOBBY-TAYLOR-69.jpg 1023w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Q: Are there enough women in public relations in Nigeria?
A: The industry has undergone feminization globally. Women run most independent PR agencies I know in Nigeria. Women pay more attention to detail.
Q: Tips for being a successful PR executive?
A: It’s important to believe in the brand you represent. Understand your clients’ target audience and be persistent.
Q: The brands you have managed over the years…?
A: Estee Lauder, M.A.C Cosmetics Nigeria, Fela! On Broadway, Walt Disney Africa, D’banj etc.
Q: Why are more international brands penetrating the African market?
A: It’s due to the confidence in the African market. It’s not news that we have a strong appetite for international brands. Africans are some of the top travel consumers too. The brands have noticed we are one of the fastest-growing economies in the world and they want to be a part of that.
&nbsp;
Theodora Mogo
Makeup artist
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-29734 alignleft" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/FORBES-BOBBY-TAYLOR-91-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/FORBES-BOBBY-TAYLOR-91-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/FORBES-BOBBY-TAYLOR-91-300x450.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/FORBES-BOBBY-TAYLOR-91-600x900.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/FORBES-BOBBY-TAYLOR-91.jpg 682w" sizes="(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" />
Q: The best part about your job is?
A: Making my clients smile. I come across a lot of people from different backgrounds. It is really motivating for me, when I can, through my makeup, to help them be who they want to be. At the end of a job, when my client picks up the mirror and grins from ear to ear, that’s my greatest high.
Q: What does makeup represent to you and the African woman?
A: What makeup does is project your inner beauty. As humans, once we feel there has been work done on us, we feel transformed, renewed, confident and flawless. Makeup is the little magic wand that reminds us that acne, or an overbearing boss, does not undermine the beauty within us.
Q: How did you get into this business?
A: I have been obsessed with makeup since I was a young girl. I have always been fascinated by how creative the art is – using a human being as a canvas, working your magic and transforming them.
Q: Are African women purchasing more African products as opposed to international brands?
A: As Africans have only started to embrace makeup, this limits the number of local makeup brands in comparison to the international brands; which in turn makes it inevitable for the bulk of the products purchased by African women to be international brands. Thankfully, there are certain brands proving us wrong. Another important factor is pricing. The average woman here does not understand why she should pay the same amount (sometimes even more) for an African brand when she can get a bigger name for the same price or less.
Q: How expensive are good makeup products in Africa?
A: Makeup products in Africa are pretty pricey. Thankfully, there are drug store products that are affordable in comparison. The average woman will need at least $300 for a full starter kit.

FORBES-BOBBY-TAYLOR-26

Her Brush With Fame

In the fashion fraternity, Taibo Bacar’s name is synonymous with eclectic, elegant women’s wear for all occasions. Showing at this year’s Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Africa (MBFWAfrica) in Johannesburg, South Africa, Bacar closed the annual event’s opening night in October with a standing ovation.
Titled A Luta Continua – The Struggle Continues, and to the enchanting vocals of Miriam Makeba singing A Luta Continua, 50 models showcased a collection that was a mixture of textures and fabrics including the Mozambican ‘capulana’ (sarong), fake fur, organza, mesh, brocades and georgette.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-29724 alignleft" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/IMG_1706-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMG_1706-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMG_1706-300x450.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMG_1706-600x900.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMG_1706-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMG_1706-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMG_1706.jpg 682w" sizes="(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" />
He merged haute couture and ready-to-wear incorporating designs and patterns from his first collection displayed at the fashion week in 2012. Bacar says his inspiration is the feminine woman who wants to look unique in timeless garments.
“When I started, I was thinking about the things that make me happy or things I trust in. But now before I create, I first think about business. I think about commercial things – who is going to buy this product, I’m thinking about the clients, I’m thinking about the customers,” he says.
Bacar says his brand is for women in business; he is merely trying to make life easier for them.
“I know it’s not easy to wake up with the kids for example and the husband, and you still have to take care of the home and also think about what you are going to wear. I try to make something that when a woman wears it, she will be sure to look impeccable all the time,” he says.
The collection’s title was inspired by the current situation in Mozambique and represents continuity, evolution, development and the future. The models donned Bacar’s frocks in gold, liquid black, red velvet and in cuts that speak to the affluent woman, exuding opulence.
“We try to play with our African identity. It’s to keep the feminine silhouette, we are trying to make the woman more confident and more beautiful,” he says.
His couture line is handmade; some of the pieces take about two months to complete, with two people working on them at the same time. These are the more expensive gowns priced at about $5,000.
Retailing in Nigeria, Angola, Mozambique, Paris, Portugal, and soon in Russia, Brazil and New York, the brand is gaining popularity, but remains faithful to its Mozambican and African roots. An online store is also on the cards.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-29721 alignleft" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/14_MBFWASDR_2588_TaiboBacar-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/14_MBFWASDR_2588_TaiboBacar-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/14_MBFWASDR_2588_TaiboBacar-300x450.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/14_MBFWASDR_2588_TaiboBacar-600x900.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/14_MBFWASDR_2588_TaiboBacar-768x1153.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/14_MBFWASDR_2588_TaiboBacar.jpg 682w" sizes="(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" />
“I believe a lot in my brand. I don’t think about awards, I don’t think about what I can get from this business. I think about how I can make this business better year after year,” says Bacar.
The son of a seamstress, Bacar continues to value women and the feminine, paying attention to detail with handwork and embroidery that are his stamps of luxury.
His pret-a-couture line received applause as the night’s finale saw all 50 models sit gracefully in three rows on the ramp, and Bacar walked down the runway.
The Mozambican was also the first African designer to show at Milan Fashion Week.
Bacar has a number of international awards under his belt, but says his prize is spotting people wear his clothes, especially on his travels.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-29725 alignleft" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/lusaka2-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/lusaka2-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/lusaka2-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/lusaka2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/lusaka2.jpg 1020w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
“For me, my award, my goal is to walk in the streets when I’m traveling, and to see someone wearing Taibo Bacar; to walk in the street and see some boutique selling Taibo Bacar and to say, yes I’ve been working hard and I’m achieving my goals.”

