The Gweru Chronicles Part 2- Endorsement from a Minster, GIBF 2017- Making History

Kudakwashe Maxwell — Thu, 14 Sep 2017 01:11:24 +0000

The Gweru Chronicles Part 2, Endorsement from a Minster, fan approval and more!

Hello There! My Name is Kudakwashe and I am the founder and Current Executive Chief Technical Officer for KAKIC universe.

If you read the first part of this story then go ahead and carry on to the second part, if you haven’t, i highly recommend that you do, here’s the link to the first part of this story so you can catch up:

Part A- GIBF

Surely by now you must definitely be familiar with Mr Archibald Marwizi! The Man who played a crucial role in inviting me to the 29th Day of the One Hundred Days of learning Link here:

And also Initiated the move that got me to be a lecturer at 19 Years of Age, link to that article above

So you should definitely know him by now!

So Mr Marwizi decided to Host a book Festival together with his Associate, Mr Ignatius Musonza. The festival was to be called the Gweru International Book Festival- G.I.B.F.

Simply Put, it was to be a festival celebrating literal arts, something lik HIFA, but more on literature. The City of Gweru had never seen or experienced an Event of this kind and size, and many organisations rushed to be part of it, and you probably guessed it, Mr Marwizi Created space for me at GIBF 2017, as well!

For those of you who are not familiar with Gweru, its sort of a slow town, small, and you can literally memorise the faces of people and the places where they work because its that small in terms of size.

So GIBF was to be hosted right in the middle and attract everyone from the older to the younger generations, people of all races and kind to come celebration Zimbabwe’s digital Literacy.

Trust me when i say this! Mr Archibald Marwizi, is truly a brilliant man! The Function/show/festival was a resounding success! Schools poured in and a lot of stakeholders engaged and participated in the festival.

From Renowned authors and established brands to the new and upcoming brands like Kakic Universe, the 3 day festival was amazing!

To be honest with you, i was simply satisfied to be able to exhibit at such a function at such an early stage of my career, just having my logo be printed on the banner of the participating stakeholders was amazing! But little did i Know that God, had bigger plans for me!

What actually happened?

So basically you would purchase space and get to exhibit your work to the public. During the festival, the public would then tour all the stands and engage the exhibitors and their exhibitions.

WHO ATTENDED AND WHO PARTICIPATED?

A lot of big brands, a lot of authors and craftsmen, even social welfare organisations. The festival also had a stage and MSU sponsored Musical Equipment so there were many performances from many Local Gweru artists and celebrities.

At that time, the Minister of Education was Honourable Doctor Lazarus Dokora and he was invited to be the Guest of Honour to officially open the Gweru International Book Festival. The Mayor of Gweru was also present as well as many other important people.

Truly Speaking, The Festival was amazing! Mr Marwizi and Mr Musonza really did a great job in pulling off this funciton! For more on the GIBF 2017, check out their Facebook Page below:

https://www.facebook.com/gwerubookfest/

You can find more on the festival there in terms of content and pictures! Now lets continue with Kakic Universe’s story.

At this point i was lectuing at MSU and the Media Department was also exhibiting there. However, i was not exhibiting with them.
At that we had added a few more videos to our collection and so we were ready to exhibit our work and show the public, as well as gain some followers in the midlands Province!

Part B- Public Engagement- The Fans!

I was thrilled and delighted as my stand/space caught the attention of many and most of the School Children which is what i was aiming for. In most cases, School children would spend the whole day watching my videos, in most cases they would leave the stand only when chased away by other students who wanted a turn to also view the content!

All of this was just fantastic for me! I was on cloud 9, Those kids and their expressions made me feel like the coolest thing alive, which was something i really needed because i was still battling the negative comments i received from naysayers. So you can imagine how it feels like being told that you wont succeed because your career is not good enough and an industry doesnt exist for it then you meet these beautiful souls who abosulutely adore and love your work just the way it is,

Which Videos did we play?

We Played the following videos on our Stand:

We also played : Goal and the Kakic Universe Animation Reel.

Without a doubt, Jah Kaylite, was the most popular video, generating numerous requests for replays and the young kids singing” Mari Kunevanogeza”

And trust me with each request for a repeat, i felt proud,

I loved how my work was bringing Joy to the young souls of Zimbabwe, even the older Generation was captivated by Dancehall sensation, Jah Kaylite

As if the great feedback from the crowd was not enough, The MSU, media team interviewed me and Kakic Universe

PART C- Growing The Team

So up to this point, you might have noticed that the story was centered around me and only features Mr Marwizi but no one else, and thats because at the time there was no else but that changed at GIBF.

As part of the Organising team, i managed to meet Michelle Maphosa, Shamiso Chikarate and Anson Mashingaidze.

We worked together so well that i invited them to come work with us and they agreed forming the first ever KAKIC UNIVERSE SQUAD!

Part D - The Honourable Minister Arrives

As mentioned above, the Honourable Minister of Education at that time period, Honourable Miinister Doctor Lazarus Dokora was the Guest of Honour and was to officially open the Gweru International Book Festival.

The Minister Delivered a speech on the importance of recognising and celebrating Digital Literacy in the Country.

Afterwards he then started touring each stand exhibitor seeing what they had to offer.

It is then that it happened.

I got the pleasure to meet the minister and show him my work. When he found out that i was teaching at university level at 19 Years of age, he was greatly impressed and he endorsed me and Kakic Universe, and urged me to keep going forward as well as aiming higher!

This was just the icing on the cake! Within a short space of time, God had elevated me to a “lecturer” who was endorsed by a minister.

The Endorsement by the minister silenced most of the naysayers. Kakic Universe started gaining more support and appreciation. More people started appreciating the art and encouraging me to go forward. God Knew what he was doing and he was carefully putting the pieces together.

This enounter with the minister and the words of encouragement he gave me where a huge confidence boost.

GIBF was an awesome Experience for me! It helped me gain confidence in what i was doing and i am grateful for God’s Grace and what he has done for me.

Conclusion for the Gweru Chronicles

After this amazing experience i then turned down the opportunity to continue lecturing as i wanted to focus more on Building the Kakic Universe Team, the brand and also raising school fees. The Gweru Chronicles were an amazing time for me and helped me gain confidence in my career choice.

It was fun and amazing and i am forever grateful to God for his grace and favour over my life!

GIBF Archives – Kakic Universe News & Updates