Scott Douglas Jacobsen: How was family life growing up for you?

Nisar Ahmad: After migrating to Pakistan due to civil war in Afghanistan, life was hard for all Afghans in general. My father started working for an NGO far from our home, and would come only once a week. My mother took care of me and my other siblings. Life became very hard when my mom passed away when I was about 9 years old. My father working far away from home and with no mother, my older siblings were taking care of me. My father couldn’t find a job nearby, and it was hard for Afghans to find jobs. So he had no option. We couldn’t move to the place he worked because the city we lived in was cheaper.  It was really hard to grow up like that. Though everyone was showing love and care to me, I felt like being pitied. I felt inferior and eager for real love and care, and not just receiving care and love for not having a mother. I felt lonely and started to avoid people even from childhood. I went to school in Pakistan, and due to being reserved, I passed my time reading books. So I was a bright introvert student since my childhood. I remained topper in almost all years of my academic life.

Jacobsen: What has been the impact of war and displacement for you?

Ahmad: I was born in war. Like literally in war, in falling RPGs and bullets! So the effect of war is in my sub-conscious whether I like it or not. We lived in Pakistan as refugees far from our home and place of birth. I never felt at home at any time of my life. In Pakistan showing the identity as an Afghan meant inviting many kinds of hate, racism and discrimination. I felt like I had done a sin that was unforgivable. Being displaced meant that I lacked something very important that would make me human.

Jacobsen: How has education been a consistent story for you? Something stable in spite of all the instability?

Ahmad: As explained in the first paragraph, I felt very lonely and started avoiding people. Though I studied in government schools in Pakistan where the education standard is negligible, I was taking interest in every book that I came across. I read books, watched TV and kind of self-educate myself. As a refugee, I was a hard worker like other refugees. The difference was, they started selling shopping bags in the bazaar, and became good business people with time, and I put my efforts in academia.

Jacobsen: How did you come to meet Rzgar Hama?

Ahmad: When I lived in the shelter, near Vancouver Public Library in downtown Vancouver, I saw an advertisement on the library notice board while searching for job vacancies. It was about storytelling. So it attracted my interest and I emailed Rzgar.

Jacobsen: Why did you accept to take part in “My Home is a Suitcase”?

Ahmad: I took interest in “My Home is a Suitcase” because I wanted my story to be heard as my story is the story of millions of refugees that the world doesn’t know about. At first, telling my story, I felt like I was self-pitying, but then it became a goal of my life to raising my voice for all the refugees in the world. 

Jacobsen: Thanks so much, Nisar.

Photo by WantTo Create on Unsplash

Two of my favourite people in the world, Ann Reid and Kenneth R. Miller/Ken Miller/Kenneth Miller, have issued a statement on behalf of the National Center for Science Education. Ann Reid is the Executive Director and Kenneth Miller is the Board Chair. Both have been doing, and are part of, a noble tradition for the proper education of the public on matters of science.

As the late and beloved Dr. Carl Sagan noted, we live in a world built on science and technology, where the discoveries of science build the frameworks for comprehension of the natural world from which the engineering and technology can emerge in the first place. Technology is science applied for some purpose or function, typically relevant to a human need or want – for frivolity or necessity.

The note from Reid and Miller opened:

Today, in all corners of our nation, attention has been focused on a long-standing problem that pervades all of American society, including its educational and scientific institutions — the problem of embedded, structural racism. Our nation is gripped by protests against the latest in a long and shameful history of incidents of racist violence against black Americans. We grieve with our fellow citizens who have had to live with fear, oppression, and injustice for centuries. All of us at NCSE are inspired by the tens of thousands of Americans putting their bodies at risk to raise their voices in protest.

I am inspired by the level of solidarity expressed by several organizations on the educational front with a forthright statement as to the facts of the matter and the expression of the core issue in a cogent presentation. The purpose of the National Center for Science Education is the provision of real education and information on the sciences to the public. Indeed, one of the main areas of emphasis has been the evolution versus creationism sociopolitical, not educational, controversy over the development of life.