ZFW15

What Women Want

She remembers it like it was yesterday.
A shy 11-year-old girl in a red blouse and black skirt on the Turkish border “in sticky weather” looking wistfully into the distance, clinging to her family’s two suitcases and memories of Bulgaria.
Unknown to her then, as she crossed the border from Bulgaria to Turkey with her parents and brother, she also left behind her childhood, one filled with happy days, endless laughter, horses, fig and pomegranate trees and the love of doting grandparents. Things would never be the same again.
In the suitcases were the family’s only belongings, mostly warm clothes, whatever they could hastily gather before making the long trip, as one of 360,000 ethnic refugees who had to leave Bulgaria for Turkey in the summer of 1989.
“My childhood ended, there and then, in the middle of that,” says Neri Karra, who is 37 now, and owns an eponymous line of luxury leather handbags. She retails in 26 stores across 14 countries, her most recent addition being the Neri Karra boutique in Melrose Arch, a swanky shopping and residential district in Johannesburg.
But it’s that indelible scene on the border that the London-based designer goes back to for inspiration, every day.
Penniless, hungry and homeless, the family stayed in an immigrant camp for a month living off refugee fare.
“They gave us grapes one day, I remember, it was like they were handing out jewelry,” recalls Karra.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-29714 alignleft" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/DSC_0326-197x300.jpg" alt="" width="197" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/DSC_0326-197x300.jpg 197w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/DSC_0326-300x456.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/DSC_0326.jpg 334w" sizes="(max-width: 197px) 100vw, 197px" />
“The moment we stepped foot in Istanbul, my father cried with joy. We were emotional, chaotic, nervous, excited, all at the same time.”
Thereafter, Karra was enrolled into a “ghetto school” in Istanbul with 85 students and no teachers on some days, sharing a desk with three others.
Her father worked as a welder and her mother as a cleaner in a factory. There were days when the family went to bed hungry.
“I was grateful my parents could get me notebooks and pencils for school. I was grateful for the littlest thing. My only objective was to study hard and change my family’s circumstances.”
She was consistently top of her class, and after college, received financial aid to study in the United States (US), leaving from Istanbul to Miami with one suitcase at the age of 18, and graduating university with three gold medals.
“No one in my family had gone to university before me. They didn’t speak English,” says Karra, who speaks five languages.
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Sitting On A Fig Tree
She appreciated the entrepreneurial spirit of the people she met in the US, and decided she should start her own business back home. As a child, she had loved fashion. Afternoons were spent sitting on the branches of a fig tree in her home in southern Bulgaria, leafing through the pages of German fashion magazines.
“Living in communism in Bulgaria, you didn’t have nice things, so I wanted to make beautiful objects,” she says. Her grandfather crafted saddles for the horses. That was Karra’s first tryst with leather.
“All the dots in life connect at some point. My life has always been this way. The trick is to stay connected, to what makes you come alive, and I call that love. The love you have for what you do.”
Karra was only 22 when she embarked on her first entrepreneurial venture, and set up her first showroom at Asenovgrad in her hometown in Bulgaria. Today, she returns to the town every two months, evisiting fond memories.
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Celebrity Clients
Karra works with Italian leather to make wallets, handbags, clutches, purses and accessories, for men and women. She also makes them with faux animal skin prints. She owns a design studio outside of Florence. Her parents are also keenly involved in the business, running her art factory in Istanbul. Her biggest market is Russia. What next? She is closely eyeing the Middle East for new stores and has a proposed expansion plan in the US. She has gifted her handbags to Hollywood star Anne Hathaway, and counts among her clients supermodel Elle Macpherson who she says has bought from her.
Karra is constantly shuttling between Istanbul and London, a city she loves, overseeing a business that has a sales turnover of $12 million. She has a PhD in Management, has published two academic books and often teaches at universities in London.
Needless to say, she has a busy unstoppable career. Is that why she is still single? Karra says she is not averse to marriage.
“I haven’t met the right man yet. I will get married for love,” she says. Karra has a quiet determination about her.
A soft-spoken but confident and hard-hitting businesswoman, yet, it’s her 11-year-old self on the Turkish border that she constantly looks up to. “When I stood on that border, I had a vision. It motivated me to create a better future for my family. It changed my life.” And she would not change a thing about it.

