KENYAN SOAP OPERA

Bringing Kenyan soap operas to Africa

Alison Ngubuni hopes her company's soap operas will help put Kenyan television on the global TV market

Alison Ngubuni owns a communication company that aims to make engaging Kenyan soap operas to compete with dominant foreign imports - and put Kenyan television firmly on the African map.

She launched Al Is On Productions in 2003, after having studied marketing and hotel management, and worked in advertising.
"I started off working as an assistant in an ad agency. At the time we were just doing TV commercials and I thought 'I want to go into this a bit more,'" she told the BBC series African Dream.

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At the back of my mind I've always been really upset with the amount of Mexican and foreign television on our screens”

Alison Ngubuni

Ms Ngubuni said that she started with a very small capital that she had saved from her previous employment.

"I've been that person who was taught to save, even a shilling put it aside," she said.
Many of her initial clients were people who knew her from the advertising agency.
"I had a mobile phone and a computer. Those were the two basic things that I felt I needed at the time," the entrepreneur explained.
"I used to run my company from home and now we've grown and currently I have a studio running with over a hundred people who go through he doors every day."
'University challenge' Ms Ngubuni says it was not easy at the beginning, but she was determined not to go back into employment.

Alison Ngubuni

• Age: 37
• Studied marketing and hotel management
• Worked for an advertising agency
• Started Al Is On Productions in 2003
• Her company has 22 full time employees plus many freelancers
• Main shows produced by her company: Zain Africa Challenge, Siri, Mali

"It's hard but you've just got to have the resilience of focusing on what it is that you want and getting it, and I'm that sort of a person. When I focus on something I get it," she said.

Her company, which is based in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, still makes commercials for it is a quick way of making money and keeping the company going.
"The beauty also of what I do is the fact that you actually can start your business with nothing. When you come to me to do a TV commercial, you need to pay 50% so I can use your money to do the commercial," she said.
However, her real passion is for television programmes made locally, for a local audience.
Her first success was with a programme - inspired by the BBC show University Challenge - called the Zain Africa Challenge, which involved students from eight countries.
At the same time, she ventured into drama with an education-entertainment series called Siri, which means "secret" in Swahili, set in a tea plantation.
It deals with reproductive health issues, HIV and the position of women.
Pan-African At the moment her company is recording Mali, "wealth" in Swahili, a drama about what happens when the patriarch of a family dies and would-be heirs start popping up.

 

 Alison Ngubuni says she likes the emotion her work evokes in people

It will be Kenya's first soap opera filmed completely in a studio.
"At the back of my mind I've always been really upset with the amount of Mexican and foreign television on our screens.
"I sort of thought, you know, what is it, why are you trying to tell us - as broadcasters - that Kenyans don't want to see Kenyans on the screen, that we are so razzmatazzed by the Mexicans, the Spanish, the Nigerians, that we really don't have our own to showcase on the screen?"
Ms Ngubuni said that with Mali she wants to tell "an African story that is different, that can travel across the continent".

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For me is just so uplifting, that I'm able to change people's lives”

Alison Ngubuni

She believes that many people in different parts of Africa will be familiar with the issues raised by the series.

"I came from a very polygamous family. My grandfather had like 11 to 12 wives. My own father had two. I also grew up in a very dynamic household," she said.
Her greatest satisfaction, she says, is to be able to make people laugh and cry.
"Most of my dramas have been a lot on HIV. I think when I meet people and people want to confide and say, 'Look, how do I reveal to my husband that I'm HIV positive? I saw it on your show', that for me is just so uplifting, that I'm able to change people's lives. You know, it's beautiful."
Ms Ngubuni pointed out that she also takes pleasure in collaborating with people in the television industry and helping others, from directors to scriptwriters and actors.
"I try to do my bit because I can't be alone up there. It's about an industry. It's bigger than Alison.
"It's about creating jobs. It's about everybody benefiting. It's a space that hasn't been tapped. It's got such a great potential."

IS STILL EXTORTION...or...GREEDY

Woman sues Mwea MP for Sh1.2m child upkeep

  Mwea MP Peter Gitau has denied the allegations, saying that he is a happily married family man.  

By PAMELA CHEPKEMEI pjepkemei@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Tuesday, May 29  2012 at  22:35

A woman who claims she has a two-month-old baby with an MP is seeking Sh1.2 million from the lawmaker in upkeep.

But Mwea MP Peter Gitau has denied the allegations, saying that he is a happily married family man.

In a suit filed at a Nairobi court, the 21-year-old mother working in a private company in Nairobi, claims that Mr Gitau made her pregnant and then dumped her.

She alleges that the MP promised her a job, a car and a house if she bore a child for him.

She wants the court to issue orders for the MP to provide for the baby arguing that under the Children’s Act, he is obliged to provide maintenance She met the MP in Nakuru in 2010 and after being promised the “goodies”, she agreed to have a child with Mr Gitau. But the lawmaker abandoned her after she informed him that she was pregnant.