“The overriding goal of the National Center for Science Education is to ensure that every student in every American school has access to an effective, accurate, and inspiring education in the sciences. Many obstacles have stood in the way of this goal,” Reid and Miller said, “including unreasoning and doctrinaire opposition to the findings of many branches of science. Throughout its history, NCSE has fought to remove these obstacles and ensure that all students learn to think critically about evidence and reject flawed and misleading arguments.”

As has been said in many contexts by others and myself, and not original to me, but to the scientists and the science educators, previous eras of science support the idea of race while modern science advanced to state “racism is based on a lie — the lie that there are meaningful biological differences among humans that correspond to the color of our skin. While we acknowledge that there are real biological consequences to the lived experience of race, evolution reminds us that the genetic variation within groups we designate as races is significantly larger than the variation between those groups. Evolution tells us that we are 99.9% the same at the level or our DNA.”

In short, the proper framing of a lot of the issues facing us: species. We are an evolved product of a naturalistic process and a natural universe. Science has been used, at times, for divisive purposes. However, the full arsenal of science would seem to support a more unifying framework to plug modern human rights notions into them. In that, we can build a more equitable and just society as we deem fit rather than not – and one of the bases for this is the modern theory of evolution and, therefore, the work of the National Center for Science Education, as they conclude:

Science education can be a force for good; for unifying rather than dividing. Towards that end, we at NCSE resolve to support educational and scientific professionals fighting racism and educational inequality at every level of our society. Specifically, we commit to expanding our efforts to provide science teachers with the resources and learning opportunities needed to help their students dismantle misconceptions about race. Our common future depends upon it.

Photo by Arthur Lambillotte on Unsplash

*Updated June 8, 2020.*

The Jehovah’s Witnesses have issues with modern medical information because this is seen as against the tenets of the religious faith. In particular, they, for the most part or by theology, have an issue with blood transfusions.

As per the attempts to reduce the negative effects of Covid-19 to medical patients affected by Covid-19, the FDA or the Food and Drug Administration of the United States of America issued recommendations or guidelines for healthcare investigators and providers. It is based on some studies into convalescent plasma collected from Covid-19 patients who have recovered from the ill-effects of the virus. 

Even with the experimental nature of the treatment, there are some circumstances under which the treatment can be considered well-advised based on some scientists and doctors using it. However, the ones for this treatment would be serious or critical cases along with the symptomatology of Covid-19.

For those with critical case symptomatology themselves or individuals with family members who are, unfortunately, suffering under the suffocating ravages of Covid-19 (coming from SARS-CoV-2), these kinds of potential treatments could – literally – save your life or the life of a loved one, or just save a life of another human being. It becomes incumbent upon us to support science, medicine, and the appropriate application in order to “do no harm.” It’s both a principle of medical professionals and civilized society, i.e., reflective of a common drive of human beings when not driven into insane circumstances.

Unfortunately, while many religious principles reflect some universal sentiments in human beings, at the time, others come out as pre-scientific understandings or rejection of modern medicine capable of helping individuals who may be suffering. One particular group, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, have been known to reject blood transfusions, as these stand against their stipulated principles of The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society is the governing or legislating body of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. This has been a strict policy since 1945.

The basis for the claim is that blood transfusions go against some divine law or ethical precepts derived from their understanding of the oughts of the world through their religious lens. Now, with the recent possibilities for critical or severe cases to be helped by the experimental treatments, the Jehovah’s Witnesses have been directed (or commanded by the legislative body) to not use them. More directly, they’re strictly forbidden, as this is Convalescent Plasma Therapy or a treatment using transfusion.

The directive from the Jehovah’s Witnesses stated:

The Blood Issue: There’s talk about the FDA allowing doctors to treat critically ill COVID-19 patients with “convalescent plasma therapy.” It would be wise to advise the publishers that it’s understood that this is giving the patient the whole plasma of the person who has developed the antibodies which would be unacceptable for Jehovah’s Witnesses.