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The Girl On The Border

With little entrepreneurial experience, Rita Zwane, a former secretary, founded Imbizo Shisanyama in 1997, a restaurant popularizing African cuisine and still known by loyal patrons as ‘Busy Corner’ at Midrand in Johannesburg.
Zwane was determined to create a platform that celebrated African culture. She successfully commercialized the African dish Ipapa and sold it to hungry patrons. It was meat cooked over an open fire, the idea behind the concept of shisanyama (informal barbecue).
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“Inspired by my own heritage and culture I believed that a shisanyama was the most viable business opportunity as I naturally understood my market. What was surprising to me was how quickly I saw patrons from other areas becoming regulars at Busy Corner and then I knew I had the right recipe for success,” says Zwane.
One of her earliest memories are of her mother, a domestic worker, giving her a packet of sweets and telling her it would have to sustain her for months, as she could not give her lunch money every day. Zwane sold each sweet individually to make money to buy more. Little did she know this would be one of her most significant business lessons.
She has always involved her community in business and tried to change the perception that restaurants in townships are substandard. Her business was born on a dusty street corner in Ivory Park, Tembisa, starting with only two employees, a pot, a gas griller, display fridge, paraffin stove and R,5000 ($443) from her provident fund.
In the first five years, she was cashier, cleaner, waitress and manager.
“This part of my journey taught me fundamental lessons. It is due to the loyalty of our patrons and the surrounding community we are recognized as the true face of shisanyama in South Africa,”
says Zwane.
She was appointed an ambassador for the National Youth Development Agency in 2012 and launched a bursary program for young people to pursue careers in the food, beverage and hospitality sector.
In a world driven by fame and fortune, Zwane’s motivation is in remaining true to African lifestyle and culture; in building a legacy for her family and in involving the community in the everyday running of her business.

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Trial By Fire

Chef Vicky Gurovich simply loves what she does.
“It was meant to be. I love eating and I love feeding people. I get to do that everyday&#8230;I think I am pretty lucky,” she says.
She started young, growing up in a kitchen filled with women who were “great cooks”. Weekends were spent in the kitchen baking, with each creation more ambitious than the last.
“I think I made quite a mess, I always had rather ambitious goals in mind when I was baking as a youngster.”
Messy beginnings aside, she has had to hone her craft through her education and her time in celebrated kitchens. She studied food theory at the WITS Tech Hotel School in Johannesburg, her hometown.
“We studied the theory behind what we were cooking&#8230;we got a very good classic base which was good to build on because you understand the basics properly.”
She then took a leap, moved from Johannesburg and made her start in the industry at the four-star Shrigley Hall Hotel, an English countryside retreat. It wasn’t the life of grandeur and sophistication she imagined when she was a student but it was an important step, she says.
“I moved in a different direction but I learnt how to work quickly&#8230;it was a good first job. You walk out of hotel school with these delusions of grandeur but you get down to peeling potatoes and moving out mise en place at a rapid pace.”
It was after that first job that she took an interest in pastry-making. She got in touch with the pastry chef at the Michelangelo Hotel, in the heart of Sandton in Johannesburg, and found a way into his kitchen.
“I worked for free for about three months&#8230;I just wouldn’t leave.”
She didn’t, she joined the pastry department at the hotel for over a year.
That was the catalyst for her impressive career in pastry. She moved to the historic Mount Nelson Hotel in Cape Town and made her mark there, twice. Gurovich then returned to Johannesburg to lead the pastry department at the Saxon, a luxury mainstay in the city. She even won the Huletts Pastry Chef of the Year Award along the way.
Today, she leads the same department at the glittering new Four Seasons Hotel The Westcliff, perched on the hills of southern Johannesburg. She is excited about her new challenge.
“I think going forward, it’s going to be very interesting,” she says.

Tag: November 2014

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