“The defendant stopped all means of communication with me when I became pregnant,” she says.

“I am a happily married man with a family and the allegations that I promised the plaintiff a house, car and job are absolute lies meant to support material greed and extortion,” the MP said.

He alleged that the woman was a stranger to him as he had only met her twice — first for a business meeting at his private office in Nakuru and later during asocial event.

The woman, through lawyer Danstan Mogaka, wants the court to allow her to serve the case documents through the Clerk of the National Assembly.

She is also seeking an order directing the MP to appear in court in person.

The MP has not only denied the allegations, but also argues that the woman has sued the wrong person because she has indicated his name as Peter Nderitu Gitau while he is Peter Gitau.

The case is scheduled for hearing in June.

Pope's butler charged in 'Vatileaks' scandal

Pope Benedict XVI's butler has been arrested and charged with stealing confidential documents after embarrassing leaks were exposed in the press alleging corruption and cronyism inside the Vatican, a spokesman says

Pope Benedict XVI's butler has been arrested and charged with stealing confidential documents after embarrassing leaks were exposed in the press alleging corruption and cronyism inside the Vatican, a spokesman has said.
Federico Lombardi said in a statement that Paolo Gabriele, who lives inside Vatican City and is known to be close to the pope, was arrested on Wednesday.
The Vatican said a wider investigation would take place to see if Gabriele, 46, had any accomplices that helped him leak the documents.

Drogba confirms Chelsea departure

Didier Drogba says Fernando Torres is Chelsea's future

Didier Drogba said that Fernando Torres offers a bright future for Chelsea despite his difficult start to life at Stamford Bridge.

The Spaniard, who arrived for £50m from Liverpool in January 2011, has revealed his frustration at life with the Blues.
But the departing Drogba says Torres will prove himself next season.
"We have a good relationship. We don't understand why we didn't play together more, but that's the past. Torres is the future," said Drogba.
"It's been difficult for him, but he has showed he is the man. Next season is going to be his season and I will try to speak to him."

Torres, 28, was disappointed to start on the bench in the Champions League final against Bayern Munich, which saw Drogba round off his Chelsea career with the equaliser and then the decisive spot-kick in the penalty shoot-out.

Ivory Coast international Drogba, 34, has subsequently confirmed he is leaving Stamford Bridge after eight years.
Doubts still surround the managerial position at Chelsea, who finished sixth in the Premier League, with interim boss Roberto di Matteo not offered assurances about his future despite winning the Champions League and FA Cup.
But Drogba, who won 10 trophies, including three Premier League titles with the Stamford Bridge club, is sure the Blues will continue to challenge for silverware on a regular basis.
He added: "Being here for eight years, it will be a big change.
"Players will go, some stay, but the club will remain as ambitious as it has always been. I am not worried.
"Chelsea was there before I came and always will be.
"It's impossible to forget this moment. Leaving Chelsea in any case would be difficult, but now even more. It is impossible, Chelsea is in my heart. My blood is blue and my heart even more so."

Chelsea hero exits after eight years

OBESITY

Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems
Obesity increases the likelihood of various diseases, particularly heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obstructive sleep apnea, certain types of cancer, and osteoarthritis. Obesity is most commonly caused by a combination of excessive food energy intake, lack of physical activity, and genetic susceptibility, although a few cases are caused primarily by genes, endocrine disorders, medications or psychiatric illness. Evidence to support the view that some obese people eat little yet gain weight due to a slow metabolism is limited; on average obese people have a greater energy expenditure than their thin counterparts due to the energy required to maintain an increased body mass.
Dieting and physical exercise are the mainstays of treatment for obesity. Diet quality can be improved by reducing the consumption of energy-dense foods such as those high in fat and sugars, and by increasing the intake of dietary fiber. Anti-obesity drugs may be taken to reduce appetite or inhibit fat absorption together with a suitable diet. If diet, exercise and medication are not effective, a gastric balloon may assist with weight loss, or surgery may be performed to reduce stomach volume and/or bowel length, leading to earlier satiation and reduced ability to absorb nutrients from food.
Obesity is a leading preventable cause of death worldwide, with increasing prevalence in adults and children, and authorities view it as one of the most serious public health problems of the 21st century.Obesity is stigmatized in much of the modern world (particularly in the Western world), though it was widely perceived as a symbol of wealth and fertility at other times in history, and still is in some parts of the world.

Never believe in 3 people:
Sagittarius, Aries, Pisces
They are the most selfish and mean.

Never lose 3 people:
Taurus, Cancer, Capricorn
They r the most sincere and true lovers.

Never share with 3 people:
Virgo, Libra, Scorpio
They can never keep secrets and cheat people by crocodile tears

Never reject 3 people:
Leo, Gemini, Aquarius
They are true friends and never think bad for any1..

whatz yours??

what wrong with ladies of this time they are too fake to be understood!