However if the antibodies were extracted from the plasma (fractions/immunoglobulins) and then given to the patient, it would be a conscience matter for Jehovah’s Witnesses. Some doctors may view plasma as a fraction. Therefore the publisher may need to explain their personal decision not to accept any of the blood’s four main components, one of them being plasma. (Source: JWsurvey, based on work of Mark O’Donnell in “Jehovah’s Witnesses Denied Plasma Treatment Amid Coronavirus Pandemic” – click for article title for link)

This is a serious public health issue for which the lives of some members of the public religion becomes a public health hazard. As we see with the prevention within the directives (theological and faith-based in character), individuals cannot use the treatments, as they are forbidden, without consequence. If they use it, then the fear of the wrath of the legislative body, as representative of God, can come down like a ton of bricks. It is, as James Randi noted to me, based on fear. If an individual uses the blood or plasma, then they will become “Disassociated” from the community and will not be permitted contact from their own families.

Theology trumps medicine here.

Photo by Benedikt Jaletzke on Unsplash

Related article:

Ryan Faulkner-Hogg is the Founder of Atlas Geographica and a member of the team at Topical Magazine. Here we talk about the Atlas Geographica in the context of the other projects and work for Douglas.

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Let’s start on the first major project, which is Atlas Geographica, the tag is “A Curiosity Blog.” What was the inspiration for the title Atlas Geographica and the tag with the title?

Ryan Faulkner-Hogg: The name Atlas Geographica is quite uninspiring, unfortunately. I wanted to call it WhatAboutWhen.Com, but the URL was taken. I was sitting in a room. It was Norway in a place called Hoddevik. It was along the countryside along the West Fjords. There was an atlas. It was written in Norwegian called Geographica. I put in Atlas Geographica in the URL finder. It worked. I always loved atlases. Also, Atlas Geographica gives a little whiff of international scope. That’s the foundation of the title. I am happy that this became the title because I consider this better than What About When. I am realizing more, and more, as I write more online blogs. The URL isn’t so important. It is the branding of the name. People can associate Atlas Geographica with the statue of Atlas, which is the logo of the site and the random curiosity-driven content.

The reason for starting it. Initially, I had the idea to commercialize online writing for affiliate income, affiliate-marketed income, for tour agents. I work for a software company, which empowers tour agents all across the world. I thought, “The way affiliate marketing is so synonymous with pushing Amazon’s books or various articles through online marketing. Nothing like this operates for tour operators.” I was in Finland sitting in a meeting with the CEO of a company, who do everything from a 50 Euro day-trip to a 5,000 Euro package. They don’t market nearly as effectively – no one in tourism does – as simple goods. So, I thought while sitting in this meeting, “Why doesn’t somebody write an article about this amazing trip through this company, put affiliate links throughout, then it is free marketing for the company and an income for everyone based on the links on the other end?”

I had this lofty goal to do that. It could still totally be a profitable business idea if someone wants to take it on. However, I quickly realized. For this to be functional, I required the company to code in an affiliate link specific to me. Just using them as one example, they were not interested in doing. This would have to be replicated across the board. All of the affiliate links would need to come from TripAdvisor. I have a sour relation with them. They are a pretty bad company. We realized this from where I am working now. You would be doing this marketing for TripAdvisor rather than the end-user, which would be the other company. This is a roundabout way of introducing it. After I took out the URL and started to write for it, I, originally, wrote three food tour blogs, which are no longer on the site. They were for Amsterdam, San Sebastian, and Rome. They give different images of food tours in these countries. I thought, “This doesn’t excite me at all. It may make a few dollars of income.”

I thought, “I have this URL. I have written content, which I have done in the past. Because I have always enjoyed writing.” I have always found if I enjoy something. The best way to have this in my head and articulate this is to formulate and write it down. I have drafts and written pieces, so I could start uploading them.

Jacobsen: Is the end goal to have a multimedia platform?

Faulkner-Hogg: Yes, it is. Again, it is an end goal, but purely out of interest. I’ve completely steered away from trying to make these media issues a monetizable thing, moved out of financial interest. It is out of interest. A media platform where I have a blog, an email list, and a YouTube channel. It is a way to put all creativity out there and to further legitimize myself if I look back on someday. I can show my parents or if I go into a job interview, “Look, here is my stuff, here is who I am.” Rather than storing it on a hard drive, storing it on the internet, I have romanticized knowing there is the chance of someone to stumble across this article and have it mean something for them. I am sure. You’re familiar with Tim Ferriss. He is an inspiring role model when I think about where I want to take media arms for me. Also, it is a very lofty goal. You will see the latest video put out was on the Tim Ferriss empire. All media arms are multimillion-dollar enterprises. I’m not bothered whether it makes $10 or $0. It is a place where all of my creativity can exist online.

Jacobsen: What do you think makes Tim Ferriss’ different arms of his octopus so functional and profitable? All of the branches built by him.

Faulkner-Hogg: I think the Tim Ferriss phenomenon is genius marketing by him. Before he does anything, he leverages his extensive network to create hype. He has SEO optimized all of the different legs. Also, it is the flywheel. All additional legs complement the others. Since he started the podcast with extremely famous and successful guests, who are people he met in a previous life as a venture capitalist and an author, he had a really good starting block. Also, he was one of the first movers in the podcast game. He quickly created one of the biggest business podcasts in the world, which boosted the blog and the email list. This reinforced authorship when he continues to publish books. His success is really outlier stuff because he has one of the highest-selling books of all time, one of the most listened to podcasts of in the world, one of the biggest email lists in the world, and one of the most read blogs in the world. He is winning on all fronts and an exceptional person.

There is not one thing to point out for success in all his media arms. But I can give an example. During the week, he released a “Tools of Titans” podcast. It is him piggybacking on one of the books that he has already written. He is probably not going to create any original new content. He is going to reformat from the content of the book. He will create a new podcast and have a new revenue stream through ad revenue and introduce new people who find the “Tools of Titan” podcast into the Tim Ferriss brand. They will become subscribers on the email list. They might subscribe to the “The Tim Ferriss Show.” Potentially, they might buy the books as well. He has this huge, huge network, which they can leverage as well.

Jacobsen: When you’re having the different platforms for yourself, as a multimedia startup, are you intending something similar to that, where you have mutually reinforcing programs and initiatives?

Faulkner-Hogg: Yes, it is definitely something that I am actively trying to create. This is why you see the different tabs of Atlas Geographica, which can take you to the YouTube channel, to the podcast channel, and also to a subscription list.

Jacobsen: If you’re looking at 2020/2021, what are your actionables? What are you looking at as targeted objectives?Faulkner-Hogg: I shouldn’t shy away from saying this publicly. However, once you say this publicly, you are subject to ridicule if you do not reach the goals. I launched the YouTube channel. End of 2020, I want the channel monetized, which is 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time. It is not like you monetize this immediately into a lot of money. Once it gets the tick of approval from YouTube, it will become recommended to non-subscribers more. For the blog, I would like to see – a very lofty goal – 100 unique visitors per day. I would like 100 subscribers to the email list. That’s 6 months from now.

Jacobsen: Have you looked into Patreon account, donations, grants, in Australia for startup projects, especially during coronavirus times?

Douglas: I haven’t looked at any of it. The main reason is; I wouldn’t feel comfortable having people donating for the stuff produced by me. I am stoked if people get a kick out of reading the articles. There is no expectation for a monetary reward for it. In terms of grants, I do not consider the media enterprises as a business of mine. That’s why I haven’t considered that route. I haven’t looked at any of that. More for personal business, totally independent of media and looking like things like grants.

Jacobsen: Some areas of focus, they will be individually driven based on what is an interest at a given time for you. Some of the main areas have been on the environment, economics, and travel. What are some of the reasons for some of the touchpoints of the interest for you?

Faulkner-Hogg: Because it comes back to the point of the blog being something going to compliment personal interest rather than something targeted as a niche blog site to get more organic traffic. It is because these things happen to capture attention for me. I want to find out more about them. That’s why there is such a wide variety of unrelated content. If you take vagabonding, I really like Rolf Potts and the book Vagabonding. I wanted to expand on it. I found Tim Ferriss. I wanted to expand on that as well.

Jacobsen: Also, we are involved with some other projects with Topical Magazine. How are you looking to adapt some of the content and interests to a publication like Topical Magazine, and vice versa? Obviously, there will be a Venn diagram of overlapping interest in Atlas Geographica content produced there, and then future stuff coming out of Topical Magazine.

Faulkner-Hogg: Yes, I think Topical Magazine has a much more event-driven side to its content. So, I think Topical Magazine has more sophisticated takes on the events compared to Atlas Geographica. If we look at Ben David’s recent post of Nietzsche and the New Atheists, For instance, also, his recent Covid-19 and the enemy conspiracy theory one too. It is “Topical” “Magazine.” So, they want to touch on relevant time-stamped content. Whereas, Atlas Geographica is more than likely going to be time-specific and a little bit more ever-green as an introduction or a take on something that is an ongoing discussion or an ongoing theme/mood within society. For instance, if I look at the Christopher Hitchens and mortality post, which Atlas Geographica put out, recently, it is a piece of evergreen content. Whoever is interested in Christopher Hitchens, whether the beginning or the end of the relationship with Hitchens, it is there. What Ben did with Covid-19, the sophisticated part becomes the fact that he’s also breaking down what makes the conspiracy. Again, Scott, I’m sorry if I answered the question so indirectly.

Jacobsen: Any other areas to explore today?

Faulkner-Hogg: Not specifically, Topical Magazine and Ben, and being introduced to you, too, it is a compliment to Ben David to publish a piece in Topical Magazine and took an interest in Atlas Geographica. I think the story is quite funny how I met Ben David, Benji.

Jacobsen: Did you meet him in Norway?

Faulkner-Hogg: In Amsterdam.

Jacobsen: Of course, yes.

Faulkner-Hogg: I am working for this company. We have a bunch of people coming in for interviews. A lot of them coming into the interviews with who my manager likes. He asks, “What do you think about this guy?” I will give a shallow commentary on it. I never got to interview Ben. I gave an opinion from a quick look at him and the things the manager said. I saw. He was editor of Topical Magazine. Usually, we don’t get people with non-relevant experience.

Jacobsen: [Laughing].

Faulkner-Hogg: [Laughing] I was like, “That’s fantastic.” I went on the site and read an article on the Zizek and Peterson debate. I thought, “This guy is cool. I hope we hire him.” Ben and I had some business, I introduced the fact of writing for a small blog called Atlas Geographica. He taught a lot about the WordPress side of things, to make sure the site looks good. He invited me to publish some material on Topical Magazine. It is entitled “Forget Chernobyl and Don’t Listen to the Hippies.” We retitled for Topical Magazine to get more clicks. The story was about the fact that it boggles the mind that the left is so anti-nuclear power, when it is the greenest form of technology available to us. The article debunks the extreme outlier events like Chernobyl. It is a fun story about meeting Ben. I want to leave that as a compliment about Topical Magazine.

Jacobsen: Ryan, thanks so much.

Image Credit: Ryan Faulkner-Hogg.

Adeline Sede Kamga is the Founder/CEO of FabAfriq Media Group, a Creative and Innovative Marketing and communication agency with offices in the UK and Cameroon operating both in Europe and Africa. A change leader and inspirational speaker with over fifteen years of experience. She has expertise working across different areas in the corporate, business and community world. She is committed to delivering quality projects in Corporate PR and Communications, Change management, Executive Coaching. She has a BA in Corporate Communications, MA in Human Resource Management at Coventry University UK and professional qualifications such as CIPD, PRINCE2 & Dip in Business Administration.

Adeline is an expert in Corporate communications and PR, including digital communication and eventing. As a trained executive coach, she has worked with blue chip companies from varied sectors, helping them gain visibility across Africa and the rest of the world. Her previous experience in HR, gave her hands-on experience working in different HR projects with one of the largest employers in Europe (Birmingham City Council) & subsequently as a consultant. Amongst some of her expertise are change management, People Management, T & D and Strategic HR. She has led on many strategic and restructuring projects, leading to successful change management system & implementations.

Adeline is also a founding member of FEPPSAC (Women editors of Central Africa), a UN Central Africa Office initiative to work with women in the print magazine industry. This group seeks to help drive the United Nations mandate of women, peace and security in Central Africa. She is dynamic, innovative, and tenacious. Gifted with a sharp mind and innate ability to connect with others and an insatiable thirst for excellence.

In 2016, Adeline launched a Pan Excellence In People Management initiative for change called The Corporate Awards & The Corporate Women in Leadership program. Adeline invests in inspiring and empowering young leaders through speaking engagements and mentoring programs.

She is married to a very supportive husband and has 3 kids. adeline.sede@fabafriq.com

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What have been some of the things that you’ve done to raise awareness about coronavirus?

Adeline Sede Kamga: The coronavirus pandemic has taken a huge toll on the whole world and I must say this has caused lots of mishaps, losses, panic, fear, anxiety, depression and you can name it. One of the things I do on a daily base is communication, so I used this skill to raise awareness via social media. Due to the sensitive nature of COVID-19, I had to be very accurate in providing such information, so I sourced from reliable institutions such as WHO, CDC, Medical News Today, and others.

As the Founder of Corporate Women in Leadership (CWILS), an initiative that seeks to increase the presence of women in the boardroom through inspirational career development projects. I started an online series for personal development amidst the lockdown. Our speakers are corporate experts in different fields from different countries. Through these sessions, we have touched more than 50,000 viewers and 12,000 participants.

My team and I launched “How I Stay Safe Campaign,” geared towards implementing the different measures to help curb the spread of COVID-19. Participants shared videos and key messages, which were shared on our social media platforms.

Through Fabafriq Media Group, we ran numerous campaigns for our clients and managed Corporate Social Responsibility projects. This of course involved using influencers and local communities to drive key messages.

FabAfriq Magazine, also launched a sensitization campaign whereby celebrities and high profile personalities in our communities sent images and messages of encouragement to our editorial team. These are used to design very attractive digital banners and are shared amongst their platforms.

Jacobsen: What are some organizations individuals can garner some assistance from now?

Kamga: It is no news that COVID-19 has affected most people, either psychologically or physically. As individuals, nonprofits and businesses grapple with the economic impact, many funders are stepping up to provide support through microgrants, hardship relief, and loan programs. It is truly amazing to see that many such organizations have adapted their giving policies to include people affected by COVID-19. We cannot give an exhaustive list but the following could be explored by people looking for funds. GlobalGiving, International Women’s Media Foundation, United Way, Candid, Prudential Beneficial Insurance, Ecobank Africa, and many others.

Jacobsen: How can ordinary citizens work together to deal with the coronavirus?

Kamga: Scott, it is remarkably interesting that you asked. Through FabAfriq Media Group, we have taken on initiatives that call on everyone’s participation towards dealing with Coronavirus. We have been lucky to have our national celebrities join us in a national sensitization campaign through our social media platforms. We need to continue encouraging people to observe preventive measures like social distancing, wearing masks, etc. Without the right information, this virus is only going to keep spreading. Together, we have to educate as many people as possible about staying safe. I also encourage individuals, companies & leaders to facilitate the less privileged by donating what they can to help ensure safety. Coronavirus is our fight, and together we all can beat it!

Jacobsen: What have been some of the more important areas of empowering women across Africa through the work of FabAfriq Media Group?

Kamga: We started the group as an initiative to help share the stories of African Women in Africa and the diaspora. We launched our online platform in 2009, where we have interviewed and published inspirational, educative and innovative stories. Our print magazine, launched one year after the website has also featured some of the most amazing women making a difference in the African community. We believe through our storytelling, we have empowered and impacted more lives around the world.

Six years ago, FabAfriq Media Group started a Pan African movement called The Corporate Women In Leadership. Over the last 6 years, we have hosted Conferences and summits in different African countries, Gabon, Senegal & Cameroon, and Cote d’Ivoire. Through this summit, we create a stage for women in the boardroom to share their experiences and provide mentorship to aspiring leaders. Moving forward, I see a bigger network of women empowering girls, women empowering women & women empowering the next generation

At a much lower level, we work with underprivileged women in the communities. FabAfriq Media Group has partnered with some NGOs dealing in domestic violence, incest, women with Albinism conditions, videos, and teenage mothers. We support these set of women to adapt and achieve their full potential in life.

Jacobsen: What are the more vulnerable populations of women, i.e., the sectors of the population and specific nations underperforming on the empowerment of women?

Kamga: This may get me in trouble, but I’m just going to say it [Laughing]. In my honest opinion, I think the Muslim community is still very shy about gender equality & female empowerment. We have Muslim communities in every part of the world, but the heavily concentrated communities are in North Africa, Middle East & Asia, and in some of these parts women still can’t dress freely, speak freely, study freely, talk less of practice in careers of their choice. There has been a change, but it takes time, of course. In terms of sectors, I would say the architectural market continues to see few practicing women, aviation & why not women at the highest position of power in a country, i.e., Presidency.

Jacobsen: What will be the programs and initiatives rolled out in the second half of 2020?

Kamga: Scott like every other company in the world right now, we are just re-strategizing while fighting COVID-19 together. However, the plan is to continue hosting our on-site conference and mentorship programs. We had planned to host our annual Corporate Awards in London. This is an HR initiative we launched to celebrate excellence in people management and to help create a benchmark for companies. This year, FabAfriq Media group celebrates its 10th Anniversary, so we are currently working on the anniversary issue and plan. We are, however, skeptical, as mentioned above.

Jacobsen: FabAfriq Magazine relaunched on June 8th, 2020. What happened to the magazine before?

Kamga: To be honest, with the rise of digitalization, many magazines saw a decline in sales across the world. The last decade has seen the world evolve more into a global village forcing print to fade away while tablets, phones & the internet blossomed. This made most of the print magazines, including FabAfriq management team, put a stop to its print version and focus on the digital version.

Now, it feels like the perfect time to come back with FabAfriq Magazine print because there is a high demand for quality lifestyle information. We have also grown a huge client/readership network and truth be told; there’s nothing like that glossy feeling when you turn a page after an amazing read.

Jacobsen: Why relaunch in June of 2020?

Kamga: Well, the idea was to release this edition on the 29th of May, coinciding with my birthday…but unfortunately, COVID-19 did not make that happen, pushing it one week apart. The reason I set this date was because I wanted to combine and celebrate the things that matter in life for me – offering a platform to share real and inspiring stories. FabAfriq Magazine print was launched at my prime, and seeing this vision growing bigger each day, simply means there is a need for this to stay. The entire team at FabAfriq Media Group joined the business because they believed in the dream, part of this dream is the print magazine and this is exactly one of the reasons they are with the business. We cannot sell a lie; we have to make sure whatever we sell is what we give. I am glad everyone is excited about this relaunch. I truly think this will create a great sensation in the office

Jacobsen: What is its vision and set of targeted objectives for the rest of 2020 and 2021?

Kamga: Our vision is to provide results-oriented media and communication services to clients. Being a growth-oriented company, we are looking at growing our client base, extending our service offerings and providing more employment opportunities.

In 2020 & 2021, We would focus on sharing more corporate stories through videos and images. We believe our expertise in sharing corporate stories has a valid objective. We hope to attract more businesses looking at using this service.

One of our objectives at the beginning of the year was to celebrate our 10th anniversary. This plan is not really set because of the outbreak of COVID-19. This activity has to happen. So if we do not achieve it this year, we will do it next year.

As mentioned above, we have a flagship program called The Corporate Award. The corporate awards, research and recognize companies who invest in their staff. Our intention in 2021 was to invite past participants for a 3-day program in the UK. The objective of this is to exchange knowledge with UK based corporations and gain other skills where needed.

Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Adeline.

Kamga: The pleasure was all mine, Scott, thank you for talking with me. Please do not forget to check out our work via our website www.fabafriq.com.

Image Credit: Adeline Sede Kamga.